Departures

I host Xmas today for my dad's side of the family...which is why I have been silent, running around, trying to get things done.  I am done, pretty much, now...just have to get the snacks and the food laid out in a bit, and put out the plates and such, but other than that...  I do sort of feel like von Moltke in 1870, reading Lady Audley's Secret while the invasion of France proceeded afoot...  of course, still more to do and lots of time for things to go wrong.  Plenty of worries for me, just what I need...

http://freebeacon.com/politics/tom-carper-admitted-to-hitting-his-wife-in-1998-interview/

I wonder what will come of this... oh wait, that's right...NOTHING!  I mean, he did hit his wife (a la Sherrod Brown) and of course he has lied about it for all this time..  but I am sure the party of women and diversity and such will be sure to demand that he, too, resign... uh-huh.

I am halfway through The Republic For Which it Stands; it is fairly good, and long, and informative, but it is clearly of the "The US is bad country that has done many bad things" persuasion, which is fine, but...well, we've also done many good things and we did not get to be where we are by doing nothing; in some ways, I think, balance is appropriate... I also note that while he discusses the role of racism in rolling back the civil rights progress of Reconstruction, he fails to note that it was Democrats who did this... for all the talk of Democrats winning a Senate seat in AL, let;s not forget that it was not that long ago that the Democrats of 1870 were the same as those of 1970...

Like a lot of people, I am concerned about the Tribe; losing Smith and Shaw is big, though I suspect that 1) Shaw wasn't quite as good as the Tribe brass thought he was and 2) going to Colorado might be not the best, as his stuff -- when off -- tends to be flat -- and things that get hit hard fly faster and farther out there....  The Santana deal also hurts.  I for one think the solution is to move Edwin to 1B and find a real OF who can play everyday, like it or not...  no one, save for the Ivy Leaguers in the front office, actually believes that Brantley will be out there in May...