Waggle Room - Team Tiger's Sleight of Hand: For What Exactly is Tiger In Therapy?

Published February 28, 2010

WARNING – This FanPost has no facts, only speculation.

It would appear Tiger Woods’ current situation (in a treatment facility, marriage in question, sponsors dropping him left and right, the butt of national jokes) couldn’t be worse.  However it could be worse.  And for all the criticism the Woods’ PR team has received; they may have made a decision early on that has lessened the damage the current #1 golfer’s image received.

I believe Tiger Woods is currently receiving treatment to break addictions to prescription drugs; Ambien and Viacodin if I were to guess specific medications.  And I believe Team Tiger has allowed the sex addiction story to become the running story (if not quietly leaking it themselves) to give the media something to report instead of a possible chemical dependency.

Look at portions of his press conferenc public statement (emphasis mine):

It's hard to admit that I need help, but I do. For 45 days from the end of December to early February, I was in inpatient therapy receiving guidance for the issues I'm facing. I have a long way to go. But I've taken my first steps in the right direction.

...

Some people have made up things that never happened. They said I used performance-enhancing drugs. This is completely and utterly false.

Notice two things; he doesn’t say he is getting guidance for sex addiction, but for the issues he is facing.  He also vociferously denies using performance-enhancing drugs.  People wondered why he would out that in the statement; I now believe it was there to get people off the scent of the non-performance-enhancing drugs he was taking.  This may be dancing on the head of a pin, but if he is in treatment for substance abuse, everything said above is true.

Consider what was reported by Florida Highway Patrol on the night of the accident. According to police reports, Tiger had four collisions the night of November 27th; with bushes outside the driveway, hedges parallel with the road from his house, and the well known hydrant and tree.  Other reports stated that Tiger was shoeless and snoring when medical authorities arrived.  The public has been allowed to run with the collisions and the unconscious Tiger are all due to a crazed Swede chasing the car down with a 9-iron (since it was before January 1, the new groove restrictions did not yet apply), but all the above can be due to someone in no condition to drive getting behind the wheel, turning on the ignition, pulling out of his driveway and falling asleep sometime after turning left from the hedges. 

See why Team Tiger would add this line in Woods' remarks?  Because it is easier to them to recover from ‘Tiger really likes strange’ than ‘Tiger is an addict’.  The current fervor aside, a professional male athlete having a lot of female accompaniment isn’t usually disastrous to their image (for example, Martin Brodeur cheated on his wife with her sister; he is still considered the best hockey goalie of all time and infidelity doesn’t come up immediately when you mention his name).  Contrast that with John Daly, who is more known for his struggles with alcohol abuse then for being a two time major winner.

This is not to say Tiger didn’t try to have a biblical relationship with every blonde in America in her 20s with a flat stomach and a lack of gag reflex.  Nor is it to say Tiger’s marriage wasn’t/isn’t in jeopardy for his actions.  What this says is the public and the media were so taken by the sexual scandal, they allowed Team Tiger to obscure a possible issue that, if it became public knowledge, would even further affect how we look at the 14 time major winner for all time
The National Enquirer, who is on a current hot streak, says the same thing.

Waggle Room

For about two years, I wrote posts on an SB Nation golf blog names Waggle Room.  The blog has been discontinued, so I am copying some of my favorite posts here. 

Waggle Room - The Breakup

Published June 19, 2011

Dear Tiger:
I just wanted to get this off my chest.  I know things haven't been great between us, so this shouldn't be a surprise.  It's over. 
I just can't deal with your moodiness, your inability to share, to really be a part of this relationship.  I've tried and tried to get you to open up, to show you actually cared about me and the things I do for you.  All I get are bland generalities and when I try to find out what is really wrong, you give me than death stare and shut down.
I want to be fair and tell you this before you find out from someone; I've found someone else.  His name is Rory.  I always thought he was cute, but he has opened up to me more in the last few days than you have in the last few years.  I can just ask him stuff without it becoming a big thing.  With you, I get more insight lately following your twitter feed than in person.  And (I apologize if this sounds catty) he gives me what I need like you haven't in a long time.
I hope we can be cordial after this.  Part of me will always love you, but I have to do this for me.
The Golf Media

The combination of Tiger's on-course irrelevance and Rory McIlroy's spectacular performance at Congressional has allowed the golf media to publically break off its love affair with Tiger Woods.  Unfortunately, in some circles, it is being done with all of the maturity of the end of a high school fling.   Examples include John Huggan's swearing he won't miss the three time US Open champion (and there is no better way to show you aren't going to miss someone who isn't competing that week than to spend 800 words proclaiming how much you won't miss him), Michael Bamberger's lament that being Tiger isn't that cool anymore (where he put Tiger's reluctance to be forthcoming to the media as a gateway drug to famous recluse Howard Hughes.  If we have learned anything over the last two years, isolation from people is not Tiger Woods' problem) and Dave Kindred's contrast and compare of the former and current prodigy.  Kindred's article included this illuminating passage:

There was a wonderful stammer to those words, a boyish attempt to say what he felt without saying it brashly. It was another reminder of what we have here and what we're not missing in any way. The first reminder came Friday evening, late in a press conference, when McIlroy told the assembled literati that he planned to go to a movie, "The Hangover Part 2." Of course, veteran movie-goers know that the new "Hangover" is exploitive dreck, a sequel unworthy of its parentage. But McIlroy's taste in film is not the point here. Point is, he shared a small slice of his life with reporters and when's the last time Tiger Woods did as much? Tiger, Tiger, out of sight. The greater point is, if anyone missed Tiger, if maybe millions missed Tiger, if all of freakin' Thailand missed him, I daresay this U.S. Open hasn't missed him a whit, iota, or even a tad.

The Hangover Part 2?  THE HANGOVER PART 2?!?  That is what you are looking for?  So not only are the members of the golf media sixteen year old girls with low self-esteem, they are cheap dates as well.  In all seriousness, this Oprah-ization of professional sports reporting, the idea that every emotion or random thought an athlete has should be laid bare or there is a problem, is not a positive advancement of the reporting profession.  I'd hate to see Huggan or Bamberger reporting on hockey, boxing or football (round ball or American); the amount of rejection regularly received by reporters following those sports might cause mass suicides.
To be fair, Team Tiger isn't without blame for the breakup.  There is a famous saying that you don't get into a fight with someone who buys ink by the gallon.  Someone had to be smart enough to tell Tiger to give the golf media just enough to keep them satiated and in love.  Nothing particularly private, but something, anything to let them believe you love them a little.  About your love of fly fishing for example.  Or your preference for the blandest rock and roll possible (check out some of the performers at various Tiger Jams, Stevie Wonder notwithstanding).  Or how about picking a couple of reporters and feeding them info.  It wouldn't be the first time a newsmaker had a reporter in his pocket.  Or how about this; either actually go ahead with the idea of treating those in the media better (something you included in your tearful comeback press conference public statement), or don't mention it at all.
Finally, a warning to Rory McIlroy (who is showing more maturity at 22 with his play than some reporting on him right now).  Be careful.  The media definitely loves you right now.  But this has the whiff of a rebound relationship.  They wanted to be with Phil Mickelson, but he couldn't come through enough to make it viable.  Westwood, Kaymer and Donald were nice, but not exciting.   You have all the tools right now, young, exciting, winning.  But if you don't make 2011 your version of Tiger's 2000 (or, if Tiger makes a comeback to form), the next letter may be delivered to your doorstep.

Quick, Look Over Here (Brought To You By Fox News)!

So Geraldo Rivera said something stupid today.
On Fox & Friends (which leads the league in the ‘place where stupid things get said category’, Geraldo said the hooded sweatshirt Trayvon Martin was wearing was as responsible for his shooting as the guy who shot him:

“I believe, that George Zimmerman, the overzealous neighborhood watch captain, should be investigated to the fullest extent of the law and if he is criminally liable, he should be prosecuted. But I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters particularly to not let their children go out wearing hoodies. I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.”

Told you it was stupid.

But before the Twitterverse and blogosphere and Facebook Nation gets bent out of shape (not unlike Geraldo’s nose when he got hit by the chair that time; and yes, there will be more Geraldo jokes coming), people who care about Trayvon should see what is really going on.

At this moment, emotions are running high against the lack of arrest of George Zimmerman. Equally as important, those emotions are being channeled in a way that is making things happen. The stepping down of the Sanford police chief. The Florida governor adding a new prosecutor. While I have my doubts that a suitable level of justice will ever be served (due to the amount of time that has passed since the shooting), pressure is being put on Sanford in particular and Florida in general (I’m sure the state would rather be known for South Beach and Disneyworld than where kids get killed for Skittles).

And Geraldo just made himself a pressure valve.

Instead of people horrified by this senseless killing aiming their ire to where it belongs, they can aim it at the Capone Vault Guy for his ‘the black boy in the hoodie was asking for it’ comments. And the people responsible get a little break.

I’m not sure why Fox News is doing this. They knew this was Geraldo’s view; he was saying it on his Twitter feed before today (the stupid comment version of running a play off-Broadway). It is to generate publicity in hopes of increased ratings? It is to provide comfort and support to the Republican governor of Florida? It Fox News just that institutionally racist towards black people they can’t help it?

I don’t know the answer. But I do know what the result would be; a diffusion of the righteous anger the country has over Trayvon’s killing. A diffusion of the larger message; that the lives of people of color are as valuable as anyone else and should receive the same respect from both individuals and the government (by the way, if investigations find the rumor that officers tried to convince witnesses they heard Zimmerman calling for help instead of Trayvon, shit is really going to hit the fan).

We have seen this before. Don’t fall for the okey doke.

Sittin' On Peas - Chapter Four: The First Full Day of Not Being Whole

I may have overdone it.

Didn’t feel any pain when I woke up this morning. That was a pleasant surprise. So with that, I did normal household stuff, even though it was suggested I stay off my feet for a couple of days. Which means carrying the two month old around, going to the store, bringing laundry from the bedroom to the washing machine, etc.

I don’t know if the lower abdominal discomfort I feel now (not pain, just enough to remind me I had surgery less than 36 hours ago) is due to the lack of support (I ditched the jock strap Thursday morning) or the increase of activity. I fear wake-up time Friday will be more challenging than wake-up time Thursday was.

One last thing. I didn’t plan this surgery to coincide with the Masters, that was a happy accident. Unfortunately, the gentlemen who run the tournament decided not to let the cameras on until 3pm; by that time I was doing other things (like thinking of swapping my gas smoker with a charcoal one). I’ll try to use (ahem) massive pain I am suffering to hunker down in the basement for a couple of hours tomorrow.

Sittin' On Peas - Chapter Three: The Beginning of the Aftermath

Well, that’s done.

The procedure took less than 30 minutes. I’m home in no pain currently; I’m sure that will change when the local wears off.

I forgot to take the Valium (damn!), but I guess I didn’t need it. I got a prescription for Vicodin, so I can fall even further down the road to chemical dependency. I’ll try not to take any; hopefully Extra Strength Tylenol will be enough.

The only disconcerting part of the procedure was the smell of something burning. That something was me as the ends of the vas deferens were sealed. I didn’t feel anything and I couldn’t see the doctor applying the soldering iron to my most delicate area, but intellectually I knew what was up.

As for what happens to the semen, it gets broken down and absorbed in the body.

At one point, there was a change in shift for the assisting nurse. The change led to these comments:

Assisting Nurse: I assume if you had fantasies of two women administering to that area, it did not look like this.

Me: The costumes were different.

Included in the post procedure instructions was the fact that it will take approximately 20 ejaculations to flush out any semen remaining downstream of the vasectomy (samples at 6 and 8 weeks will also be taken to ensure I am no longer firing live rounds). So basically I have a doctor's note to jerk off. I don’t know what kind of countdown clock I’m going to use, but whatever it is, it will have to be something benign enough to avoid an explanation to the four year old daughter.

Sittin' On Peas - Chapter Two

Thought flowing through my mind a couple of hours before:

• · I could have negotiated this with the wife better. We both knew The Peanut was going to be our last child, but I volunteered getting this done too quickly. I don’t know what I could have gotten in the negotiation (French Maid outfit? More golf? A banishment of ‘Toddlers & Tiaras’ from the household?), but something could have been acquired.
• · Have to remember to ask where the sperm goes after the procedure.
• · I was given a Valium to take before to relax me. It will be my first experience with the drug. It would be sad if a vasectomy was the gateway to a nasty Rush Limbaugh-like prescription drug addiction.

Packed and ready to go. See you on the flip side.

Sittin' On Peas - Chapter One

Things I’ve learned preparing for the procedure:

• · My wife has jokes.
• · Target doesn’t sell jock straps.
• · I won’t be in stirrups.
• · The reason there is a fractional chance of regaining fertility is, instead of cutting out a section of the vas deferens (the tube that makes semen leaded instead of unleaded) and sealing the edges (forcing the sperm to make an Evil Kneveil like jump to freedom), there is just a snip and and seal with the end butted against each other.
• · Sterilization is a word used regularly. I’m not terrible excited about that word. Makes me feel like I’m a victim of the Tuskegee Experiment.

Nine hours to go.

P.S. When you look for images on Google for jock strap, you see more scantily clad men with rippling abs than heterosexual men are prepared for.

Sittin' On Peas - Prologue

In under 18 hours, I will go in for a vasectomy.

Since I found out I would be a father for a second time, I knew 2 was the maximum number of children I would want to sire. Combine that with my distaste with wearing condoms for the remainder of my life (which is about 7% of the reason I got married) made the choice fairly clear.

I will be off my feet for a couple of days, it gives me a chance to write about the experience. Stay tuned…

The Unequal Comparison Between Harsh Political Discourse and Violent Entertainment

Like a broken clock, Rush Limbaugh isn’t horribly, pig-headedly wrong every once in a while *:

Go out and try to tell these same people that one of their top grossing movies has influenced abject perversion or radical behavior and they will attack you left and right, saying, "That's entertainment. It stands alone. People know the difference." You go out and accuse them of engaging in work, their art, such as crucifixions in jars of urine or whatever other acts of perversion they engage in that they call "art" -- their movies, their music -- and you go try to tell them that their music is responsible for criminal behavior. Look at the reaction you get from that. You are considered to be a numskull, old-fashioned, out, and not with the times. They permanently, constantly insulate themselves from any influential behavior they might be responsible for and yet run off without any evidence whatsoever and admit they've got no evidence.

This was Limbaugh’s response to critiques of he and other conservatives’ coarse political discourse in the wake of the assassination attempt on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. In a nutshell, Limbaugh tells the left you can’t say Sarah Palin love of guns is causing nuts to shoot people, then say Michael Bay’s love of guns or Young Jeezy’s love of guns doesn’t cause nuts to shoot people. Limbaugh is correct there, but he misses two important points.

First, the threshold for our political leaders should be higher than our entertainment leaders. Sarah Palin, in particular, is considered a political leader. She doesn’t currently hold an office (this is where I remind everyone Palin quit her job), but she is considered at least the face of the modern Tea Party movement. There are things the average person can say that we don’t want our political leaders to say (Barack Obama calling Kanye West a jackass comes to mind, irrelevant of how true it is).



More important, the entertainment Limbaugh refers to isn’t real. The movies and music are realistic, but at some point a director says cut, or a music producer stops the recording and the artist goes back to a trailer and enjoys illicit drugs and casual sex a spot of herbal tea. It is the responsibility of society to ensure the less able members (the young, the mentally challenged) know this.

This hits home for me personally as a fan of hip-hop and a father. I happily listen to songs with lyrics calling for the murder of rivals, the regular sale and/or ingestion of illegal drugs and a repudiation of sexual fidelity. I am also a (gulp) 40 year old man and know this isn’t real. And it is my responsibility to make sure my children understand the entertainment they take in shouldn’t always be taken at face value.

If Pailn and Limbaugh want to admit their discourse is mere entertainment, I’d happily put them in the same category as ‘The Sopranos’, ‘True Grit’ and the latest Jay-Z album. I imagine they would both defend themselves and their comments as deadly serious.

If that is the case, I refer to my comic book geek past: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’

* The link is to Andrew Sullivan's blog referring to Rush Limbaugh. Rush sin't getting any pageviews from me if I can help it.

Delicious Desparation

Barack Obama has claimed another victim.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced Tuesday she will not renew her radio contract that is up at the end of the year. Schlessinger, who has helmed a successful radio show for decades, lit a firestorm by using the word nigger 11 times during a call on August 10. She apologized the next day and now has decided to end her radio show as of the end of the year.

What does this have to do with Obama? Ever since January 20, 2009, there have been a small but vocal percentage of Americans who just can’t stand the fact the leader of the free world is, well, you know… And every day he stand before the country as the political leader, every day he is seen making a speech to crowds of cheering supporters, every day the realization that this small minority of people are just that, a small minority, they get a little crazier until they burst like a pipe under pressure.

Whether is the Birthers, swearing Obama just can’t be President irrelevant of any facts, or people screaming at town meetings they want their country back (from whom I’d like to ask), to Dr. Laura doing her best Katt Williams impersonation, people are going crazy from the heat.

And I couldn’t be happier.

I call it the delicious desperation. The realization that the world has changed under the feet of this small minority; that their borderline overt racism has been rejected by the majority of voters on November 4, 2008 (happy birthday to me, by the way) and there is not much they can do about it. The thought of them raging against forces totally out of their control gives me a warm feeling. The mental image of this small minority yelling ‘who’s with me?’ and seeing the remainder of the country slowly step back as if they just dropped a turd fills me with delight.

As for Dr. Laura, two other comments. First, in announcing the end of her radio show, she mentioned she wants to “regain my First Amendment rights”. That is a lie. What she wants is to be able to avoid consequences:

Now, what makes me sad...what pains my heart deeply...is that, beyond the reasoned letters which I continue to get, I have heard comments from some broadcasters and letters from some people that cannot be described as anything other than hate-filled diatribes. Hate-filled. This does not make me angry, but it hurts my heart.

My hope with my apology, which was true and immediate and uncoerced, was that the silver lining might be that a dialogue be started to stop hate and bigotry. I still hold out some hope... but I am a realist and I fear that there are those who frankly want to encourage hate and anger.

Dr. Laura insulted people by using the word nigger. She angered people. It would be nice for everyone to forgive her for her transgressions, but some won’t, which is their right. This is the bed you made Dr. Laura, and as uncomfortable as it is to lay in, whining about how uncomfortable it is doesn’t change the fact that it was all your creation.

Second if someone is paying you to talk, the speech is not free. Dr. Laura would be hustled off the air if she decided to insult her syndication company or her sponsors. I can say Comcast sucks (ask me about that company if you have an hour to kill), but I sure can’t say it if I have a radio show and Comcast is buying time. If you want pure free speech (to her, um, credit, Dr. Laura is doing this) get a soapbox, go out to a corner of your local municipality, and free speech away.

Stevie Wonder - Superstition live on Sesame Street

It is Stevie. On Sesame Street. Singing Superstition.

Stevie should be taught in the schools.

Why Golf Is Fine and the Chicken Littles Are Wrong

Golf is an appropriate pursuit for someone as bourgeois as I. Writing about golf may cross the bourgeois line into stuffy. Nevertheless, I've done such a thing at Waggle Room, a blog dedicated to professional golf. I'm pretty proud of it so I will link to it here.

A Fire-able Offense

Shooting 106 at Poolesville this morning gave me a lot of time to think about Shirley Sherrod.

For those who don't know who she is or what is the issue, here is my attempt to explain:

Shirley Sherrod was the USDA's rural development director for the state of Georgia. A couple of days ago a video was released, championed by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart and aired initially on Fox News, showing Sherrod, a black woman, stating she found it hard to help white farmers. The NAACP and the Obama administration (through Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture) immediately denounced her comments and she was forced to resign.

Soon after the resignation, video of the entire speech became public. While Sherrod did say she initially found it hard to help the white farmer (in fact, steering him towards an white lawyer), she quickly determined the error of her ways, helped the farmer keep his farm and now she and the farmer are friends. In fact, the farmer in question has come out repudiating any bias against him and his family and called for Sherrod to be reinstated.

Now, everyone involved is scrambling for the lifeboats. Pundits on the left and right are clamoring for Sherrod's reinstatement. The NAACP has apologized for Sherrod. In an embarrassingly tone deaf statement, the Obama administration attempted to lay all blame on on the Dept. of Agriculture (as if it isn't a part of the Obama administration). Even Andrew Breitbart, who is pugnacious by nature (I'm trying to be nice and not call him a asshole) said the video was not released to get Sherrod fired, but to show the NAACP is the real racist organization and not the Tea Party movement, which the NAACP suggested a week ago.

I couldn't care less what Andrew Breitbart does. I care slightly what Fox News does. but they are grown men and women and can run their network as they see fit. My ire is pointed right at the Obama administration and the NAACP. Someone should be fired from both organizations.

The fact that no one in either organization thought to check out the whole tape before running to the closest microphone they could to denounce this woman is as close to dereliction of duty as you can get without leaving your post in Kandahar. The remarks were made an an NAACP function for crying out loud. Here, I'll write your comments for you:

The Federal Government takes raced-based bias seriously. We will fully investigate the charges brought against Mrs. Sherrod and take appropriate action.

Please give me the $200K job of the person who should have done the above.

Not only is it a fire-able offense on its face, it speaks to the lack of readiness the two political organizations have against political opponents. If someone had done a bit of research before rebuking an innocent woman, we would be talking about how irresponsible Breitbart and Fox News are. Instead, we are talking about how reactionary and cowardly the Obama administration is.

Someone messed up bad here, costing a low level civil servant her job. Whomever that someone was shouldn't get another chance to mess up. And those around that someone need to know that screw-ups on such a grand scale have consequences. This is the big leagues. Start acting like it.

Wondering if the DeLorean can take us back to 1983

This will be impolite, but when did Rev. Jesse Jackson regain national credibility?

Jackson, commenting on Cleveland Cavaliers' majority owner Dan Gilbert somewhat unhinged complaints about LeBron James signing with the Miami Heat instead of James' home state based Cavaliers, went with what he knows; it's a black thing:

He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a
runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship--between business
partners--and LeBron honored his contract.

Jackson is getting smacked around pretty good thanks to the above. And he deserves it. What I find lazy is the mainstream media is treating Jackson as if it is 1983 and he just got the pilot out of Syria. If Jackson had a sliver of juice left, didn't his 'cut his balls off' comment finish that off?

Obama is Failing the Gays

“Doc, I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

I don’t know if Marty McFly said those exact words to Doc Brown in Back To The Future, but the idea of the hero trusting the eccentric inventor/doctor/risk taker when no one else does is a staple of dramas far and wide. In that vein, I say this to the Obama administration when it comes to gay rights:

“Barack, I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

The gay community ranges from concerned but hopeful (Andrew Sullivan) to ready to go to the mattresses (Dan Savage) over the actions and inactions of the Obama administration. Since Obama has been in office he has allowed members of the armed forces to be court-martialed under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell statute. His administration has filed a brief in California in support of the Defense of Marriage Act; a law that decrees the Federal Government may not treat same-sex relationships as marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states. This is in sharp contrast to promises made on the campaign trail to the gay community.

Until today, I was fully confident that Team Obama was working behind the scenes, making sure when policies and laws were changed; they were changed for good and not subject to crippling opposition. For example, he had to learn from President Clinton’s failure of fulfilling his campaign pledge of allowing gay to serve openly which lead to DADT in the first place.

Now, I’m only partially confident. You can make the argument Obama has made more positive overtures to Iran than gay Americans; he surely has made more public overtures. If you want to be really cynical, you could say Obama is treating gay Americans like the Democratic party has been accused of treating African-Americans; giving them noting but lip service with the knowledge they have no where else to go politically.

I still believe there can be a happy ending to this. It isn’t as hard as the Middle East peace processes and the Americans who would rally against DADT and DOMA were probably not voting for Obama in the first place. I just hope the happy ending happens soon, before I have to join the proverbial group that gives up on the Doctor.

Robert Powell = Sista Souljah

You can almost set your watch to it. At some point during election night coverage on an 24 hour news network, a Republican operative will respond to a media exit poll stating African-Americans vote Democratic by a wide margin by stating the party has to do a better job getting their message out to African-Americans. I don’t believe it Republicans really mean it. Maybe not all Republicans (Gov. Chralie Crist comes to mind) but as a party, it doesn’t seem they want to do the heavy lifting (or any lifting for that matter) to repair this void in their electoral maps.

Which brings me to Robert Powell.

Officer (as of 11pm 3/26) Powell is now infamous for pulling over NFL running back Ryan Moats and his family as they rushed to the hospital to say goodbye to a terminally ill family member. Video from the police car’s on board camera recorded Powell threatening to arrest Moats for running a traffic light as he and others in the car tried to explain their rush to the hospital and methodically holding the occupants there as hospital security guard confirmed the story to write a ticket. The family did not make it into the hospital in time to say goodbye. Because Moats is a football player in football crazy Texas, this has become news. The Dallas police chief has apologized to the family and Powell is on paid administrative leave.

If Republicans were serious about the African-American vote for a moment, they would be tripping over each other setting up press conferences (with the Moats family in attendance) decrying this abuse of power and calling for the termination of the officer (which will probably happen anyway). They don’t even have to mention race, black people will get it. And this case is so egregious, only the most unrepentant racist would dare call this racial politics. Texas governor Rick Perry should be all over this, it is perfect.

But that would mean Republicans actually care enough about the African-American vote to make their own version Sista Souljah. Sure worked well enough for Bill Clinton in 1992.

Don't buy those Michael Steele commerative plates just yet

I guess Michael Steele winning the Republican National Committee Chairmanship is historic, in the way Pumpsie Green being the first African American player to play for the Boston Red Sox (The Sox being the last MLB team to integrate) is historic.

Frankly, if Steele didn’t win the post, it would have been a bigger story. Steele’s last opponent for the post (five other gentleman were up for the position, dropping out when it became evident victory was out of reach) was South Carolina GOP chief Katon Dawson, who dropped a membership of a all-white golf club in 2008. Other candidates were Mike Duncan, the then incumbent chairman (when your party get the national drubbing it did in 2008, the guy in charge of the party doesn’t really have a lot to base reelection on) and former Tennessee GOP chairman Chip Saltsman (who thought it was a good idea to send his associates a mix CD with the “Barack The Magic Negro” parody song for Christmas). If Steele, who is as bland as Oatmeal made with water, couldn’t beat these guys, it would signify the GOP is doubling down on the Real America/Not Real America that worked so well in November.

And Steele loves puppies!

Not to mention Chairman of the Republican National Committee barely gives him the prestige to ensure his regular table at the Mrs. K's Toll House Sunday brunch. Current Virginia governor Tim Kaine is doing the job on the Democratic side on a part time basis until his current term ends in 2010). He moves up the list of people the 24 hour news networks call for punditry, but that is about it.

What is more interesting to me is some conservatives consider his victory an ode to identity politics, as if Steele was any less qualified (he was the chairman for the Maryland GOP before becoming Lt. Governor) than anyone else for the post. While I am sure some of this was bitterness that their respective candidates didn’t win (PUMA’s anyone?), some of it has to be the idea the main reason an African-American candidate for anything wins is because of his or her race. Of course, this did not stop the GOP from giving Steele a speaking part at their national convention; it seems for the GOP, identity politics are okay as long as the identity in question doesn’t actually have any power.

Damn

Barack Obama wins the Democratic Caucus; Huckabee wins the Republican Caucus.

He may be the next President.