FAVORITE TEAMS UPDATE: the Detroit Red Wings took care of business, finishing their opening-series sweep of Columbus, 6-5. The Red Wings took the series, 4 games to none. It was a bit sloppy--the Wings sprung a few defensive leaks, and gave up 2 two-goal leads to the desperate, battling Blue Jackets. But they held their poise, and scored a late goal to win. Now they'll get some needed rest. It's still a long way to the Cup.
And hey, how about the Dallas Mavericks? They now lead San Antonio, 2 games to 1, in their opening series, after the Mavs flattened the Spurs, 88-67 last night. Great energy and defensive effort for the Mavs, holding the Spurs to 32% shooting. Now they've got to maintain that energy and focus into game 4.
BASEBALL DIARY: the Tigers lost to the Angels last night, 10-5. Sloppy game--the Tigers made errors, left runners on, walked in some runs with the bases loaded. Not a good night for Edwin Jackson, the Tigers' starter. The Tigers stand then at 8-7 for the season, 3-3 so far on their road trip. Not so bad--but they still seek consistency.
Indeed, it wasn't a great night last night for the favorite teams: the Cubs lost to Cincinnati again, 7-1. Carlos Zambrano didn't pitch too well...little offense...and Micah Hoffpauir made two misplays in right. The Cubs' sloppy play is catching up with them. But give the Reds some credit--they went 7-3 on their road trip, all against division rivals.
And the Rangers lost to Toronto again, 5-2. Not much offense from the Rangers--just two solo homers. Only average pitching at best from ace Kevin Millwood. But give the Jays credit, too--they've won 12 games and have won all five series they've played so far.
MORE ON TORTURE: CNN opinion-maker Ruben Navarette makes several good points today.
First, note President Obama's many flip-flops:
"Obama angered Republicans by releasing the confidential documents, over objections by CIA Director Leon Panetta and Bush administration officials who worried that it would telegraph to terrorists how far U.S. interrogators are permitted to go in trying to extract information. But he also disappointed Democrats by ruling out the prosecution of interrogators who might have engaged in what some define as torture and initially suggesting that the lawyers who had advised them wouldn't be prosecuted either because, as Obama said several days ago, "this is a time for reflection, not retribution." And then, this week, while this middle-of-the-road approach was being applauded by those in the center who smile on nuance, he flummoxed them by reversing course and suggesting that the whole matter of whether the three former Bush Justice Department lawyers who wrote the memos -- Jay Bybee, Steven Bradbury and John Yoo -- ought to be prosecuted should be decided by Attorney General Eric Holder."
Tsk, tsk. And then there's this important point, concerning those who wrote the memos:
"Besides, how do you go about prosecuting lawyers for simply offering legal opinions when asked for them? They've broken no law. A friend of mine who heads up an affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union concedes that is new territory but suggests there could be a case if the opinions were intentionally fraudulent or overly ideological. I can imagine the same argument from conservatives the next time a liberal-leaning state attorney general issues a legal opinion supporting gay marriage. Just because a lawyer comes back with an opinion you don't like doesn't make it a crime. If Holder says otherwise, good luck to him the next time he asks one of the hundreds of lawyers in his own agency for an opinion on a politically sensitive matter."
Conservatives should keep making a simple point: you shouldn't criminalize policy differences, or differences of opinion.
THE OBAMA EXPIRATION DATES: those always come with his campaign promises, and NRO's Jim Geraghty has been demonstrating for months now. That is--Obama made many promises during the 2008 campaign, many of which he has broken.
The latest--he promised during the campaign to renegotiate NAFTA; the administration has now announced, though, that it won't.
He's not as honest as you think, folks.
