BASEBALL DIARY:
Rangers 4, Orioles 3: the third straight win at home for the Rangers, and their third straight one-run win, too. Key stat: Rich Harden, coming off a horrible start in Toronto, pitches nearly 6 innings of decent ball, allowing only two runs.
And the Tigers, coming off of a loss, got a good win on the road in Oakland, beating the A's, 5-1. The key: Justin Verlander, who pitched a complete game, allowed only 4 hits, and is 4-1 with a 1.26 ERA in his last five starts. He's an ace...
POLITICS UPDATE DEPT:
So did you see, yesterday, the president of Mexico slamming the Arizona illegal immigration law right on the White House lawn? I don't think Americans will like that; nor will they like President Obama's reaction to it. I agree with Bill Bennett:
"There is a lot to say about this — and we shall say it now. Allowing the running down of a part of the United States by the head of a foreign government, at the White House, standing next to the president — who not only didn’t challenge him, but encouraged him — is a foreign- and domestic-policy catastrophe. And in any catastrophe, one has to ask what were the conditions or causes that led to such a thing. Did the president tell Mr. Calderón ahead of time it would be okay to blast away at Arizona, which is to blast away at the United States? Or, less likely, was nothing said ahead of time and Mr. Calderón simply took note of the administration’s statements about Arizona thus far? Or, had Mr. Calderón simply observed over the past year not only President Obama and his administration’s take-down of Arizona but President Obama’s other attitudes about America, such as his bowing to foreign leaders and his calling America “arrogant,” “dismissive,” and “derisive” of our allies?"
Meanwhile, I note that many establishment types in the news media are claiming that there's no anti-government or anti-Democrat wave coming in November. No, no, they claim--instead, it's simply an anti-incumbent wave, to hit Dems and GOPers equally. They point for example to Arlen Specter's defeat, to the Democratic victory in the Pennsylvania House election the other night, etc. But Fred Barnes sets them straight today:
"After voting against the 80-year-old Mr. Specter in five elections dating back to 1980, a majority of Democratic voters in Pennsylvania couldn't bring themselves to vote for him yesterday. They didn't trust him....Nor was Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas forced into a runoff with Lt. Gov. Bill Halter yesterday because she's an incumbent. A bigger problem for her was a reputation as an unreliable vote for Democratic initiatives—Mr. Halter attacked her from the left—and polls consistently showed her badly trailing any Republican opponent. It's true that anti-incumbency was marginally responsible for the defeats recently of three-term Republican Sen. Robert Bennett of Utah and 14-term Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia. Voters do at times get tired of elected officials. But Mr. Bennett lost chiefly because he was seen as having "gone Washington" and too eager to compromise with Democrats. Mr. Mollohan was defeated by a conservative opponent more in tune with the state's drift to the right over the past decade."
Meanwhile, prediction: in Arkansas, in the upcoming Democratic primary runoff between incumbent Blanche Lincoln and challenger Bill Halter? Halter will win.
