There is little that can be achieved in the race to the White House in the Commonwealth other than agree to disagree to disagree and then disagree again after we disagreed to start with. We can all come up with intelligent and erudite reflections to support our disagreements on who disenfranchised whom, who dismissed what former campaign adviser who got caught with a hand in the proverbial cookie jar all adding to the dissonance at the national level. We can Boycott our favorite National Blog because we don’t like the team they’re sponsoring and threaten to do same to the team not of our choice. The internet provides us with endless data, charts and facts in whatever form we need them to take and yet how many of us mute the sound on This Week with George Stephanopolus waiting for the Sunday Funnies segment or stay up past bedtime to catch John Stewart as our leading source of news. Maybe like Horton, if we make enough noise they will hear us Whos down in Whoville. But is it just me with my admitted twenty Second American attention span or is it really getting to sound like a lot of wheels spinning and smoke flying as the tires burn after the race win to then discover the main event hasn’t yet begun?
So…………. as not to be in shock…………….even though I swear, on my honor, to support the candidate of or not of my choice, I have developed a little exercise……………. so come November……………. I will not sink into the depression I did post election night in 04 ( Breath)……….. by putting my hands over my ears, and quietly repeating to myself There’s no place like home President John McCain, President John McCain, President John McCain.
I suspect there are a lot of people across the nation who might be doing the same and they vote independent.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the silence………………………………..So just who did win the NASCAR race last weekend since it is too early to care about Baseball and I don’t follow March Madness? Did you know that racecar spelled backwards is racecar?
*** Credit to my nearly 22 year old daughter for thisanalogy
I hope you understand politics better than you understand racing.
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p>That’s a cute saying your daughter came home with. Talk about style over substance. Sounds like something Fred Thompson would’ve quoted from his “grandaddy.”
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p>Pardon me, but I was always under the impression that if a candidate was a good candidate, more attention and more debate would be a positive thing. If you think Clinton is sullying Obama or vice versa, shame on both of them for not being able to rise above it.
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p>Anyone that thinks one Dem is doing more damage to the other than McCain and Republicans will do in the fall is kidding themselves. Why not have a candidate as battle-tested as possible?
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p>This campaign could have the potential to put either candidate far above McCain if the debates were focused and serious. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have the attention span for that.
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p>(this may be the most pie in the sky post I’ve ever made here. at least the part after the Fred Thomspson snark.)
….about Carl Edwards. It was poetic license to claim ignorance. FYI , am a life long IRL (Indy racing League) fan going on 48 years (yes back when I was 6) but will watch the occasional NASCAR race but find it less interesting ( miss the days of stock car racing back in the 60’s and 70’s, ahhh an old Chevy Impala going head to head with souped up Ford Fairlane now that was racing BGW***). Was glued to the set for the St Pete Street Course IRL race, on the same time as Texas Motor speedway but did catch the 2 lap shoot out at the end after St Pete finished up.
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p>Back to politics. It’s “the Party will be fine” mantra I keep hearing that is my concern. Should promote democracy…. yes…. but likely just turns people off in the end. It’s the Independents, the ones who hate this whole process who matter in November and extended petty snarking or presumed infighting doesn’t bode well for that.
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p>*** Before Global Warming
eeeek, IRL?
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p>At least your consistent. With both racing and politics, you’re playing to folks that don’t like what you find interesting and dismiss what you consider important.
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p>In racing, I’m expecting you to pull out the “only watch it for the crashes” or “just go round and round and round” cliches.
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p>And with politics, I’m expecting…well, exactly what you said.
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p>Extended snarking in a high visibility setting doesn’t hurt Democrats unless it’s done poorly. What did two time winner George W. Bush do if not lead a campaign of endless snarking? Did it hurt him? Not nearly enough, unfortunately.
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p>What they’ve got to do to make it work is see who can outdo the other in terms of beating up on McCain/Bush/Cheney. So instead of “Yo momma so ugly” material, they need to work the “what do you call a million dead lawyers at the bottom of the sea” jokes.
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p>seriously, IRL? no bumpers, no jack man?
… two guys to change one tire? NASCAR lap averages at Texas Motor, 30-40 MPH less than IRL (with their no bumpers) Bunch a Wimps:) (And in IRL they let girls drive and they are as good at it as the boys) However check out this NASCAR first ever 500 mile action from 1963 at Riverside International Raceway That’s 9 year old me in the crowd at turn 7.
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p>But now that the BMGer’s are completely going what the????……are these two talking about back to politics.
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p>Your comment
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p>
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p>Is exactly my point. It’s the independents (who like the commercial says about prostrates just keep growing and going) (how about that for a blue/red collar humor) who get sick of this not the party faithful.
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p>And come on we all know Bush won because somebody stole the real Al Gore and well “John Kerry????”
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p>There is one good thing you can say about “W”. He also destroyed the conservative movement’s power along with every thing else he touched. I just hope the Dems don’t breathe life back into it.
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p>But back to essentials. Which is Redder and which is Bluer?
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p>IRL
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p>NASCAR
The only way John Kerry could’ve sounded more like an elitist is if he said he liked IRL.
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p>Problem is, nobody really knows IRL anymore. Even the European guys are ditching it for NASCAR. Don’t worry, Danica will flip eventually. She’s halfway there: she’s a GoDaddy girl.
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p>And while I recognize the need to win 50%+1 to enact an agenday, I shutter to see Democrats pander too much.
… doing well (sort of). Montoya Fanchitti and Hornish will see the light and come back to unified Champ/IRL though I agree that during the 12 year spat betwean CART and the Hullmans NASCAR surged ahead. Maybe we could get Petreaus to sponsor an IRL Team.
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p>Back in the days Foyt, Gurney, the Unsers, Andretti and others all raced both stock and open wheel and then went to Europe and kicked some Gran Prix but. Kinda like the way congress used to act before talking to each other was forbidden.
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p>I bet Earnhart Jr couldn’t win “Dancing with the Stars”. Maybe he could enter “Your mama can dance”.
Didn’t Jeff Gordon come through the pipeline as an open wheeler? And do you think Jimmie Johnson would’ve ventured in to rub elbows with the Alabama gang or gone to the wine and cheese circuit?
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p>The reason there aren’t more guys going from open wheel to real racing is that the good ones just start there now.
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p>The fact that so few go from open to stock and succeed is sort of evidence of how they stack up, no?
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p>”Dancing with the stars…” put down that shovel. I can’t see the top of your head anymore.
…after piloting a rocket ship it is hard to get used to those 3,500 lb garbage scows:) and real racing is finishing, not surviving the Talladega pile up or playing 180 MPH bumper cars.
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p>When Rusty Wallace did his brief stint as an IRL Color Commentator he keep saying how powerful and challenging the IRL cars were and how much faster and dangerous it was drive compared to NASCAR.
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p>Real men (and women) don’t need bumpers!!!
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p>Jeff Gordon is NASCAR born and Bread his first win being the 1992 Hooters 500 Winston Cup Series race. (Hooters????)
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p>Time to stop drinkin all that twist top pull tab Bud Light and remove the cork from that bottle of Sangiovese, Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon, pour into the finely crafted crystal decanter and taste the difference………..ahhhhhhhh. Now where did I put that shovel?
You don’t expect me to respond to Rusty Wallace, do you?
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p>You realize, don’t you, that the real blue bloods that wear fancy hats and watch the Sport of Kings replace your bumper question with one about wheels? If you want to be really fancy you can’t just talk about wine, you have to own a vineyard.
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p>I mean, seriously, can a sport that uses women drivers, but ones that regularly pose in swimsuits really comment on a race sponsored by a family restaurant?
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p>Much IRL talk about blended reds on those jobsites? Maybe just inside the trailer, huh?
Dario Fanchitti, in his win on the last lap, last race of the season (to clinch the Series Championship) on the last corner (when Scott Dixon ran out of fuel) earned $111,400 for the win at Chicagoland Motor Speedway.
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p>At last weekends Samsung 500 at Texas last place Jeff Gordon (DNF due to crash on lap 129) earned $131,327.
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p>See……. you’ve got to Bribe IRL drivers to go to NASCAR
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p>And BTW way you NASCAR guys stole Jamie Little from the ESPN IRL coverage who as a Pit reporter who knows her stuff on racing but……. (As in check the link), I guess this is why you think Hooters is a family restaurant.
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p>And what’s wrong with Rusty Wallace???
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p>BTW going to the Blogger’s gathering in Lowell? We would raise a few Eyebrows by getting into an animated discussion about IRL vs NASCAR.
What’s wrong with Rusty Wallace? Rusty Wallace, sir, is a dufus. Not that there’s anything wroooong with that.
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p>I actually used to root for Rusty. Good guy. His MGD paint scheme was one of my all-time favorites. Unfortunately, he’s got to bide his time waiting for the annoying D.W. to leave the booth.
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p>Sure the drivers go where the money and fans are. All else being equal, you don’t think most of these guys would rather be racing motocross than NASCAR or IRL?
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p>And if you want real power, speed and danger, you need to hit NHRA. I bet Rusty loves that.
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p>Heck, isn’t IRL only the minor leagues for Formula I anyway? Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Micheal Schumacher. Now those were drivers.
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p>Alas, I am not going to the Blogger’s gathering. But we may cross paths somewhere along the line. Unfortunately it won’t be at NHIS in June. I have a wedding to attend. But I could meet you at the fall race, mabye. We might have more to discuss than you know.
…. Need I say more and they let girls do that also and they are good at it.
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p>Formula one drivers need 14 guys to change a tire and gas up and they would be scarred S***less at oval speeds and the fact that cars actually pass each other on Ovals who are not lapped cars. Besides it was Champ Car that was Formula One Light.
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p>Anyway NHIS in the fall Hmmmmmmmmm. Might be willing to compromise my ethics with a couple of Six Packs of Wachussets Summer Ale.
I read your post and thought to myself, “what a girl.” You really do need to get a grip. This is what happens to former Hillary stalwarts when they embrace the other side for the sake of expediency, and then you want quick gratification for their shiny new candidate. You’re not going to get it. đŸ™‚
… after many years of construction management I had been called every name in the book but…..
I’m speared through the heart Justice, but never the less will remain an unrepentant sinner ;(
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p>BTW Having a good grip is essential to being a successful Racecar driver đŸ™‚
This is fourth quarter, 2 minutes left on the clock time. Eyes on the prize. Get out of the fetal position…and getchya game face on, laddie! No fingers in the ears…no rocking back and forth. No saying “President McCain.” In a few short weeks, come hell or high water, we will have a nominee. Let’s just enjoy an amazing race instead of wishing it over. It may never get this good again.
… comments on “Prove me wrong” and it makes me consider cotton in the ears before the fingers go in.
Most of the more seasoned vets of campaigns get what’s happening. The less seasoned want it now, dammit, and are having tantrums and picking fights. So…relax. Get a new book and a bottle of wine. Take a long soak in the tub. It’s gonna be fine.