Sotomayor's Critics

New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow weighs in, and quite effectively, on the charges of Sonia Sotomayor's racism emanating from the guiding lights of the Republican Party - Gingrich, Limbaugh and Tancredo:

Someone pinch me. I must be dreaming. Some of the same Republicans who have wielded the hot blade of racial divisiveness for years, are now calling Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court nominee, a racist. Oh, the hypocrisy!

The same Newt Gingrich who once said that bilingual education was like teaching “the language of living in a ghetto” tweeted that Sotomayor is a “Latina woman racist.” The same Rush Limbaugh who once told a black caller to “take that bone out of your nose and call me back” called Sotomayor a “reverse racist.” The same Tom Tancredo, a former congressman, who once called Miami, which has a mostly Hispanic population, “a third world country” said that Sotomayor “appears to be a racist.”

This is rich.

Vick's Debt

Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp subscribes to the misguided notion that Michael Vick has not suffered enough for his transgressions and therefore should be prohibited interminably from playing football again in the National Football League:

You cannot escape the premeditated viciousness of Vick torturing and killing animals for a number of years under the guise of an underground business enterprise. It was no accident, no instance of criminally poor judgment. It was a savagely calculated plan.

You cannot forget that. Ever.

But the onus for turning the page rests predominantly on those still outraged over Vick's deeds. They should just "get over it." Let the man live his new life. Let him play NFL football.

But the latter two points are mutually exclusive.

If Vick and his cadre of sycophants still only measure his self-worth as strictly a football player at the outset of his new life, then he's learned nothing from the last two years. There will be no genuine remorse for his actions, only a perceived victim's contempt for his persecutors.

Vick will have every opportunity to show all that he's a new person possessing a new moral compass, but that has absolutely nothing to do with him taking another NFL snap.

There is no denying the heinousness of Vick's actions but, after spending 23 months behind bars and being subjected to public humiliation, he has paid his debt to society and should be allowed to resume his life. And that should also include a return to the NFL, assuming he can still play football at that level.

Harrison's Idiocy

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison has chosen to forgo Barack Obama's invitation to visit the White House for reasons that do not make any sense:

"This is how I feel -- if you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don't win the Super Bowl. As far as I'm concerned, he (Obama) would've invited Arizona if they had won."

Apparently, Harrison does not get the subtle point that only the victors in the Super Bowl are honored with the invitation. Then again, he confirms the observation that athletic prowess should not be confused with the ability to think logically.

Still a Dick

Former vice president Dick Cheney seems to be far more accessible these days since Obama came to office than he was when Dubya was in power. In his most recent appearance on CBS's Face the Nation, the erstwhile chicken hawk - he exhausted multiple deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam - railed against the Obama administration for placing the nation at risk and designated the bubble butt, pill popping Rush Limbaugh his kind of Republican over Colin Powell.

Quarantine

The Kabul Zoo has decided to quarantine the only pig in Afghanistan in reaction to the outbreak of the H1N1 virus (previously known as swine flu). Afghanistan, of course, is a devoutly Muslim country, where pork and related products are banned for religious reasons. Aziz Gul Saqib, the zoo's director, told Reuters: "For now the pig is under quarantine. We built it a room because of swine influenza. We've done this because people are worried about getting the flu." While the pig's treatment might seem to be a bit extreme, it avoided the fate of its cousins in Egypt. There the government ordered the slaughter of about 250,000 pigs inside the country, pigs which would have been eaten by Egypt's Christian minority.

Lunching

Whoever came up with the bright idea of having Obama and Biden do their weekly lunch at "Ray's Hell Burger" should be dismissed. Like the disastrous foray into the bowling alley during the Pennsylvania primary, Obama comes across as stiff and wooden in these settings. Grabbing a bite to eat at a joint located in a strip mall that features food high in caloric intake and low in nutrition is difficult to reconcile with a president known for being extremely particular about what he eats. Which is why Obama's question - "Have you got a spicy mustard or something like that? A Dijon mustard?" - was ridiculous.

Panic Epidemic

At this juncture, the reaction to H1N1 is vastly overblown. For some perspective, keep in mind that 30,000 people in the United States die annually from the seasonal influenza.

Biden's Loquacity

Vice president Joe Biden suffers from a condition known as diarrhea of the mouth - he often puts his mouth in motion before thinking. So it comes as no surprise that he said some pretty idiotic things about swine flu that required the White House and his staff to issue "clarifications" of what he really meant to say.

Space is the Place

Holland Cotter, in Beamed From Tomorrow, writes about an Philadelphia exhibit featuring Sun Ra, the enigmatic bandleader and pianist:

To my ears he was not only a genius composer, keyboardist and bandleader, but also constantly surprising. One minute he’s playing elevator schmaltz; then he’s making you float on air; then he’s making you deaf. I love that he was a sharp dresser, sort of kingly, sort of queenly, in faux leopard-skin capes and miner’s hats with lights.

I also admire him for transcending existential categories. He insisted he hadn’t been born, but always existed, coming to Earth from outer space, specifically the planet Saturn. Like many immigrants, he was self-invented, but radically so. He rejected being black or white or American or even human. He opted for extraterrestrial and wore his otherness like a crown.