Transient Scribe

Washington Wizards for real...

I was busted today.   As I walked into work, the security guy laughed at me.   He took one look at my ball cap and said, "Now you a fan?"  insinuating I was jumping on the Washington Wizards bandwagon. 

Well, he is right.  I am in the tank for the 'Zards, but what is not to like.  They finally have a team worthy to watch and players you actually care about.  How can you not like Antwan Jamison?   Gilbert Arenas might be the best young guard in the league. Larry Hughes defends well and can finish on the break.   Coach Eddie Jordan has a nice young team that should contend for years.  Such a different look from years past when emotional cripples and whining babies wore the Washington uniform.  Please don't tell me Mr. Jordan built this team either...new management did and now they have a chance to contend in a mediocre Eastern Conference.  I predict they win one playoff series this season.   

Q and A Time

Who do I read on a daily basis?  If they are listed on the right hand side of my blog ( scroll down a little) ...I usually read and mention them often.   WSJ, Instapundit, NationalReview are the big ones...RealClearPolitics.  I read the opposition as well...NYTimes and WashPost.    I am a Seattle Mariner fan...so I read the best M's blog...USSMARINER.com.   I need to update my blog list to be sure. 

Why do I blog?  Someone left me this comment the other day after my blitzing of Senator Boxer.   I think they were hoping I would just shut up.  I really like to stay current on news and world events.  I like to blog...though I am a very average writer w/out much time to actually write. 

What do I like to blog about?  Politics, issues of the day, entertainment, sports, all kinds of things.  I really like to photo blog - but have not made that public.

Ben Stein - Who to admire

Renaissance Man - Ben Stein - actor, economist, game show host and columnist writes a very meaningful and heart hitting piece today via National Review online. 

Stein works and interacts with an odd mixture of political and Hollywood types and has come to a few conclusions.  I agree with most of what he says.  Maybe you will too.  Here is a taste below...but read the whole thing.   

Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.

Democrat CrackUp Continues

Please step aside and let the crackup continue...the absolute political "hara-kiri" that is the Democrat Party and its leaders.. is undeniable, unavoidable and inevitable. 

The Weekly Standard's Noemie Emery explains in her prescient column today...

EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN WRONG with the Democrats in the past several years was on vivid display during Hell Week: the teeth-grinding shrillness; the race card, misplayed with such gusto; the self-interest so blatant it defeats its own purpose; the crippling dearth of ideas. With a few brave exceptions (a faction of one named Joe Lieberman), the Democrats split into two major camps: the wingnuts--Dean, Boxer, and Kennedy--who know what they think, which alas sets them at odds with the rest of the country; and the caucus of cowards--Bayh, Edwards, and Kerry--who believe in nothing so much as their own career prospects, and change their minds on the gravest of war and peace issues on the basis of what serves their ends.

"Ray" = 4 Stars

I usually don't do movie reviews.  Hell, I don't have time to watch a movie - let alone pay to see one, but I did have the opportunity to see "Ray" the other night.    Actor Jamie Fox's portrayal of the American Icon Ray Charles was a masterpiece.   Apparently, Director Taylor Hackford had the rights to this film for 15 years waiting for the right actor and time to make this bio-pic.   I can't imagine another actor in this role. 

As for Charles, the man and his music shine through in this roughly two hour film.   The viewer learns where the joy and pain in Charles voice derives from in watching the brilliant and always independent life of Charles.  The film did not shy away from his problems with addiction and serial philandering which leaves one appreciative of the honesty of the script and writers.   (Charles being involved in this process as well). 

The movie also gives provides historical insight on a career spanning five decades...it makes you realize what a figure of Americana Ray Charles really is. 

Watch "Ray" and you will be humming or singing for days...

VDH - The Legend Speaks the Truth

I must admit it...I am in the tank for Victor Davis Hanson.   His comments today further demonstrate his talents at analyzing geopolitical issues and assigning blame and credit where due.  Is there anyone better ?

Please read and comment.   VDH snippet below...

What explains this automatic censure of the United States, Israel, and to a lesser extent the Anglo-democracies of the United Kingdom and Australia? Westernization, coupled with globalization, has created an affluent and leisured elite that now gravitates to universities, the media, bureaucracies, and world organizations, all places where wealth is not created, but analyzed, critiqued, and lavishly spent.