Ladies and Gentleman, may I present for your listening enjoyment, LOS COLORADOS!!!

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I am Jack’s Self Loathing
By Chris McDonald

Am I the only one that remembers the old Reader’s Digest I Am Joe’s….series? Most people associate the “I am…” educational series with the movie “Fight Club”, as in “I am Jack’s Raging Bile Duct” or “I am Jack’s Cold Sweat” and so on. I am willing to bet that almost everyone who watched that movie would be surprised to learn there really was a monthly series of articles from Reader’s Digest usually having some catchy title like “I am Joe’s Heart”. Or “Liver”. Or “Epiglottis”. You get the idea. I mention this because (1) Fight Club is one of the all time best sports movies (2) I had a title for this article and needed to segue to my real thoughts (3) I love trivia and I like to educate the masses (“ I am Jack’s Over Inflated Sense of Self Importance”).

Anyway, why is Jack full of self loathing? Because Jack is so starved for anything football related. It is pathetic. Placing bets on the local peewee leagues and the high school spring practice games. Do you know how creepy that is? The local police and those nazis at the mom’s club can tell you. I can’t help it. It is summer and I am starved for any news, any rumor, any whiff of faux pigskin that I constantly cruise BOFZ, refreshing the browser every few seconds watching for a new comment or post that might give me my fix. “Hey man, hear anything lately?” “You mean in the last five minutes that you last asked? Yeah, okay, I heard that Gilbert isn’t solid for Texas, he is looking at Notre Dame, how does that float your boat?”. Oh, yeah, that’s the stuff… Now I can post on my blog or mass email the relatives in Idaho the Gilbert rumor and I can, in the internet world, be a demi god of information, one in the know, inflating that already over inflated sense of self importance, you know; a geek. Running through the house in my sweat stained wife beater and jockeys yelling “Honey, honey! Gilbert may not be as locked down as we thought!” Eye rolls…. “I am Jack’s Pathetic Life”.

Well, no more. “I am Jack’s Newly found Sense of Purpose”. No more fingers raw and bleeding from searching the stats of every Eight grade Adonis who might be a projected top 100 in 2014. No more looking for every edge my Horns might have in landing this potential stud. His uncle was once seen wearing a Longhorn T shirt….His dad bought him a pair of white and sort of burnt orange shoes once…His coach attended a Longhorn coaching camp back in ‘’99.…I am done. I am going to go be a productive member of society. Get some sun, work in my overgrown jungle of a yard. Walk with my kids, Vince and what’s her name? Earlene, everyday. Actually talk to my wife about important things. Feed my starving dog. Volunteer at a shelter. Good things. Important things.

And I am starting today. Right now. Right after I check the recruiting forum just one last time….

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You will have to excuse my objection to being talked down to about civility when this clarion call comes from one person who derisively dismisses the concerns of a large segment of his constituency….

this from an “Inside the Beltway” article about a new book about Obama from Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter:

The term “tea-bagger” is like uttering the “n” word, some say. Though he aspires to promote civility, evidence has surfaced that President Obama has added “tea-bagger” to his public lexicon, though it’s considered a cheap and tawdry insult by “tea party” activists. Watchdogs at Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) barked when they saw the proof, tucked in a sneak peak of Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter’s new book, “The Promise: President Obama, Year One,” to be released May 18. Indeed, it appears the president joined certain partisan critics and the liberal media, and took the tea-bag plunge.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/05/strong-brew/

….and from a hack journalist that right under the banner of this glorious call for decorum and respect the editors note states: John P. Avlon is a CNN contributor and a senior political columnist for The Daily Beast. He is the author of the new book, “Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America.”

Obama’s plea for civility is exactly right
By John P. Avlon, CNN Contributor
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is a CNN contributor and a senior political columnist for The Daily Beast. He is the author of the new book, “Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America.”

New York (CNN) — We don’t listen to each other anymore.

It’s not just a complaint in relationships — it’s a fair characterization of the state of our national political debate. The bond between fellow American citizens is being weakened by screaming and suspicion.

That’s why President Obama’s commencement address at the University of Michigan this past weekend is worth contemplating.

It was a call for civility rooted in American history; a challenge to the bitter and predictable partisanship that is afflicting our country. It was a timely reminder that the success of the American experiment depends on every generation being able to reason together in the pursuit of solving our common problems.

“We can’t expect to solve our problems if all we do is tear each other down. You can disagree with a certain policy without demonizing the person who espouses it. You can question somebody’s views and their judgment without questioning their motives or their patriotism. Throwing around phrases like ’socialists’ and ‘Soviet-style takeover’ and ‘fascist’ and ‘right-wing nut’ — that may grab headlines, but it also has the effect of comparing our government, our political opponents, to authoritarian, even murderous regimes.

The hypocrisy is deafening.

Right now, even a speech by the president of the United States is considered suspect by committed partisans — actually listening is not as satisfying as reinforcing a play-to-the-base political narrative.

uh, sorry, Mr. Avlon, this is not a new occurrence as you would have us believe. It is not only happening “right now”, it happened all eight years of the Bush presidency. Remember “Bush lied, people died”? or all the jokes about his speaking ability and intelligence? And the lengths that the media went to to dig up suspect story lines? Remember the non story from Dan Rather that cost Rather his job? Where were you then with your call for civility and respect?

So you can keep your sudden found dismay at the partisanship that seems only to you and the President to have formed since 2008, because America is going to begin to set this ship right come November 2010 and will continue to repair the damage in 2012 and where she will institute real hope and change.

Full article can be found here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/05/04/avlon.obama.civility/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

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