The nation's capital is enjoying its first taste of playoff baseball in 79 years. But that could all come to a screeching halt now that the team faces a do-or-die elimination game against the St. Louis Cardinals tomorrow night.
Of course, the first question that comes up if you're a Nats fan is, "Would things be different if Stephen Strasburg was allowed to pitch?"
Strasburg, the 2009 #1 draft pick and the best Nats pitcher by a lot, was shut down in the regular season by team General Manager Mike Rizzo after pitching nearly 160 innings this year. The Nationals want to be very careful with their prized pitcher who is coming off major arm surgery.
As Rizzo said, "We'll be back, and doing this a couple more times.''
But will they? There are no guarantees in sports. Injuries happen. Overachievers regress. Opponents figure out your weaknesses. Why wouldn't the Nats put themselves in the best position to win when given the chance?
Many baseball fans say the Washington Nationals deliberately left their best stuff at home. It's not unlike the criticism President Obama received for not taking it to Mitt Romney (or talking up his own achievements) in their first debate meeting.
President Obama says it was a bad night and he's moving on to the next game. His supporters are hoping he's right.
The Washington Nationals are maintaining a similar mindset. They displayed a clear-headed focus tonight with a dramatic 9th inning victory. But win or lose tomorrow, the players and staff will always have to wonder if they would have been better off getting the job done by using their best weapon.
What do you think? Can the Nationals stay in the playoff hunt without their best pitcher?
Barack Obama told the United Nations General Assembly today that the United States will "do what we must" to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.
The president also said that while there was still time for a diplomatic solution to the crisis that "time is not unlimited."
Amid mounting tensions over Iran's nuclear program and talk of a military strike by Israel on Iran, Obama has refused demands from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to set an explicit "red line" for Tehran.
Netanyahu has shown growing impatience over Obama's entreaties to hold off on attacking Iran's nuclear sites to give sanctions and diplomacy more time to work.
President Obama's campaign has just released excerpts from his acceptance speech, to be delivered tonight at the Democratic National Convention.
The excerpts offer a preview of the pitch the president plans to make to the American people.
Here's some of them:
"When all is said and done - when you pick up that ballot to vote - you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. Over the next few years, big decisions will be made in Washington, on jobs and the economy; taxes and deficits; energy and education; war and peace - decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and our children's lives for decades to come."
"I won't pretend the path I'm offering is quick or easy. I never have. You didn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth. And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades. It will require common effort, shared responsibility, and the kind of bold, persistent experimentation that Franklin Roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one. And by the way - those of us who carry on his party's legacy should remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government program or dictate from Washington."
"But know this, America: Our problems can be solved. Our challenges can be met. The path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place. And I'm asking you to choose that future. I'm asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country - goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security, and the deficit; a real, achievable plan that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity, and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation. That's what we can do in the next four years, and that's why I'm running for a second term as President of the United States."
"Somewhere in Kenya a village is missing its idiot."
That's how an anti-President Barack Obama billboard reads in Hanson, Massachusetts, at Sullivans Inc., a motorcycle accessories distributor located at at 121 Franklin St.
"Obama One Big Ass Mistake America, Vote Mitt Romney for 2012!," the billboard continues.
Two images of the hammer and sickle, symbolic of communism, are shown on Obama’s shirt collar.
Do you think that's bad? Hold on.
A second billboard a few feet away depicts a young girl flipping the bird.
“Thanks Obama," The billboard reads. "You’ve spent my lunch money, my allowance, my inheritance, 35 years of future paychecks and my retirement. You Jerk."
Many in this small town of about 10,000 about 18 miles southeast of Boston are shocked.
Building commissioner and zoning enforcement officer Robert P. Curran says the billboards violate town bylaws.
Robert Sullivan, the business owner, refused to comment.
Sullivan’s attorney, Roger S. Davis, cites free speech provisions of the U.S. Constitution when asked about the signs.
Unfortunately, this form of "free speech" appears to becoming a trend.
As we reported 16 days ago, a Tea Party-sponsored billboard in Elkhart, Indiana, tacitly equated President Barack Obama with Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader who was killed last year at the hands of Navy SEALs on orders from the president.
The site, known as "the front page of the Internet," is well-known for the feature, which allows users the opportunity to interact with a host of interesting individuals.
Within minutes, as the news that the commander-in-chief was taking questions spread, the thread jumped from 1,000 to 12,000 users and seemed to momentarily crash the site's servers.
President Obama answered a variety of questions. Considering the medium, he was asked quite a few about protecting Internet freedom. Here's what he had to say:
President Obama also talked about the potential for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizen's United:
The most difficult decision he's had to make this term:
Finally, he gave us all hope that we might get the chance to try the White House beer:
With Olympic coverage coming out of London we’ve all had to keep our eyes out for spoiler alerts before the events actually air. Keeping in the spirit of that, we here at The Ed Show want to bring you our own version of a spoiler alert.
The background: a major fire broke out at a Chevron refinery in California on Monday, which forced the plant to shut down production. Now this is one of the largest refineries in the country—it produces about 150,000 barrels of gasoline a day, or 16 percent of the region’s daily gasoline consumption.
The fire, which took over a day to get under control, has limited the region’s already-low inventory and experts are projecting that it could raise gas prices in the state by as much as 50 cents a gallon.
We’re all familiar with the “gas wars” raging over on Fox News. There’s been a lull since gas prices went down due to a lack of demand. Well, Fox now has the (literal) fire to re-ignite the war. We thought we’d give you a preview of the coming storm so you don’t actually have to wait for it all to unfold.
If you don’t want to hear the results of the inevitable, fabricated, faux-outrage driven, entirely nonsensical, President Obama-blaming, seige on the American people’s wallet, latest edition of the Gas Price War--- you should not click on. Consider yourself warned.
Here’s how we think it will play out: first, they get an expert on gas prices. Stuart Varney, we’re looking at you! Not actually an expert on gas prices? No problem! They’ll be throwing you softballs.
Now, Stuart (or whichever “expert” they can grab off the street) will tell us that, while he can’t confirm anything, there are DEFINITELY “rumors” floating around that regulations put in place by the Obama administration are to blame. “These poor, selfless, already over-regulated refineries, just couldn’t handle the newest regulations.”
Basically, somehow, the “undue burden” of regulations created the conditions that caused the fire. Exactly how that “cause and effect” came to be, they won’t explain—but! they’ll tease that the answers will be revealed in some upcoming segment that never actually airs.
Next: spiffy graphics and leading questions. Political analysts will discuss all of this under headlines like “Did over-regulation cause the fire?” “Will the gas price spike help Obama win in November?” “How will Obama use California gas prices to his advantage?” And we’re sure a ton of others that we, here at The Ed Show, can’t come up with because we happen to live in the world of reality.
Those political analysts will speculate— about secret meetings between President Obama and his czars (you know the czars) about how to sabotage the gas and oil industry. And while they’ll have no way to actually confirm the content of those meetings they can assume it was someone who hates America and gas and oil and apple pie and maybe even their own mom.
Whoever it was, they secretly plotted to have a major refinery catch fire because OBVIOUSLY (by the way, does sarcasm translate through blog posts?) this is the way to win California in November (which a Democrat hasn’t lost in 24 years) and this is simply another atrocity in the dirty campaign Obama is running to divide America.
Last, but not least: Fox will find a way to spin this into yet another casualty of the Obama administration’s refusal to allow oil and gas companies to DRILL BABY DRILL. Never mind the pesky fact that drilling and production is at an all-time high. Never mind the fact that even if you opened up the entire country to drilling and exploration and gave it all to these poor oil companies free of charge, we still only have 2 percent of the world’s (known) oil.
Never mind that even if we sucked all the oil out of the ground tomorrow and made the oil companies (that benefit from our tax dollars through subsidies that Republicans INSIST they must have, despite the fact that no industry has ever been as profitable IN THE HISTORY OF EVER) even richer than they already are, that they would just put it on the world market and screw the American people anyway. Never mind all that.
So, there you have it. Realistically, we probably didn’t have to even put up a spoiler alert. We’re looking at the same playbook of all previous Fox News Gas Wars. Fox News will always find a new non-existent controversy to direct their pearl-clutching, faux outrage at.
We’ll never get the answers to those burning questions that they raise-- the ones that caused their viewers to lose sleep at night because they’re so angry at America’s first black president for causing this mess for the poor, hungry-feeding, homeless-sheltering, sick-comforting, oil and gas companies who take such good care of us Americans.
P.S. Don’t forget that it was somehow the gays, athiests, secular-humanists, Christmas-haters, liberals, progressives, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, socialism, dictatorial presidency, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who are responsible. How, you ask? We don’t know, but they are all available to fit into the grand conspiracy somehow.
In an exclusive interview with The Ed Show’s Michael Eric Dyson on Friday, legendary rapper Nas discussed the state of hip-hop, Occupy Wall Street, racism and his thoughts on the President’s job performance. His recently released 10th album, “Life is Good,” topped the Billboard’s 200 chart. It’s his sixth No. 1 album.
Dyson asked Nas how he thinks Obama has done so far.
“I think he’s still that guy who cares about this country. And cares about the people in this country," he said. "He just stepped up into the biggest job in this country…he has a big job. I salute him for taking that job, but now he’s gotta handle it."
“So far, I’m still at the edge of my seat waiting. And it’s coming to that moment where there’s another election coming up and I’m still waiting to see what happens and how he handles his handle. That’s basically where I’m at,” he said. “Of course, we’re still in a messed up place economically. That’s not his fault, can’t blame that on him, but something needs to happen.”
Nas is no stranger to the world of political punditry. In a now-famous feud with Bill O’Reilly after the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007, O’Reilly called him a “gangster rapper who trades in violence.”
Nas responded, “He’s a racist. Everybody has a marketing plan; his marketing plan is racism…the people he represents are Republican, older, a generation that has nothing to do with the reality of what’s happening now with my generation.”
After Hurricane Katrina, Nas joined forces with Colorofchange.org and brought a petition against Fox News protesting the network’s allegedly racist portrayal of the Obama family.
Dyson asked the rapper if he’s seen any positive change since then. Nas said there’s still a lot of arrogance and ignorance, still a great need for change – but he’ll be on the front lines and ready to help:
“It was a great thing to see Barack Obama come into office when he did come into office, and before he got there just all the hate, I couldn’t take it. I mean, I’d do it again. The minute I see too much ignorance coming out of these people, these ignorant people, I’m stepping up again. I have a voice, and I’ma be heard.”
President Obama called Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan on his way to Palm Beach International Airport in Florida, following the tragic shootings that left 59 injured and 12 dead.
Pete Souza, Official White House photo
Kathryn Ruemmler, Counsel to the President, and FBI Director Robert Mueller speak with President Obama and VP Biden in the Oval Office
Upon arriving back at the White House he sat down with senior advisors in the Oval Office to discuss the events.
In the aftermath of the shootings, both President Obama and Mitt Romney are pulling ads off the air in Colorado. Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: “We have asked affiliates to pull down our contrast advertising for the time being. It takes time for stations to be able to do this, but we are making every effort.” They later clarified that they were pulling down all advertising, not just the negative.
President Barack Obama takes a moment of silence for the events in Colorado during a campaign stop in Fort Myers, Florida.
HONORING THE VICTIMS OF THE TRAGEDY IN AURORA, COLORADO
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on July 20, 2012, in Aurora, Colorado, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, July 25, 2012. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.
Every U.S. president has endured hecklers, harsh criticism and crude jokes at their expense. But in light of Friday’s incident in the Rose Garden, where Daily Caller reporter Neil Munro shouted questions at Obama as he was trying to explain his new immigration policy, Michael Eric Dyson was compelled to ask The Ed Show audience: is this part of a larger issue?
Citing several recent incidents, including Jan Brewer wagging her finger in the president’s face, racially-tinged language from the Tea Party, and Congressman Joe Wilson screaming "you lie" in the middle of a health care address, Dyson asked Politico’s Joe Williams if this is just plain old disrespect, or if these types of episodes have even more disturbing roots.
“I’ve got to ask the question here,” Dyson said. “Does this have anything to do with the fact that this is the nation’s first black president and the level of disrespect is alarming and stunning?”
Williams said he’s concerned about the pattern he sees unfolding:
“It’s very difficult to place race outside of this context. Mostly because a lot of the interruptions, a lot of the disrespect has been unprecedented. We haven’t seen anything like this before. A lot of people will suggest that it’s because the Republican Party has moved so far to the right that they’re willing to do things that were unthinkable. But certainly in my experience, it’s hard to divorce that because this president doesn’t look like the others, and not only do we have a lot of these sort of interruptions, and disrespect towards the office, in more than my view. I mean, many people in the Twittersphere and a lot of practicing journalists were aghast at what had happened.”
Daily Caller editor in chief Tucker Carlson defended his reporter, saying Munro was just doing his job. "A reporter’s job is to ask questions and get answers," he said, adding "We're proud of Neil Munro."
Columbia University professor Frederick Harris believes President Obama has all but abandoned the African-American community.
He debated his point with Dr. James Peterson, Director of Africana Studies and Associate Professor of English at Lehigh University, and Michael Eric Dyson on last night's show.
President Barack Obama says November's election will give voters the chance to break a stalemate about America's direction.
Obama said at a campaign speech today in Cleveland that his race against Republican Mitt Romney will present a choice "between two fundamentally different visions" about how to grow the economy, create jobs for the middle class and pay down the nation's debt.
Romney, also in battleground Ohio today, denounced Obama's economic stimulus plan, saying in a Cincinnati speech that Obama is "long on words and short on action" when it comes to fixing the economy.
Watch the video and compare:
Mitt Romney, the GOP presumptive presidential candidate, attacks President Obama on what he says has been three and a half years of inaction on jobs and the economy.
