That’s it – I can’t take this crap any longer.
As someone who has followed this issue in a professional capacity for nearly 15 years, I am compelled to weigh in. I have read (and actually own) both Earth in the Balance and An Inconvenient Truth, and I have read numerous scientific studies regarding climate change and the relative influences imparted by both mankind and natural factors.
After careful consideration, I have come to understanding that Albert Gore is one of two things: 1) a well-meaning and earnest, but scientifically (and critically) inept man who has been duped into believing the charade of manmade climate change; or 2) a complete fraud who knowingly and blatantly distorts scientific findings to support a preconceived (and scientifically unsupportable) conclusion for the purpose of achieving radical social change.
If you’d like to read evidence on this, take a look at “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism” by Christopher Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. You’ll have to read past some of the snarky commentary (which becomes a bit tiresome), but if a rhetorical vivisection of AIT and the contrivances used to support the premise of manmade climate change is what you seek, ye shall find it here - replete with copious documentation.
That is all.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Decatur, AL Chamber of Commerce PSA
Relative to my planned trip to Decatur, Alabama next week, JR asked me yesterday whether there was a band of some relevance that Decatur produced. After confirming that R.E.M. was in fact from Athens, Georgia, I wanted to update the discussion.
As best I can tell, no musical group / band of consequence hails from Decatur. However, I thought you might be interested to know that Decatur did produce Mae Jemison (the first black woman in space), famed Disney actor Dean Jones, and San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers. Wikipedia is the bomb.
On the topic of bands that come from towns where my company has power plants, I did confirm that Local H is from Zion, Illinois.
As best I can tell, no musical group / band of consequence hails from Decatur. However, I thought you might be interested to know that Decatur did produce Mae Jemison (the first black woman in space), famed Disney actor Dean Jones, and San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers. Wikipedia is the bomb.
On the topic of bands that come from towns where my company has power plants, I did confirm that Local H is from Zion, Illinois.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Reprise
What we feared the most about Iraq is beginning to become reality, in my view. It is becoming Vietnam for this generation. Despite the best efforts of anyone with the slightest appreciation of why fighting this war the right way and winning it was so critical, it has become what it’s detractors claimed it would be.
Let’s review the players:
Southeast Asia / Indochina – The Middle East
USA – USA
Communist Expansion – Islamo-terrorism
South Vietnam – Iraq
North Vietnam – Iran
Viet Cong – Mahdi Army
Punji Stakes - IEDs
The Ho Chi Minh Trail – The Iranian and Syrian Borders
And, reprising her role from 40 years ago, it’s Jane Fonda, playing the role of anti-war gadfly. Jane joined in with the usual leftist Hollywood crowd (Sarandon, Penn, et al.) to attend and speak at an anti-war rally in Washington D.C. last Saturday. In keeping with the 60’s motif, the rally was complete with anarchist ‘pacifist’ college students who apparently consider spitting on wounded servicemen and defacing government property and landmarks to be an appropriate and considered form of protest and dissent about the direction of our nation's foriegn policy.
I’m waiting for Ms. Fonda to show up for a photo-op at one of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s fancy new uranium enrichment facilities.
We have the grumpy and dissatisfied populace. We have a Congress that has turned on the war - even within the President's own party. Speaking of, we also have a President running the show who, for reasons inexplicable:
- waited for his party to be humiliated in the mid-term elections last November, largely because of his reluctance to act decisively in the management of the war, before deciding to shake things up and really get serious;
- cannot elucidate his vision for this war or its larger implications beyond the next few months aside from the same tired sound bites;
- waited until a completely unfriendly Congress was sworn in before deciding to replace military and civilian leadership, in an effort to get more results;
- waited for 3 ½ years and until after said de-pantsing at the voting booth before bothering to acknowledge that this proxy war is largely being equipped and supported by at least one (if not two) belligerent antagonist neighbor state; and
- continues to try and stay in the middle ground of this issue, neither admitting the unmitigated disaster that this has become and cutting losses nor acknowledging the mess and resolving to commit all (and I mean ALL) necessary resources to win.
Except that this time, it’s worse. In Vietnam, we didn’t really have to worry about the export of communism to our own soil. It was a proxy war with the Soviet Union and China, and we were able to fight it at arm’s length, choosing to sacrifice 58,000 or so of our own as a wager against the Red Menace - a way of taking out our frustrations, I suppose, without having to go "all in" and fire up the nukes.
This time, unfortunately, the stakes are much higher. Because Americans have short memories, delicate sensibilities, an aversion to reality and a fetish with unbridled idealism, we’ve already forgotten about 9-11. We (or some of us) have already given into the idea that perhaps there’s a way to negotiate with the enemy. (Maybe Paris can host again, just for old time's sake.)
It might be different if we made the commitment to seal off our borders and walk away from Iraq – I’d actually be in support of that approach if we actually had the stones to follow through. Yet we don’t have the stones. We won’t follow through on anything, even the security of our own nation and the safety or our children.
One of our pastors made an interesting, insightful and unnerving observation a few weeks ago – he said that if you want to see what America will look like in 10-15 years, look at Europe.
Our future.
This scares the hell out of me. And I don't think we have the courage to do a damned thing about it.
Let’s review the players:
Southeast Asia / Indochina – The Middle East
USA – USA
Communist Expansion – Islamo-terrorism
South Vietnam – Iraq
North Vietnam – Iran
Viet Cong – Mahdi Army
Punji Stakes - IEDs
The Ho Chi Minh Trail – The Iranian and Syrian Borders
And, reprising her role from 40 years ago, it’s Jane Fonda, playing the role of anti-war gadfly. Jane joined in with the usual leftist Hollywood crowd (Sarandon, Penn, et al.) to attend and speak at an anti-war rally in Washington D.C. last Saturday. In keeping with the 60’s motif, the rally was complete with anarchist ‘pacifist’ college students who apparently consider spitting on wounded servicemen and defacing government property and landmarks to be an appropriate and considered form of protest and dissent about the direction of our nation's foriegn policy.
I’m waiting for Ms. Fonda to show up for a photo-op at one of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s fancy new uranium enrichment facilities.
We have the grumpy and dissatisfied populace. We have a Congress that has turned on the war - even within the President's own party. Speaking of, we also have a President running the show who, for reasons inexplicable:
- waited for his party to be humiliated in the mid-term elections last November, largely because of his reluctance to act decisively in the management of the war, before deciding to shake things up and really get serious;
- cannot elucidate his vision for this war or its larger implications beyond the next few months aside from the same tired sound bites;
- waited until a completely unfriendly Congress was sworn in before deciding to replace military and civilian leadership, in an effort to get more results;
- waited for 3 ½ years and until after said de-pantsing at the voting booth before bothering to acknowledge that this proxy war is largely being equipped and supported by at least one (if not two) belligerent antagonist neighbor state; and
- continues to try and stay in the middle ground of this issue, neither admitting the unmitigated disaster that this has become and cutting losses nor acknowledging the mess and resolving to commit all (and I mean ALL) necessary resources to win.
Except that this time, it’s worse. In Vietnam, we didn’t really have to worry about the export of communism to our own soil. It was a proxy war with the Soviet Union and China, and we were able to fight it at arm’s length, choosing to sacrifice 58,000 or so of our own as a wager against the Red Menace - a way of taking out our frustrations, I suppose, without having to go "all in" and fire up the nukes.
This time, unfortunately, the stakes are much higher. Because Americans have short memories, delicate sensibilities, an aversion to reality and a fetish with unbridled idealism, we’ve already forgotten about 9-11. We (or some of us) have already given into the idea that perhaps there’s a way to negotiate with the enemy. (Maybe Paris can host again, just for old time's sake.)
It might be different if we made the commitment to seal off our borders and walk away from Iraq – I’d actually be in support of that approach if we actually had the stones to follow through. Yet we don’t have the stones. We won’t follow through on anything, even the security of our own nation and the safety or our children.
One of our pastors made an interesting, insightful and unnerving observation a few weeks ago – he said that if you want to see what America will look like in 10-15 years, look at Europe.
Our future.
This scares the hell out of me. And I don't think we have the courage to do a damned thing about it.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Sieve
Yet another example (as if you needed more) of why we need to take border security seriously. I won't say 'more' seriously because to use the modifier 'more' would imply that we have established some basic foundation of 'seriousness' in how we treat border security.
Mr. President, I believe it's safe to say that in this context, family values do, in fact, stop at the Rio Grande. That is, unless you consider organized crime, drug trafficking, murder, torture, extorsion, kidnapping, etc. to be emblematic of what our nation stands for.
Mr. President, I believe it's safe to say that in this context, family values do, in fact, stop at the Rio Grande. That is, unless you consider organized crime, drug trafficking, murder, torture, extorsion, kidnapping, etc. to be emblematic of what our nation stands for.
Where He At?
The other day, I received one of those quasi-spam emails from someone. You know, the ones that include links to nice, feel-good stories about our humanity and asks you to pass it along to 10 other people. For some reason, I decided to click the link – Ms. Levander got the same email from someone else at the home email, so we both saw it. Perhaps you also received it – it was a CNN video clip about a young girl who painted images of God. The story is a couple of years old, but bear with me.
Certainly, this doesn’t seem all that significant – we and our kids all have (probably) painted some picture of what God looks like to us. What’s interesting is the fact that this girl (named Akiane Kramarik) is the child of an atheist/non-practicing parents who never mentioned God, who home-schooled, didn’t attend church – basically, there was no discussion or reference to God or opportunity to experience him. A link to the story is provided below.
Youtube Link Here.
A written interview with the same girl and her mother was published on ChristianityToday.com, linked below. Take a read.
Text Link Here.
It’s a really fascinating story of how, in spite of so many obstacles, God’s love managed to break through and touch this girl and help her and her family understand that he is, in fact, real.
But I’m not blogging about this because of Akiane’s story – I’m writing this because of something that we noticed about the differing presentations of the same story from two different resources.
Did you notice it?
In the interview from ChristianityToday.com, Akiane speaks about Jesus Christ, about how he is on her mind and in her words ("I always think about Jesus and talk about Him," she says.), as well as how she searched for a model to assist her in a painting of Jesus. Oddly, however, the CNN story never mentions Jesus. Not a single time, which seems a strange omission given Akiane’s self-described proclivity for thinking & talking about Christ.
Which leads me to the question - where he at?
I’ll preface my comment by clarifying that I wasn’t in the room during either of these interviews, but I’m willing to say that Akiane and/or her mom probably mentioned the name Jesus at least once during the CNN video, considering her statement about Jesus in the ChristianityToday.com interview. That, and the fact that one of Akiane’s signature paintings (“Prince of Peace”) – which was displayed prominently in the CNN video – was undeniably in keeping with our traditional image Jesus.
This begs a number of questions. Why did CNN seemingly scrub references to Jesus Christ out of the interview? Were they attempting to offset their public perception of being unfriendly / indifferent to faith by doing a safe human interest story on God to ‘balance their portfolio’ under the guise of fairness? Were they surprised that Akiane talked about Jesus when they thought they were doing a nice, safe story about just plain ol’ God (the ‘safe’ God, mind you – not that personal God that those Christian nut-jobs prattle on about)? Did someone back in Atlanta tell the producer to tone down the Jesus-talk so as not to offend the delicate sensibilities of the CNN audience?
Curiously, the segment of the CNN video that pertains to the Christ painting is matched with a description of what God looks like, and they clearly don’t match. What’s ironic is that, despite their efforts, it appears that the producers have succeeded in reinforcing one of the primary points that they were attempting to side-step – that God and Jesus are one in the same, and that by engaging God we also engage Jesus Christ.
Certainly, this doesn’t seem all that significant – we and our kids all have (probably) painted some picture of what God looks like to us. What’s interesting is the fact that this girl (named Akiane Kramarik) is the child of an atheist/non-practicing parents who never mentioned God, who home-schooled, didn’t attend church – basically, there was no discussion or reference to God or opportunity to experience him. A link to the story is provided below.
Youtube Link Here.
A written interview with the same girl and her mother was published on ChristianityToday.com, linked below. Take a read.
Text Link Here.
It’s a really fascinating story of how, in spite of so many obstacles, God’s love managed to break through and touch this girl and help her and her family understand that he is, in fact, real.
But I’m not blogging about this because of Akiane’s story – I’m writing this because of something that we noticed about the differing presentations of the same story from two different resources.
Did you notice it?
In the interview from ChristianityToday.com, Akiane speaks about Jesus Christ, about how he is on her mind and in her words ("I always think about Jesus and talk about Him," she says.), as well as how she searched for a model to assist her in a painting of Jesus. Oddly, however, the CNN story never mentions Jesus. Not a single time, which seems a strange omission given Akiane’s self-described proclivity for thinking & talking about Christ.
Which leads me to the question - where he at?
I’ll preface my comment by clarifying that I wasn’t in the room during either of these interviews, but I’m willing to say that Akiane and/or her mom probably mentioned the name Jesus at least once during the CNN video, considering her statement about Jesus in the ChristianityToday.com interview. That, and the fact that one of Akiane’s signature paintings (“Prince of Peace”) – which was displayed prominently in the CNN video – was undeniably in keeping with our traditional image Jesus.
This begs a number of questions. Why did CNN seemingly scrub references to Jesus Christ out of the interview? Were they attempting to offset their public perception of being unfriendly / indifferent to faith by doing a safe human interest story on God to ‘balance their portfolio’ under the guise of fairness? Were they surprised that Akiane talked about Jesus when they thought they were doing a nice, safe story about just plain ol’ God (the ‘safe’ God, mind you – not that personal God that those Christian nut-jobs prattle on about)? Did someone back in Atlanta tell the producer to tone down the Jesus-talk so as not to offend the delicate sensibilities of the CNN audience?
Curiously, the segment of the CNN video that pertains to the Christ painting is matched with a description of what God looks like, and they clearly don’t match. What’s ironic is that, despite their efforts, it appears that the producers have succeeded in reinforcing one of the primary points that they were attempting to side-step – that God and Jesus are one in the same, and that by engaging God we also engage Jesus Christ.
A New Leaf
Levander is turning over a new leaf.
METRO has opened a new Park & Ride near my house, which has presented me with a quandary. The new location is less than two miles from Casa de Williams, so I can make the trip from sitting in my kitchen to sitting on the bus in less than 10 minutes, which improves significantly on my previous pre-commute of about 25 minutes to reach the old lot. All good, right?
Unfortunately, the HOV lane doesn’t extend far enough out to allow my bus to bypass a big chunk of the traffic on 290, so with the new Park & Ride I’m forced to sit on the bus in traffic for 25 minutes or so until it reaches the HOV entrance.
Fork in the road – drive farther and catch the bus that gets right on, or drive less and sit in traffic? Decisions. Choices. Options. Conundrums.
I digress.
Considering the ability to save gas, limit the amount of miles that I put on “Nick” (my kids’ chosen name for the new ride), and the ability to operate “hands-free” for the first half-hour of my daily commute, I’ve elected to stick with the new Park & Ride. The other – and hopefully you’ll agree – significant benefit is that I should have some dedicated time to contribute to the blog. So, in the spirit of the Cingular commercial (excuse the cheese), I’m “raising the bar”. Feel free to groan, roll eyes, etc. I’m hopeful this arrangement will lend itself to more frequent posts, and maybe some that aren’t so cumbersome.
Now if I can just get JR to remember the link to 4conguys. Geez, man.
METRO has opened a new Park & Ride near my house, which has presented me with a quandary. The new location is less than two miles from Casa de Williams, so I can make the trip from sitting in my kitchen to sitting on the bus in less than 10 minutes, which improves significantly on my previous pre-commute of about 25 minutes to reach the old lot. All good, right?
Unfortunately, the HOV lane doesn’t extend far enough out to allow my bus to bypass a big chunk of the traffic on 290, so with the new Park & Ride I’m forced to sit on the bus in traffic for 25 minutes or so until it reaches the HOV entrance.
Fork in the road – drive farther and catch the bus that gets right on, or drive less and sit in traffic? Decisions. Choices. Options. Conundrums.
I digress.
Considering the ability to save gas, limit the amount of miles that I put on “Nick” (my kids’ chosen name for the new ride), and the ability to operate “hands-free” for the first half-hour of my daily commute, I’ve elected to stick with the new Park & Ride. The other – and hopefully you’ll agree – significant benefit is that I should have some dedicated time to contribute to the blog. So, in the spirit of the Cingular commercial (excuse the cheese), I’m “raising the bar”. Feel free to groan, roll eyes, etc. I’m hopeful this arrangement will lend itself to more frequent posts, and maybe some that aren’t so cumbersome.
Now if I can just get JR to remember the link to 4conguys. Geez, man.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Learn Your Place, Missy
Mini-Fidel is at it again.
Hugo Chavez is doing his level- (or flat-) headed best to convert Venezuela into the new and improved Cuba. The Rich Man’s Cuba, I suppose, since Venezuela is blessed with a substantial quantity of petroleum reserves, which gives it substantial (and unfortunate, thanks to our unquenchable jones for oil) leverage to jack with the United States whenever he feels the urge. Hugo is running headlong into reforming the nation into the Western Hemisphere’s next evolution of communist dictatorships – the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (a reference to Simon Bolivar, a Latin American revolutionary who, not coincidentally, focused his ire against the nasty gringo imperialists).
Recently, Hugo’s been given the authority of “rule by decree,” basically making him the sole and unquestioned voice of leadership in Venezuela, and he’s also launched his mission to nationalize various sectors of his nation’s economy ‘for the good of the people’, including specific goals of nationalizing the oil & gas industry, electric power generation, telecommunications, and as recently as last week, the media. This latest stroke of consolidation of government control was marked by Chavez’s refusal to renew the broadcast license of Venezuela’s second-largest news channel - RCTV, which is the nation’s last remaining major opposition news outlet.
Then, just when you think you’ve heard it all from Hugo, he lets fly with another quotable quote, telling us gringos to “go to hell” and further insulting our secretary of state. See the story below.
Hat-tip: Yahoo! News
Through confidential sources, the crack “4conguys Double-Secret Black Ops” team has acquired a secret audio tape of discussions about Sec. Rice from the Presidential Palace in Caracas. Click the link below to listen.
Wow. I guess diplomacy really is still alive and well in Latin America.
Hugo Chavez is doing his level- (or flat-) headed best to convert Venezuela into the new and improved Cuba. The Rich Man’s Cuba, I suppose, since Venezuela is blessed with a substantial quantity of petroleum reserves, which gives it substantial (and unfortunate, thanks to our unquenchable jones for oil) leverage to jack with the United States whenever he feels the urge. Hugo is running headlong into reforming the nation into the Western Hemisphere’s next evolution of communist dictatorships – the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (a reference to Simon Bolivar, a Latin American revolutionary who, not coincidentally, focused his ire against the nasty gringo imperialists).
Recently, Hugo’s been given the authority of “rule by decree,” basically making him the sole and unquestioned voice of leadership in Venezuela, and he’s also launched his mission to nationalize various sectors of his nation’s economy ‘for the good of the people’, including specific goals of nationalizing the oil & gas industry, electric power generation, telecommunications, and as recently as last week, the media. This latest stroke of consolidation of government control was marked by Chavez’s refusal to renew the broadcast license of Venezuela’s second-largest news channel - RCTV, which is the nation’s last remaining major opposition news outlet.
Then, just when you think you’ve heard it all from Hugo, he lets fly with another quotable quote, telling us gringos to “go to hell” and further insulting our secretary of state. See the story below.
Hat-tip: Yahoo! News
Through confidential sources, the crack “4conguys Double-Secret Black Ops” team has acquired a secret audio tape of discussions about Sec. Rice from the Presidential Palace in Caracas. Click the link below to listen.
Wow. I guess diplomacy really is still alive and well in Latin America.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
'Twas the Night Before Christmas - Reloaded
I received this via email this morning from Ms. Levander - it's quite appropriate. Never forget the reason for the Christmas season.
____________________
'Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
Why the Politically Correct Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a "Holiday".
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit,
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod ,
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
But as Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penney's and Sears
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-is-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded.
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Dream Tree"
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday,
Our Country was founded under the Christian way
To our "guests" I can say,
If You don't like it ,
You don't have to stay!!
____________________
'Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
Why the Politically Correct Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a "Holiday".
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit,
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod ,
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
But as Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penney's and Sears
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-is-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded.
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Dream Tree"
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday,
Our Country was founded under the Christian way
To our "guests" I can say,
If You don't like it ,
You don't have to stay!!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
What Were You Thinking?
Sunday’s Titans / Texans game could not have had a more poetic ending if I wrote it myself.
Un-freaking-believable.
Well, unless you’ve actually seen Vince Young lead come-from-behind wins before, as I and a multitude of Longhorn fans have. Like, say, at the Rose Bowl last January, where I was blessed to have witnessed in person one of the greatest college football games of all time. I can’t tell you how many people came up to me after the Rose Bowl and said “yeah, Vince is good and all, but I don’t think he will make it as an NFL quarterback.” Coach Royal has a saying about players with “it”. You can’t coach “it”, you can’t teach “it”, and I can’t tell you what “it” is, but if you understand “it”, you know “it” when you see “it”.
Vince has “it”.
I was listening to 610AM on the way to the Park & Ride on Monday, and Texans fans were in mourning. They know in their hearts that the team completely screwed up by not drafting Vince, and there’s not a thing they can do about it. Take a look at the national sports media scene – the Texans have become the laughing stock of professional sports. EVERYONE is piling on (ESPN, Jim Rome, FOX, The Houston Comical, Al Michaels on the Sunday Night NFL game – the list goes on and on.)
Vince is exactly what this franchise needed, and they blew it. Completely, totally blew it. Even the Texans’ radio team was gushing after the game – Andre Ware was going on and on about him and how VY gets better every time he sees him. This is from a former QB who terrorized the old Southwest Conference with the Run & Shoot and won a Heisman along the way.
I think it represents the low point of the franchise (which is saying a lot). I feel bad for Bob McNair, because I really think he’s trying to build a good team. Gary Kubiak gets some of the blame for this one, but mostly Charlie Casserly gets to own this disaster. Do you know that he was on CBS on 12/3 and had a list of the Top 10 young QBs in the game (with less than 40 starts), and Vince was not on the list.
I’m speechless that this man, who by all accounts was headed out the door based on his disastrous management of personnel during the first four years of the franchise, was allowed to convince the Texans “brain” trust that David Carr was their man and that Vince could not help the team. Utterly speechless. I won’t go so far as to call it a ‘franchise-killing’ mistake, but it’s a franchise-changing mistake, and this blunder has extended the rebuilding and misery for the Texans for years longer than it could (or should) have.
It’s like a slow-motion train wreck that will take 10-12 years to play out, but you know it’s coming and you can’t turn away from it. You know that you could have taken a different track and avoided the accident, but you chose poorly. It’s like that.
It’s still early, but I will go on record as saying that the Texans passing on Vince will rank up there as one of the biggest blunders in the history of professional sports – right up there with the Red Sox trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees and Portland passing over Michael Jordan to pick Sam Bowie. Can you imagine the Rockets without Hakeem Olajuwon? How about the Oilers without Earl Campbell? Neither can I, but we have the next best thing.
This is going to be painful for a while - Kubiak better hope that he can get Troy Smith (he has “it”, too) in the draft next year.
Today's Chronicle has a cartoon that says it all.
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