Yu Jewish?

Of all the players in Major League Baseball, one might think that Japanese-born players are the least likely to have any connection to Judaism. There was never any significant Jewish presence on the islands of Japan (in contrast to territories occupied by Japan at various stages, especially during WWII). One could be forgiven for not anticipating a Danny Valencia situation - Cuban father, Jewish mother (go O's). So what are the chances that a player - especially Osaka-born Cy Young favorite like Yu Darvish - might have Jewish roots?

Well it turns out that there might be a chance. Yu Darvish's father is Iranian (which is not surprising if you think about it; dervishes - and that's what the name means - are from the Muslim world). He left Iran in 1977, just before the Revolution. And Alan Brill just posted the portrait of two Teherani Jewish Sufis named Darvish (here's an undated photo of Jewish Darvish family in Teheran).

Before we get carried away, Darvish is a common name among Sufis, Jewish or not. The American analogue might be something like Davis: not uncommon as a Jewish name, but also a pretty common name among gentiles. So Ike is Jewish, but, alas, Crush is not. Besides, if he does not identify as Jewish, then even the patrilinealists would concede that any Jewish roots would be a mere curiosity.

Still might be fun to look into, though.

On following the Orioles in Israel

Gary Rosenblatt's column on four generations of baseball fandom in his family got me thinking: those of us who made aliyah may have similar experiences, but with the added element that we are actually purveyors of this facet of American culture to our kids and, perhaps eventually grandkids.
I posted my thoughts on the Times of Israel and Camden Chat.

Two Articles: One on Modiin and one on Baltimore

A few weeks ago, on the last day of Chanukkah, JID ran an article of mine on ancient and modern Modiin. I relate to Modiin as the Columbia, Maryland of Israel, but then move off of that to discuss a different dimension of my town. The article is here.

Today I posted on a Ravens fan blog, arguing (against conventional wisdom) that Joe Flacco actually played really well against the Texans. It's here.

I hope to post an update on my series about Eastern European rabbis in America this week.

Was Ralph Branca Fasting when he Served Up the Shot Heard Round the World?

The New York Times today reports that Ralph Branca's mother was born a Jew. This might explain why he gave up the infamous homer to Bobby Thompson - October 3, 1951 was, in fact, Tzom Gedalia! (confirmed by HebCal!)
The idea that Branca was fasting was presciently suggested by Rav Aharon Lichtenstein (to R. Binyamin Tabory). I wrote about that here.

News and Notes

1. Some parts of Israel - mainly in the north, around the Kinneret, have now received above-average quantities of rainfall, and some have even exceeded the average for the entire season. The rain is expected to continue at least through the weekend, so more sites will probably pass that threshold. Considering that it didn't really start to rain until December, this is really good news. Israel's meteorological service has a good interactive website here, so you can follow it on your own. This is what you do in a country with a dearth of good sports teams.
2. Regarding the whole Goldstone business, I think it's a marvelous coincidence that the story broke during the parshiyot of Tazria and Metzora. Here you have a man who, in a manner of speaking, spoke "lashon ha-ra" and was consequently cast "mi-chutz la-machaneh." As Rashi points out in Vayikra 14:4, tzara'at is caused by hubris and cured by contrition. I've written before about the "descent" of the tza'ra'at patient from being a person of stature - "adam ki yihyeh be-or besaro" - to being completely identified with his flaw, a metzora, but that this identification is the basis for his purification. It doesn't exactly parallel Goldstone, but if I was giving a drasha this Shabbat, I'd definitely work it in.
3. Speaking of Goldstone, in last year's Purim Shpiel we had a bit where an Emily Litella-type character called for a boycott of Coldstone Creamery in response to the Goldstone Report. Most people didn't get it, but those who did were ROTFL.
4. I can't help but find the Naama Shafir story inspiring. I sympathize with some of the ambivalence raised in this Jewish Press article from 2009, and I'm not sure how I would counsel someone in a similar situation.
5. Apparently, R. Hershel Schachter approves soft matza for Ashkenazim.
6. In this article about Spain's new museums of Jewish heritage, it is asserted that "the effort has left some Jews feeling that Spain is exploiting a history that rightfully belongs to contemporary Spanish Jews, and in the process is relegating a living culture to a museum piece." Who are these offended contemporary Spanish Jews? The local Chabad rabbi, for one. Why does the history belong to him more than a museum? Why does he think what he practices is part of the "living culture" of classical Spanish Jewry?
7. Rabbi Mintz introduced a line of Rabbi Mints. First of all, it's just not all that funny. Good for a Purim shpiel, lame for a product line. Second of all, I'll bet that kiddush club membership in his shul triples this week. Just pop a Rabbi Mint and you can deny, deny, deny.
8. This guy gets his britches in a twist trying to figure out what kind of insanity must be gripping the Russian-American-Jewish community to make them vote Republican. Never mind that Russians are also the most consistently right-wing voters in Israel (a fact that is completely ignored in the article, which asserts that in America they vote Republican because they've got a stronger attachment to Israel; is that also why Russian-Israelis vote for Lieberman, or is this guy just plain missing the boat?) 
9. Go O's.

Negotiations

[I wrote most of this on Erev Yom Kippur, but ran out of time and was unable to post it beforehand]

The parsha of Ki Tavo coincides annually with the second Shabbat before Rosh Hashana. The most prominent feature of the parsha is the blessing and curses that God promises for upholding or failing to uphold the Torah. A superficial look will show quite obviously that the curses, the tokhecha, is much longer than the promised blessings. In fact, there is a general pattern that the warnings against breaching God’s covenant are generally much longer and more detailed than the promises of reward for obedience.

Negotiation is a tricky business. It involves getting two (or more) parties to consent to some kind of mutually beneficial association. In order for negotiations to succeed, the agreement must be in the best interest of each side. The more each party feels that it has no choice but to come to an understanding, the greater the chance that the negotiations will succeed. This is true of any and every negotiation.

As a result, the reward for upholding an agreement should be self-evident – if it were not worth my while to enter into the association, I would not have done so. Sure, there can be incentives along the way, but the real benefit of the agreement should be part and parcel of the agreement itself, not some external sanction or incentive. On the other hand, building sanctions into an agreement can keep each party honest. The greater the penalty for backing out of an agreement, the less likely a party is to have a change of heart and breach the contract. This accounts for the length of the tokhecha as well as the small print on any contract.

Currently, the NFL Players Association and the NFL owners are in the initial stages of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. Though there may be a lockout, everybody knows that the players and owners will eventually come to an agreement. After all, the players and owners desperately need each other. The owners can’t play, the players don’t have the resources to run a team, and the benefit that accrues to both when a team is fielded is way too great for either side to terminate the relationship for any extended period of time.

Contrast that with the current negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The recent articles by Karl Vick and Roger Cohen about whether Israelis are truly invested in the peace process point to a reality that I think is accurate, even if the authors did not necessarily unpack it correctly: Israelis want peace, no doubt. But things are good enough in Israel right now that the incentives offered by peace do not justify the risks that peacemaking entails. Israelis are not desperate for peace, because, frankly, life is pretty darn good without it. And so the price they’re willing to pay for peace is not so high (I’m not judging whether this prevailing attitude is good or bad, or whether it has any bearing on the actual negotiation process, which much address a far more complex reality – those are much longer posts).

This is all by way of introduction to the intense negotiations that Jewish people all over the world will hold with their God over the next day. The primal, mythic core of Yom Kippur is the re-enactment of God’s selection of Israel and His entry into a covenant with them (the most potent symbols of this are the se’ir La-Shem and the second Luchot). Our basis for negotiations (see here) is that our collective relationship with God is akin to that of the players vis-à-vis ownership; we are powerless yet indispensable to His goals (Rav Ezra Bick has a wonderful discussion of this concept here), and He therefore must renew His covenant with us.

Steak n' Slichos

Last night/ this morning, I went with my father and my nephew to Jerusalem for our annual Erev Rosh Hashana 'Steak n' Slichos.' We have a late dinner of entrecote at Vaqueiro. We then head down to the Kotel for selichot at the astronomical midnight. I'll admit that the idea of steak and selichot is an expression of contemporary suburban religious sensibilities - conspicuous consumption followed by a devotional pilgrimage. But I like it.

The Kotel was jam packed, and there was a real diversity there. I happen to love the cacophony of different traditions that you get there. Some find it distracting, and if you're looking for a focused davening, I suggest the Hurva, a few steps away. I like the jumble of Jews trying to outshout each other. Since we got there about a half hour before astronomical midnight, I joined a kumzitz organized by Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi. It was nice to see lots of people stop and join in. It was just. really. nice.

Before descending to (or after ascending from) the Kotel plaza, you can see - it's really quite amazing - the Jewish throngs saying selichot at the Kotel and the Ramadan break-fast celebrations taking place in Silwan, just a few hundred meters away. Looking out over the"Holy Basin" and watching Jews and Muslims observing their religions separately and peacefully, it's easy to forget how many wars have been fought over this very piece of real estate.

Living in Israel, it's impossible to avoid the holiday season. The whole rhythm of life builds up to Rosh Hashana - colleagues and friends send out cards, synagogues have their annual membership drives, schools send home songs and honey dishes, radio stations count down the year's best songs, and journalists review the highlights and lowlights of the past year. In this environment, it is inevitable that we take stock of our lives. My birthday - always a time to review life - falls out on the second day of RH this year, exacerbating my brooding and introspective mood.

I won't share everything I've been taking stock of, but I will share my resolution (kabbalah) for this RH - I will not talk sports in shul anymore. If it seems a bit prosaic, it's because it's manageable. I've begun to feel that the topics of conversation in shul - and not just the bein gavra le-gavra talking - is too shallow. Shul fills an important social role in my life and in the lives of many others, as it should. Talking in shul - not necessarily during davening - is inevitable and even encouraged. I've found that sports have become a sort of "default" - a way to make conversation without really trying to get to know the other person, of "talking without speaking." So if I cut out sports in shul, I expect good things to happen (I'm not in shul now, though, and the O's are beating the Yanks for the second night in a row [UPDATE - Buck-O's win again] - 4 in a row vs. the Yankees and Tampa Bay if they hold on).

Together with you, readers, I look forward to a happy, healthy, and productive 5771. Le-shana tova tikateivu ve-teichateimu.

Amar'e Stoudemire's Views on Israelite Tribes; Now Everyone Can Shut Up

The mainstream media has picked up on Amar'e Stoudemire's claim that his mother is a Hebrew and has run with it. Some are even suggesting that he join the Israeli national team. Everyone can calm down now.

Back in May, Amar'e's Pheonix Suns wore "Los Suns" jerseys to protest the new Arizona immigration law. As part of this show of solidarity, 'Re tweeted: "We support the Latin commuity. They are apart of the 12 tribes of Israel. It 1 Nation under YAH (god). Let's come together. Shalom !! 1love. [sic]" At the time, I came across this article during my wide-ranging researches for JID.


So the new Knick thinks that Latin Americans are part of the 12 Tribes of Israel (technically speaking, he would not consider them Jews, who are members of specifically the tribe of Judah). This belief is weird, but not as uncommon as one might think. In fact, Black Hebrew Israelites, Rastafari, and Mormons all believe that some or all of the the Israelite tribes made their way to the Americas. To be sure, belief that Amerindians are descendants of the Lost Tribes was extremely popular in the 17th century among Europeans and even Jews. Manasseh Ben Israel (the subject of a feature article in Segula last issue) was probably the best-known Jewish proponent of this theory; in his messianic vision, the exile would be complete - and the redemption could begin - only when Israel would be scattered over the entire globe. This was his impetus for petitioning Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell to admit Jews into England, but I digress.


Let us sum up: Stoudemire has apparently adopted some sort of belief in Hebrew roots of some Africans, Latin Americans, or Amerindians. Adherents of these theories probably take such belief seriously, but the rest of the world, including the scientific community, generally relates to it as a bunch of baloney. Yes, it was fun to entertain the idea that Amar'e is fun unzere, but sadly, no. Farmar and Casspi are still the best we've got.

Welcome to Jack (Abramoff) N the (Tov Pizza) Box

If it's true that there's no such thing as bad publicity, then good 'ol Tov Pizza in Baltimore just got more PR than any kosher pizza place in history. Their new hire has made the news EVERYWHERE. I mean everywhere.
It reminds me of the following classic sketch about orders being taken by another famous Jack:

Ridiculous WSJ Article

[Warning: This is so completely different from what I usually post, I even surprised my wife with its randomness]

The WSJ published an article about the most hated teams in baseball, using an algorithm developed by Nielsen Co. According to them, the Yankees are only the fifth most hated team in baseball, which is simply impossible. To demonstrate, I came up with two simple algorithms of my own: the hatred index (HI) and the adjusted hatred index (AHI). The hatred index is the total number of hits in a Google search of ["the hated {team name}" baseball] (the last term would exclude, for example, incidences of "the hated Indians" that refer to Custer's Last Stand or "the hated Reds" that refer to the McCarthy era). The AHI divides the HI by the number of hits generated by ["{city}{team name}"]. Thus, a team that has 10 hates out of 100 total references will have a higher AHI than a team with 1,000 hates out of 1 million total references (.1 to .01). Admittedly it's not perfect or scientific, but I believe that it will yield a fairly accurate view. Now to the stats.
You can see my spreadsheet here. It turns out that the Yankees are only the second most hated team (HI) in MLB - the SF Giants take that title, surprisingly. The Yankees fare even better according to AHI (because of the large number of 'neutral' hits). Perhaps the presence of three rivals (Dodgers, A's, and Yankees from back in the day) and a monstrous scandal contributed to the Giants' poor showing. Teams that are recent expansions or are from the Midwest are the least hated, generally (Chicago excepted, presumably due to the intense internal rivalry), and bad teams tend to not be hated.
Still, I think that something must be wrong if the Yankees do not come out on top. Perhaps I should have searched using "damn" instead of "hated." Also surprisingly, the Rays have such a low AHI due to a very high number of general hits - about three times as many as any other team, for some reason. There must be some reason for that; it's certainly not fan base.

Here's the full listing according to AHI, from most hated to least hated.

Team	HI	HI Rank	AHI	AHI Rank
Giants	42900	1	0.0136	1
Yankees	38500	2	0.005	4
Mets	34500	3	0.0079	2
White Sox	24300	4	0.0062	3
Cubs	18000	5	0.0029	9
Cardinals	17500	6	0.0037	6
Dodgers	14800	7	0.004	5
Braves	14000	8	0.0034	7
Red Sox	12500	9	0.0018	12
Phillies	11000	10	0.0024	11
Rangers	6910	11	0.0031	8
Angels	6020	12	0.0025	10
Twins	2260	13	0.0004	14
Tigers	927	14	0.0002	17
Astros	920	15	0.00029	15
Orioles	878	16	0.00026	16
A's	739	17	0.0011	13
Brewers	703	18	0.0002	18
Indians	490	19	0.00008	19
Reds	312	20	0.000066	22
Mariners	213	21	0.000072	20
Blue Jays	192	22	0.000067	21
Padres	158	23	0.000061	23
Marlins	55	24	0.000021	24
Pirates	37	25	0.000006	27
Rays	31	26	0.000001	30
Nationals	27	27	0.000008	26
Diamondbacks	21	28	0.000009	25
Royals	10	29	0.000004	28
Rockies	6	30	0.000002	29
Copyright 2010 by Elli Fischer/ ADDeRabbi

Sword and Shovel (Me and John Harbaugh)

The fourth chapter of the Book of Nechemiah describes the eponymous character's attempt to complete the fortifications of Jerusalem in the face of opposition from local tribes. Verses 4 and 5 (and possibly 6) describe how the Jews were demoralized and on the verge of despair until Nechemiah created a plan for completing the wall and gave them a pep talk to boost morale.

The basic plan was that Nechemiah divided the people into two groups, a work detail and a security detail. The security detail was stationed around the wall, and the work detail all carried weapons with them in addition to their work tools. Nehemiah then equipped the defenders with horns, so that if there was trouble the workers could swarm to the point of attack.

When I podcasted this chapter for the OU Nach Yomi program over the summer, I described this strategy as being "similar to the Baltimore Ravens' defense" (you can listen to the pocast; the reference appears in minute 9 and the beginning of minute 10 of the podcast).

Here's where it gets eerie. Last week, after locking up a playoff berth, Ravens' Coach John Harbaugh gave a pep talk where he explicitly referenced that chapter in Nechemiah. He even brought out props - a sword and a shovel - to emphasize the point that they had to continue working while suffering the barbs of the naysayers. Here's a video of the pep talk:

.

I doubt that John Harbaugh or anyone else in the Ravens' locker room listened to the Nach Yomi podcast. At the same time, I thought it was pretty cool that I referred to the Ravens' when describing a passage in Nechemiah, and that the Ravens' coach referred to the same passage when talking about what his team faced. A marvellous coincidence.

The type of defense that I described in the podcast was on full display yesterday: swarming to the ball at the moment of attack, forcing short gains, lost yardage, incompletions, and interceptions.
[I doubt that Harbs was trying to make a political statement about the status of Jerusalem and the resilience of the contemporary bearers of "sword and shovel", but there's that as well.]

Harbaugh explains his Nechemiah 'drasha' just after the 1-minute mark of this press conference:
 

Go Ravens!

Notes from the First Day in the Alter Heim

we're back in the US for a good chunk of the summer. We'll be in the DC area for the next few weeks (let us know if you're in the area and want to get together) before heading up to camp. The rebbetzin has a few teaching engagements lined up in Baltimore and DC.

Although I normally like having the opportunity of listening to regular MLB night games. Last night, the combination of jetlag and disappointment had me turning it off in the 4th inning, with the Sox up 6-1 and threatening to run up the score. What a mistake!

The rental car comes equipped with Sirius satellite radio. I found some stations with music from the 80s and 90s - amongst the first few song I heard were People are People (Depeche Mode), Welcome to the Jungle (GNR), and Mysterious Ways (U2). Needless to say, they're now pre-set and I'm trying to figure out how to get this set up in Israel.

The woman behind the service desk at the airport (I will not provide any more detail, though it should be fairly obvious that this took place at BWI) had a name tag that said LEWQUANDIS. And she wasn't even that talkative.

Media Hound

I've been quoted in the English Haaretz twice in the past week, but in very different types of articles.
One it here.
The other is here.

Me & the Prez

I filled out 3 different NCAA brackets this year. One is the "main one" - the one I have the most 'incentive' to win.
The amazing thing is this:
I picked the same champion, finalists, Final Four, and Elite Eight as President Obama.
So far, all eight are still in (only 2 of my Sweet Sixteen teams have lost so far).

Some Questions that have been Bugging Me?

1)If the Academy of the Hebrew Language (Akademia le-Lashon ha-Ivrit) is so good at coming up with new Hebrew words for nearly any development (amongst the new ones are 'zamrir' for 'jingle', 'samlil' for logo', and 'le-masrer' for 'to send a text message'), why could they not come up with something better than "Akademia" for "Academy"?

2) Why is the NFC championship game, which will be played on the West Coast, starting at 3pm, while the AFC championship game, which will be played on the East Coast, starting at 6:30pm?

Whatever. It's all a mystery. Go Ravens.

Ah, Sunday

The wife and kids were off today for Chanukah vacation so I took off as well. We woke up late, went on a short hike about a 5 minute drive from our home where we visited the ruins of a Byzantine church and two agricultural villages - one from the Byzantine era and one from more recently (the ruins were about 60 year sold or so). The landmarks can be seen just below the border of modern Modiin on this map - look for Haditheh and Baweirah. We live just at the corner of modern MOdiin, near the box marked Umm al Umdan.

After the excursion, we went to the supermarket to pick up a particular gift that will be presented later tonight, but also treated ourselves to sufganiyot.

Then we went to watch my nephew's Little League baseball game - his team, from Hashmonaim, played against the team from Modiin; the epic Chanukah battle ended in a 9-9 tie.

After we finish bathing and lighting, we will be headed to my folks' home for our annual Chanukah shindig with the extended family.

The night will conclude with that traditional combination of beer and foootball, and I will probably be up late watching the Ravens game (unless the Patriots lose the early game; even if they win, I don't want to hear any Pts fans whining. They had a softball schedule, playing a full 8 games against the AFC and NFC west).

Sundays happen so infrequently here, but when they do present themselves, they are truly enjoyable. So enjoy this happy conflation of Chanukah, Rosh Chodesh, and Sunday!

Kind of makes you forget that a war just started here...

Orioles Magic 2008

Sweeping the Sox? Are you kidding?
This is fun. It's not like the playoff teams from the mid-1990s which were basically hired guns. These guys are fun (as this great video demonstrates).

I came up with some nicknames for current players:
Freddy "One Ring To" Bynum
Dave "Fear And" Trembley
Jay "Make 'Em" Payton

I also had to add this other one, for the LA Angels' third base coach:
Dino "Evil Hear No" Ebel

Baseball Season

This year, I sprung for MLB's GameDay Audio. For 15 bucks, I can listen to ball games while I work. I love listening to baseball on radio. That was my childhood.

It's also nice that the Birds are playing well so far. I'd be shocked if it lasted, but it's been fun, and today's comeback was pretty thrilling.

Here's my question, though. I've suspected for a while that Dennis Sarfate is Jewish. His last name is pronounced the way a Sephardi would pronounce צרפתי. Anyone know anything about this, one way or the other? I'm awfully curious. Who was the last Jewish 0? John Lowenstein?

The Joys of Public Transportation

Think about all of those great stories which record conversations that various gedolim had with maskilim, freethinkers, of other erstwhile evildoers. There's a common denominator; they inevitably take place on some form of public transportation - a train, an airplane, etc. Why? I think it's because that would be the most likely venue for such a conversation to take place on equal footing, if at all. Where else would Reb Chaim be conversing with a Christian missionary, or Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky with an evolutionary biologist? You simply don't experience a small cross-section of society in an environment that is conducive to conversation, except under rare circumstances. Public transportation is such a circumstance. There's really nothing like it.

I often ride the #32 bus in Jerusalem. This bus originates in Gilo, where I work, and runs through the center of town before continuing to Ramot. I sometimes ride that bus from beginning to end, because it's often easier to catch a bus to Modiin from Ramot. The clientele of this bus shifts as it travels through the various neighborhoods. Gilo is largely traditional Sephardic, the center of town is a complete mixed bag, and Ramot is heavily Chareidi. Since it goes pretty much directly from the Central Bus Station to Ramot, it gets pretty full during peak hours - rush hour and when schools let out. Since I'm on the bus from the beginning of the route, I always get a seat.

A few weeks ago on a Sunday night, I was sitting on the #32, with a seat open next to me and 2 seats open across from me. At some point, 2 chareidi women, I'd estimate their ages to be about 45 for the one and 60 for the other, occupied the adjacent seat and one of the opposing seats. They began conversing in English. The older one began to complain that she wished she could relax in front of the TV that evening, but that there was nothing good on. At this point, I piped up that, in fact, it was Week 17 of the NFL and there would be some games with playoff implications beginning at 8pm, Israel Time. She countered that she's not much of a football fan, and would much prefer to watch basketball. She said that football was too violent for her - she had no interest in watching very large men beat each other up. I sympathized.

At this point, another woman, clearly chareidi, jumped into the conversation. She had been standing in the aisle, wearing a blonde sheitl and looking very pregnant. She offered that she would love to watch a football game as she was a native of Green Bay, Wisconsin. I was floored. I said that I didn;t think I had ever met anyone from Green Bay; in fact, I had no idea that there were any Jews in Green Bay, or any people, for that matter. After all, there are not even enough Green Bay residents to fill Lambeau Field (though they have no problem filling it with 'out-of-towners'). She had been to Lambeau in the winter, in the frigid climate that makes it one of the toughest places for a visiting team (at the New York Giants will probably find out this Sunday). Who'd have guessed.

The conversation then shifted to a discussion of how things had changed in Israel over the years - my 15 years being here on and off (I've been here for 9 of the last 15 years) being no match for their 25 and 35 years, respectively. We actually even discussed the phenomenon of separate-seating buses, agreeing that it's generally superfluous. They liked my story about my sister who, 8 months pregnant, refused to give up her seat on a Superbus in Kiryat Sefer to a man, and my subsequent dubbing her as 'the chareidi Rosa Parks'.

Indeed, if all buses were separate, how would some chareidi youngster have been able to offer his apple to a scantily clad young woman? How would the Chofetz Chaim have taught us not to speak leshon ho-ra about ourselves? Most importantly, how would I have known that a chareidi mother in Ramot will, this weekend, be trading her blonde sheitl in for a hat shaped like a block of cheese as she cheers on Brett Favre?

Why I Wouldn't Vote for Hillary

As the 2008 presidential campaign heats up, I'd like to stick in my two cents (by the way, I think that Americans can weigh in on Israeli politics, too; I'm not one of those 'If you don't live here, you can't have an opinion' folks).

I'd like to see McCain become president. Giuliani would be my second choice. Amongst the Democratic candidates, I prefer Barack over the others. Don't press me for why; some candidates I just don't like, and others I just like. I guess I look for people who are 'real', and not just talking heads.

And then there's love-her-or-hate-her Hillary. I'm no fan of Bill, but one thing that Hillary said during her senatorial campaign which just totally summed up why I can't stomach her. She was asked whether she's a Yankee fan or a Met fan.

Before getting to her answer, some background: I hate the Yankees. I'm from Baltimore. My wife's from Boston. Before we decided which teams we'd encourage the kids to root for, we agreed that they'd be Yankee haters. Nevertheless, I can understand and respect that a New Yorker would be a Yankee fan (a non-New Yorker Yankee fan is a tail-rider, AFAIC). I have more respect for Met fans, because they choose to stick with a team that's the local underdog.

Back to Hillary's answer: "I like them both". No. You're not allowed to say that. You can't like them both. Clearly, she felt that she didn't want to alienate the fans of one team by saying she supports the other. See, but that's the point. She's a phony. She said what she thought would be politically expedient, not what she believes. I'm not so fickle a person that I wouldn't vote for Giuliani because he roots for a team I hate. He has his preference, and he doesn't try to hide it. He wears his Yankee cap everywhere and attends games. Had Hillary said "Gee, y'know, I really don't follow baseball much", I'd have understood and respected that. Not everyone's a baseball fan. But she didn't say that. She tried to please them all by, for lack of a better term, lying. I understand that politicians often must do this, but when it's so pervasive that it even extends to fundamentally trivial matters, it becomes abhorrent.