Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 133

On Politics
In the past month, Rick Santorum lead in the state he served as senator, has gone from +30 to +2.

Delusional? “We are reorganizing to execute the strategy we need to win the nomination.” (Joe DeSantis, Communications Director of the Newt Gingrich Campaign after the campaign lay-offs staff)

While in Cincinnati, Karl Rove (a Republican strategist) recently proclaimed President Obama “the most vulnerable Democratic president since Jimmy Carter.” Brilliant for the partisans, but weak for the pragmatic because President Obama is the second Democratic president since President Carter.

A quote by me on another blog, “Contradictions and politicians are a better match of words than macaroni and cheese.”

If there was ever a time to broadcast the US Supreme Court, the latest healthcare hearings was it. The Court’s decision to deny broadcast has nothing to do with tradition, privacy, or obstruction. After all, there was a time when the justices rode a horse to their job. (Thank you CNN viewer for the line.)

As Reuters reports two-thirds of Americans are unhappy how President Obama is handling something he cannot control, I say a high majority of that two-thirds needs to be educated about the factors depending gas prices.

Does anyone think that the US Supreme Court Justices haven’t already made up their mind before hearing the presentations about the Affordable Care Act?

On Headlines from The Onion
Small Town Mayor Steps Down Amidst Scandal over Forged Coupon
Procrastinating Catholic 20 Rosaries Behind
Jeff Beck Lured into Dark Alley with Old-Guitar-Pick-on-a-String Trick
Boss’s Going Away Party a Little Too Jubilant
Man Died in Sleep During Terrible Nightmare
Closing of State Aviary Facilities Puts Hundred of Mentally Ill Birds on the Streets

Interesting Reads
John Avlon about the Right and the Mandate
The Foulness of the “Activist Judges” Cry
Michel Tomasky on the Freedom Fetish
Thomas Friedman about Mid-East Policy
Kathleen Parker on Moderation

On Sports
Baseball season is about to start. Ah yes, I remember the days when Major League Baseball respected and honored Cincinnati with the traditional opener. Meanwhile, there is nothing like Opening Day in Cincinnati, which is this April 5th.

In the spirit of college basketball’s Final Four weekend, I propose that college who recruit a player and then that player leaves after one year, the college loses that scholarship for 3 years (and a similar progression for year 2). Oh I forgot that NCAA leadership are eunuchs and at least as bad as, and possibly worse, than Congress.

On Potpourri

Jonas Salk tested his polio vaccine on himself and his own family. It’s fun imagining what the FDA might make of that today. But Salk’s selflessness was genuine. For one thing, neither he, nor Albert Sabin, who developed the oral version of the vaccine, ever even patented their inventions.

But Jonas Salk was not some absent-minded science nerd. He had originally gone to college to study law, and what he cared about most intensely was his fellow man. In a 1991 interview, four years before he died, Salk explained that as a young man he was never drawn to science, per se. “I was merely interested in things human, the human side of nature, if you like,” he said. “That’s what motivates me. And, in a way, it’s the human dimension that has intrigued me.” (Carl Cannon, Editor, Real Clear Politics)

The latest sensation from Britain’s Got Talent brought a tear to my eye.

Congratulations Starla for being the 9000th comment on this blog (earlier this week).

I will have a post on Saturday.

I think the video below will send you into the weekend with a smile. Have a good weekend everyone, and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.