February 16,2004

Happy President's Day
 
     I was sitting around with the guys at work Saturday night and we were discussing Valentine's Day. I
was wondering what my chances would be of hooking up once I got out of work. If I was getting out at
midnight, I'd still have a shot, but at 2 AM, even the loneliest hearts probably found someone. My buddy
Chris Bunting (a travel reporter) said nonsense. "You'll meet someone," he said "and because it's so late,
you won't have to try very hard."
So off I went to Social and sure enough, I met someone.
    Here's how it happened. I went and ordered a beer from my buddy Alan (who greeted me by pegging
me with ice) Then I found a little table near the side of the crowded bar. Lo and behold about 10 minutes
later, a young lady came over and started chatting me up. She wanted to know what I was doing there by
myself, and I told her that I just got out of work. Which led to telling her about my job which led to me
listening to her entire life story. At one time, she interned for Channel 5 News, but instead of following
up, she went to work for the United Nations Credit Union. She also told me she was writing a book.
She said she admired me for making a career switch. :O)    
    I don't know that I would have sought the girl myself, but I have to admit I did enjoy talking to her. She
asked for my number and not the other way around. I thought that was really cool. I'm not expecting
anything to come out of it. It was Valentine's Day. I was just looking to strike while the iron was hot.

Yanks get A-Rod.

    There's a lot of angry reaction by Red Sox and my fellow Met fans to the news that the evil Yankee
empire once again stuck it to the Red Sox and Mets by getting Alex Rodrigez from the Texas Rangers.
But I'd ask A-Rod the same question I would have asked him when he signed with the Rangers in the first
place
Can you pitch?
    Because the way I look at it, the Yankees rotation looks like this: Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown, Javier
Vasquez, Jose Contreras, and Jon Lieber. Not exactly the Aces Wild they had back in the late 90's.
Brown, Liber, and Contreras are injury prone, Mussina is either great or terrible, and Vasquez, while
immensely talented hasn't pitched a big game in his life.
    Now lets take a look at that Yankee infield. You have gimpy Jason Giambi at first, unproven Enrique
Wilson at second, overrated fielder Derek Jeter at short and a shortstop in A-Rod at third. Hey, I know
the Yanks are going to score like a million runs, and I have no doubt that they will waltz into the playoffs.
But to me, they look like the New York Rangers, a lot of nice pieces that don't fit the puzzle. The Yanks
of course don't have a dunce like Glen Sather running their bench. But this might be too much for even
Joe Torre to put together.

Bush's Military Service (or lack thereof)

    A lot has been made this week about President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. In a
nutshell, critics are charging that Bush was AWOL for the last few months of service he owed the
National Guard. He had signed up for the Texas Air National Guard in 1968. I can't read his mind, but I
imagine it was to avoid going to Vietnam. (I imagine the Viet Cong had no interest in attacking Houston.)
He then asked to be transferred to Alabama in 1972 so he could work on a senatorial campaign. After an
initial rejection he was allowed to go, but there are questions of whether he actually reported for duty or
not.
    When I was in High School, I had a teacher who bragged about how he beat the draft for Vietnam by a
variety of ways, first by making up stories (ala Klinger from M*A*S*H) then mostly by saying he was a
"Conscientious Objector." A lot of the guys though he was really funny. I thought he was a real p-ssy,
and had to severely bite my tongue to avoid telling him that. I had a tough time listening to this guy talk
about how he made up stories, while my dad, who had a legitimate reason for not going (my granddad
had died in 1965 and dad was the sole male in his family) ended up nearly losing his legs over there.
    But when I'd come home and bitch about it, dad would say "Look, you don't know what you would do
unless you are in that situation. I felt like I had to go, some people felt they couldn't and they made that
decision. I respect that, that takes courage too. And besides it's not for you or me to judge" My father is
one of the most forgiving people that I know of, but I admired him so much more when he said that.
    And since I voted twice for draft dodging Bill Clinton, I can't hold it against Dubya if he joined the
National Guard. My big problem is that when he signed up, there was a list of over 250 men waiting and
he jumped right to the top. That had nothing to do with the fact that his father was a Houston
Congressman now does it?
     Now as far as if he completed his service, my feeling is that this was explored in full back in 2000,
and the conclusion was he did nothing wrong. He wouldn't have received an honorable discharge if he
had gone AWOL. No political privilege buys you that.
    But watching Bush dance around reminds me of how his father badgered Bill Clinton back in 1992
about his draft record. Papa Bush at one point said (and I'm reciting this from memory so the quotes are
not direct)  "You know Governor, I just don't understand why you won't come clean on your draft record,
I mean if you can't be upfront and honest about that, how can the American people trust you."
To which Clinton turned to the camera and replied "Read my lips, no new taxes. Was that being upfront
and honest with the American people?"  Even Ross Perot knew Bush was cooked by then
Clinton won the election by 5,805,444  votes.*

John Kerry meanwhile picked up some more states since our last discussion, however he may be in
some hot water. It could be nothing, but Matt Drudge reported that a former intern who worked for
Kerry may have fled the country at the urging of Kerry. Implications being of course that there was an
extramarital affair of some sort going on there. Kerry who was on with Imus Friday morning said that
there was nothing to talk about. I certainly hope not.

BIG NEWS- Last week, our good friends Mary McGrath and Frankie got engaged. Great news for two
great people. Congratulations, and we can't wait for the wedding!!!!!!

No new stories from me, but I worked on a couple of things, so things are going in the right direction. I'll
keep you all posted. As Alec Baldwin said it Along Came Polly "good things"

Have a Great Week
Wild Bill

* Figures from Encyclpedia Britannica on-line.