March 22, 2004

Good Monday Afternoon
   
    We had our baseball draft Friday night. I was so psyched to be sitting in a room full of guys blurting
out the word "dick" about 1000 times. Drafting my team which will no doubt finish near the bottom of the
standings.
    In all seriousness, draft night was cool. And I think I have a halfway decent team. I like my pitching
and I have some solid if unspectacular hitting. I went against my better judgment and drafted Barry
Bonds (violating my "no a$$hole rule") The good news for all my fellow Bonds haters is that now that
he's on my team, he'll become the washed up 39 year old I've wanted him to become the last couple of
years.

Richard Clarke's Allegations
    Richard Clarke, a former counterterrorism advisor to President Bush, went on 60 Minutes Sunday and
claimed that the President was so focused on toppling Saddam Hussein, that he ignored all warnings
about the threat that Al-Qaeda posed to America. Plus after 9/11, he claims that Bush insisted that Clarke
pour through intelligence looking for any connection between the attacks and Saddam, even after it had
become clear that there was no such connection.
    If what this guy is saying is true, especially the parts where Bush's people diminished the Al-Qaeda
threat as small, then I have to rethink my positions on 9/11. I always said that Bill Clinton bared most of
the blame. After all logic would dictate that he had 8 years to do what Bush was only given 8 months to
do. But if Bush was so focused on avenging his father and put Al-Qaeda on the backburner back in
2001, then this past year will be the second time he did that. And Bush's people had the nerve to call
Clinton's pardoning of Marc Rich an "abuse of power"? You don't get more abusive of Presidential
power than putting your people's lives at risk to settle a personal score.
NCAA Tournament

    I went 25-7 in the first round which usually puts you in the middle of the pack and if you have your
Final Four intact means you still have a shot. And going into Sunday's last game, 3 of my 4 teams
(UCONN, Texas, and Oklahoma St.) were still alive.
    But my 4th team (Kentucky) went on to lose to UAB. When I checked my brackets, I only had 7 teams
in the Sweet 16. Another year, another fruitless attempt at glory.

Happy Birthday Mikey D. (Not sure exactly when it is/was but I think it's around now)
Welcome Back from Down Under Kerry and Pat.
The rest of y'all Have a Great Week
Bill