Hate, violence, threats and the History Channel

- Tim Hardaway was once famous for his “killer crossover”, a move that faked many a basketball opponent out completely and helped make Hardaway millions of dollars as an NBA All-Star point guard. Now, Tim can be known for his killer ignorance and idiocy, a maneuver that will cost him a lot of fans, his job, his respect and his credibility in one fell swoop. Hardaway, in an interview with a Miami radio station, said that: 1) he hates gay people, 2) he’s homophobic, 3) there’s no place for gay people in America or in the world and 4) that if he had played on a team with an openly gay player, he would have tried to get that player off of his team. This is coming from someone who personally disagrees with homosexuality on moral grounds and fundamentally opposes that kind of lifestyle, so if I’m smacking Hardaway, then you know his comments are jacked up. Opposing homosexuality on moral grounds is one thing, but openly hating those who live that lifestyle is just plain wrong. Where do you even get that belief system, Timmy? Who teaches you that it’s ok to hate, blast and have genuine malice toward a group of people? Hate isn't cool, it’s not acceptable and if you think it is, then you’re an idiot, period. We all have freedom of speech, so you can say what you want, just realize that pretty much nobody is going to want anything to do with a person so close-minded, ignorant, bigoted and hateful. You don’t like being around gay people, fine. Personally, I’m not going to go out of my way to hang with them either, but if I do happen to be around someone who’s gay, I’ll at least treat them with the same kindness and respect I would afford to anyone I meet. That’s more than can be said for Tim Hardaway, apparently.

- If you want to catch a glimpse of what America is in for in about 35 years when we look back at the eight-year span 2001-2008, try to catch a rebroadcast of the History Channel’s show on Richard Nixon, titled A Presidency Revealed. It will give you a glimpse into the world and mind of an incredibly inept, boorish, moronic political leader who drove America headlong into a pointless war that we were doomed to lose and who was as ham-handed and thick headed as any political leader could ever hope to be. Sounds a lot like someone leading our country right now, to an alarming degree in fact. Thoughtful poignant quotes like Nixon’s about the Vietnamese make you truly respect and admire his legacy: “We should bomb those bastards right off the face of the earth.” Ah yes, diplomacy and tact, two words lost on Nixon and on his modern-day doppelganger, W. Of course, at least W. hasn’t yet tried to run Bono out of the country the way Nixon tried to get John Lennon, the leader the biggest rock band of that time (the Beatles, for the musically ignorant) deported because he didn’t jive with Nixon’s badly misguided and imbecilic political agenda. But for a portrait of a truly dark and depressing time in our nation’s political past and some insight into how or current time will look to those examining it three and a half decades from now, try to catch A Presidency Revealed the next time it’s on the History Channel.

- Speaking on behalf of Congress, I issue the following reply to the President in response to his threat that, “I’m going to make it very clear to the members of Congress right now, that they need to fund our troops.” My official reply is this: Ooooooh, we’re so scared, Mr. President. Really, we’re terrified that you’ll……what is it you can do? Oh, that’s right, nothing. You’ve got no power to discipline Congress, thanks to that nifty concept of checks and balances in our governing process. What, you’re going to go down to Congress with a baseball bat and barbed wire 2x4 if they don’t fall in line with your asinine troop surge plan for Iraq? Shouldn’t you say what you really mean, that Congress had better fund your war, your own personal Vietnam, or else? I don’t think the problem is Congress not properly funding and supporting our troops. The real issue is Congress being fully behind our men and women in uniform and fully against your boorish insistence that those same men and women keep fighting and dying in a conflict that should never have happened to begin with. In fact, a group of Republican Republicans even broke party ranks to support a Democratic-led resolution condemning W’s Iraq troop surge plan. Call me crazy, but I think Congress would have no trouble at all scrounging up extra funding if that funding was going to end this war and bring our soldiers home.

- Don’t mess with Omar Sharif. The actor, best known for playing the title character in the classic film Dr. Zhivago, struck a plea deal to avoid jail time after he smacked a Beverly Hills parking attendant in the face during a 2005 confrontation. On a side note, nice to see the expediency with which our judicial system conducts itself. A simple assault case and it takes nearly two years to adjudicate it. Well done, American judicial system, way to work efficiently and quickly. Sharif got off with probation and anger management classes, apropos because he reportedly struck the parking attendant in a dispute that arose after said parking lackey refused to accept a 20-euro bill from Sharif as payment. Look, O., the euro may be the near-universal currency in Europe, with something like 13 countries using it as their money of choice, but here in the U.S. people are funny about not accepting foreign currency as payment. You can sneak in a Canadian quarter here and there, but for the most part, it’s accepted that you use American money to pay for American products and services while in our country. Sorry that we can't all carry around exchange rate information for the yen, the euro, the lira and the peso, but you’ll have to learn not to punch people when they don’t accept your euro cash.

- Music lovers and leering middle aged dudes will have something in common once the upcoming Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue hits stands. This year’s issue will reportedly have a music theme, with models posing at locations such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and with artists like Kanye West, Aerosmith, Kenny Chesney and Gnarls Barkley. Also, Beyonce will be on the cover, giving fuel to my contention that artists like her, Fergie and Janet Jackson are a lot more interesting when wearing swimwear and not actually singing. SI could actually save itself a lot of time and effort in putting these elaborate photo shoots together, though. The guys who buy the swimsuit issue aren't likely to pay any attention to the scenery behind the models, if ya catch my drift. You could stick these women on a sound stage in Burbank with a ficus or two and the guys drooling over those pages wouldn’t give a crap. Maybe put some extra work into the articles instead, because after all, isn't that why all guys read mags like that anyhow, for the articles?