Extra! Extra! US Sporting and Political Woes

It seems like the news just keeps getting worse and worse, more disagreeable with each passing day, as from sports, to politics, to Hollywood, nothing happy seems to be happening. With each release or article comes a new crushing blow to the sporting world, another celebrity dies, another politician achieves celebrity. Or notoriety. They're becoming one and the same, anyways.

Sure, it was great to watch Lance come back from four years off and finish on the podium in this year's Tour de France. But even then, I am sure many wish he had finished at the top of the podium, after tearing down the streets of Paris in his oh so familiar hue of yellow, rather than the Team Astana jersey. But it was not to be. Before that came Andy Roddick's crushing loss to Roger Federer in a hard-fought Wimbledon final. Roddick's choke in the second set tiebreak delivered a devastating blow, Federer's composure and cool became something to abhor and resent. Federer's post game remarks, aimed at consoling the runner-up, were anything but, and rather came across as stuffy, snobbish, and apathetic formalities. But, nevertheless, the tennis great continues to be universally received as one of the classiest athletes around. Tom Watson also faltered, losing his lead in the final round of the British Open, and losing, albeit gracefully, on, quite literally, the very last hole. Was it not bad enough that these great American individuals tragically came up just short of victory as the whole world watched? Then, the United States soccer team relinquished its early lead to Brazil. The team ultimately fell back down from cloud nine, and returned to a world where the United States has a long way to go before it is a serious threat to powerhouses like Spain, Italy, and Brazil. Needless to say, it has not been a great summer for American sports.

The most devastating blow to me personally, however, came yesterday, when leaked reports implicated David Ortiz's use of performance enhancing drugs in at least the 2003 MLB season. As a devoted Sox fan, who grew to love Ortiz's smile, teddy-bear personality, and welcomingly chubby build, who was amazed by his spidey-sense timing and his clutch homeruns, and was uplifted by his performance in the 2004 ALCS as he carried the Red Sox back from three games down, and later onto their first World Series victory in 86 seasons, I am crushed and devastated. I cannot count the number of times that I have mocked Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmiero, and the like, and affirmed my prior belief that Papi was a true, fair slugger. I always dismissed criticism and suspicion of Big Papi as green-eyed jealousy. But, alas, it appears the last sacred, pure thing on this earth has been tainted by the "stain," that the New York Times notes is quickly spreading, like swine flu, or a harmful pathogen, across all of baseball, and beyond, into the entire sporting world. I proclaimed his purity, and now I am left wanting answers and unkindly reminded that I am not, afterall, infallible.

Switch the channel off of SportsCenter, and things do not look much better. Healthcare is failing, almost as miserably as it did in the Clinton Era, to gain traction. Obama lacks clarity and detail in discussing the healthcare program he desires; the CBO, doctors, and congressmen alike cannot decide on specifics, nor provide substantial information to the media or viewers about the details and economic implications of any plans, or lack thereof. Broad strokes are painted, and repainted, but I, like many Americans, still have no vision for what this discussion on healthcare really entails. Phrases and buzzwords like "public option" and taxing "benefits" are thrown back and forth, but few technicalities have emerged. Like the current financial crisis, no one quite seems to fully grasp the healthcare debate, and I think little progress will be made either way if details and specifics don't emerge soon. One can only b.s. his discussion of a field in which he is not intensely knowledgeable for so long. The debate dominates our newspapers, TVs, computers, and water-cooler discussions, but it seems to be stagnant and lack something essential.

The Professor Gates story has again demanded media coverage, and turned the spotlight back on race relations, racial profiling, and diversity in America. Blacks, led by Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, feel aggrieved. Whites, too, are feeling resentful, and they feel increasingly the victims of reverse racism and social liberalism in modern-day America. This resentment is dangerous in today's society, because it stokes passionate, often violent, emotions. This resentment among whites is the same danger that Peggy Noonan warned of, when she astutely observed that one of Sarah Palin's most successful tactics has been her ability stoke her predominantly white base's ever-multiplying perceptions of injustice. It seems that the media feel a responsible means of "re-opening" the race debate consists of finger-pointing and exaggerations.

Iran has been largely forgotten in the mass of more profitable, more "breaking," and closer to home news stories. Yet people continue to die there, many for their acts of defiance (twittering, filming protests, etc.), the same ones that we praised just over a month ago. We have pulled out of cities in the other I-country, Iraq, recently, but things are not getting any better there, either. Jobs are being lost. The stock market's rising, Goldman Sachs is doing well, but many "real world" economic indicators continue to lag behind. Sure, Republicans Reagan and Bush 43 dug us into a grave with the spending deficit, but even I have to admit that Obama is not exactly building a latter out of there. I hope we're not buried alive. Ensign, Sanford, the C-Street hangout. Gee, what morally superior individuals.

The aforementioned Sarah Palin has begun to cast gloom on the horizon, at least for many, as the realization sets in that she is wildly popular, and may, horrifyingly enough, become a reasonable candidate, with a more than reasonable chance, to make a run for the presidency. Personally, I think her candid gestures and "cute" gaffs would make for a good talk show on Fox. She could team up with Glenn Beck, and add a little light-heartedness to the mix. The most troublesome part of Palin's rise to power, however, is the thrill she gets from stoking that aforementioned resentment among her white, "middle-class," "Joe-the-Plumber" base. Her volatility, combined with her utter disregard for current events, the actual responsibilities of the United States Executive Branch, commitment to one's constituents, economics, foreign relations, physical self-composure, good spending habits, or grammar, makes the thought of her in office a scary one, and highlights the worrying trends, divisiveness, and radicalism that is coming to consume domestic politics on both sides of the aisle.

It has been a troublesome summer, and you betcha, I'm afraid to pick up a newspaper or flip on the TV for fear of what will come next. Even my ESPN isn't safe anymore. AccessHollywood and Entertainment Tonight also fill my ears with sadness. Jon and Kate are breaking up. WHAT?! How can any marriage in America be expected to survive now? Maybe next time Katie Couric interrogates Sarah Palin about her media intake, I won't blame the Alaskan for avoiding that stuff. *wink*