Quick Links 11/25/05

*David Pinto notes some ridiculous puffery by Scott Boras about Johnny Damon, including an assertion that Damon is somehow better than Rickey Henderson. Of course, he’s just advocating for his client, but there’s a difference between honest and dishonest advocacy; any lawyer can tell you that, and dishonest advocacy doesn’t help your credibility in the long run (not that Boras needs credibility, with the clients he has). Comparing Damon to Rickey is just stupid; between 1995 and 2002, Damon had a better OBP than Rickey only once. And that’s for age 36-43 for Rickey compared to 21-28 for Damon. Also, over that same period Rickey stole 308 bases to Damon’s 214.
*Jack Shafer predicts the predictable.
*Corruption in US efforts in Iraq is a Bad Thing, if predictable given the nature of government contracting and the general principle that in chaos there is opportunity. At least DOJ has caught some people.
*Patterico on executing the innocent.
*Ralph Peters is more than a little over the top in this column on Democrats’ calls for withdrawal from Iraq, but it’s not entirely unwarranted. For a more measured take, here’s a fine post from Jon Henke on what separates the two sides in the Iraq debate as it exists today.
*Could Novak’s source have been Armitage? That would be quite the letdown for the Josh Marshalls of the world who see the Plame story as all about neocon perfidy, if it’s true.
*This doesn’t seem to helpful for Samuel Alito. (via Bashman)
*Byron York on “Boogie to Baghdad” and why some people just don’t want to remember it.
*Yup.
*This American Prospect article on Alito and machine guns is notable for its near-complete absence of analysis of the constitutional issues.
*The Rockefeller democrat. More here.
*The Win Shares system had Juan Uribe and Jhonny Peralta as by far the best defensive shortstops in the AL this year.
*The vanishing World War I vets.
*From a friend of the site: “Hopefully, more stories like this will eventually lead to less stories opening with five words like
this.” This is also a good point.
*When athletes in the US get in trouble, machetes and gasoline are not usually the weapons of choice.
*Not Larry Lucchino’s biggest fans.
*More goodies from QandO here and here.
*Brad Wilkerson on the block?
*This doesn’t sound like a meritorious lawsuit, given the plaintiff’s concession – why did his lawyer let him speak to the press? – that Home Depot wasn’t responsible for gluing him to the toilet.
*Jeff Goldstein on Michael Steele.
*LOoking back, a friend wondered about Harriet Miers’ financial disclosures why a single woman who spent so many years in private parctice as a law firm partner didn’t have more money.