Quick Links 1/30/07

*The Schottenheimer Playoff Coaching Index!
*From the same source: Rick Mirer, the worst NFL QB ever. Note that the list also includes Danny Kanell, Scott Brunner, Kerry Collins, Dave Brown, and Kent Graham.
*Via Instapundit, the Top Ten Iraq War Myths.
*In one January strike, the Iraqis brought down the highest ranking casualties of the war. (Confirmed here). One hopes this was just a coincidence and not a sign of inflitration or other compromising of our operational intelligence.
*John Kerry finally gets good press – in Iran’s state-run media. I had more on his latest foot-in-mouth episode at RedState yesterday, including links to other sources. The most charitable reading of all this is that Kerry really is an idiot.
*Jimmy Carter backs off the implication that suicide bombing is a legitimate tactic that need not be stopped until the Israelis make certain concessions.
*Israeli PM Ehud Olmert on Iran. (A government that now includes a Muslim cabinet member – don’t hold your breath for a Christian or Jew in the regimes of Israel’s enemies).
*Did Barack Obama choose to run in 2008 rather than wait longer because a run now would be easier on his children, ages 5 and 8?
*Obi-Wan’s cloak for sale!

17 thoughts on “Quick Links 1/30/07”

  3. Have to read Jimmy Carter’s statement in context. It was clearly an error in phrasing, not in ideology. Next.

  4. Chris Weinke is the worst QB of all time. His career record as a starter is 2-17 (including 17 straight losses) and his last win (this past season) included at least 8 3rd down plays where he was pulled so they could direct snap to a running back. He has 14 career TDs and 26 Ints.
    The number one myth listed is hilarious. Don’t you guys ever secretly get tired about trotting that one out? I mean, every one thinks it’s cute and all but enough all ready.

  5. Actually you got it backwards Steve, since Kerry’s GPA at Yale was slightly lower than Bush’s. As for Jimmy Carter….How does a phrasing error make it all the way to the final draft of the book. You don’t think one of the editor’s would have seen “the error” before the book went to press?

  7. Forget college GPA. Anyone with a brain knows that Kerry is smarter than Bush. Hell, anyone with a brain is smarter than Bush. In the eyes of conservatives, Bush may have many endearing qualities. Intelligence is not one of them.

  8. Maybe if you said it twice it would be twice as true!
    I have yet to see signs that Kerry is an intelligent man. Actually, what is true of both he and Bush is that they show signs of compensating for being sent to academic institutions beyond their capabilities. Kerry took the conventional academic reflex: make everything sound complicated, so it sounds like you understand complexity and nuance. Try to agree with everything said by everyone, no matter how contradictory. But he lacks the ability to process information so as to come to any actual conclusions. His vaunted grasp of complexity is just a facade concealing an inability to think clearly.
    Bush, by contrast, takes the opposite tack: simplify the issues rapidly and come to a conclusion, and to hell with being agreeable. There’s obviously some merit to the charge that he oversimplifies as the same sort of defense mechanism, but at least the man makes decisions.
    And while Bush is famous for butchering the language, he has the mental discipline to avoid the ghastly things Kerry says on such a regular basis.

  9. Nearly every book that looks at the inner workings of the Bush White House makes it clear that Bush is intellectually incurious and does not like to read long policy papers or memos. He repeats the same talking points over and over. You are right about Bush simplifying things. I think he was always in over his head as President and his inability to articulate properly is based in part on his simple-mindedness.
    True, Kerry says some stupid things, but nothing like “bring it on” to the insurgents who proceeded to kill our soldiers, or calling a New York Times reporter a “major league asshole.” I was always amazed at how the Bush people turned Kerry’s gaffes into a campaign issue when Bush’s verbal blunders are just as bad, if not worse. This was a credit to the anything-goes Bush reelection team and Kerry’s incompetent campaign staff.

  10. The Instapundit can not be serious. That list is a joke, why twist the facts when the true is right in front of you. I guess rotting chemical weapons is an imminent threat.

  11. Crank – If your support for Bush has come down to (a) he’s not as dumb as you guys say he is, and (b) at least he’s decisive (he is The Decider, afterall), perhaps you’ll come around to the “He’s a rank failure as President” camp soon enough.
    We’ve got a seat for you at the table. Joe Scarborough & Chris Buckley will be next to you. I have a cool mug of your beer of choice.
    C’mon, you know you wanna accept. I’ll even tell Nancy you don’t wish to speak to her if that makes it easier.
    Crank, come to the Dark Side.

  12. Mike, was that his point? Or was he responding to Steve’s comment? The Decider would be a cool movie title. Maybe if Chuck Liddel ever makes the jump to Hollywood fulltime…
    The list of worst QB seasons is amusing, it also includes Favre, Manning(s), Namath, and Bradshaw. I wish we saw a bit of them same sideline occupied by Brown, Kannel, etc .

  13. Bush dumbed down even further after he lost a Congressional race in 1977. His opponent painted him as an elite carpetbagger and Bush vowed never again would he be out ‘hillbillied.’
    Many of the elitist jokes Bush used against Kerry in 2004 were used against Bush in that first race. Bush has been running from that image ever since. That’s why, speaking at an international ceremony a few years back, he addressed Germany’s Chancellor as Gerhard, as if he was addressing some foreign exchange student in his frat.
    Bush is by no means dumb (even though I’ve lazily referred to him that way); but his contempt for knowledge has proven to be very dangerous.

  14. he addressed Germany’s Chancellor as Gerhard
    That was with Schroeder. With Merkel he went straight for the unwanted “shoulder rub,” for which Ms. Merkel gave him a very swift Heisman.
    I have no idea about his intellect. He may be “intellectually” gifted for all I know (or care). But based on his actions, he’s an unspeakable dolt, who’s mismanaged everything he’s touched for 6 years. If Bush is smart, give me dumb.

  15. “If Bush is smart, give me dumb.”
    That might give Patrick henry a run for his money. Mets question, anyone follow the recent Zambrano conversation opn Metsblog? Seems odd, the rage Cerrone has for the guy. I blame evryone but him. Wilpon, Duquette, Peterson, Franco, Lieter on down the list. As an organization we got used. undervalued our asset, over valued theirs, politicize the process etc. The pitcher came in injury and blew out his arm trying to perform. Not to reopen the scab, but do any other fans blame him? If so, with the intensity shown there?

  16. Nothing personal against Zambrano. But the Kazmir trade represents the pinnacle of dumb moves the Mets made between 2002 and 2004. Zambie was the symbol.

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