Monthly Archives: December 2007

John Kerry to the rescue!

It looks like the NFL Network has decided that fans are important. The game Saturday night to see if the New England Patriots can go 16-0 this season will be simulcast on CBS, NBC, and the NFL Network.

So, the game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants will be available for every household in the country with a television. Nice. I have a TV.

U.S. Senator John Kerry, D-Mass, had recently asked the NFL to show the Patriots Giants game to the 60% of the United States who would not get to see it. Kerry threatened to hold congressional hearings on the issue if they did not show it. I’m sure that scared the heck out of the NFL. (That last sentence was a joke).

Previously, Montana’s Senator Max Baucus and Jon Tester had asked the NFL to air the Denver Broncos Houston Texans game December 13 on regular television for Montana’s Denver Bronco fans to see. That did not happen. It appears that Sen. Kerry has more clout than Baucus and Tester combined. Nonetheless, thanks for trying boys.

Hopefully by next season, the NFL Network and the Cable Television Companies can come together FOR THE FANS and get this mess settled.

Christmas Cards

It’s the time of year when we receive all sorts of interesting things in our snail mail box as well as our electronic mail box.

I was thinking the other day that I don’t believe there is as many Christmas cards sent through the mail today as there were a few years ago. I have no scientific polls to prove this, as all the pollsters are doing polls for the Presidential primaries.

Today a lot of Christmas cards are sent via e-mail. It quick, easy, cheaper, and you don’t have to go the post office or mail box to send them. Plus, we all see the annual stories of folks standing in line at the local Post Office to send packages to family and friends, so who would want to go to the Post Office around Christmas? My mail carrier dropped off a package the other day at my house. He looked like he was ready to go postal or something. There are just a few days left, so hang on!

We still receive a few Christmas cards via regular mail. One family always sends a newsletter to tell of their good and sometimes bad fortunes throughout the last year. Another family sends one with photos of the children. It just makes me feel older when the last time I remember seeing their child in person, they were in diapers. Now they are in law school.

Another distant relative always sends a card. No matter where we’re located, they find us. We seldom see each other, except at funerals.

Then we have Spam e-mails that are sent with holiday themes, like the one that asked me if I wanted to get laid this holiday season. Another one informed me that one in five homes will be robbed this holiday season. Thanks.

We received one card through the mail that showed cats singing on the front of the card, with the words “Wishing you Peace and Harmony” on the inside. It was cute. One friend sent me a card that had Hillary riding a donkey, with Bill walking along side (kind of like Mary and Joseph). The card had the words, “Hillary rides into Bethlehem with her ass…” on the outside and on the inside were the words, “…and her donkey.” I actually chuckled after reading that.

Of course, politicians send cards. Jon Tester sent me an electronic one from his campaign account with a scanned hand-written note and photo of him with his wife. He did not wish me a Merry Christmas, just Holiday Greetings – economy style. I know, it’s the thought that counts.

The best one from a politician was the one from Senator John McCain. He actually used the words, “Merry Christmas.” I like politicians who are not afraid to say “Merry Christmas.” There are some crappy places to be during Christmas, but nothing would compare to being a POW during Christmas. McCain even had a photo of a cross with his e-mail. Imagine that – a cross on Christmas.

After reading and seeing that, I feel blessed to be where I am.

The Barack Obama family sent a nice card too. The subject was “Our Tree.” Their kids are cute. I liked the message, too.

Of course, we all saw the window that was a cross in the Huckabee commercial. He received a lot of press out of that – but isn’t that the plan? There are other cards from the politicians out there, but so far in my opinion, McCain’s is the best.

My favorite band, REO Speedwagon, sent me an electronic card today. They said to have a Happy Holiday and asked me to come and party with them in 2008. It’s a deal!

We did not send any Christmas cards this year – it’s just been one of those years. So to all the folks who were waiting for one, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May God bless you and your family in 2008.

Let’s Go Bowling

Today is the day! Starting tonight, we have our first College Football Bowl game! There are 32 of these puppies this year.

Tonight’s game is the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl with Utah and Navy playing. It all ends on January 7 with the Allstate BCS Championship Game with LSU and Ohio State playing.

One has to love the names of the bowls these days. There’s an International Bowl in Toronto, and the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, and the Brut Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, to name a few.

It would be great to have the money (and time) to attend as many of these games as possible. I’d need a jet or maybe a job with ESPN.

There’s a dilemma brewing on December 31 and January 1. There are five games on December 31 and six games on January 1. Whoa Nellie! It will be tough, but with some new batteries in my remote, I should be fine.

One would think with all these bowl games, we could set up a playoff system using these bowl games as playoffs and stretch them out a few extra weeks in December. I know, I know, it’s a dream, and it’s big money.

Have a great Bowl season!

Credit

Tonight after having some broiled pork chops with all the trimmings for dinner, I checked my e-mail and found out that U.S. Senator Max Baucus had sent me an e-mail with the subject, “Bringing Home the Bacon,” just before he and the other democrats in the House and Senate had put their tails between their legs and left town, defeated.

In the email, which had photos and quotes from Senator 1.5 for Montana (Jon Tester), they touted the 120 earmarks they had worked so hard in obtaining, and they told me they had personally fought off veto threats from President Bush. Words like “secured” “rescued” “fought for” were scattered throughout the e-mail.

There were close to 11,400 earmarks inserted into the 2008 appropriations bills. Yes 11,400. Montana received only around 120 plus a minuscule few on defense appropriations. The defense appropriations bill was passed earlier this session. Ouch.

Bringing home the bacon? Nope. It’s more like bringing home vienna sausages when you promised steak. Until there’s a complete change in the way earmarks are done, Montana will lose out in the senate no matter how many “Bringing Home the Bacon” e-mails are sent. Even if the are peppered with the word “powerful” a few times.

Senators Baucus and Tester have no seats on the Appropriations Committee, but that does not stop them from getting a few requests, nor does it prevent them from taking credit for all of them, which the Montana media seems to give them a pass. Most, if not all, of the heavy lifting on appropriations bills is done by Congressman Denny Rehberg, who is a member of the House Appropriations Committee. This is especially true when the bills get to the negotiation (conference) stage.

But there’s good news! This session of Congress is over. Now everyone can go through the 3,400+ pages of the bill that contained these 11,400 earmarks and see what goodies were missed in the few hours members were given to review them. And we all thought the Democrats were going to change the method of operation back there!

Bush Wins Democrats Cave

It looks like the Democrats, who control the House and Senate, lost another round to President Bush over funding for Iraq. The democrats have drawn so many lines in the sand over war funding, their sandbox resembles a kitty litter box. It was comedy at its best.

The democrats have been in the majority this year, but failed on many of the promises they made to get elected. They spent most of the year retreating and surrendering to the President and minority Republicans. Max Baucus and Jon Tester spent 2007 retreating.

Next year is an election year. I imagine the democrats will try to fool voters into voting for them again with the promises of ending the war, earmark reform, and other great stuff to pull in donations.

Will the voters be as gullible this time?

Thanks for Visiting

With post #352, I would like to let my readers know that today at 1:02 p.m. (Montana time) The Western Word hit 15,000 visitors. The 15,000th visitor was from the “senate.gov” domain. It was probably a staffer from one of our two senators’ offices. Nonetheless, welcome. I’m sorry, there are no prizes for government workers surfing the web on the taxpayer’s dime. (It might exceed ethics rules for free stuff)

Although my traffic is light compared to some blogs, I appreciate the folks from across the world who stop by to read my comments. I plan on continuing my commentary on the issues that are important to me.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Jack the Blogger

Saints are NAIA National Champs

Congratulations to the Carroll College Saints for winning the NAIA National Football Championship. They beat the University of Sioux Falls 17-9 on Saturday.

Carroll is a five-time National Champion!

A big thanks goes to the Helena Independent Record for their live play by play coverage of the game.

Black Thursday for MLB

Major League Baseball (MLB) suffered a serious blow today when the “Mitchell Report” was released.

Former Senator George Mitchell said that every MLB team has had some player or players who used steroids or other performance enhancing drugs.

The investigation lacked any muscle to do a thorough review. Mitchell had no subpoena power. Players did not have to talk to him. Most did not cooperate. If a player never failed a drug test, then it will be hard for MLB to do anything about it.

Nonetheless, this report will change the way we look at the game and it is probably just the tip of the iceberg. It seems there’s more dirty laundry out there.

Some of the major stars of the last decade were named on the list as taking steroids. MLB did not start testing for steroids until 2003, although they have been part of baseball’s banned substance list since 1991. In 2003, there was one random test per player per year. In January 2005 MLB started year-round testing and they increased the penalty if a player was caught.

It appears to me that MLB has brought a lot of this on themselves by not policing the game better. MLB was already losing fans. They will continue the downward spiral.

So what will happen to all the records since the mid 1990s until now? Maybe they should just place an asterisk at the top of each page.

Mitchell recommends that no players be suspended for any past transgressions. It appears that many of the players named in this report will suffer greatly no matter what MLB decides to do.

Football you might not see

A thank you goes out to Montana Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester for the letter they wrote to National Football League Commissioner, Roger Goodell, about televising the Denver Broncos Houston Texans game Thursday night to football fans in Montana.

The game is being carried by the NFL Network, which means most of the nation will not be able to see it unless they have satellite TV or if they subscribe to a premium cable package. While I am no fan of the Broncos or Texans, if NFL football is on TV I will watch the game.

There’s possibly a bigger problem facing Montanans this Saturday. The Carroll College Saints play for the NAIA National Championship at 11:00 a.m. Montana time, and a network called CSTV (College Sports Television) which is a CBS company, is carrying the Championship game. CSTV is available on Bresnan cable through their Digital cable – a premium service that costs extra. Many Montanans don’t have that service. Due to tight economic times, Jack the Blogger does not have digital cable or satellite TV these days.

Maybe a letter or call from our Senators and Representative to Mr. Bill Bresnan, the head of Bresnan Communications, would help with this problem? Maybe a little reverse lobbying? Maybe Mr. Bresnan will show some Christmas cheer and put the game on a regular cable channel for many more fans to see? Ho, Ho, Ho?

Maybe not.

Of course this is business and they need to make money. Bresnan Communications is running advertisements touting the Saints game AND their digital cable package. This is also the holiday season – a season of giving! The Bresnan family has “given” frequently to Senator Baucus’ campaign.

I remember seeing Senator Baucus and Mr. Bresnan doing a commercial together about business in Montana. This would be a great opportunity to show some smart business practices by allowing more Montanans to see the game, which might increase revenue for all the businesses, especially the Montana-based ones, who advertise during the game.

Flowers

If you’re going to San Francisco…Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

It seems that Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf), whose district is in San Francisco, has taken the flower part of this song to heart. A story today in The Hill reports that Speaker Pelosi has spent $16,000 on flowers since taking office.

Yes $16,000.

Speaker Pelosi’s aides said when she took office, it was an “historic moment.”

Historic indeed…for the taxpayer money spent on flowers.