Dr. K

I'm not sure I understand. I do have a wife and daughter, but I haven't moved lately. Are we confused? I did recently have a story banned from a high school in Oregon for being pornographic.

I don't know who the GOP will pick, but it won't be Hillary from the Dems. You guys have to get over your Hillary obsession. Do you see her in your nightmares? (I won't ask about your dreams).

Great map. I like it.

Bush has all the power. The GOP completely controls the congressional agenda. The Dems can't do a damned thing on their own initiative. So it's incumbent on Bush to make the first move, if he's serious about "healing the wounds." Especially after treating the Dems like a doormat for the first term, doing such things as holding a vote open in the House for three hours until they could strongarm a couple of Republicans into changing their votes on the Prescription Drug bill, accusing the Dems of disloyalty, acting like the Dems were obstructing judges when they blocked a small fraction of the number of judges that the Rebublicans blocked of Bill Clinton's nominees. Frist went to South Dakota and campaigned against Daschle, a breach of collegiality that no Democratic Senate leader had ever done against the Republican minority leader when the Dems had the whip hand. This is whyBush's "I'm a uniter, not a divider" talk is just so much rhetoric. I fully expect the GOP to use their power to the max, and devil take the hindmost. This quote from Bush only reinforces that expectation.

Josh Marshall gives a take on the election that I agree with: Yesterday, in an overnight post, Andrew Sullivan wrote, President Bush "deserves a fresh start, a chance to prove himself again, and the constructive criticism of those of us who decided to back his opponent. He needs our prayers and our support for the enormous tasks still ahead of him." I thought about this when I read it. And, to put it simply, I didn't agree. What I considered writing was that given the track record he's compiled and the way he ran this campaign, he's really owed no fresh start. That would be graciousness at war with reality. It would be up to the president, I thought of writing, to show concrete signs of a willingness not to govern in the divisive and factional spirit from which he's governed in the last four years. And then there's this from his comments today: "We've worked hard and gained many new friends, and the result is now clear -- a record voter turnout and a broad, nationwide victory." This is the touchstone and the sign. A 'broad, nationwide victory'? He must be kidding. Our system is majority rule. And 51% is a win. But he's claiming a mandate. "A broad, nationwide victory"? It would almost be comical if it weren't for the seriousness of what it portends. This election cut the nation in two. A single percentage point over 50% is not broad. A victory that carried no states in the Northeast, close to none in the Industrial midwest is not nationwide, and none on the west coast is not nationwide. And yet he plans to use this narrow victory as though it were a broad mandate, starting right back with the same strategy that has already come near to tearing this country apart. -- Josh Marshall This is what the first Bush term gave us--he governed as if he had won a landslide and a mandate. Of course he has the right to try to do so, and the GOP controls both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court, so he can get most anything he wants passed. And the Republicans are completely responsible for the consequences, which is at least some consolation for us liberals. But if Bush seriously wants to heal the divisions in the country, he has to treat the Dems as more than an obstruction. The Supreme Court nominations he is likely to have the opportunity to make--as many as three of them over his term--will be real evidence of his sincerity. If he says, "Today I nominate John Ashcroft to the SC--now, let the healing begin" we will know that he doesn't give a damn about the 49% of the population who voted against him. I don't expect him to make any meaningful efforts to reach across the aisle. As Grover Norquist said once, "Bipartisanship is just another word for date rape."

...on your man's electoral and popular vote victory. You wanted this president and this congress--you've got 'em. And the anti-gay marriage initiatives, and the parental notification law in Fla, and the new senators in SC, NC, LA, OK, SD, etc. Big victories all. We'll see how it works out.

When the Redskins lose their last home game before a presidential election, the incumbent president also loses. It's been true since 1936.

Excellent post. I think you are right about Drew's inability to make those around him play up to their potential. I agree it's time to move on. I wish we had better alternatives, but things aren't going to get better with Bledsoe in there.

Re the "dropped passes," I meant over the course of the season, not in this particular game. You know from my post I think this blaming Moulds is foolish. Moulds is the guy who prevented the linebacker from going 100 yeards for the TD in the 4th quarter, after McGahee had given up chasing him. He's not without flaws, but he's by far the best receiver on this team and still a fine, sometimes elite, receiver in the league.

You said bring in Az Hakim or someone else. What the hell has Az Hakim done since he left St. Louis? He isn't half the receiver Moulds is. You get him, and where is Moulds going to play? Third receiver, in the slot? Evans was the targeted receiver on the Bledsoe interception in the end zone. I don't blame Evans for that, but he caught ZERO passes today. Maybe it's because Bledsoe never looked for him, but I doubt it. Moulds caught six today, including one circus catch that should have been an interception. Yes, he has dropped passes, but the problems this offense is having aren't because of Moulds. There are a dozen other more serious problems on this team than Moulds. Moulds is not a problem, he is an asset, one of the few on this team.

Your comments on Moulds and the receivers are ludicrous. Az Hakim? Jurevicious? Evans is already starting. If they can't get him the ball now, how is getting rid of Moulds going to make it any easier? The team is playing crappy. But to listen to this board make me realize why fans should seldom be take seriously. We run on emotions, not logic.

This assumes that, given the chance to tackle Wills, Deion would even try to get near him.

O-line play. It oculd be a fluke, but they looked like they knew what they were doing. Bledsoe actually helped by being relatively mobile for once. The second half they looked like a decent team.

It worked for the Chargers last weekend. Win one for.... Cookie Gilchrist! Wray Carlton! Jack Kemp! Daryl Lamonica! Elbert Dubenion! Billy Shaw! Tom Day! Tom Sestak! Butch Byrd! George Saimes! Harry Jacobs! Jim Dunaway! Paul Maguire! Pete Gogolak!

This is one of the funniest posts I have ever seen on the board and for it I forgive you all your wrongheaded political rants on the PPP board. You rock! B)

I have not been vocal in his defense, but I have been willing to wait with the hope that Bledsoe would get better. I am done with that now. It is possible tht the Bills or some other team with him at QB might win a few games, but he is no longer a first class quarterback. He needs too much help from the rest of the team, perfect blocking, a great game plan, sturdy defense to make up for miscues. Things that very few if any teams in the NFL can provide anymore, and that the Bills are not going to have. There is no upside to cintinuing to play Bledsoe and hoping that things will get better. There is no chance the Bills will make the playoffs with him in the backfield. There's not much chance the Bills will make the playoffs this season under any circumstances. If Losman were healthy I'd have him in there right away. The problem is that Bilsl are in a no-win situation with Bledsoe on this team. They are going to have to get rid of him anyway. Keeping him past this season woudl be a sign of hopelessness, or of terminally bad judgment. I don't think a change is going to materially affect their record this season, but the Bills should do it just to indicate that they no longer believe Bledsoe has a future on this team. There are lots of other problems on this team--I am not saying it all falls on Bledsoe's shoulders. But he is never going to take this or any other team to a super bowl, or likely even the playoffs. A guy like Brady is ten times the QB, and Belichek proved he knew what he was doing by cutting Bledsoe loose.

I don't think Shane Matthews offers any kind of upgrade, but at least he's a change, and this team needs something to shake them up. I don't know how quick a thinker Matthews is, but he can't be any slower than Drew. On the pass to the tight end that got the TE killed by R. Harrison, the TE was open long before Drew threw the ball. If he had flipped it to the guy as soon as he broke open over the middle, Harrison would not have been anywhere near him. This happens all too often with Bledsoe.

I'm with you. I will be there rooting for them next week, but I am doing this out of a sense of loyalty with little hope. When was the last time they played a good, complete game? Maybe aginst the Redskins last season, but I can hardly remember. It's painful to watch them screw up so predictably. Whenever they start a drive either on offense or defense, I expect them to do something bad on every third play. They are incapable of running 8-10 consecutive plays without committing a penalty, a blown coverage, running a wrong passing route, missing a block, throwing an interception or dropping a pass. It's not that the players are not without raw talent. But they make mental errors with awesome regularity. They have the mentality of losers, by that I mena that, even when they do something good, they do not really believe in themselves, and cannot rise to a challenge. This has been the story of Buffalo football, with the exception of the Polian/Levy years, throughout their history. They have never had the mental strength of a good football team.

Yup. Even I, a very patient fan, can see the guy just doesn't have it. How many scoring plays has he allowed in his career here? Run fakes that he bit on, wrong angles, inopportune penalties, etc? I am also sick of London Fletcher's hot-dogging and personal fouls. Throwing the receiver down after the pass was incomplete on the Pats' first drive was an auger of what was to come. The guy has no judgment. The next time he (or Spikes) celebrates after making a tackle on second down, someone in the stands should shoot him.

Drivin with Donald So we're ridin on down the road in our Cross Country Journey of Inner Discovery and Of Course the American Dream when Donald Rumsfeld hits a moose. "Maybe we should stop an get a tow truck," says me. "Gosh, that seems pretty excessive," says Donald Rumsfeld. "I mean, was a moose hit? Yes. Do the antlers sticking through the windshield make driving trickier? You bet. But should we just turn around and quit because the road got a little bumpy? I'd say no." One thing about Donald Rumsfeld that you have to give him credit for is he always cuts through the crap to tell it like it is in his no-nonsense style. I am reminded of this when we hit the second moose. "Moose happen," says Donald Rumsfeld. "There are moose, and we'll hit 'em. That's the way it goes. We've lost two tires and the brakes. That's life. I'm drunk, legally blind and have been charged with eight counts of vehicular manslaughter in the last three years. Gotta deal with it. Nothing's perfect." "If you think about it the more moose get hit by us, the fewer moose there are to get hit by us!" says me. "I like the way you think," says Donald Rumsfeld. Donald grabs a beer an misses a pedestrian. Hooray! One of the moose is still alive an kicks at the engine. "Bad moose," says me. "No beer until you stop." Donald Rumsfeld throws an open bottle a Coors at the back seat to put out the fire. "Are parts of the car on fire? Sure. Would we like them not to be? Of course. Have I gone insane from three decades of snorting military-grade rubber cement? Quite possibly. Do we need everything to be perfect for us to go out on the road? Well, that's absurd," says Donald Rumsfeld. "That's very true," says me. "We cannot make the perfect the enemy of the terrible." The bridge up ahead is either out or doesn't exist. But if we waited for everything to be perfect before we did stuff well then we'd never get anythin done! Forward, onward, downward, Donald Rumsfeld!

I've already said I thought the Bills will win. They will be ready for this game, and sky high to prove a point.

Anyone who wants to can pray all they want in school right now, and I am happy to see them do so. What I am against is state-sanctioned prayer in schools.

I think it's unfair to John Kerry to compare him to ICE. B)

Wow! Now THAT's an obscure movie. I thought I was the only person in the world who saw it.

Organizing for the Kerry/Edwards campaign in NC.