News came today that Alex Rodriguez has dropped his lawsuits against Major League Baseball, the players' union and the commissioner. That means he will accept his 162 day suspension and will not be able to play in the 2014 season or the postseason games. My opinion: it's about time and his punishment is not enough. I think anyone found to have used performance enhancing drugs or steroids or anything else that is banned by the game should be kicked out of that game. Forever. And they shouldn't be eligible for the Hall of Fame either.
Even without such a rule, Pete Rose has never been able to make it into the Hall. But that is decided by sports writers and some of them have been hinting that they might vote for him in the future. So let's take it out of their hands and just make these cheaters ineligible.
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Now I haven't ranted about politics for quite awhile but you can't keep a good man quiet forever. So, let me take on the Senator from Kansas, Pat Roberts, who is running for reelection. He was first elected to the House in 1981 (33 years ago). He kept getting reelected every two years until 1997 when he ran successfully for the U.S. Senate. He's been ensconced there ever since. Only thing wrong with this picture? He doesn't have a home in Kansas. He lists his official voting address as the home of a couple of friends and supporters. Roberts says he stays there when he goes "home" but many Kansans say they haven't seen him for years. The Senator is making many more visits to Kansas now because of a Tea Party challenger. Let's face it, if he spends most of his time in Washington it makes sense for him to have a home nearby, like Virginia, where he and his wife actually live. But seems like he ought to also have at least an apartment in the state whose voters sent him to Washington.
Longtime Indiana U.S. Senator Richard Lugar got into this same mess when he was defeated in a Republican primary a couple of years ago. People said when he came to Indiana he stayed in hotels.
So let's require these pols to maintain a real legal residence in their home state. Okay?
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Then there's the case of Allan Levene. He's running for the House in four states at once. Georgia (where he lives), Michigan, Minnesota and Hawaii. Apparently if he wins in the primary election in any of those states, he'll then move to that state and establish an official voting residence before the general election. This seems like politics at its most crass. I suppose we can forgive Levene. After all he was born in London (England) and didn't come to the U.S. until he was 21. He eventually became a naturalized citizen. I was just wondering what he'd do if he wins the primary in MORE than one state. I guess he'd pick one and pull out of his campaign in the other(s). Politics just gets curiouser and curiouser.
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Finally a different subject. Rudeness. I know a woman who had a dinner party for several guests. When the meal was served one guest said she couldn't eat that, she was allergic to this, etc. Now this person hadn't said anything about her food problems when the invitations went out or when she first arrived. Just when the food was served.
Is that rude to the hosts of the meal? I think so. I think I'd just say to her "How are you with water?"
O.K. My ranting is over for today. Your turn.
