Day: May 18, 2002

Same difference

/ Kevin B. O'Reilly

According to the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, a masochist is a person who “takes pleasure in being abused or dominated,” and has “a taste for suffering.” Here’s a simpler definition: Cubs fan.

It’s nine losses in a row, now, but MacPhail says he “has no intention of making a change any time in the near future.” Of course not. Maybe he wants to have a new manager lined up to replace Baylor when he finally gets the ax.

At this point, I’m interested to see how many games in a row the Cubs can lose. The 1961 Phillies hold the record with 23 losses in a row. That’s a record I think even this team will have trouble beating. But they can try. At least today they made it interesting by putting the tyings runs on base in the ninth. What’s even worse than the Cubs’ winning record is the fact that very few games have even been interesting or exciting.

Even ace Jon Lieber couldn’t bring them victory today. Of course he couldn’t. He allowed more three runs. How’s the offense supposed to win with that kind of effort? Jeez, Liebs. Won’t you ever learn? Make sure to let Mark Prior in on the secret before he pitches on Wednesday. That should help him bear down for his major-league debut.

Do look back, but don’t get lost

/ Kevin B. O'Reilly

I don’t mean to suggest by my earlier post that there is no point in pursuing the whole story about exactly what Dubya knew and when he knew it, to put it in “gate” parlance. Clearly, all of this should have come out a lot earlier, and Dubya has been too reticent about sharing information with Congress and with the public, on everything from the war in Afghanistan to energy hearings to refusing to allow Tom Ridge to brief Congress.

On the other hand, the Democrats are rushing to use this information to try to get some political traction against the president, wrecklessly disregarding the fact that it was the intelligence agencies — not the president — who failed at their duties. Clearly, reform aimed at ensuring that there is a free flow of intelligence information between the FBI, CIA, State Department, the Department of Defense and whomever else is absolutely necessary.

But, as I said before, we should guard against allowing that real need to become an excuse for more pork-barrel spending unrelated to actually fighting domestic terrorist threats.