Avdat

Can the center hold? Probably not

The conventional wisdom is wrong. There is no anti-incumbent mood in the electorate. But there is an anti-moderation mood in the electorate.

A couple of weeks ago in Utah, Republicans rejected conservative stalwart Bob Bennett in favor of a far right challenger because Bennett once played footsie with Ron Wyden on health care reform. And for Kentucky's GOP voters, being right wing isn't enough. You have to bring the Tea Party craziness to the stump if you want to carry the Republican standard--which is what Rand Paul did.

Mutatis mutandis the Democrats. MoveOn and Daily Kos Democrats have long demanded that Democrats quit the triangulation and sharpen their partisan swords. Now they have sufficient numbers and money to mount successful primary challenges to Democratic lawmakers who aren't progressive enough. So Arlen Specter, who once professed a man crush for Clarence Thomas, is toast, and Blanche Lincoln, who dithered on Democrats' 70 year-long dream of universal health insurance, is in a run-off with a liberal challenger.

Another factor might be age. Bennett is 78. Specter is 80. Re-electing those guys would mean that in six years Utah and Pennsylvania would be represented by men the age of Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd at the end of their careers. Maybe not every state is as open to electing geezers as South Carolina and West Virginia, and that's probably a good thing. Octogenarians ought to be bouncing great-grandkids on their knee, not legislating.

At any rate, next year's Senate will certainly be more closely divided and more ideologically polarized. If you think that this session's gridlock has been frustrating, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Yet another obligatory "I havent blogged much lately" blog post

Sorry to keep you in suspense, my legions of adoring fans, but between wrapping up my spring semester and getting ready for a brand new job, an adjunct teaching position at a local community college, I haven't had much time to blog.

Plus, I'm more in an input mood than an output mood. A lot of the stuff I've been reading, everything from Gordon Kaufman to the textbook for this Intro to Religion class to an exchange between Andrew Sullivan and Kevin Drum about atheism and death anxiety, seems to oddly converge, but whenever I think about jotting down some thoughts I'm brought up short. Like I need more time to think. Even though blogging is supposed to be tailor-made for shooting one's mouth off.

In which I come up with great ideas while skipping Sprunts

Whether you're for or against tasing the teenager who ran on the field at the Phillies game the other night, you're probably looking at the situation all wrong. All of you assume that fans shouldn't be on the field; the only question is, What's the appropriate remedy.

Dude, you're so wrong. Baseball should be more like cycling. Get the fans on the field. The more the merrier. Just imagine, Albert Pujols is trying to turn a 3-6-3 double play while a drunk wearing a mankini and waving a Dominican flag is screaming encouragement in his face the whole time. Awesome.

MLB could hire Lance Armstrong to run clinics on how to concentrate while surrounded by guys with hairy backs and bad cases of the beer sweats. Lance will need a new job in a couple of years. And Lance would bring the incalculable numbers of U.S. cycling fans to MLB--a ratings bonanza if there ever was one.

If the best seats at Yankee Stadium go for $2,600 a pop, then for $3,000 you ought to be able to go anywhere on the ball field you'd like, provided you don't encroach on a two-foot diameter buffer around the athletes. For $55,000, you get to park your pop-up camper in the outfield.

I'd watch. And so would you.