Arguments Yard

the lawsuit against major league baseball by the former minority owners of les Expos?

maybe not. But still time for bracketology:

Today the mainstream media is writing that the Republican party is dead. Or at least at death's door.

"Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat, won the race for governor on Tuesday night, scoring a major political victory for his mentor, Gov. Mark Warner, and sending a powerful message that President Bush's political standing has fallen in this reliably Republican state," as the NY Times put it.

Well, not really.

Want a first-hand account from one voter? I refused to vote for either guy. Not because of President Bush, but because I didn't like either of them.

Kilgore spent all his time and money on negative ads. And his signature issue was that he would widen I-66 inside the beltway. Not to get all local on my national readers, but this isn't going to happen.

It's like saying, "nuclear fusion will solve our energy problems." Well, maybe it will. But not any time in the near future, so let's deal with what we can deal with instead.

Meanwhile, Tim Kaine turned me off with his hideous position on abortion. Jerry Kilgore will take away a woman's right to choose, leading many to die in back alley abortions and all that. Nice that Kaine could be true to his Roman Catholic faith on the death penalty (he's opposed) but not on abortion. Funny how that works.

Anyway, the point is this was a local race, decided on local issues.

It's worth noting that the GOP won the race for Lt. Governor and Attorney General. If voters were so incensed at Bush, shouldn't they have punished him by voting against him in less important races, too?

Let's check back in a couple of years. I'm certain these people will be miserable.

The Southern Baptist Convention voted that a wife should "submit herself graciously" to her husband's leadership.

That was certainly controversial...

It prompted a political cartoon in Newsweek showing a man pulling his wife by the hair. He was carrying a club, if I recall correctly.

At the time, I wrote a letter to the magazine, pointing out that it was misrepresenting reality. However, I wrote, how about another cartoon.

This one would show a Muslim man in the Middle East. His wives, wrapped head to toe in black burqas, are walking several steps behind him. They're practically melting in the scorching sun.

"Hot enough for ya in there?" he wisecracks.

Of course, no newspaper would ever print such a cartoon.

Here's why:

Aaron Brown's out at CNN.

It's clearly a promotion for Wolf Blitzer, who deserves it. He works hard, and would never be caught playing golf during a big story.

And one more thing. It's time to finally retire the cliche he "is very much looking forward to some well-deserved time off with his family."

Please.

Brown'll probably pop up back on ABC overnights, or as foreign correspondent in a network's Islamabad bureau, within weeks. Just be honest: He was too expensive, so we fired him.

Oh -- the Senate is in CLOSED SESSION! Wow! Wake the neighbors, gather the children, it's a historic day.

Or at least to those who care. In other words, 100 senators.

They seem to think this is a big deal because it means "the American people" won't know what's going on in the Senate. News flash -- people usually DON'T know what's going on in the Senate. And don't care.

If the Senate met in the middle of Pennsylvania Ave., most people would only care because it would make their commute more difficult.

As for Sen. Reid's claim that the senate needs a report on intelligence leading to the Iraq war, we've already had that. In July. July 2004.

Worth considering with the Alito pick.

First, he names an unqualified (if very nice) woman for an open Supreme Court seat. Predictably, those of us who focus on competence rather than gender opposed her. Meanwhile, those on the left, trapped by the fact that Miers was a woman, didn't dare mention she was UNQUALIFIED.

When Miers withdraws (under pressure from the right) Dems (including Schumer and Leahy) go out of their way to mention that "Democrats didn't oppose Miers."

Now Bush names a conservative judge who's perfectly qualified. They're bleating about it on the left, but will eventually be forced to approve Alito -- after making it clear that he has to meet a higher standard because he's a white man.

What better way to highlight the foolishness of affirmative action, even while replacing Justice O'Connor with a justice who just might vote to outlaw it.