The Pendragon's Hall

The latest round of newsmaking concerns Vice-President Cheney's visit to Auschwitz. While the other dignitaries wore somber black suits (the fur hats in the photo have gone unnoticed) he wore a heavy green coat and thick winter hat. The press doesn't like this because it demonstrates he was thinking more "of his own comfort" than of the victims who perished at Auschwitz. Give me a break. If it's cold you bundle up, you morons! They claim he didn't bundle up at his swearing-in a week or so ago but neither did anyone else. I see fur hats in the photo on www.cnn.com; I didn't see any in Washington. Cheney's staff had no comment. Good for them! This should be proof to anyone who doubts it that the press is filled with bored people who've failed at everything else and now feel the need to make news in order to have something to report.

The NYT details President Bush's determination to withdraw US troops if the new Iraqi government asks him to. The media report this as if it were news. What they don't point out is that terror attacks have not ceased with this. If these people really were the "freedom fighters" we hear so much about, only troubled by the fact of US occupation, wouldn't they now be lining up to vote in a government that will do that? The fact that they are still under arms and leading attacks demonstrates, although not the clod-heads at the NYT, that the terrorists, like President Bush, are confident that the newly-elected government of Iraq will ask the Americans to stay.

Other news: female interrogators have been using sexual ploys such as smearing fake menstrual blood on Muslim terrorists to loosen them up. One, it is reported, "broke down bawling" after this happened. The girl's response? "Have fun in your room tonight with no water to wash yourself in." What can I say? She's got class. The press, of course, wants to drum up sympathy for the terrorists and so they talk to prison guards who are apparently "disillusioned" and discouraged about the so-called "torture." Hey, guys. It works. It breaks their spirits. And it is illustrative of one of the oldest quips from your parents: You behave like animals; you'll be treated like animals.

My streak of mediocrity continues. Having scored fifty percent in my predictions for the NFC and AFC title games I figure my chances right now are exactly fifty percent of picking the Super Bowl winner. I had hoped to have a Pennsylvania Super Bowl, mostly because I hate the Patriots so much. (Boston is the new equivalent of Nazareth--Can anything good come from there?) But now I have to be honest and say that much as I hope to see Philadelphia carry the day, my prediction for the outcome of this Super Bowl is that New England wins by 10. I hope I am wrong on this one.

Columnist Ann Coulter comments that as inauguration speeches go, Lincoln's second used the word "God" 14 times; Reagan's second used the word "freedom" 12 times. Bill Clinton's second used the word "consensual" 16 times.

Yeah, that seems appropriate.

President Bush yesterday laid out a glowing plan for his second term in office, which promised to "end tyranny in our world." Some might criticize him for Wilsonian idealism and the charge has merit, considering tyranny in a fallen world would never be ended completely (at least as long as Fidel Castro and Ted Kennedy are alive). But Bush was not dreaming: he admitted that the influence and power of the US were not "unlimited" but fortunately for those under the heel of a tyrant it is "considerable" and he vowed to use the influence and not just the military might of the US to aid democratic uprisings and reforms wherever they occur. Watching the speech, the thought in my mind was, is it any wonder they love him? He stood out there in the cold yesterday and for twenty minutes explained that he believes America is still the greatest nation in the world and that we can use our power for good. Something the naysayers will never understand is that people are not galvinized to any cause when they feel their leader has no faith in them. I believe the second term of the Bush presidency is the huge thank-you card from the American people: Thank you for believing in us. And with the support of the people and their elected representatives, there is a lot of good that can be done in this nation and in the world. Bush is the first president since Reagan to realize this and put it to good use. Congratulations, Mr. President.

Well, I experienced less than normal rates of prediction for this last wave of the playoffs, going only two for four. Unfortunately, the two I was right about I wanted to be wrong about and vice verse. Isn't this always the way? At any rate, I hold to my original belief that the Super Bowl will feature two Pennsylvania teams, although the games over the weekend made me think that perhaps it will be an Atlanta-Pittsburgh Super Bowl as the Eagles are not adept at stopping the run which is the Falcons' speciality. So, tentatively, these are my predictions for next week and I rather hope I am right this time:

Atlanta Falcons @ Philadelphia Eagles Eagles by 3.
New England Patriots @ Pittsburgh Steelers Steelers by 7.

It constantly amuses me to see people whine that George W. Bush, having scored an outstanding victory, must now "reach out" to people who didn't vote for him. I've often thought I'd like to visit Liberal World just to see how things happen there. I'd never want to live there, you understand. But sports would be a lot of fun. Can't you just see the Boston Red Sox apologizing to the Yankees? "We beat you guys, so sorry. Here, we'll let you have half the trophy." Or the New England Patriots giving half of their Super Bowl rings to the Carolina Panthers so they won't "feel bitter." I always thought the point of winning was that the winner got to gloat a little bit, or at least to decide how they were going to use what they won. Not in Liberal Land.

Wars would be fun. By their logic, the US and Britain should have apologized to Hitler. "Terribly sorry for beating you, old chap. Tell you what, we'll put up laws banning Jews and we'll keep the death camps just so you don't feel bad about losing the war. All we'll do differently is stop killing the gypsies."

Fortunately, George W. Bush is not a liberal. "I have a lot of political capital right now," he told his first press conference, "and I intend to spend it." Good. That's what we elected him to do. Liberals may dream of a fantasy world when, win or lose, they get to do what they want but if them winning (with a minority-president in the mid-90s, not even holding on to Congress) means they can spread their ideas abroad, then Bush winning such a huge majority means the same thing. I hope more Republicans become like him.

Well, the NFL certainly has had a shakeup hasn't it? We are approaching the second round of the playoffs and two teams that finished 8-8 are still in it--the Minnesota Vikings and the Saint Louis Rams. I don't expect them to survive this weekend but theoretically one of the NFC contenders could be a team that won only half of their games. Which would make history. In the interest of continuing my lucky streak on predictions, I present my picks for this weekend. While I would like to see it be Minnesota--Indianapolis, I suspect the final matchup will be Philadelphia-Pittsburgh.

Minnesota vs. Philadelphia: Eagles by 7.
Indianapolis vs. New England: Colts by 3.
New York Jets vs. Pittsburgh: Steelers by 10.
Saint Louis vs. Atlanta: Rams by 3.