Hate Speech

I watched a video the other day that really bugged the crap out of me. There was a fundraiser in Yorba Linda, California about a month ago which was held by ICNA Relief, a Muslim relief organization. The event was protested heavily. A video of the protesters began circulating and has no gone full-on viral, here it is :

Outrageous, right? Yelling at kids and families like that? Absolutely no excuse for such disgusting behavior.

That being said, I have no problem with people protesting this event.

ICNA Relief is a noble organization that does some wonderful charity work, however, the keynote speak for the fundraiser was this guy:

So.....yeah.

Those people walking into a fundraiser did not deserve to get screamed at by a bunch of dickbag tea party assholes but what in the holy hell is the ICNA doing inviting Abdel Malik Ali to speak at their dinner?

In a nutshell, a bunch of assholes acted like assholes over the fact that some other asshole was speaking at a fundraiser. Wonderful.

I see nothing wrong with people protesting an event where Abdel Malik Ali is a keynote speaker. I'll just never understand how acting like an even bigger jerkoff than the guy you're protesting makes any sense whatsoever.

This is why we can't have nice things.

-Judge

Wes Leonard

I'm sure this story will have made it around the internet by tonight (I just saw a segment on it on Sportscenter this morning) but Fennville high school basketball player Wes Leonard hit a game winning shot to propel his Blackhawks to victory over the Bridgman Bees. The victory also put the Blackhawks record at 20-0. Twenty wins, zero losses. And it was Wes Leonard who sealed their place in Michigan Class C history.

After the game he was hoisted in the air by his teammates. The packed Fennville gymnasium erupted as their boys clinched a perfect season. During the celebration, Leonard went into cardiac arrest and collapsed in front of his teammates as well as a stunned audience of just previously giddy Fennville fans.

He was rushed to a local hospital where he died a few hours later. The cause of death is not yet known.

That picture is from the post-game celebration. One second he was smiling in the air with his teammates and the next second he was gone. For that family to lose a son at 16 is absolutely devastating. Nothing will ever replace the void Wes will leave in their lives, and nothing anyone can say or do will ever soften the blow of losing their boy. Although if they ever reach the point of being able to take solace in any part of this tragic loss I would hope that they see the beauty in the way Wes Leonard died.

It is certainly not something that is readily noticeable. Especially not right now, as all of the future buzzer beaters, birthdays, graduations, jobs, first cars, first apartments, and first dates have been erased. For a kid that young to die so unexpectedly, there is nothing in the world that makes any sense about it. Especially a kid as healthy and impressive as Wes Leonard. The only thing about Leonard's death that is not saddening is that Wes Leonard died a winner.

It doesn't seem like much, however the last thing Wes Leonard did in his life was win. His game winning shot completed an undefeated season for the Blackhawks. His last memory will be of winning the game. Nobody can ever take that away from him, either. People will remember the story of Wes Leonard for generations. It is a terribly sad story, yet Wes Leonard's name will forever be associated with winning, and not Charlie Sheen's interpretation of winning. Actual winning.

I hit a game winning shot for my middle school JV basketball team when I was 12 and let me just tell you that few things in the world will ever feel as good as that felt. If I had dropped dead on that gym floor back in 1995 I would have died with a giant smile on my face. Nothing in the world feels quite like that, especially at that age.

Wes Leonard went out on top. When people talk about Wes Leonard, they are going to talk about what could have been, and how sad it is that it never will. They are also going to talk about how right before he died he started off going left before crossing over to his right hand and blowing by his defender to the hoop where he softly laid the ball up and through the net to seal his team's undefeated season. They will talk about how he won the game for the Blackhawks.

Now, I don't necessarily subscribe to the theory of "Winning Is Everything" and I hope my sentiments aren't coming off that way. Winning is important, but so is losing. Life is all about winning and losing and most of us just want to win a few more than we lose before they put us in the ground.

Wes Leonard went out a winner. And really, that's all any of us are trying to do.

RIP Wes Leonard

-Judge

All He Does Is Win

I didn't watch the Charlie Sheen 20/20 special. I didn't watch it for a couple of reasons.

#1

Absolutely no need to, because everybody I know and even a good chunk of people whom I do not know have been belting out Sheen's "greatest hits" all over the internet. It's like the "Borat-quoting" phenomenon on steroids. Balco steroids. The good stuff. I've seriously heard or read every single thing this man has said in public for the past 72 hours every time I look at my computer screen, phone, tv screen, or turn on my radio. I mean, seriously.

#2

I'm not all that into this Charlie Sheen thing. I'm just not. I realize I'm fighting an uphill battle here but I think this entire Charlie Sheen saga is pretty sad. It's either sad for us because he's doing a schtick and we're all falling for it or it's sad for him because he's got some serious issues dealing with his need to self-medicate which are likely tied into some sort of disorder that deals with an extreme of moods.

It's an extreme uphill battle I'm fighting because let's face it, Sheen is gold right now. It does not even matter who is putting the microphone under him he is just a blathering rapid-fire coke-jaw goldmine of comedic brilliance as he stands proudly upon his mountain of drugs with his nose in the air, defying all 21st century stereotypes of what a person with a crippling personality disorder and even more crippling drug addiction should look like.

I'm not into it because part of me really feels bad for the guy.

I don't like watching car wrecks. When I see a car crash on the side of the road I try not to look at it, I don't want to see a dead body that badly.

And with Sheen it's like he hasn't even crashed yet, it's like we're watching him snowmobile down Mount Everest with no breaks and are just waiting to see where his body ends up.

I'm not mad at people who are enjoying the Sheen because let's face it, this is a genuinely rare time in American pop culture. Charlie's out there, rolled up hundo in one hand and Bree Olson in the other, and we all have to deal with it.

I guess I've just seen things similar to this in the past, not too similar, because I mean, what in the hell could possibly be similar to Charlie Sheen over the past week? But similar in that I've been around people who exhibit self-destructive tendencies and fall into these addictions and it always ends horribly.

And for all the fanfare Sheen's been getting people seem to forget that he got arrested for trying to knife a hooker, then he got kicked off his incredibly successful and financially lucrative television program, and now he's in the midst of a media blitz in which everyone observing thinks he's a retarded lunatic who will be dead soon.

Some call it winning, I call it morose. Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to

-Judge

One Minute and Forty Nine Seconds Of Donald Glover Crying

This dude is a genius.

Carmelo Anthony and the NBA Trade Deadline

Deadline Deals: The Good And The Bad

The NBA is in a good place right now. The league is very young, very athletic, and about as star-studded as it's ever been. Plus the big name players are pretty much running the show both on the court and off and frankly I'm fine with that. At Carmelo Anthony's wedding rumors flew about how Melo, Chris Paul and Amare were plotting to join forces in Manhattan and create their own NBA Jam team to contend with the explosive Miami Heat trio and Boston's balanced attack. Well, they are 2/3rds of the way there, Melo is a Knick.

Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman to NEW YORK for Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari,Wilson Chandler, Timothy Mozgov, and 3 future draft picks (one first rounder, two second rounders)

WHY THIS IS GOOD FOR DENVER:

Deep down everybody knew Melo wasn't going to resign in Denver. There was no chance of this and everybody knew it, everybody except James Dolan and Isiah Thomas, that is. More on that later.

Considering that Denver's options were to let him play out the year and lose him for nothing or close on a deal that gives them some great young players who are ready to contribute now and not in a year or two made this kind of a no-brainer. It's kind of a bummer to lose a hometown hero like Chauncey (again....) but I have a feeling that the combo of Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton is going to dry those tears real quick. Actually right now the Nuggets probably have as much depth at the guard position as any team in the league. Lawson, Felton, Smith and Afflalo is a really stellar collection of guards and adding Gallinari to the frontcourt with Chandler, Martin, Anderson, and Nene is on paper a great new dimension to the offense. (Although rumor is that he'll be traded to the Clips)

Time will tell if the Nuggets gel with their new look but there is no reason to think that they won't. Opposing backcourts are NEVER going to get a break when they play Denver now, and that's something that few teams can boast. Also, I have a hunch Denver's not done dealing yet. I know it can be rough losing you superstar and local hero in one fell swoop like this but I have a feeling the Nuggets just got a whole lot better.

WHY THIS IS GOOD FOR NEW YORK

Well, they got Carmelo Anthony, and he's pretty good. So is Chauncey Billups. The Knicks sacrificed some of their youth and all of their depth to land Melo and since there is no guarantee (wink wink) that he would have signed in the offseason they did what they had to do. Let me put it this way, the Knicks weren't going to win anything this year with Felton and Gallinari, and they're not going to win anything with Melo and Stoudemire, but when the postseason comes around it's not like 'Melo and 'Mare are going to be taking extended breaks anyway, especially not now.

One thing I worry about is Melo's post game. His mid-range game is about as good as there is in the NBA right now. Maybe even the best. However his post game is a big part of his offensive identity and I just don't see him getting many touches down low when Stoudemire is on the court with him.

That being said, that's a great problem to have, and if last night's debut game was any indicator this Knicks team is going to be a lot of fun to watch and #1 and #7 are going to score a LOT of points.

Deron Williams to NEW JERSEY for Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, and 2 First Round Picks

Whoa.

Avery Johnson may insist that this is not "plan b" but, well, it's plan b. It's totally plan b.

And it's not a terrible plan b either, but good god, Harris, Favors, AND 2 first rounders? NBA draft picks just aren't that valuable anymore I guess. Great haul for Utah.

Baron Davis + 1st round pick to CLEVELAND for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon

Poor Baron Davis. He has a terrible contract but that's not his fault. He gets hurt a lot and that's kind of his fault but it's gotta really suck to go from tossing alley-oops to Blake Griffin to going through the motions on a dead end squad like the Cavs.

Mo Williams must be pysched though. Running the break with Griffin, Moon, and DeAndre Jordan is gonna be all sorts of fun. Good move for the Clips. Hard not to like what's going on over there.

And finally......

Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to OKLAHOMA CITY for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic and a 2012 1st Round Pick

WHY THIS IS GOOD FOR BOSTON

Jeff Green is a stud. He's a tall, athletic, developing wing who can shoot, drive, and post up. He's also 24 years old. It's a touch ironic that the Celtics traded him for Ray Allen (he was the 5th pick in the 2007 Oden/Durant draft) a few years ago but this is a quality player here. He can rotate with Pierce and Garnett and assuming the Celtics ink him to a deal after this season (he's an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year) I am pretty happy knowing that both he and Rondo will be there when the Big 3 finally hang it up.

That being said....

WHY THIS IS BAD FOR BOSTON

The Celtics went from having a deep rotation of big men to a shallow, horrendous rotation which will probably include several NBDL-level players whose sole purpose will be to foul Dwight Howard 6 times a night.

Perkins was never an offensive option. The man played in the league this long and never developed one single post move. Not one. Ever. However, what he lacked in scoring he made up for in offensive rebounding, court awareness without the ball, and setting off-ball screens.

His presence on defense is going to leave a pretty gaping void, unfortunately, and with Shaq Diesel and Jermaine as our two principle options at the 5 it doesn't seem like there's any big light at the end of the tunnel. Of course contracts can still be bought out but the names floating around now such as Troy Murphy and .... well...... Troy Murphy don't really set my toes a-tapping.

Overall I'd say this trade is not the end of the world, but it is confusing. Very confusing. Even with the assumption that we weren't going to re-sign Perk. Maybe this recent injury is worse than we thought. Maybe Shaq is ready to roll. I'll give Ainge the benefit of the doubt here because he has more than earned it but losing Perk means losing a presence in the middle that confounds Dwight Howard and puts up a fight underneath against Bynum and Gasol. That is pretty hard to replace. If not impossible.

Farewell, brother. You are already missed by teammates and fans alike. I hope that something is done to replace some of the things that you brought to the team, though to say I'm optimistic would be a fib.

Let's just hope it doesn't come to this:

-Judge

The 2011 Grammys

Hey everyone,

I have completely neglected this thing for about a year now but once in a while the urge to write about stuff just hits me and while I generally can ignore it I'm sitting in bed with a sore throat right now and felt like this would be as good of a time as any to bust out the old blog defibrillator and charge this bad boy back up.

I know I'm a bit late with the Grammys but there was a lot to talk about so let's get to it

First of all let me just say this year's show was quite well done. Good performances, competitive categories, surprise winners, it was all there and the production of the actual show was excellent. I'm not going to review the entire show, just the things that stuck out:

I was really pumped to see Em and Dre on stage again, so I'll start with that.

I almost always enjoy seeing Eminem perform live but I was really more interested in what Dre was going to sound like. The man is pushing 50 and hasn't really spit anything since he was pushing 40, so I was kinda charged to hear what he sounded like after having put the mic down for over a decade.

Well, he sounded old. And Eminen sounded fine but he's made that exact same song about 25 times now and there wasn't really anything that stood out about it from his perspective. What

made this a memorable performance was Alex Da Kid's production and the absolutely devastating hook delivered by Skylar Grey. Grey saved that entire performance, in my opinion.

Her vocals are powerful but with a hint of softness as she breathlessly begs for a doctor. Keep an eye on Grey, she wrote Rhianna's part of "Love The Way You Lie" and has an album coming out with Alex Da Kid. Frankly, I think she blew Em and Dre away in this performance, and she only came in on the hook. There were a few songs on "Recovery" that had a female vocalist on the hook ("Won't Back Down", "Love The Way You Lie", "Almost Famous") but Grey's hook beats all of them, in my opinion. If Em's verses weren't such retreads I would call this an early favorite for single of the year for 2011.

The problem I had with Eminem's "Recovery" was that it relied too heavily on songs like this one. The best songs on Recovery were the songs where Em just let loose (So Bad, Untitled, No Love, Almost Famous, etc.) but "Love The Way You Lie" and "Not Afraid" got all the attention because they appealed to a much wider group of fans. In "Not Afraid"'s chorus he basically begs listeners to "Holler if you feel like you've been down the same road", which of course everyone has at some point in their lives. I'm not hating on the guy for trying to reach people it just seems like he didn't have to pander so much in his earlier hits.

He did take the award for best Rap Song with "Not Afraid" but lost to Jay-Z in two other Rap Singles categories. Recovery took home best album but only because Kanye's album didn't hit the cutoff date. All of the albums up for best rap album were flawed, The Roots' hooks were too distracting on "How I Got Over", "Blueprint 3" was too top-heavy, "Adventures Of Bobby Ray" was too inconsistent and "Thank Me Later" relied too much on Drake's singing ability to bring the tracks together. There was no perfect album this year, including "Recovery", which had a lot of flaws itself and that's why I never really thought it would be a realistic option for Album Of The Year.

Speaking of Album Of The Year, good for Arcade Fire. I really enjoy their music even though I can barely understand anything frontman Win Butler says. "The Suburbs" is a great album and although I didn't think it had a prayer of beating Lady Gaga it was cool to see a group win that really cared about winning.

I'm still confused as to the difference between Record of The Year and Song of the Year, though. All I know is that I hate Miranda Lambert. I mean what the hell was that all about? "The House That Built Me"? A song about knocking on the door to the house you grew up in and asking the people who live there if you can stand in their living room or their kid's bedroom and reminisce for a bit? Really? Does that not sound like something a crazy person would do? The fact that it's presented as such a touching endeavor when it's really just the inane ramblings of a couple of country music song writers who ran out of ideas made me cringe. It seemed like something that would be on a kid's country album. I hated it.

I also didn't really care for Lady Antebellum and their emo-country ode to the late night no-other-options booty call but at least I could relate to it. Miranda Lambert and her house fetish was just disturbing.

What I couldn't relate to was how Lady Antebellum beat Cee Lo for song of the year. I thought that'd be a runaway, and it really should have been. "Fuck You" is a triumph, so much so that having Gwyneth Paltrow, a back up band of muppets, and Mr. Green himself on stage wearing an outfit that Elton John would probably consider too flamboyant was still awesome. You can't screw up "Fuck You", it's just one of those songs that cannot be ignored. You can ignore "Need You Now" when it comes on the radio if you're not in the mood for it. Nobody is ever "not in the mood" to listen to Cee Lo.

Once "Need You Now" won Song of the Year it was pretty obvious it would take home Record Of The Year as well. I wasn't all that surprised when it did but to say that Cee Lo got robbed is a massive understatement. The difference is that "Fuck You" will be a hit for decades while "Need You Now" will be little more than a karaoke favorite in a year or two.

So happy to see Bieber get snubbed on best new artist. Not because I hate Bieber, but because he's capable of producing much better music than what he's made so far, and I think everyone knows that. I think Bieber has a chance to be a very important entertainer in our lifetime and probably has the chops to pull it off. Remember when dudes everywhere hated Justin Timberlake? Now he's pretty much awesome, right? It's not hard to fathom, folks. Bieber has a sense of humor about himself, he has a huge following and he can sing and dance, so yeah, I'm glad he got the snub, and I'm glad he got snubbed by a truly remarkable musician like Esperenza Spalding. She will never have his star power but he will never even come close to her musical abilities.

Bruno Mars is a stud. He may have stole the entire show. B.O.B. was good, but his pantomiming on the guitar while Bruno actually played the drums was pretty cheesy. If you're gonna be up there learn a few chords.

Mumford and Sons sounded good, Avett Bros. sounded great, and Bob Dylan sounded like he had a stroke before going on stage.

What else.....oh yeah! Ok so I don't know if everyone watched the red carpet pre-show festivities (I was bored) and saw Lady Gaga get carried in the egg, but did you happen to see her manager? It was that girl who was on Diddy's reality show where he was looking for an assistant. The one who seemed to get WAY too into whatever job she was given? Remember her? (Ok truthfully I don't really either but someone told me that. )

Anyways since Gaga was up in the egg, and therefore unavailable for comment, this woman fielded Ryan Seacrest's questions, and it was weird. Really weird. She used the word "incubating" about 35 times in 1 minute. She did not seem to have a life or a purpose in the world beyond explaining to people how Lady Gaga was incubating in her egg before her performance and that she would be born on stage. I've been trying to find this online and can't get it but if anyone can find the video of Seacrest talking to this insane woman I would love to watch it again.

By the way Lady Gaga's new song sucks. And I say that as a huge fan of "Bad Romance", "Paparazzi", "Pokerface" (both versions) and "Telephone". I think Lady Gaga is an incredible songwriter and deserves every bit of praise she gets, but "Born This Way" sucked. Hard. I didn't like anything about it. It was unoriginal, not very catchy, and about as shallow a song as she's ever made.

That being said, I enjoyed the show. Although I'm outraged that Guru was not included in the death montage. Come on, people. This is not some random unknown rapper who died, this is Guru from Gang Starr, one of the most influential hip hop groups in the genre's history. Leaving him off of the montage was inexcusable. Shame on them for such an egregious omission.

I was going to tack on my thoughts about the Carmelo Anthony Trade here but I'll save that for my next entry since this one's long enough already.

Thanks for reading, and from now on I'll be doing this a lot more often so make sure to check back in.

-Judge

The 2010 Massachusetts Special Election

As most of you know, last night Scott Brown defeated Martha Coakley for Ted Kennedy's seat in the US senate. Scott Brown, a republican "everyman" from Wrentham was able to energize his base with charisma and approachability.

I did not vote for Scott Brown. I proudly voted for Martha Coakley. And not because I'm some super-democrat, far from it. I've never voted for anything or anyone based purely on their political "laundry" and never will. I voted for Coakley because a.) I think she would have been a far stronger candidate and b.) she would have been the 61st vote needed to get Obama's Health Care Reform passed. Instead, not only will Health Care not make it through the senate, Ted Kennedy's seat is now being filled by someone who won this election because he drives a truck. There is a lot to be sick about this morning if you are not a Brown supporter. Here are a few things that are bugging me:

1.) THE OBAMA EFFECT

When the 2008 Presidential Election was going on I lived in Boulder, Colorado. For those unfamiliar, Boulder is a college town full of young, wide-eyed, liberal people that generally vote (D). What was not at all surprising during Obama's campaign is that he was able to capture the imagination of young people in Boulder (and across the country) not so much with his policies, plans, or politics, but rather with his image. Young people thought it was cool to support Obama. This young(ish) black man that listens to Lil Wayne and may go down in history as one of the greatest orators in American politics. "Hope" signs were everywhere, "Change" signs as well, chants of "Yes We Can" would break out randomly on CU campus and even be included in choruses to hip hop songs by Nas and Busta Rhymes. Young people stared at Obama with a glassy look in their eyes, and who could blame them? He was running against the most crotchety old white guy the GOP could have possibly marched out and he whooped his ass pretty hard thanks in part to the historic voter turnout of the 18-35 demographics.

Now, was this an overall "good" thing? I don't know. On the surface I'd have to say no, I don't think it was. It's good for people young and old to get out and vote and take part in the process, but what percentage of young people voted for Obama because he's "cool"? Probably more than you'd expect, and I'd imagine the percentage goes up a lot when contrasted with young voters who sat down, took the time to see what Obama was planning on doing as president and voting for him based on the substance as opposed to the image.

This is partially understandable because let's face it, people between the ages of 18-25 are pretty much obsessed with image, especially in a place like Boulder. It's part of being a young adult. Rampant insecurity combined with a never-ending battle to appear cooler than the next person drives this particular age bracket and that's nothing new. Young people were fed up with W. and Cheney and the Republican agenda and when a cool candidate came along to challenge it they showed up and elected the cool guy.

Well, in Massachusetts the same thing happened, only it was republicans, and it wasn't just young republicans either, it was middle-aged wealthy white guys all throughout Massachusetts staring at Scott Brown with that same glassy-eyed gaze that 18 year old Boulderites ogled Obama with. It was, to say the least, disturbing. They actually chanted "Yes We Can" at Brown's victory rally. Think about that for a second.

And that wouldn't even bother me so much if Brown had more to offer to Massachusetts and the US Senate aside from being the 1 vote to block Health Care. He doesn't. He was a Wrentham District Selectman and the odds of his term going beyond 2012 are highly unlikely despite his present rock star status. People voted for him because he seemed like a "regular guy" and "he'd be fun to have a beer with" which is shockingly retarded. Since when is that the standard that we hold our elected officials to? Massachusetts republicans all came scurrying out of whatever dark cave they've been hiding in for the past 30 years and declared that they were finally proud to vote in Massachusetts. These are adults I'm talking about right now. Men and women with families, with jobs, with real lives that they have to worry about, and they're creaming their pants over the ability to vote for a "regular guy" after all this time. Again, this wouldn't bother me so much if Brown's campaign focused AT ALL on his stance on certain issues. The ONLY issue we were presented with from his side was that he was planning on voting against Health Care, and that was enough for a lot of people, but a lot of people didn't even give a shit about that. They voted for him because he was cool, and because his opponent, Martha Coakley, was not, which brings me to the second aspect of this election that really blazes my britches.

2. THE RISE AND FALL OF MARTHA COAKLEY

In the coming weeks and months (hell, maybe years) Martha Coakley is going to get absolutely annihilated by everyone. The left, the right, the center, you name it. She is truly a woman without a country this morning, and that's absolute fucking bullshit.

Martha Coakley was the first female District Attorney of Massachusetts as well as its first female Attorney General. She did phenomenal work in both offices. She should be remembered as one of the most determined and prolific prosecutors this state has ever had, but she won't be. She'll be remembered as the woman who blew the election for Ted Kennedy's seat. She won the primaries handily, defeating Steve Pagliuca, Mike Capuano and Alan Khazei. Scott Brown beat a guy named Jack E. Robinson who runs for office just to get his name on TV and generally doesn't crack double digits when it comes to percentage points. Coakley's campaign during the primary was impressive. She came across as a strong and determined women with a sterling record as a MA prosecutor, an official who was not afraid to take on any issue or any person. Her record as DA and AG was not perfect, by any means, but show me one DA or AG with a perfect record and I'll show you a bridge in Brooklyn that's for sale.

What happened after the primaries was her fault, there's no getting around it. Coakley rested on her laurels. She wasn't going to lose to some no-name district selectman from Wrentham and everybody knew it. She disappeared for a while. During that time, Brown hit the streets. He was everywhere, driving around that signature truck and shaking hands with everyone who would come out to see him. He was outside shaking hands at Fenway during the Winter Classic, a move that was scoffed at by Coakley. He was litereally EVERYWHERE, you couldn't miss him, and suddenly the tortoise started inching up behind the hare.

What happened next was strange, as both candidates began campaigning against each other with negative ads, yet Coakley was singled out as the only one doing so while Brown was praised as "taking the high road". The naiveté of that is just mind-boggling. Both candidates put out negative ads, they're on youtube, you can see them for yourselves, yet Coakley was the only one mentioned as doing so. Brown's mythical status grew while Coakley's mold of a cold, steely, unapproachable lawyer-lady hardened despite it's inaccuracies. In the debate, Brown made a lot of odd comments that Coakley did not attack/defend. For example he accused Coakley of being soft on terrorism because she was in favor of trying suspected terrorists through due process of American law as opposed to Brown's proposal that they be tried in military tribunals where they would not be given an opportunity to "lawyer up".

Coakley did not defend her stance very well, as she hemmed and hawed her way out of it instead of looking across the stage and reminding Brown that a.) he's a lawyer too b.) the republican party had 8 fucking years to try these guys in military tribunals but they were too busy water boarding them at Guantanamo Bay and c.) Richard Reid (the shoe bomber) and Zacharias Moussaoui (9/11 conspirator) were both tried with regular American due process of the law and both of those guys are rotting in prison cells serving 9 consecutive life sentences between the two of them (3 for Reid, 6 for Moussaoui).

But she didn't say any of that, she never went for the kill. So Brown the tortoise plodded along and by the time Coakley woke up from her nap it was too late, he'd crossed the finish line.

He energized his base, he ran a very strong campaign, and he didn't make any mistakes. He was, in my opinion, a far inferior candidate but Coakley never made it clear enough to the public that she was the better person for the job. Her campaign was atrocious, while his was nearly flawless. I'm bummed out that the better campaigner won this election as opposed to the better candidate and that Health Care will now not get passed but overall, the Dems still hold an 18 seat majority in the Senate and Obama should still be able to get his act together if he's worth his weight in salt as a politician. Time will tell.

In the meantime, this is a very disappointing day for Massachusetts. A day where image won over substance and thousands of middle aged rich white guys got to feel like 18 year old Boulderite stoners for a couple months by voting for their guy. They were mad as hell at the past, oh, I dunno, year and a half and they're not gonna take it anymore!!! The old way isn't working, and our new guy is gonna come in and say nay to the health care bill! And he drives a truck!!! And ....and....well .....

Did I mention he drives a truck?