Robust Economy Gives President Obama The Upper Hand In SOTU

Promising really cool social programs is an easy panacea for civil unrest- especially when world economies collapse, because it only increases the deficit, and deficits don't matter anymore. One might argue that even national debt is a necessary evil within a global economy, but addressing national debt is a lot more important to smart politicians than insuring we operate within a balanced budget.  When economic recovery reaches a peak, our impression of deficit spending changes dramatically and thoughts extend towards social investment and away from deficit fears.

Enter tonight's State of the Union address which will establish a credible argument for the need to balance our nations income disparity deficit by implementing "hard to argue with" social investment measures that most republicans are either quietly or vocally in favor of.  These items of middle class security have always been within the presidents vision for America and within the agreeable majority of congress, but the last remaining opposition to his tax code dreams are all of the past accomplishments of the Obama era.

Plainly put, Barack Obama is a victim of his own success.  At this stage in the chess match, Obama opponents are simply risking every piece on the board while trying to keep their king from being captured. The president is not after their king since his economic ideology is in lock step with their own.  Since democrats are blocking Obama's trade plans, the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) will be quietly included into an address that will scream of a greater focus on the middle class family.  Trade expansion never finds uninterested GOP ears, but it will not view well on film if Obama and his new republican cohorts pretend to play nice on television.  Cuban normalization efforts are also a preparation for Obama trade dreams as well.

Obama will ultimately get everything that he wants in the end because he is dangling the cash carrot as a lure and republicans can't resist a bite.  What he will not get is the impression that he accomplished it without a fight. In other words, everybody will add stuff to the final bill/s and pretend they had no choice. Tonight's speech is nothing more then a prelude to the TPP hustle that will allow the Keystone XL pipeline to get approved and a couple of other cool social programs like free community college for middle class kids (poor kids already get Pell Grants) or a child tax credit that middle class people with kids can actually take advantage of.(poor people already have multiple child tax credits).


There has always been some false notion that American presidents can pull the strings of the world economy which is typically the key to America's economy.  Presidents can not pull any strings, but nonetheless, good economies are credited to them along with the bad ones. If Obama was indeed the cause of a sputtered recovery than he is singing Al Green tunes in the Oval office for the trend that he is enjoying now. What is the benefit of all of this?  Improved poll numbers for the president and increased power to grab the ear of the public at large.  43% of things spoken during the SOTU address get enacted into law, especially by presidents who've recaptured their moxie.

Congress might fight and kick, but there is always something to be said for the will of the people and of the power of the president to influence that will.  There is also something special about the power of the internet to take your message directly to the public and gauge their response to the details you provide.  In an unprecedented fashion, Barack Obama has basically laid his entire SOTU speech out for public consumption and republican response.  By doing so, he gets to place his winning hand on the table against a republican hand that can only beat him if it offers up a better alternative vision. The move also allows him to snuff out the republican response and prepare his counter in advance as well.

Joni Ernst (R- Iowa)

If the economy keeps blowing up- cheap gas and expanded trade says it will- the trickle down theory must show dividends or redistribution will happen by other means.  Like he did with healthcare, President Obama has stolen the tax code mechanism away from his republican opponents who typically find means of returning wealth to the American people by way of the tax code. Joni Ernst (Iowa), the republican assigned to play the impossible hand of republicans will give the response to tonight's SOTU address.  Ernst is the sacrificial lamb that has been cornered into saying that we must DO more, DO less, or DO nothing at all.  Neither will sound better than Obama's address.

Is it an accident that the upstart Ernst has to do this job and not one of the party elite?  I think not.

Mitt Romney Sounds Like Occupy Wall Street and Reaganomics Is Dead

The death of Reagan republicanism has now begun.

If you are older than forty or simply plugged into politics and economics, you realize the myriad of meanings that one might be trying to imply when using the term "Reagan Republican".  On one hand Reagan was popularized for his Hollywood flair that proved magnetically irresistible to a nation thirsty for a leader who knew how to play the part.  Add to his image the credit for defining republicanism behind the supply-side economic theory- Reaganomics, that spell check now recognizes just fine, and Ronald Reagan's name alone can help you win elections.

Upon deeper investigation, Reaganomics might be worse than Reagan's war on drugs.  In 2011, Adam Martin of The Wire.com reported on studies showing that Reagan's war on drugs had an adverse impact on the price of drugs overall. Studies revealed that Reagan era DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) efforts included poisoning the ground against future marijuana growth after a drug bust, forcing the transition to pesticide resistant harder drugs that were easier to grow, cheaper to distribute and vastly more profitable. Today, the need to mug grandma is less necessary when 30 minutes of pan handling will suffice. (thewire.com)  Petty crime has been drastically reduced nation wide- but mostly as a result of rampant expansion of  cheap drug use in addition to excessive  incarceration of criminal drug addicts as a result of mandatory sentencing.

No worries.  Studies have long since uncovered the truth about the war on drugs and the war on crime.  While these conservative constructs have soiled the reputation of the republican presidents that started them, Reaganomics has painted the party red as it offered republicans a unified message, even while it remained an untested theory.  In fact, the long standing theory of Reaganomics worked better for republicans in the form of a theory because no one could functionally dispute the darn thing either way. .

Gerrymandering and the great state of Kansas have fixed all of that.

In 2010, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback ran for office and won his job flying under the flag of Reaganomics.  Immediately, Kansas and Brownback had the majority, and the temerity to actually test the theory.

It hasn't worked yet- and even as the nation watches the stock market set new records every month, Kansas has not been able to reap the rewards that Reaganomics  and Brownback promised.

According to a  Washington Post article,

Brownback promised that the efforts would drive economic growth, create jobs and stabilize the Kansas budget. But the state is now reporting a more than $300 million revenue shortfall. The poverty rate increased. The state’s economy expanded a total of 2.3 percent in inflation-adjusted terms over the past two years, half the rate of its four neighbors. And Kansas’s credit rating has been downgraded. (Goldfarb, Zachary A., July 30, 2014, Washington Post) 

In order to curtail the shortfalls, Brownback is pursuing hefty sales taxes on cigarettes and alcohol, taxes that affluent smokers and drinkers will absorb easily, while poor people will suffer mightily. The expanding wealth of the wealthy and the expanding wage gap that feeds their wealth is finally something that even rich folks are concerned about as they are losing sight of their vital consumers while speeding off down America's economic highway.  Even Reaganomics recognizes the value of the consumer.

At some point in recent history, we've also seen a recognition that the trickle down can't work if rich people with stockpiles of water are afraid of drought. When the economy turned, the crisis reaction of corporations was to recession-proof themselves with a secondary damn slashing staff and wages while stashing enough profits to weather future droughts. America's recent storm of riches has flooded the primary damn so much that the water would not only trickle, it would flood were it not for that secondary damn imposed against staff and wages.

The failure of the trickle down theory is a rusty spout.  President Obama's State of the Union address will focus on redistribution efforts because in America, the bulk of wealth passes from family member to family member and never makes it way back into the mainstream.  With every economic downturn, the wealth capacity of the wealthy widens right along with the income disparity that drives it.  Absent the interruption of some redistribution effort, the trend can only exacerbate. Whether redistribution finds its way into the tax code or into federal minimum wage laws- or both- or neither is the only remaining question about economic recovery in America, because Reaganomics is dead even though the eyes appear open.

In an interview on his way to Dodge City — where he would sign legislation creating a “National Day of the Cowboy” — Brownback said he regretted referring to his plans as an experiment. But he defended his tenure, saying it represented a Ronald Reagan-style approach to governance that eventually would rebuild Kansas’s economy after a long slide. (Washington Post) 

Reaganomics may be dead, but the powerful impact of its namesake lives on. In the face of abject failure, the name Ronald Reagan can still save the day.

As for the non-Reagan approach to economics?  States that increased their minimum wage last year actually saw higher reductions in unemployment, a key indicator of economic vitality.  Despite an improved economy on a national level, low wages continue to challenge the feeling of a real recovery although data proves that the recovery is both real and sustainable. Not only is the trickly faucet not dripping, no one even knows how to force a trickle- outside of using progressive approaches towards economic disparity (see; redistribution).

Mitt Romney recently threatened to make his pursuit of the presidency a three-peat by declaring the importance of dealing with international affairs and income disparity as primary reasons that he's considering another run.  Since Mitt now realizes that little Russia is a nuisance compared to the big Soviet Union that was dismantled during the end of the Cold War, then this mega-rich republican's reference towards income disparity is curious for sure. If the trickle down theory officially does not trickle fast enough to drive economic recovery, what can any republican candidate do about income disparity that doesn't constitute redistribution (see; socialism) in the end?

Huh Mitt?  Take your time.  You've got roughly two years to come up with an answer.

Freedom Of Speech And Freedom Against Speech Are The Same

Blame the Pope if you must.  I'm joining the Pope in my reaction to the recent comments from the #Charlie Hebdo Editor, Gerard Biard.

According to Biard;

"We do not attack religion, but we do when it gets involved in politics," Gerard Biard said in an interview with Chuck Todd broadcast on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

In other words, they attack religion.  Their reasons might be reasonable in their own minds, but all corporations have to determine if the ends will justify the means. Though so many people support the cause of journalistic freedom, most refuse to touch Charlie Hebdo with a ten foot pole. Several television networks have refused to show the images from the controversial editorial cartoon/magazine and describe the worst of these artistically contrived "attacks" as too offensive to consider showing.  To date, most people outside of Paris have no idea of how offensive Charlie Hebdo has been because few news outlets have the courage to support their venomous attempts to defend the value of secularism and freedom of speech all at the same time.

If there exists a reason to engage in an attack, even attacks of conscience, there exists an opposing force that instigated the attack. Islamic terrorism is real.  In addition, terrorist are pretty good at recruiting these days and their mission is the exact opposite of secularism.  Their methods and means of operating involve terror and war because their goal is to rid the world of infidels- and they interpret Muhammad in a way that justifies their beliefs. Living comfortably in the presence of their opposition is not in the game plan of the Islamic Caliphate, and that truth demands both an honest recognition and a diligent response from the world community.

Islamic terror is most often directed towards other Muslim people. Upshoot domestic terror is unfortunate, but should be somewhat expected in a world that is more than 33% Muslim and 90% angry.  Violence is usually not condoned by humanity, but anger is a very human response to offense. Even the Pope would punch a friend who talked badly about his mother.  Forgiveness is the cornerstone of most religious experiences, but refusing or forgetting to forgive is a much more human behavior.

All Is Forgiven? Muhammad Is Charlie Too?
Still talking crap Charlie.  Still talking crap. 

In the strangest of ironies, Charlie Hebdo benefited from the murderous attack against their staff by gaining a notoriety that inflated their first edition (post massacre) to 3 million copies versus the 60,000 they had been printing prior. Not so ironically, Charlie Hebdo used this opportunity to attack(see;offend) some more with a cartoon of Muhammad holding a sign that says "I Am Charlie"  below a headline that reads, "All Is Forgiven".

 What Charlie Hebdo deemed as an attack against freedom of speech is in fact the freedom to get hit in the mouth for talking too much crap....especially by Islamic terrorist who need some place to vent their hostility anyway. We know for certain that terrorism will continue to happen, and we also know that foul mouthed Uncle Charlie will always be a part of the family. What we don't know is the next time that these two forces will square off in this violent fashion. Uncle Charlie's insistence on talking so freely ensures a violent response eventually.

Because the world is one community, "We are all Uncle Charlie" and though we prefer a more sober minded uncle, we don't disown him just because he is talks out of his mind so often. Uncle Charlie will always be the guy that somebody ends up popping in the mouth every holiday because he thinks liquor and free speech are a good mix.

They are not, and neither are insensitivity and free speech.  The separation of church and state are important statutes of free cultures, but they are not the mandate of every culture, nor should they be.  Even in America, the last true bastion of free speech, an ongoing cultural debate rages over how far we have allowed secularism to seclude God from his role in a nation influenced as much in its founding by religion as it was by freedom from religion.   As it stands, freedom from religion is winning and "In God We Trust" is just a cool stamp on our cash. Secularism isn't happy about that either.

When the Pope and I make comparisons between the ill-behavior of those who terrorize and those in terror, Charlie Hebdo accuses us of conflating them with the murderers.

"We must not make thinkers and artist the same as murderers", said Biard in a quote of eloquent brilliance.  Yet, Biard and his artistic thinkers consider their actions a defense of both the freedom of religion as well as the freedom of speech. "Secularism allows all to live in peace", according to Biard, forgetting that his words defy the caliphate, which demands the death and/or conversion of those who pursue it. Despite the different methods, Charlie's mission becomes similar to that of the murderers.

Those who robustly defend the importance of free speech should realize that, even ideas generally agreed to be true have their opposition.  Did not Martin Luther King Jr. expect the violence that he experienced?  If your stance has valor, so shall your stance against the opposition you encounter.  In other words, you might get shot for wearing the wrong color in the wrong gang territory, but if it matters, you can further everyone's freedom to wear any color any where.  The question of valor is always, WHO will be the martyr for the cause. Undoubtedly somebody died to get both red and blue back into certain neighborhoods.

The murderers who terrorized France thought they were hitting Uncle Charlie in the mouth.  Fortunate to them (in their twisted way of thinking), they gained heavenly reward for punching Uncle Charlie and dying for it at the same time.  Unfortunate for us all is that these terrorist, and those to come, truly believe their ideology.  More specifically it is their faith, and to deride any man's faith is much like the attack against his mother.

Freedom of speech and freedom against certain speech are a similar freedom.
Both demand a cost.

John Fox No Longer Denver Broncos Coach. Is Adam Gase Up Next?

All signs point towards the hiring of Adam Gase as the next head coach of the Denver Broncos.

Is Gase Up Next (....and is
 Manning okay with that)?

Why not? By season's end, we not only  came to know who Gase is, we started to forget who John Fox was as well.  Reminder: John Fox is just as afraid of the big moment as is the current starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos.  As a result, John Fox is a former Broncos coach and  Adam Gase, the guy most responsible for the mid-season transformation of the Broncos, is likely to be the guy who takes over.

The loss of Fox doesn't bode well for the future of Jack Del Rio who's vanilla approach to defense gave the best quarterbacks in the league way too much time to think.  These two old school coaches saw Denver as their next best hope for career resurrection and they remained arm and arm throughout the trials of expectation and the travails of coming up short. If reports about John Fox being a candidate for one of the open NFL head coaching positions are true, Del Rio might be well served to follow his friend Fox.  Before Gase, two previous offensive coordinators were gobbled up by the head coaching circuit and Gase will become the third in a row with or without the intervention of Elway who had better hire him or watch him work from another sideline next season.

Gase might become another beneficiary of coaching the great Peyton Manning, but he is also the first coach since Tony Dungy to remind Peyton who the boss is.  Manning has been given such freedom throughout his years as a quarterback that his decision to continue playing, after multiple surgeries on his neck, was as much a function of his support from management as his freedom to "Be Peyton".  Elway offered a reasonable attraction for Manning when it came to managerial support, but he could only continue to allow Peyton to be Peyton to the extent that it fulfilled the larger objective.  Elway's off season focus on the defensive side of the ball should have clarified the larger objective, but Gase had to deliver the message to Manning because Fox simply wasn't smarter than Manning when it came to coordinating offensive attacks.

So Fox had to go.

Fox might not be much smarter than Del Rio either because Denver's vanilla defense rarely found a sprinkle of nuts or candy on top.  Although players seemed supportive of Fox overall, winning was never something they seemed to do for the sake of the coach.  Fox was a great team builder, but an average button pusher in the heat of the moment.  If he gets another job, he will always be forced into great game planning  because on the fly adjustments are not in his wheel house.  Better coaches seem to work circles around Fox who's predictability is becoming legendary.

The real question is whether or not Manning is willing to press on while being pressed down beneath the thumb of head coach Gase?  Despite the obvious success that the run game revealed to Denver Bronco players and fans, Manning seemed to be having less fun at football when the game plan adjustments took the ball out of his hands.  During the playoff loss to the Colts, Manning passed up on 20 yards of open field that would have allowed him to run  (don't laugh) and convert an important third and 5. Instead, Peyton failed to thread the needle to a well covered Emmanuel Sanders.  Those who later claimed that he didn't have the legs to run might have missed the 4 yards that he quickly ran from the middle of the pocket just to attempt the pass to Sanders.

Manning loves to remind you how physically mobile he can be when necessary, but fails to recognize how mentally immobile it reveals him to be from a holistic approach to football.  Manning's mobility is limited to whatever it takes to complete a pass, so the only thing the Colts had to employ against a pass happy Bronco team is the Seattle Seahawks Superbowl blueprint of pressing the outside receivers.  Denver's desperate cry for a healthy Julius Thomas was as much a game plan giveaway as is his presence on the field which immediately denotes something other than a run play.  Thomas, who is notoriously poor at run blocking, became the visual equivalent of an empty backfield for Denver's defensive opponents, and the Colts salivated at the opportunity to make plays when such offensive declarations provided them.

Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson have likely decided that it is time to send all of the old guard out to pasture, not just Denver's aging Bronco, so Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers had best be ready for a real fight in the conference finals.  As for Manning, he is no longer the glue of his team and might soon become the kind of glue that an old horse fears the most.  While the Broncos could use his ability to help them transition into the future, he is likely too proud to finish his career as the game manager that C.J. Anderson and a well stocked defense need him to be, but too old to try and start again somewhere else.  With such an abrupt exit from the playoffs....again, whether or not Manning returns to the field next year is probably a question that even Manning himself has not figured an answer for.

As a matter of decision making, Manning should know that Gase will remain in his face and C.J. will become the chosen Mr. Anderson who fixes this matrix.  Denver also becomes a leading candidate for the acquisition of Jameis Winston(FSU)  or Cordale Jones(OSU), college quarterbacks with the kind of stuff that might impress someone like the great John Elway who has to recognize that his true challenge will be overcoming the great quarterbacks who threaten to own the league for years to come, and that Brock Osweiller is not equal to any of them. Will these great college players fall within the reach of Denver or will Denver be forced to trade (maybe even Manning) for a chance to find its future quarterback?

Stay tuned.

NFL: National Football Lie? Is American Football Chasing Story Lines?

Trust me Detroit Lion fans.  I understand how it feels.

Its not because of my team, the Denver Broncos, who experienced years of pain at the hand of underachievement and the unspoken "bad luck' of having underwhelming box office appeal.  Denver finally won a couple of Superbowls, and even our recent absence from the top of the mountain doesn't discount Pat Bowlen's drive to stick our flag atop the heap.  We may have withdrawals from missing our crown, but it doesn't make us Detroit, or Cleveland who has to consider the success of the Baltimore Ravens with either envious joy or  envious pain. Denver is no longer another Buffalo team where the Bills came excruciatingly close to winning but failed 4 times during their key championship runs.

Denver is not hapless or hopeless.  The Broncos have won and can certainly win again...maybe even soon.  The Detroit Lions are loaded with talent and can finally consider themselves a legitimate championship caliber team as well, but what Denver, Detroit and every other team in the NFL has no hope of ever being is America's most beloved team. The Dallas Cowboys own that title and that title dictated that the pass interference flag had to be picked up lest the selection of Tony Romo for NFL MVP be soiled along with that soiled flag that got usurped by the powers that be.

Denver is not Detroit, the sad victim of this sad story, and we are certainly not the Minnesota Vikings.

My stepfather (RIP) was a HUGE Viking fan- the same Vikings who are the victims behind the story of the Hail Mary pass itself. Prior to this mysterious officiating foible, the Hail Mary was called the Alley Oop pass.  On this fateful day, Roger Staubach (a Catholic) admitted to throwing the pass to teammate Drew Pearson and then praying "Hail Mary" after it left his hand.  Mary didn't cure any blind men, but she might have created a few out of the officials who did not call a rather obvious push-off by Pearson that allowed him to make the key touchdown. As Pearson raced to the end zone, stories say an orange was thrown from the Minnesota stands that flashed past national television cameras giving Viking fans- like my stepfather- the false impression that a flag had been thrown- and then mysteriously picked up for some un-American reason that, once again favored America's Team.

When dad discovered that their was no flag on the play, his anger had him attempting to make a call to the national offices of the NFL to voice his displeasure. Since this was the mid-70's, mom found the approach- and the yellow pages that he used to find Pete Rozell- to be a bit excessive. We kids joined her more reasonable bandwagon.  Besides,  my dad was the only Viking fan in the house and this was hardly the Broncos that were falling victim to the corporate compulsion towards America's Team, so what did we care?  In hindsight, dear old dad might have been on to something.

Why did they ever decide to create a national headquarter for officiating "support" if not to take away some of the power that allows on-field officiating crews to screw up the story line.

Did the officials officially hand Dallas the victory over Detroit?  NO! But they did do their best to keep the story line intact even when an obvious call threatened to curtail it.  My hunch, once again, was that this has everything to do with the up and coming MVP announcement that has  all flags pointing in the direction of Romo.

NFL officials, to the chagrin of many, are part time employees who do other really important things for a career which could impact their ability to obey the company instruction to remain "fair and balanced" like FOX news (wink, wink).  The general fan should hope that these guys maintain the integrity of the job by never letting it become their career, yet politics even exist in little league sports so the NFL is highly vulnerable to it. Good ol' boy referee's get the good ol' boy jobs while guys with integrity ref little league for life.  Even if you would like to call the game like you see it, today's NFL referee knows that New York video officials (the bosses) are watching and insist on changing the call as needed.  NFL fans who would like to see full time officiating should see that we've got it already in the form of New York city big bosses.  What might have been called an effort to speed up the game is now an entity of responsibility.  Who is chosen to officiate the game must be driven by the New York big bosses since now, the final call reflects more on the process than the people.  Integrity's wish is that such administrative leanings would never bend unfairly towards the money, but sensibility knows better.

Did New York snatch a flag from the field for the sake of Romo's MVP story, America's Team. and a huge money making story line?

New York better be glad that dad passed away because his beef with them goes way back and Google is a stronger search engine than those Yellow Page books.

Has Jusuf Njurkic Already Made Timofey Mosgov The Backup Center?

At the close of last night's drubbing of Memphis at the hands of Denver's desperate Nuggets- who needed a win like air and water,  the lead Grizzly bear Marc Gasol, gave hugs and sincere respect to the new Nugget big man he had ferociously battled just minutes before.

I believe that Nurkic is our future.  Teach him well! 

During a pivotal moment of the game, Jusuf Nurkic finished a back-to-back block brigade, including one against Gasol, with a Dikembe Mutombo-esque bit of crap talking as the icing on his patty cake. According to coach Brian Shaw (in the post game press conference), Nurkic was promised more minutes with less fouling.  Nurkic, who loves to reach and has the wing span to justify the bad habit, finally had a game with no fouls despite a VERY physical battle against one of the leagues best centers.


Along the way he compiled a double double, including 5 blocks, while simultaneously forcing Timofey Mosgov to wonder if he should count his remaining days as the Denver Nugget starting center.  Javale McGhee is working on his ball handling skills as we speak so that he can become a 7 foot power forward/center for his remaining days in Denver.

Nurkic is but one of several young talents that are quickly trying to earn their way into the trust of the city that they play for.  When you become a fan favorite, even your bad play gets overlooked as with Kenneth Faried.  It sometimes even gets you a second opportunity to return to a city that thinks they missed something in your game- as with Aaron Aaflalo who is quickly convincing me that Orlando got his best year/s.  Aaron Augustus Aaflalo is unafraid to shoot in the waning moments of games, but opposing coaches are totally fine trusting AAA  with a slightly contested look to win a close game. The signs say that Wilson Chandler will never be a player who wants that shot, so the hope in  this area remains with two up and coming guards that simply haven't come up quite yet. 

Last night, Nurkic might have been the first Nugget rookie to officially come up.  He certainly got lucky to catch a team that had played the night before, however he was unfortunate for that team to be the 3rd placed team in the vicious NBA Western conference- and a team whose center is probably the best in the league-  unquestionably the center (not named Tim Duncan) with the widest array of skill sets. Denver beat Memphis by 29 points, but Denver fans discovered a reason for hope in the coming days and years.  Denver Nugget point guard and current team leader, Ty Lawson, had another stellar game displaying all of the reasons why you appreciate Ty when he's feeling it.  Even when Ty is not "feeling it", he remains an effective player in the league and would easily lead the league in assist if his current guards weren't such erratic, sporadic, dare I say spastic scorers of the ball.  With a reliable person to deliver the ball to (i.e., someone really close to the rim who can score and/or get to the line consistently), Lawson could unveil a second half to a career that has been positive while far from prosperous.  Whether its Ty Lawson or a reliable backup like Jeremy Lin (who could really use a new home),  Jusuf Njurkic will be the Nugget center catching their passes and calmly creating something for his team.

Nurkic is a natural playmaker who understands the game on a very high level but continues to make the small mistakes that separates rookies from veteran players- mistakes like fouling instead of forcing hard shots then blocking out to eliminate second chances.  Nurkic and the Nuggets could all stand to improve in the realm of defending without fouls and last nights game was the first foray into that realm of improvement.  Since Denver has never successfully defended without fouling, last nights win also has to be considered an anomaly. Whether they were just the beneficiaries of blind whistles will be determined in the games to come.  Denver has long since been the best team in the NBA at getting second chance opportunities.  Unfortunately, the Nug's have also ranked pretty high in giving up second chances and/or giving teams free throws as a result of poor defensive discipline.

The winning potion versus Memphis was one part tired Grizzly and one part new and improved Nugget, a team that MUST keep this going if they hope to keep it going.

Or they could scrap the season like New York or Philly and push the youth movement into overdrive but risk further loss of favor towards coach Shaw who would likely become the sacrificial lamb of such an approach.  The Nuggets are playing for respectability and they are playing for an identity.  They are playing to ensure their fans that they have a plan for the future and that some pieces of it, especially the coach, are clearly in place.  The Nuggets are unlikely to win it all and even hardly capable of turning tide enough to make the playoffs this year, so the current goals have to be set within arms reach or they become a deadly mountain to climb.

Winning just enough to keep the heat off of a worthy and capable coach is an active goal that just took a 7 foot, Jusuf Nurkic leap forward.  As long as he can continue to defend without fouling, Mosgov will move back and the Nuggets will move forward....and that is a good thing.

Congressman's KKK Speech (12 Years Ago) Could Cost Him Today

Study: Hate of Obama

 fuels 755% growth in 

extremist groups

DAVID EDWARDS
09 MAR 2012 AT 10:16 ET                   

 (originally published in 2012-- RAW STORY.com)

Fears that the nation’s first black president will be re-elected has fueled the dramatic growth (of) extremists groups in the U.S. over the past year, according to a report from a civil rights organization that tracks these groups.

The number of groups in the anti-government “Patriot” movement have sky rocketed 755 percent since President Barack Obama has been elected, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) yearly report found.

Today's story du jour is about an elected official who was witnessed speaking at a KKK rally 12 years ago.  While he doesn't deny his involvement, he does deny his allegiance to such an ideology, calling the event an effort to win votes during a campaign- and nothing more.

Modern day racial cleansing in congress got rid of David Duke ( the former representative from Louisiana who was a Klan grand wizard) and even  former senator Trent Lott (Mississippi) felt the impact of co-signing the Klan.  This current congressman under racism watch spoke to a group founded by David Duke himself. As the last vestiges of admitted bigots is being snuffed out by whoever smells for such stench, even this  congressman's own attempts to wash himself of the odor may not save him from the mob of racism abolitionist' who think racism can be rooted out of congress like the cancer it represents. If this congressman doesn't care to admit his love of the KKK, than I personally would rather not even mention his name in connection with them.

Racism and racial intolerance are much bigger than one previously anonymous congressman who might be trying to quit the set (gang talk for leaving a gang).   The statistics seem to suggest that racism was watered by the mere electing of a black president- but became mature plants that dropped seeds of their own in the wake of Obama's second term. In the first Obama term, extremist group recruiting grew, but they were as caught off guard by the reality of what America had done as they were by the masterful recruiting tool they had been handed.  If racism had died in the days since MLK and JFK lost their lives to the cause, the death was but dried up seeds waiting for the right kind of rain to bring new life.  Similar to Islamic terrorist who can start world war by creating beheading videos, racial extremist' have discovered a fertile landscape and a source of rain. 

2012  represented a pinnacle in total number of anti-government groups -1,360 while only 1,096 such groups were still registered by the end of 2013 (SPLC.org).  At its peak (since 2008) extremism grew by 813%.  Is that in actual numbers or just those who signed up (aka., admitted to extreme views). What does 813% represent in real numbers and is that question even attainable?

Is Race STILL our #1 issue?

Racial conversations may never be honest enough for an honest representation of true extremism or the extent of growth that we continue to see from the small crowd of those who dare admit it. Much like the  belabored conversation on domestic violence, hate statistics say we have a problem while the voices refuse to agree that its them.

The newest way to pretend that extremism isn't yOUR issue is to pretend like Obama did it. In one year he will lose his value as a scapegoat and extremism will lose its best recruiting tool in years.  

Soon, hate will get to chill out for a while, except in the halls of congress were it must diligently hide itself from hate filled mobs that either truly hate extremism or simply love being caught fighting it.

(Does hate chill out?)

Is Race Still Our #1 Issue ..and should it be our #1 conversation?

Ku Klux Klan Attacks Nicki Minaj: Claims Black People Didn't Invent Hip Hop