My Sunday Feeling

It is @ 10: 15 on Saturday as I type this. It is already a scorcher out there. As you may recall, my buddy Jim from Baton Rouge was in town last weekend when the highs were in the low nineties. He thought he had died and gone to heaven. Well, if he were here today he would have thought he had died and gone to Hell. Still, it is not altogether unpleasant here on the porch swing. It is just the place to drink ice water while thinking about certain hot topics such as:

Gay Foster Parents- Last week the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that held that a regulation passed by the Child Welfare Agency Review Board (hereinafter referred to as "Those Idiots") banning gays or straight people with a gay person living in the household from being foster parents exceeded Those Idiots' authority. Let's talk about what the Court didn't say. The Court didn't say that that gay folks have a right to be foster parents. All the Court said was that Those Idiots couldn't promulgate a regulation purporting to be in the best interests of the welfare of children-here a ban on gays being foster parents-without any evidence to support such a regulation other than the moral beliefs on Those Idiots. Counsel for Those Idiots conceded that there was no evidence that gay folks were, ipso facto, unfit to be foster parents or that there were any reported instances where a child had been harmed by a foster parent. Pretty simple case actually decided on exceedingly narrow grounds.

Judging from the response by the right-wing nut types out there in the blogosphere and the politicians who pander to them, you would have thought that the Supreme Court had ordered Arkansas's foster kids to be raised by the cast of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy or something. Gay folks and immigrants have become a useful target for unscrupulous politicians in that they provide an equal opportunity scapegoat for both black and white bigots.

Here's what will happen during the next legislative session. Whatever House committee that is in charge of Those Idiots will convene a hearing. They will find them an "expert" to testify that gay folks are unfit to be foster parents, adoptive parents or to own pets. It will not be hard to find somebody for such a task. You can find an expert somewhere that will testify to anything. I predict it will be some nutbar psychologist with dubious credentials from some Bible college or evangelical "think tank" somewhere. No matter. The legislature will pass a law banning gays from being foster parents. And we will be back in Court before the the Governor's signature dries.

In the meantime, the Mike Huckabees and the Jim Holts of this world will demonize gay folks and a so-called "activist" court system that politicians of this ilk will unfairly characterize as their special friend.

Meanwhile back on Planet Earth there are plenty of serious questions that merit discussion by serious people. Folks are getting whacked around here left and right. The prisons are full to the brim. Medicaid is going broke and the schools are not much better. These are just the ones that I can think of off the top of my head.

The known universe of gay folks that want to be foster parents would have to be pretty small. Is this the only issue that matters?

I predict that the mute button on my remote will get quite a workout this fall.

A Quick Sports Hit- The grand fortnight known as Wimbledon is proceeding apace at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. Andre Agassi had the misfortune of drawing Rafael Nadal as his next opponent. Nadal is basically a younger, stronger version of Andre who employs much the same withering ground game that Andre uses. Andre's back is feeling pretty good right now but let's see how good it feels after about the 7th or 8th 35 stroke point. It says here that Rafael sends our boy packing today.

Sunday Morning Update: Nadal clobbered Agassi in straight sets.

And while we are on the subject of sports, my buddy PM called this morning to say that he found me a left-handed Adams "Tight-Lies" driver for around 115 bucks at a local sporting goods store. Do I need a new driver? No. Will a new driver appreciably improve my prowess off of the tee? Nope. Could the 115 dollars be put to better use? Undoubtedly.

So will I buy the goddamned driver? You're damn skippy I am.

Hatchet Job- There are those who have said that I am pretty rough on Wally Hall, the editor of the sports page of the local paper. I prefer to think that I am tough but imminently fair about such matters. However, reasonable minds can disagree about these things. But reasonable minds would have to agree that my occasional tirades upon the subject of Wally's inane sports column cannot hold a candle to the guy in Chicago who has seriously got it in for Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times and who publishes a blog called "Jay the Joke" which you can find here: http://jaythejoke.com .

This blog is sweet, calm voice of reasoned debate next to "Jay the Joke."

Jeez.

Ronnie Brewer- OK. One more sports item: Arkansas's Ronnie Brewer was drafted in the first round of the NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. Good for him. This means that he will get a minimum 2 year deal for 1.6 million bucks. After that, the sky's the limit.

If he pans out.

There is plenty of upside with this kid. He is tall and rangy (basketball geeks like to refer to this attribute as "length" much in the fashion as baseball people referring to the speed of a pitch as "velocity." They think the use of these high-falutin' words makes their guesswork sound more scientific). He is athletic and can play 3 positions.

They say they drafted him for his defensive ability but I never really saw it. Sure, he led the SEC in steals but I never really saw him lock down too awful many guys one to one. Further, the Jazz brass likes his ability to attack the rim which strongly implies that they are going to get out and run more. This would be a good idea because the last time I looked Karl Malone was still retired. Further, I don't think it is a good idea to rely on his jumper as Ronnie Brewer possesses the ugliest stroke in the history of basketball. I don't know how it is going to hold up under the rigors of an NBA season. But we shall see.

He's a great kid and I wish him well. Good luck, son. Make us proud.

It's time to go do my usual Saturday chores, this being one of them. So I will close for now.

Oh. Ozzie Guillen, the manager of the White Sox is in all kinds of hot water with the suits at Major League Baseball (and with the White Sox front office, come to think of it) after getting mad at the aforementioned Jay Mariotti and calling him a "fag."

MLB should have come down harder on Ozzie than they did. They ordered him to attend "sensitivity training."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! That'll learn him.

The reason that they should have really lowered the boom on Ozzie Guillen because this sort of hurtful and inflammatory rhetoric has no place in public discourse. There's another reason MLB needs to get this all cleared up.

If Those Idiots got wind of this Jay Mariotti might not be allowed to become a foster parent in Arkansas.

Be cool. Write if you get work.