On the Jaguars attendence figures and the obligation of our good 'ole boys

Many national and local sports writers have been lamenting the Jacksonville Jaguars attendance figures this year. The team covers up large amounts of what is one of the largest stadiums in the National Football League in for all intents and purposes is the smallest market in the league. But there is a feeling that somehow the amount of people that are at the average Jaguar game is comparable to any other NFL market. Truth be told they should have to put up the temporary Florida-Georgia game extra seating for every one of the Jacksonville Jaguars home games in this supposedly football mad region of the sunshine state, but the whole story is never told by the liberal sports media in this town and outside it. After week two Jacksonville is drawing more warm bodies (especially in Duval in late summer, which lasts until December) than the Super Bowl Champions. Six other NFL football teams that have played a home game are averaging less than the Jacksonville Jaguars. Including Jesus' favorite football team the Dallas Cowboys. If Michael Vick was not killing dogs the Jags are probably in the middle of the pack in terms of attendance, even with consistent college football National Champions surrounding them.
That being said I think it is embarrassing what has happened in terms of attendance in that stadium. I for one will be in that stadium for the next game. In the old days of Jacksonville politics, great men like Jake Godbold would ensure that public evens like those where attended come hell or high water. When Jacksonville hosted the Olympic gymnastics trial in 1980 Godbold called in his contributors and good ole boys network and gave them the marching orders that those tickets would be sold. John Peyton is a part of one of the most powerful families in Northeast Florida. He should be calling the same people that he gives contracts to to buy those tickets whether it is a game with the Indianapolis Colts or the Bucs of 1976. Trust me, that team needs to make money but whether you like football or not the city has a vested interest in that team succeeding, and you know you love football. What the hell else are going to be doing on Sunday?

On the state of Duval

I may start writing back here again on some different subjects. I think if I have some local points about the City of Jacksonville and the First Coast I may just make them here. Please keep going to www.thesunshineempire.com for nation political news and humor. Not to mention the kind of music you know you like. Everyone is represented. But if I have a note to make, like the problems with raw attendance that people have begun to say nationally about the lack of interest in the Jaguars, I will make it here. Think of this as The Sunshine Empire Local Duval edition. By the way, the Jaguars had one of the largest stadiums in the league before they put the tarps on. Just as many people show up for the games as do any other city. So just shut the fuck up.

I think it is also embarrassing that the Duval County Democratic party could not find some reasonable candidate that could have stood against John Peyton. I think he has done an average job in extraordinary circumstances, but he was eminently beatable in his last election and got token opposition. My God rest the soul of Jackie Brown, but there needed to be someone with a little more weight as a candidate running against him. Harry Shorestien stands as the only county-wide elected Democrat and he is leaving soon.

These are just a few of the things that we will be discussing on this space, from time to time. Check us here at http://sunshineempire.blogspot.com for local and http://www.thesunshineempire.com.

For those still checking the blogspot

For those of you fine souls who still find this page, please visit the new and inproved The Sunshine Empire. We have all the great politics, music, sports, random rants, and cussing you want. What more do you want? What more, do you NEED? So check out The Sunshine Empire free standing blog for all of your asistimtary needs.

Kim Jong Il and the Oninon News Network

In The Know: Kim Jong-Il's Approval Rating Plummets to 120%

The still unanswered question of the WMD

I was scanning The Huffington Post and I noticed a very small headline that caught my eye. "Four years later, the search for WMD ends." But is it the rantings of an insane liberal to ask the question, why did they get off on this one. This may be the central reason that we are all barreling headlong into irrelevancy as a republic. The government of this nation told us that we needed to invade a sovereign nation because they had mountains, "tons and tons" of chemical and biological weapons that they were going to send halfway around the world in attack aircraft no more complicated than Cessnas to rain death and hellfire on us. We as a nation, with the exception of the Sunshine Empire editorial board, willingly trusted our leaders and committed ourselves to this endeavor, and lo and behold there were no weapons.

It was not so much that this happened, it was that our questions where met with, "fuck, our bad, but whatever WE WON!" Our reaction as a nation was to pay more attention to the winner of American Idol than we did why we caused such a fucking cluster fuck in the most dangerous part of the world. But most who blindly protect the President in this regard most often say that the whole world thought that he had weapons, and that is a bald faced lie. The Germans gave every bit of information stating that they really did not want to give any validity to what they had found. Their double agent, "curveball" has since said everything he told interrogators was a lie. Good that we committed the full force of the United States Armed forces on the word of a high strung ex patriot Arab. If William Jefferson Clinton had lead us into a war promising to find something and it never appeared he would be in a bunker fearing for his life right now. Yet nary a peep out of those same people. They are just being held down by the big bad liberal media. Liberal media just means anything that is not currently or will not probably be owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Many conservatives also state that the WMD where never the main reason for the invasion. The HELL they were not. Why would Condi Rice be talking about a mushroom cloud as proof? The media has basically said, "that's old news," and the Administration has said, "just move on." But why is it so out of line to still ask, did George W. Bush lie to the American public? And if lying to a grand jury about a blow job is impeachable, they why is lying about a war not? And if lying to a grand jury about a blow job was worth millions and a year and a half of investigation, then why is lying about a war not?

Lewis Black talks of bias in the media

Another debate, again, for the first time, for the last time

I watched the Democratic Candidates forum on PBS this evening and I have to say some things became clear. Bill Richardson's campaign staff must be a bunch of Republicans trying to screw him, because the man has good positions and a resume that puts them all to shame. Yet in these debates, and especially tonight, he looked lost and confused. Christopher Dodd continues to be brilliant at saying nothing at all. I've read this week that John Edwards is taking a turn that will take on right wing sources with direct attacks. This is unheard of in a party that is just discovering it has balls. The right wing media is aghast at this, because they grew up during the age of Bush. Dennis turned a question about education into an anti-Iraq speech, and Mike Gravel is still crazy. I will say Gravel does do this valuable thing, he constantly reminds the candidates and the crowd that they are not all blameless for all the insanity of the last six years. These things are really going to drive people to gouge their eyes out by November. The sad thing is I'll be watching.

More on Darth Cheney

The Surge and the tide turning

I was speaking to the Emperor Emeritus of The Sunshine Empire tonight and he asked about the comments of Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana. He made tacit admissions that "The Surge," which I thought was a failed energy drink, was not working. Where as most in favor of the surge of United States soldiers into Iraq had stated unequivocally that September would be long enough to judge it's effectiveness, he did not feel that we should wait that long. Senator Lugar has always been a practical Republican, and has never been among those who guzzle the neo-con Kool-Aid. Yet he's been reliable conservative that voted with Bush on matters relating to Iraq.

The real news was not his relatively mild statement, which his people assure us is not news to the White House. The news in it was how Jeff Sessions, George Voinevich, and John Warner all stated that they agreed in part. This is not a group of RINO's and had the EE thinking big. Yet Lugar and the group are not joining the Democrats in calling for an immediate withdrawal. The reality is they are simply positioning themselves for September. September will be the critical mass in this entire debacle. When the surge began, those advocating it pointed to September as a benchmark of evaluation to those weary of constant war. This has always been understood as the Hail Mary pass at the end of the game for Bush and those who sold us this. But as violence is up, U.S. deaths are up, and no end or solution is in site, General Petraeus and his puppet masters in the Administration have been backpedaling the surge into this multi-generational long term theory. Those who spoke up today understand this dodge and are positioning themselves for September. The report will come, and barring a huge change it will be more of the same. Those in the Republican party understand that this pointless war lost them the Congress, and could have them holding only the Supreme Court by January of 2009. They are all, aside from Jeff Sessions, very smart politicians and are all planning for September.

On having a plan

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."

-Sun-tzu, The Art of War

The War Of The Roses version 2.0

I miss that cliche that was "2.0". I was scanning through the front page of Media Matters today and read a headline from commentator Larry Sabato that said, "That every President from 1989 to 2017 may be a Bush or a Clinton is a national disgrace." I didn't read the article but I will say he is exactly right. Our forefathers fought a war against the British so that they would not be ruled by a hereditary monarch, and we have happily re-instituted it ourselves smiling and willing. George H.W. Bush was a dedicated public servant, and Bill Clinton brought untold prosperity to the United States. After this we re-elected Dubya because we thought Kerry was creepy, and he's such a bad President that we as a nation are looking seriously at electing a former First Lady. The Sunshine Empire editorial board is certainly not going to walk down the road of investing the competency needed to be the leader of the free world in a person based solely in a person's last name. I am sure Senator Clinton would make an able leader, and I would certainly vigorously support her if she faces Rudolph Guliani in a general election, but it is still sad that it has come to this. The framers wanted the job to attract those like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, farmer politicians. People who felt the need to serve, then leave. Having a modern day War of the Roses across thirty years on the White House lawn is not what they intended.

On the Republican message

"You still have to vote for us 'cause my opponent is a slug, and they're going to tax you into the poorhouse. On the way to the poorhouse, you'll meet a terrorist on every street corner. And when you try to run away from that terrorist, you will trip over an illegal immigrant.'"

-Former President Bill Clinton, on the Republicans' 2006 campaign

On The Guantanamo Bait and Switch

All of my enthusiasm from yesterday was misplaced. The White House apparently canceled the meeting set to discuss closing Guantanamo because it broke in the press. Oh well.

In reply to my last post a good friend asked, "If constitutional rights are conferred to non-citizens then what is the point of citizenship?" This point is the one that causes me the most consternation. We as Americans have spent our time as an imperial power spreading the great gift of our Constitution to those in the far reaches of the planet. We made evil empires in Germany and Japan model western democracies with free and peaceful people. Yet it seems that today we tell the world that it needs to turn to democratic freedoms, but if you were not born in the 50 states we can treat you however we damn well please. We tell the Iraqis to embrace the rule of law, but we keep our captives in a lawless nether-region. I would ask; if it is so incontrovertible that these people are so dangerous, what is the fear that this cannot be proven in court? Why is it that we feel we cannot let these people play by the rules that we tell the world are the best? It is not that constitutional rights are being given to non-citizens, it is that we seem unable to play by our own rules. If we cannot play by our own rules, then why do we even have them?

Rock On Bush

"George Bush hates midgets."

-Chris Rock

Guantanamo comes under the rule of law

News is breaking that the Bush Administration is coming to the decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Like many of the positions that the Administration has taken, and insisted if they had not catastrophic hell would break loose, they have changed their minds. In reality they are understanding that the law is against them, no matter what jingoistic Cheney loving lawyers in the Justice Department say otherwise. A decidedly conservative Supreme Court and Several Military judges have stated that the Administration's many plans are contrary to the very rule of law they state they are looking to uphold.

Yet the most curious and missed point in all of this is the complete hypocrisy that the Administration's line of thinking was. It may seem the rantings of a pompous American, but the values set forth by the framers in the 18th century are the most intrinsic and universal rights that the World desires for. Freedom is the God given right of every human walking the face of the Earth, but for some reason the Bushies feel that some deserve it and some don't. The cornerstone of the great American legal system is the right of a person to be innocent until proven guilty. It is for that right that countless Americans have died. But with Guantanamo we have essentially let the world know that that is not always the case. Now I am not saying that all the men that reside at the facility are all a bunch of huggy-bears but they deserve their day in court. American values are universal values, and the world needs to know that we are serious about it. Democracy is not always a Jimmy Stewart movie. I give the Administration credit for finally coming to this view. Too bad Darth Cheney.

Twilight Empire

Well, the Michael Bloomberg factor has been inserted into the 2008 race. I am extremely tired, but I can say my interest lies in who he draws votes away from. Will he draw from Hillary instead of Mitt, or McCain instead of Obama. The signals are mixed at this time. Initial polling seems to say Bloomberg turns more states blue than he does red in three way match-ups. Yet Republican pollsters seem to be rejoicing, convinced that this means a sure thing for the Party of Lincoln. For a quick aside though, why is the Republican party known as the Grand Old Party (GOP) despite the fact that the Democratic party is an older organization? But does Bloomberg want to be remembered at the Ross Perot, or the Ralph Nader of this election? Have I used the question mark much to often in this post? Yes.

On Qualifications for the Presidency

"Any American who is prepared to run for President should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from every doing so."

-Gore Vidal

Weakness breeding terrorism

He's the Governor of a major state

"It became mainstream, it became sexy, attractive. And this is exactly what has to happen with the environmental movement. Like bodybuilders, the environmentalists were thought of as kind of weird fanatics also. You know the kind of serious tree huggers. Environmentalists were no fun. They were like prohibitionists at the fraternity party."

-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

On Law and Order, and Presidential Politics

Much has been made recently about the coming candidacy of former Tennessee Senator and Hollywood know-it-all Fred Thompson. He has announced that he will announce his intentions for the Presidency of The United States of America sometime after Independence Day. One of my favorite new features of this Presidential election is the need to have your official announcement of your candidacy 14 separate times. Thompson has the punditocracy absolutely aflutter, and he has stormed to double digit showings in most primary states having not spent a dime. The sheer skill and timing of his campaign reeks of the legendary figures of professional politics. When back rooms where still filled with smoke and intrigue and you could enter the race after the first primary had already been staged. But as much as I have tried to pillory the fraud that is Mitt, I have to say to look deeper is impossible because there is no substance to Senator Thompson.

To start, his positions are almost in lockstep with the inept and hated boy king in the White House. Let's accept Iraq as the 51st state and Scooter's lying to a grand jury shouldn't mean jail, it should mean a raise. He also has barely six years in any elective office, and he's a lawyer from Hollywood. I've read many blogs that have made the point of the rank hypocrisy from the right when it comes to Hollywood. They are rich, and spoiled, and should just keep their mouth shut. Yet if you put an R next to your name they'll actually put you in charge of actual shit. If Carl Weathers is a republican they'll jump at the chance to make him the third cast member of Predator to be a Governor. Maybe he can replace that whiny pussy Kansas Governor who complained about the disaster relief equipment being in Iraq. Tornadoes are avowed America haters.

The real reason for the rock star treatment of Thompson boils down to the awkward group that are declared for the nomination now. A cross-dressing gay-loving New York City Mayor? A Mormon Massachusetts Governor who tried to out liberal Ted Kennedy when he tried to unseat him? Or maybe the man against torture who still has the bruise from Dubya's cock slapping him in the face so many times? Seems strange that Thompson is the answer. I would have thought that the Republicans would have strayed from the "pretty name and face" candidate considering how it turned out the last time.

All this could be upset by the decision of Michael Bloomberg to change his affiliation to unaffiliated. If he's leaving the Republican party that he joined just to become Mayor, but did not return to the Democrats, that means he's toying with the third party run jive. That could cause the whole dynamic to turn, 15 months before we should be bothering with this.