• Coaching is as much about teaching as x’s and o’s. One has to wonder what the kids on the Madisonville-North Hopkins football team learned Tuesday morning. Their now former coach, Will Weaver, said good-bye to them. I’m not sure what message he delivered. It should have been about broken promises. After years of football coaching instability at the school, Weaver arrived with a pledge to the freshmen on the team that he would be there to see them graduate. The only way that happens is if he can get someone to provide him tickets.
• The debate of whether to tea or not to tea is rather silly. Those who chose to attend the Madisonville tea party were well within their rights to a peaceful protest. Those who did not attend are not a bunch of lefty, pinkos who want nothing more than for our country to go commie. The Spin Doctor doesn’t care whether you went or not. “True Americans,” a phrase some Republicans began using in the death throes of a presidential election, was code word for no message. To imply that anyone who didn’t attend is less than a “true American” is a slap to the face of millions of Americans (the Doc included) who served in the armed forces and chose not to tea it up.
• USA Today devoted a lot of ink to a story recently concerning the Republican Party’s identity loss. The story says poll results show Americans don’t know who speaks for the party. It refers to a “GOP wilderness,” in which Republicans have no true leader or direction. David Frum, a speech writer in the “W” White House, said “Republicans are counting on the Obama administration to disintegrate, to disappoint, very rapidly and very spectacularly, and a big popular movement of unhappiness with the administration to coalesce.” Doc says Frum’s statement says it all. For now anyway, Republicans appear to continue to be mired in their politics of the past, where they knew a good label when they heard one, told you what was wrong, and tried to tell you whose fault it was, with no suggestion of how to fix it. Offer nothing and hope the other guy screws up. Now, that’s a strategy.
• The state House’s slots bill was dead on delivery when it arrived in the Senate. It will be interesting to see what role the racing industry — if there is one left — plays in the 2010 election. There are 12 Senate Republican seats in play. One Independent seat is up for grabs. Madisonville’s Jerry Rhoads is among the six Democrafts who must defend their seats.
• Happy 52nd birthday (Tuesday) to Frances McDormand who went to “check on some malfeasance up in Brainerd,” in the Coen Brothers’ masterpiece, “Fargo.”