Whew! Today’s been quite a day, and there are still several hours remaining. Here are just a few of the things that happened today:
- Michigan offers Jim Harbaugh huge deal, 6 years, $48 million — If this comes to pass, Harbaugh will be college football’s highest paid coach. Ugh. This move reinforces the view that my alma matter has it’s head up it’s backside when it comes to managing it’s football program. Harbaugh is on the outs in San Francisco. He has stated that he is not interested in coaching at Michigan. Michigan must be really, really desperate. But even if Harbaugh offered to coach for free, we don’t need a king of the hissy fit on our sidelines.
- Rick Snyder wants to become a teacher. Ask an actual teacher in Michigan how he or she feels about Gov. Snyder’s education policies. I doubt he’ll be the most popular new guy on the staff. Unless maybe if he takes a job at an expensive, for-profit, privately operated charter school.
- Paramount cancels Team America screenings. We’ve come a long way since the days when George W. Bush told us all, “Those in authority should take appropriate precautions to protect our citizens. But we will not allow this enemy to win the war by changing our way of life or restricting our freedoms.”
- Mark Rubio leads the GOP charge to block Obama’s Cuba policy. Normalized relations with every nation on Earth would be a good thing. And the best way to get something done is to begin. Even Rand Paul thinks this is “probably a good idea“. But not Rubio. Or McConnell. Or Boehner. No, they’re constrained by the simple formula: Obama-for(x) ⇒ Is-horrible-idea(x)
- Pat Robertson supports Cuba opening, in principle, but opposes it because… Obama. He’s lost his mind, of course, but he still has a very big stage from which to preach.
- Right here in Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Prof. Susan Douglas explains that It’s Okay to Hate Republicans. She’s taking a lot of heat for publishing “hate speech”, and her choice of the “H” word was unfortunate. (I would have advised her to use “loathe”–conveys a similar idea, but slightly less easy to “hate on”.) Still, her article shines light on the truly loathsome state of our current political environment.
- The Colbert Report ends tonight. Colbert and Stewart helped me and millions more laugh at–and thus, live through–these past years of political disfunction. It’s bittersweet that Colbert is moving on. As the bullet points above attest, he’d not be lacking in comedic material. Nor are we as citizens of his Nation lacking in need for ongoing comic relief. But nine years is a long time and he deserves the luxury of moving onto something new. Thank you, Stephen!
I wonder what tomorrow will bring.