Yes, it was on this date in 1870 that Syracuse University was founded. Or opened. Or whatever. So they call this “Orange Day,” even though orange wasn’t the school’s color back then. In fact, I don’t think they had any colors to start with, but in 1872 they adopted the truly inspiring combination of pea green and pink. Eventually that became pink and blue, until, in 1890, they got made fun of by students at Hamilton College and adopted orange because nobody else had that color yet. So, here we are.
It would be nice if, on its 142nd birthday, SU could celebrate be making it to the final four by beating Ohio State. It’s yet another game we are supposed to lose – especially because OSU has a big fella at center named Sullinger, and our big fella was apparently too dumb to stay in school long enough to finish the season (to be fair, his English is way better than my Portuguese).
Otherwise, it’s a cooler weekend on tap. Lots of rain last night, and “only” in the 50s today.
I reckon I can deal with that.
Who Doesn’t Love a List?
By GAIL COLLINS
Published: March 23, 2012
The ONLY SIX THINGS you need to know right now about the presidential race:
1) People really like stories that promise you there are only six things they need to know about something. It gives them hope that if they just finish your list, you will leave them alone to think about other critical current event issues, or “The Hunger Games.â€
2) Rick Santorum appears to be the favorite in Saturday’s Louisiana primary.
Perhaps this oil-drilling, oil-spilling state likes his position on global warming. Which is that he has never believed in it. Never. Not even when he was in college and some of his friends would go out behind the fraternity house and do a little climate science. Young Rick preferred to stay in his room and look at pictures of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
“If you leave it to Nature, then Nature will do what Nature does, which is boom and bust,†he said last month at an energy summit meeting in Colorado.
I believe I speak for many Americans when I respond: bust? What’s this about a bust?
Also, at the same gathering, Santorum said that humans were put on Earth “to use it wisely and steward it wisely, but for our benefit, not for the Earth’s benefit.â€
Right. Who cares what the Earth likes? If it isn’t happy, let it just go sit in a corner and warm. See if we care.
3) There’s been a lot of talk about Republicans suffering from primary fatigue. “They are really kind of tired of this,†Michele Bachmann told Joe Scarborough on MSNBC.
Perhaps Bachmann would like the Republicans to start concentrating on more important matters, like retiring her presidential campaign debt. We have heard a lot of complaints about how long and dreary these presidential contests have been, but they all seem totally wrongheaded.
The primaries have been great for the economy. Dimwitted billionaires are dumping money they don’t need into the campaigns of people who can’t win, providing much-needed jobs for ad-writers, poll-takers and yard-sign manufacturers.
Do you remember, at the depth of the recession, when Keynesians kept saying that we could jump-start the recovery by just paying a whole bunch of people to dig holes and fill them back in? This is exactly the same thing! Keep going, Republicans!
4) After the Louisiana primary is over, there will certainly be new calls for Newt Gingrich to get out of the race. Those doing the urging will point out that his campaign seems to be sunk in debt and that he’s never going to win anything.
Sure, those are points. But, on the other hand, where do you want him to go? Home to sit in the basement? The man has nothing else to do. Be reasonable.
5) Democrats are getting so bored that they’ve started to speculate about whether Joe Biden will run in 2016.
Everyone is getting excited about the idea of a primary contest between Biden, who would be 73, and Hillary Clinton, who would be turning 69. Biden could match the Ronald Reagan presidential oldness record! We do worry a little about the age thing, since we all know that William Henry Harrison was sworn in at 68, caught a cold and died a month later. But the good news is that if Clinton or Biden wins, and then gets the sniffles while giving the Inaugural Address, the presidential physicians would probably not respond with bleeding and creating therapeutic blisters.
Timid souls might counsel that we shouldn’t be thinking about 2016 before we’ve even had the conventions in 2012. They might throw out other names, like Andrew Cuomo, who has won the hearts of New Yorkers by being governor for more than a year without having anything terrible happen.
But, I say, what the heck. Let’s just agree right now that we want a Clinton-Biden primary season next time around. We can talk about it constantly through the entire next administration, further convincing all Americans under the age of 50 that the older generation is never going to get out of the way and let them have the good jobs.
6) Unless Mitt Romney says a new strange thing this weekend, his opponents will continue to remind the world that a top Romney aide compared the candidate’s campaign strategy to shaking up an Etch A Sketch.
I would recommend giving this one a rest, even though the aide’s comment does speak to the fact that Romney will switch his position on anything, possibly including the number of states in the union, if he thinks it’ll get him elected.
On the other hand, people really like Etch A Sketches. Thinking about them gives voters warm memories of childhood afternoons, whiled away with a primitive mechanical drawing toy. Really, if you want to make them irritated, better to go back to the dog on the car roof. Nobody likes thinking about that dog.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney Undergoes Heart Transplant, A.P. Reports
Former Vice President Dick Cheney had a heart transplant Saturday and is recovering at a Virginia hospital, his office said.
An aide to Mr. Cheney, Kara Ahern, said that he had been waiting for a transplant for more than 20 months and did not know the identity of the heart donor.
Mr. Cheney was recovering Saturday night at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., after surgery earlier in the day.
A self-respecting heart will reject Cheney.
After all they went through, it was a pretty great season. :pup: