This morning, as you were being waved through the Weston tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike, did you stop and think about how great this could be?  Imagine every day, instead of sitting in a line of traffic stretching from 128 up to the Mass Pike, you breezed your way into work in a reasonable amount of time to begin your much more productive day?

Because of the accident this morning, involving 3 trucks and a car, State Police made the right call and waved commuters through the tollbooths.  One of the trucks was carrying frozen beef, which certainly makes this incident more tragic.  Turns out, hundreds of fine steer gave their lives, only to have their frozen carcass spread across the highway, because we insist on continuing an antiquated and dangerous tolls system in this state to fund a questionable portion of our transportation budget.  Trying to figure out what that money goes for is like to trying  to figure out if any of this highway beef is gonna end up in my beef and pea pods take out next week.

According to an MTA public audit, the Turnpike takes in about 53 million dollars a year from restaurants, service stations, fines and advertising, etc.  It spends about 21 million on maintenance.  I’m no Rhodes Scholar, but I think that leaves somewhere around 32 million to pay some people to collect the rent, plow the road, answer the phones, etc.  We do not need to collect toll money anymore, and today just proves how easy it could be.

I know there’s a debt issue.  But that’s because for years our politicians used the turnpike like a house, and remortgaged it to build expensive additions like the Big Dig.  We can figure that part out later.  Right now, we should take the frozen beef like a sign from above.  Let’s not waste anymore delicious red meat, or anymore of our valuable commuting time, and close the tolls today.

The average toll collector makes $73,000 a year.  The average firefighter makes $49,820.  That means the guy tending to the accident victims, and cleaning up the site, was making less money than the guy watching him work while the cars passed through his booth.  It’s time to say goodbye to the tolls.  If you want to help make this a ballot issue in 2010, go to closethetolls.org.

As the somewhat annoying parent of two kids who play sports, I get it.  You want your kids to do well; after all, there’s a lot on the line!  We’re talking full-boat college scholarships worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, never mind the general interest we all have in our kids being successful.  And how ’bout the millions in endorsement money that today’s pro athlete can bring home for their hard working parents?  I often imagine that my son, Breese, after a big game in the NFL, will stand up in front of reporters and tell them he is buying his dad that golf course he’s always wanted.

But after the latest incident in Wilmington, I think it might be time to take myself (and every other parent) out of kids’ sports.  During Friday night’s Pop Warner practice behind Wilmington Town Hall, a fight broke out.  No, it wasn’t two overly aggressive kids fighting for a starting running back job.  It was a parent and a coach.  48 year old Michael VonKahle dropped his 12 year old son off 10 minutes late for practice.  The coach, William Reynolds, told the kid to start running.  Mr. VonKahle said his boy shouldn’t have to pay because he got him there late.  What happened next is in dispute, depending on who you ask.  VonKahle made fun of the coach’s weight (I’m guessing he’s more like Wilfork than Welker), the coach shot back.  The two headed off to “settle” the matter away from the kids and Mr. VonKahle showed up at the police station looking like the photo below. Police called an ambulance.

There is no excuse for either one of these guys.  First off, the 12 year old kid was ten minutes late for POP WARNER PRACTICE! I hate to break it to these guys, but this is not the NFL, and these kids aren’t driving themselves around.  You don’t punish a kid because his dad was ten minutes late getting him to practice.  Your name is Bill Reynolds, not Bill Belichick.  And you don’t make fun of a volunteer coach’s weight in front of the kids and then “take it outside” to settle the matter.  And no one should end up in ambulance, headed to the hospital, over a Pop Warner Practice.

I am fortunate because my kids have, for the most part, always had great coaches.  They care about them learning the sport, and sportsmanship, more than they care about winning.  Don’t get me wrong-someone has to win, and I have no problem with that.  But when you have parents and coaches brawling ‘cuz a 12 year old kid was ten minutes late for practice, you have an issue.  The president of the league, Deb Smith, told the Boston Globe that they ”are here to set an example”.  Fine example set by both individuals.  They should both be forbidden from participating in any youth sport again.  It’s supposed to be about the kids.

The Dalai Lama arrived in Washington DC Monday, and for the first time since 1991, he won’t be meeting with the sitting President of the United States.  White House Press Secretary Gibbs spun the story today, saying that both sides had agreed to postpone a meeting until after The President meets with the Chinese President in November, but that’s bull.

China has been pressuring nations not to accept the Dalai Lama as he journeys around the world to plead for the rights of a Free Tibet.  Barack Obama is merely bowing down to the demands of the Chinese regime, and I really expect no different.  This guy has no sack.

What does surprise me is the hypocrisy of the Hollywood Liberal Machine that fought so hard to get this man elected.  Where is Eddie Vedder, an outspoken advocate for a free Tibet and release of their political prisoners held in Chinese jails?  Mr. Vedder told us in June he was “looking forward to getting some color in the White House”, and as an avowed George Bush hater, certainly was counting on Obama to focus on an issue that he has made his own.  Why don’t I hear Eddie, during his round of promo visits to sell PJ’s new CD, demanding that the President he endorsed meet with the spiritual leader he has stood behind for years?

What about the woman with arguably Hollywood’s most famous vagina, Sharon Stone?  She, of course, famously said that the devastating earthquake in China was “karma” payback for the way China had treated “her friend”, the Dalai Lama.  After endorsing President Obama, she must be mighty disapointed that he is snubbing her little buddy.

The list goes on.  Bono, Michael Stipe, Dave Matthews, Richard Gere.  They all endorsed this President and they have all told us how imperative it is that this nation fight for a Free Tibet.  You know what, I agree.  So I am dismayed that not a single one has called out their President.  I won’t even bother to point out that, if George Bush were doing this….well, you get the picture.

Actually, it must have made Eddie vomit in his bottle of Caymus Special Select, in 2007, when George W. Bush became the only President to publicly meet with the Dalai, in a Rose Garden ceremony, to present him with Congress’s highest civilian honor.  But Bush had the balls.  He didn’t let China tell him what to do.  And for that, on his deathbed, he will recieve total consciousness, which is nice.  Thanks, Dalai.

Hey Eddie….I’m waiting.

Question: Since when did the media start fact checking comedic bits about the President?  Answer: Since Barack Obama is the President being made fun of.

Watch Wolf Blitzer and his CNN cronies disect this past weekend’s Saturday Night Live bit where Fred Armisen, as Barack Obama, details everything he has yet to accomplish.  It’s funny but, CNN wants you to know, not totally accurate.  Can you imagine the panic this skit caused in the halls of the Communist News Network?

Funny, I don’t remember any news outlet fact checking Saturday Night Live in the past, do you?  I don’t remember the New York Times running a piece on Tina Fey’s Sarah Paylin impression and the concern that some of things she said weren’t actual quotes from the Governor of Alaska.  I don’t remember MSNBC breaking down the inaccuracies of a Wil Ferrel George Bush piece so the public knew what the real truth was.  There’s a reason it’s called satire.  When it’s about a Republican, it’s funny, and we all chuckle, right?

Perhaps the crowd laughed Saturday night because they are starting to agree.  And isn’t that what really bothers the left? The bold promises of this President are yet to be fulfilled.  And it looks to me like the liberal media is panicking!

Is the “Superbowl” of free speech about to be played in Fort Oglethorphe, Georgia?  Quite possibly.  Ever Since 9/11, the Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe high school football team has burst on to the field through banners which display scripture verse chosen specifically for that game by the cheerleaders.  Now, thanks to one complaint, the Superintendent of the Catoosa County Schools, Denia Reese, has thrown the penalty flag.

Superintendent Reese said she is concerned that this practice will lead to lawsuits that the taxpayers will end up footing the bill for.  Mayor Ronnie Cobb is asking the City Council to support the cheerleader’s right to display their banners with inspirational verse on them, and to watch as the hopped up lineman burst through them.  I don’t understand what the big deal is.

Why is it in this country that we protect the rights of the minority, and suspend those of the majority?  This country was founded on Christian values.  In fact, the very first meeting of the US Congress, on September 6th 1774, began with a three hour prayer session.  We have somehow now come so far away from that, that we are going to tell a group of cheerleaders that they can’t  make a banner with a bible verse on it because it may offend someone who doesn’t believe in god?

Just recently, the Muskogee School System in Oklahoma settled a lawsuit and paid an undisclosed sum of money to a sixth grade Muslim girl.   Can you guess why?  She had sued the system, saying that the dress code policy forbidding head gear violated her right to religious freedom.  She got paid off, and the system went so far as to change their dress code!

I am not a religious person.  I believe that, all things being equal, everyone should have the right to choose who their god is, or isn’t, and worship “it” however they like.  What I don’t understand, and what I think is troubling for this Christianity based nation, is why the rules are different?  Why do we change our rules, and pay out of court settlements, to guarantee one religion the right to worship…while we are using the law to prevent another from doing the same thing?  I’m with the cheerleaders on this one.

I was really afraid for Barack Obama and ACORN for a while.  I thought that some kind of exhaustive, comprehensive, turn over every stone investigation was going to occur and that might lead to problems for our President.  I mean, he did tell us to “judge him by the company” he kept, didn’t he?  And this organization, that he represented in several court cases back when he was a practicing attorney, and that gave him their endorsement in the primary and general elections, has been associated with some pretty scary stuff.  But now everything is ok.  We have just learned that, in the interest of looking near and far for an impartial voice, ACORN has hired former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger to conduct an investigation of their practices.  Yes, that Scott Harshbarger.  The lifelong Democrat and former candidate for Governor here in the Commonwealth.  I’m sure he will get right to the bottom of any illegal activities that may be happening!

If you don’t know much about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), let me you catch you up to speed.  It is the largest radical group in the country, with over 400,000 dues paying member families.  It was co-founded by Wade Rathke, who just so happened to be a member of another infamous radical group along with William Ayers, The Students for A Democratic Society.  You know, the ones who liked to set off bombs in the 60’s under the guise of bringing about “change”?  Some of the highlights of ACORN activities over the last year:  fraudulent voter registration, vote for pay scandals, breaking and entering into foreclosed homes, and voter intimidation.

Asking Harshbarger to investigate ACORN is like asking Belichick to look into Spygate.  Does anyone really believe that there will be a fair and proper examination of the recent outrageous activities caught on film at several ACORN offices?  If you do, I have a mansion in Chicago next to Tony Rezko I’d like to sell you at a $300,000 discount.

Last week ACORN’s Federal Cash flow was shut off, when videos appeared showing ACORN employees telling two filmakers, posing as a pimp and a prostitute, how to LIE to qualify for a mortgage.  Where I come from, that’s fraud.  And quite frankly, that’s the kind of behavior that put us into the financial nightmare we are in now in this country.  ACORN has been pressuring banks to lend money to UNQUALIFIED MINORITIES for years-don’t you wonder how long they’ve been telling the people they “advocate” for to lie to get a mortgage?

The ACORN investigation should be conducted by the Justice Department under the RICO statutes but that will never happen.  Instead we get the proverbial fox checking out the hen house.  It’s business as usual and you’re the one who pays for it.

I now fully feel the pain of Mike Myers.  I now understand what a complete ass-hat Kanye West is and why Mike Myers just didn’t know what to say on that fateful day in 2005 when he stood next to Kanye on national TV and watched him utter the immortal words “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”.

If you haven’t seen it yet, please watch Kanye hijack an awards presentation for Best Female Video at last night’s MTV video music awards.  You will be shocked by the thuggery.

Kanye is a world class A-hole, but I guess we knew that.  It wasn’t  enough that he blamed the problems of an entire city, caught up in a horrendous natural disaster, on the supposed racism of a white President.  It wasn’t enough when he cried racism after he didn’t win at the 2007 MTV awards, and said he’d never go on the network again.  But, it’s enough now.  To ruin a celebratory night for a teenager, a nineteen year old, because you are a baby who hasn’t won a stupid Moonbat award, or whatever MTV calls them, is SHAMEFUL.

What does Mr. West do in his spare time?  Drive over puppies with his Hummer limosine?  Push baby carriages out in the middle of traffic?  Put his blunt out in the eyes of senior citizens?  What a complete D-bag!

I join Donald Trump in calling for a boycott of all things Kanye.  I actually think he has some talent, I like some of his music, but I am sick of those who continue to use racism as a crutch in this country.  You haven’t won a stupid award yet, bro, and it’s not because you’re black.  It’s because you are not good enough.  Maybe MTV doesn’t think sampling is such a talent after all.  Plenty of African American artists have won… in fact, the woman you were whining about last night, Beyonce, won Video Of The Year.  And showed how much class she has by inviting Taylor Swift to say a few things.

I hope MTV has seen enough at this point.  How about we don’t invite Kanye back to the party anymore.  Then he can really cry about how racist everybody is.

As a part of its ever expanding efforts to rebrand anything that might be considered “sacred” in America, the Obama Administration has sunk to a new low.  Few, myself included, paid much attention in April when President Obama signed a law in to effect designating September 11th as a “National Day of Service”.  However, now that details are leaking out on the August 11th planning teleconference orchestrated by the White House, I am paying close attention.

Conducted by the “Reverend” Lennox Yearwood, the teleconference featured over 60 of the most far left, questionably-motivated organizations we have in this country, and we now know where this sacred day is headed in the future if we don’t do something about it.  The “Reverend” is perhaps most well known for his comments outside a Congressional Hearing in 2007, as General Patraeus was about to testify.  “I knew that when officers lie, soldiers die” was the nugget he chose to share.  And this is the man the Obama Administration chose to orchestrate the new “National Day of Service” on a day in which we should be remembering the 3,000 innocent Americans who were killed.

According to some on the call, the “Reverend” would like observations of September 11th to become “positive” and “productive”.  You see, it bothers most on the left that September 11th reminds us all of one thing:  we face a constant threat from Islamic fundamentalists who want to kill us all. There’s no way around it, and Democrats hate it.  You can refuse to call it “the Global War on Terror”, let the terrorists out of jail and fly them to Bermuda, and it still doesn’t change this fact.  Eight years ago, radical muslims flew planes into our buildings with the express intent of killing Americans and we need to pause and reflect-not plant trees.

Before he disappeared into the night over the Labor Day Weekend, former Green Job Czar Van Jones said September 11th, the new National Day of Service, would be a great day to “Green Up America”.  Because that’s the ultimate tribute to those that died, isn’t it?  How about doing without your styrofoam coffee cup today in rememberance of the brave souls on Flight 97?  Or maybe shut your air conditioner off at 8:46 instead of that obnoxious “moment of silence”?  Are these people for real?

There are 363 other days this year where this administration can focus on encouraging citizens to be “productive”.  Pick the 11th of any other month, call it the National Day of Service, and have at it.  “Green Up” America all you want and we won’t say anything.  But please leave September 11th alone.  It is, and should always be a day of rememberance, a day to pray for those souls who perished, to thank those Americans who came to rescue, and to remind ourselves that we can never take our freedom, or our safety, for granted.

I DO NOT need ACORN, Friends of the Earth, Mobilize.org, the Coalition on Black Civic Participation, the Rainbow PUSH coalition, or any of the other 50 some odd groups that participated in this call at the President’s request, telling me how to remember the horrendous day eight years ago.  I will do that on my own, and the way I want to.  And I won’t be led in my tribute by a man with the indignity of the “Reverend” Lennox Yearwood.

I have been lucky enough to get to know Tedy Bruschi a little bit, and I have to tell you that the guy you saw on TV saying goodbye today is the exact same guy you meet in person.  Intense, businesslike, but always always having fun.  Last summer I played in Tedy’s foursome at the Spaulding Rehab tournament at the TPC in Norton, and he was as gracious as you can be with fans, who stopped him the whole time we played to say hello.

His retirement today is the rarest of occurances in sports:  an athlete who knows when it is time to quit.  One only need to look at the great Brett Farve to see how hard it is for professional athletes to call it a career, but Tedy got it right today.  Not willing to be a part time player, or to feel like he was a step behind, he is saying goodbye to the only team he has known for his 13 year pro career. 

He had a chance to say “see ya” to the Patriots and go to Green Bay for bigger dollars, but he said the only thing he could think of when he visited was that the Packers had beated his beloved Patriots in the Superbowl.  As fans, we all find time to criticize athletes who have none of the loyalty to their team we have come to expect, so it’s important to point out that Tedy Bruschi is someone who remained loyal, took less money to stay, and delivered three titles to the Pats.

The Coach called him the “perfect” player during today’s press conference.  He is much more than that.  The Perfect Patriot.  And a guy who truly cared about his team and the fans.  How many players can you name, in any sport, who play their whole career with one team and love doing it?  I would hope that number 54 is retired very soon…maybe even on opening night.  When the Patriots play a Buffalo Bills team who highest profile player is the exact opposite of Tedy.  Talk about contrasts!  Good luck to Tedy Bruschi…we will miss you!!!

It was just a few months ago, in April, that Attorney General Eric Holder said “It would be unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America for conduct that was sanctioned by the Justice Department”.  So why then, in a complete about-face, did Holder and this administration announce yesterday that a special prosecutor, John Durham, would begin an investigation into whether the CIA broke the law when interrogating terrorists.

And yes, I call them terrorists.  I know it is popular, now that the sheer terror of September 11th is all but a distant memory for some, to call them “detainees” but I insist on describing them as they are: angry people who want to do harm to the United States, our citizens and our way of life. 

We are told that some of these CIA interrogators, gasp, “threatened to do harm to the families” of some of these enemy combatants.  With breathless indignation, we are also told some were threatened with assault with a power drill.  Of course, there is no indication that a single Al AQueda soldier ever had a power drill actually used on him, but that doesn’t matter to our Attorney General.  (As an aside, I prefer to hope that somewhere deep inside the bowels of Gitmo, a CIA operative sodomized one of these killers with one, but there doesn’t appear to be any evidence to back it up).

A cynical person like myself might ask “why now?”  As the health care debate continues to lean less and less in the President’s favor, why would this administration remove that most important of issues from their priority list and direct the country’s attention back to the previous President, a man who has been out of office going on 8 months?  I think I just answered my own question.

President Obama told us, those who voted for him and those who did not, that he was not interested in focusing on what happened during the Bush years.  We were moving forward, onward and upward, and we weren’t going to waste alot of time on what that guy did.  I guess that was true, until his administration became mired in a Health Care debate that didn’t go their way.  Now, suddenly,  is the time to point fingers and place blame.  It’s easy to imagine them hanging on the Vineyard and saying “Let’s remind everybody how awful Bush and Cheney were”.  I’m not impressed.

Mr. Holder said it himself.  It is “unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America”, but that is just what they intend to do.  And they won’t stop until they find a way to pin it all on Dick Cheney.  After all, he had the audacity to believe that the safety of the many, outweighs the suffering of the few.  But then again…we’re not talking about Health Care anymore, are we?