Loose Links (Friday)
¶ The greatest American diplomat of the Twentieth Century (or perhaps since Benjamin Franklin), George F. Kennan died last night in Princeton, aged 101. Kennan devised a strategy of "containment" for dealing with Soviet Communism, but his recommendations were often misunderstood or twisted to suit the goals of powerful leaders. I thought that I had mentioned his 1993 book, Around the Cragged Hill, at some point on Portico, but it seems that I haven't. An unblinking elitist, Kennan writes of "persons of high distinction" with an assurance that will strike many of today's cynics as hopelessly quaint.
¶ At Open Democracy, Robin Wilson reports, not too optimistically, one hopes, that the McCartney sisters, bereft of their IRA-slain brother Robert, have launched a campaign to expose the IRA and Sinn Féin as Leninist, anti-democratic organizations that will not do the Catholic cause any good. The White House has taken note; Gerry Adams was frozen out of the traditional St Patrick's Day gathering there.
¶ If, like me, you wonder what baseball players testifying before Congress about steroid use are doing on the front page of the Times, or anywhere outside the Sports section, you'll probably agree with Blondesense.
Comments
Put the baseball players on the cover of the NYT if it exposes them and forces them to play rather than become Frankenstein machines. Cut their pay and make them do part-time work coaching kids in the off season. There's so much beauty in the game and so much good in the idea of organized sports, but the problems at the major league level need to be addressed.
Posted by: Ms. NOLA | March 18, 2005 01:03 PM
There may be great beauty in baseball, but there is also far too much money and too much television. And too much else for Congress to be dealing with (not that this one would). And so many far more important things for me to be confronted by on the front page!
Sports are games, and so by definition unimportant, no matter how much pleasure people get from them. Games are supposed to be inconsequential. But if too much attention is paid to them, the consequences begin to pile up: eg, the abuse of steroids.
Posted by: R J Keefe | March 18, 2005 03:25 PM
games are supposed to be inconsequential?
i don't know that i agree with that! especially after a year of teaching.
Posted by: Ms. NOLA | March 18, 2005 03:54 PM
Your writing about George Kennan may turn up in your files of letters to moi, your ersatz Portifex BP (Before Portifex). Since British TV4 were doing their usual British Empire theatrical re-enactments of our stupid U.S. news "events" while I was in Ireland last week (the Michael Jackson daily trial was reenacted from 9:30 to 3:00 every day, according to news trailers), why don't we do one of the McCartney debacle? Talk about hysteria. They both make sports look ... important!
Posted by: Susan | March 18, 2005 04:36 PM
I was fuming this morning about the Congress's misdirected focus on baseball and steroids, and the fact that it was front page news in both the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times. I must agree with RJ--there are so many other things of greater importance for the Congress to deal with, and who really cares what these grossly over-paid loonies want to ingest. The cynical part of me characterizes this as another opportunity for the members of the Congress to get their faces in the newspapers or on television without having to think too much. This is an issue that should be addressed by the governing body of MLB (although the organization probably won't deal with it, at least not effectively), not the Federal government. Tonight I had dinner with a friend who is a coach in the NHL and we discussed this particular issue; interestingly, steroid abuse doesn't seem to be an issue in that particular sport.
Posted by: jkm | March 19, 2005 01:27 AM
1) Sports are not un-important. They are to the BlagueMaster but not to many people. My Wotan on Saturday, Bryn Terfel, came out on the Royal Opera stage for his final bow with the Welsh flag draped over his shoulders, and the WHOLE house cheered, knowing what it was about: Wales had won the rugby grand slam tournament.
2) Baseball is run by a former owner who has no independence. That they have allowed the snivelling nincompoops in congress (small c) to interfere with their own policing is their own fault. Selig should be fired. But the owners want one of their own at the helm to avoid taking any steps that might upset the applecart.
3) The NHL has done a brilliant job in destroying a sport that once was a pleasure to watch.
4) There is no such thing as too much baseball on tv.
Posted by: PPOQ | March 21, 2005 01:39 PM