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Eric Hogue

“Manny is to Baseball, As Jerry is to Politics”

by Eric Hogue

Being an Indians fan, I am a scorned lover of the game of baseball.

And it’s the same ‘love-hate relationship’ that has me very concerned about my love of California and her political future. I’ve pinned my hopes and dreams to a charismatic ‘player’ before; the outcome is always the same.

Charisma is never a substitute for the fundamentals of the game.

When I cheered for Chief Wahoo they featured a left-fielder by the name of Manny Ramirez.

Manny was a rookie back then, displaying a great looking swing that occasionally connected with the baseball. But it was the ‘rest of his package’ that brought the most trepidation.

After losing two World Series’ Manny left Cleveland for Boston; he added himself to a team that won a historic World Series. Eventually Manny soured in Beantown too. Boston let him go (do you ever wonder why?) and he now plays for the ‘Dodger blue’ of Los Angeles … a team that once believed that Manny would bring them fortune.

None of that has materialized in the land of plenty.

Manny’s dreadlocks, bagging uniform and lack of personal attention to anything that isn’t self-serving has caused the Dodgers – and their fans – great pause; wondering if this well traveled Manny is worth their investment.

Oh sure, Manny can swing a bat – he sure does look good.

But Manny can’t catch a line-drive if you gave him a fifty-foot tuna net.

Manny is a terrible base-runner who is in great need of his own dashboard navigation device. And his lack of substance at the plate often features his amazing talent of turning a sure double into a loafing single without breaking a sweat.

How can we forget his about Manny’s 50-days of suspension?

While Manny was vacationing during his suspension punishment, he took to braiding more dread-locks, visiting New York night clubs and displaying his nonchalant attitude, lack of concern and refusal to pay attention to anything accountable. All the while, everyone in baseball was racing to a microphone apologizing for his immature behavior.

It’s where the phrase was birthed; “It’s just Manny being Manny.”

I am beginning to sense the same as it relates to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown.

Here is another ‘well-traveled player of yesterday,’ seemingly more concerned about his next government job than the fundemental stability of the state he says he represents.

Like Manny, Jerry displays a good looking swing, but it’s his fundamentals that become the Achilles heel.

Recently Jerry took to criticizing Meg Whitman – his opponent come November – stating that Meg has only produced a 40-page pamphlet of ideas surrounding what she would do as Governor of California.

What is humorous is Jerry’s reply when the media asked of his ’budgetary batter’s eye.’

Jerry was hit a ‘can of corn’ – a fungo fly-ball to left field from the weak hitting media and Jerry’s stance was similar to the famous swing offered by the late Ted Kennedy when Roger Mudd asked, “Why are you running for President?”

Jerry’s play, “I’ll tell you after the election.”

A real crowd pleasure that Jerry, but way too costly if you’re considering the type of play needed to come back against the late inning deficit of Sacramento’s $20 billion hole.

Sure the crowd laughed as they walked away … mumbling under their breath, “Oh, that’s just Jerry Being Jerry.”/

The problem; the taxpaying season ticket holders of California’s citizenry, the shrinking private sector and burdened business holders believe it is time for a leader that instills the confidence of a California rally cap … not the hilarities of a low-budget stand-up act.

Upon a May weekend’s vigorous workout – as Jerry tells it – he literally ran across a news reporter in the Oakland Hills. Jerry, once again looking to make light of his play, struck up a controversial conversation that compared his opponent to Nazi Germany.

As Jerry tells it, “It’s what guys do … we get together and talk about these things.”

Really?

In this dialogue between guys Jerry referenced Meg Whitman’s campaign to that of the evil Nazi minister of propaganda. When Jerry was pressed to explain by members of the media his retort was that the reporter had misquoted him.

That the tenured reporter didn’t actually have a tape recorder (who uses such in 2010?), and that the reporter should have had a pencil to write down his quote if he wanted it to be used “on the record.”

Again – really; this from the same man who, as California’s Attorney General, was found to be recording (blamed it on a staffer, who was fired) phone conversations to the AG’s Office without the callers knowledge?

Jerry played his ”Nazi comment” explanation into a ’three-run error.’ And just like baseball’s Dodger, Jerry never apologized – he left everyone else in the Democrat Party to explain his lack-luster play in left-field.

For those trying to make sense of his immature, abrasive and illogical comments we scratch our heads.

Why does the media chuckle and respond with a short tenured laugh during each Jerry Brown press conference? To help you understand this disconnect you only have to consider the reality of the political mentality surrounding the coverage of Jerry Brown.

Baseball explains it as “Manny just being Manny,” and California’s political media explains it as “Jerry just being Jerry.”

Hogue News
WWW.HOGUENEWS.COM
1380 KTKZ / Sacramento

Poppoff!
Mary Jane Popp

Health First Aid

www.poppoff.com

YOU can survive anything. That comes from the man in the know…Dr. Cass Ingram. The survival range? How about Poison Gas and Nuclear Exposure to Fleas…naturally! Dr. Ingram says it’s so in his book, “Life Saving Cures.” Dr. Ingram is a Physician and Medical Researcher who seeks the safest and natural remedies for a wide range of illnesses. He goes for the natural substances to work quickly, safely, and reliably. He actually told me on the “POPPOFF” Radio Program that these remedies saved his life, and the lives of his friends. And when he says natural, he’s not kidding. He refers to inexpensive stuff like Raw Honey, Garlic, Onions, and maybe a bit more sophisticated cures like Oil of Oregano.

Got a cold? Dr. I says try Oil of Oregano, Raw Honey, and Flavin-C to dry up that snooty nose. The little one has colic? How about Oil of Fennel, Oil of Oregano, and Oregano Juice.? And there’s that…we all whisper it…constipation problem. The good Doc says go for Red Grape Powder, Nutri-Sense, and Bromo-Zyme. Ladies, this is always a hot one we need to cool off…hot flashes. Dr. Ingram claims Royal Kick, Oil of Fennel, and Oil of sage will cool you down. Nerves got the better of you? Seek out the Wild St. John’s Wort, Oil of Lavendary, and Oil of Rosemary. You think I was kidding about the Nuclear Catastrophe thing? No way. Juice of Oregano, Juice of Rosemary, Kelp/Iodine, Oil of Cumin, Oil of Rosemary, Resvitanol, Oil of BayBerry, Oil of Sage, Selenium, Nuke Protect ™ and Folic Acid will help your survival. Naturally, Dr. I goes into how much and how often in the book.

From abdominal pain and Aids to Yellow Fever, Dr. Ingram has a natural cure. I did notice he mentioned Oil of Oregano a bunch of times. Seems he discovered the antiseptic powers of the Wild Herb and crude essential oil in 1995 as a result of a personal illness. This led to a grass roots movement. No pun intended. So his reference to Oil of Oregano refers to the high quality mountainous Wild Oregano. Also the neat part of this book is that half the book addresses the illnesses and the other half addresses the natural remedies and how they can be used.

Naturally, this book is not intended as a substitution for Medical Diagnosis or treatment. It was written by Dr. Cass Ingram to provide vital information in the event of catastrophes…especially in light of September 11 and the subsequent events. Unfortunately, that threat may be with us for a long time to come. Dr. Ingram is the author of some twelve books, including “The Cure Is In The Cupboard” and “Supermarket Remedies”. “Life Saving Cures”…How To use the latest and most powerful natural cures for the 21st Century…is available at Bookstores everywhere. It’s time we take responsibility for our own health and well being! LIVE LONG AND WELL!!!

Phil Cowan

No Good for the Goose... or the Gander

Imagine if someone rolled into a public park in your community, whipped out a chainsaw, and dropped a good-sized tree, which they proceeded to whack up and take home for firewood. Unthinkable, isn’t it? Yet other natural resources in our public parks are being ravaged in just as callous a fashion, and authorities do nothing to stop it.

Animals, particularly waterfowl, are being regularly poached in William Land Park. Yes, you read correctly, people are taking ducks and geese from Sacramento’s largest public park for their personal consumption, or to sell at market. When alerted to the problem, the city merely shrugged. Sacramento City Parks spokesman Hindalo Brima said, "We have no evidence to back up these (poaching) claims."

Really, Mr. Brima? What about the issue of fourteen missing geese? Where the flock of domestic geese at the park once numbered seventeen, now only three remain. Said Brima, "We do not track these geese…we don't know if the population dwindled because they went to another public park or pond." As domestic geese, they don’t fly, so what happened? Did they sneak across Broadway one night and set up shop over at Southside? Catch an RT bus to McKinley?

After some grumbling by Land Park residents, News 10 (KXTV) covered the issue recently, but even then, they gingerly tiptoed around the central question without ever addressing it: Who would be doing such a thing? Well, since everyone appears to be too politically correct to point fingers, allow me (I‘m not terribly big on political correctness-- just terribly big). Members of the Southeast Asian community are poaching these animals, a dirty secret that authorities have ignored for many years.

Sacramentans surely remember Kao Khae Saephan, the Laotian immigrant who was arrested in 1991 after knocking his wife unconscious with a frozen squirrel, whereupon police found several more in his freezer. Outdoorsmen have long protested the hunting practices of Southeast Asians, specifically that when they hunt, they hunt everything. Blackbirds, blue jays, squirrels, deer, bears, if it moves and has meat on its bones, they take it and eat it. This disrespect for our law and our environment has continued unabated for a very long time, in our parks, in our National Forests, on any public land where wildlife is available to be taken, and here’s the infuriating part: the immigrants are not to blame. We are.

These folks come from cultures where they’ve always been hunter-gatherers, and they’re just doing what they know. Our damnable, disgusting devotion to cultural sensitivity has turned us into such pantywaists that we no longer have the gumption to insist that the Southeast Asian community assimilate even this much. We’ve become so paralyzed by the fear that we may be branded xenophobes, or worse, racists, that we’d rather see our own laws and culture, which are clearly superior (and I have no compunction about saying that), replaced in a way that the vast majority of us find profoundly objectionable. Some may call this a simple “clash of cultures,” but as long as we continue to back down, and refuse to be assertive, even on matters where we know we’re in the right, it’s a clash our culture is losing. The multiculturalists have been telling us for years that no culture is better than another, and they couldn’t be more wrong. Ours is better, and we should be making an effort to keep it that way. Or would you prefer to forage for your next meal?