Ask Grandstander

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by phenweigh

Adlai Ewing Stevenson I vs Adlai Ewing Stevenson II

That would probably be one of those better to have loved and lost style questions. While grandpa actually made it to national office, albeit merely vice president, Adlai II fired and fell back with his two attempts at the grand prize.

Adlai I strikes me as the perfect microcosm of the mistake made over and over when selecting running mates. So much emphasis is placed on "balancing the ticket" that we often wind up with entirely unsuitable vice presidents. I don't mean that they are always incompetent, there have been plenty of good folks holding the second slot, rather they too often are politically incongruent. I was just writing about Andrew Johnson and in a zillion years, you would not find anyone who thought that should something happen to Lincoln, Johnson could slide right into the office and continue LIncoln's policies. Hell, he wasn't even a Republican. In 1988, Bush was being attacked by the Democrats on the grounds of him being the ultimate insider, the clandestine candidate who had been in Washington far too long and knew nothing about life in the rest of the nation. To "balance" this, they found Dan Quayle whose only virtues were youth and inexperience. In '68, Nixon was looking for someone who would appeal to Southern voters, but wasn't so twisted as to be an openly racist sort, so they grabbed Spiro Agnew without any sort of thought as to what sort of president he would make if called upon to replace Nixon. His only virtue was that he was from Maryland which used to be a slave state.

Stevenson though, that one was inexplicable in that he was the polar opposite of Cleveland on the main issue of the campaign, gold vs silver standards. Stevenson was a free silver man who would have complimented a William Jennings Bryan ticket much more so than the Cleveland hard gold standard platform. Cleveland was elected by a majority who apparently favored the gold standard, but had he died before his term was complete, those voters would have been saddled with someone who was more or less in bed with the opposition.

And..although it was concealed at the time and for a long time after, Cleveland had serious problems with cancer of the mouth and had to have his entire upper jaw replaced. The nation was told he was just having soem dental work done, but his life was in jeopardy during the surgery. Stevenson was a slip of the scaple away from assuming the big job.

[LongtimeBravesFan]

Of our nine "accidental" presidents, who did the bet job? (I'm assuming you'd put Andrew Johnson at the bottom)

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by LongtimeBravesFan

Of our nine "accidental" presidents, who did the bet job? (I'm assuming you'd put Andrew Johnson at the bottom)

Only two have had really crappy administrations, Tyler and Johnson, the former the victim of impossible political circumstances, the latter the victim of his own disqualifying characteristics.

Teddy R stands at the head of this class. Through force of personality, seemingly unlimited amounts of energy, a smile which showcased all 150 of his teeth, and a high spirited vision of American greatness, Teddy single handedly transformed the executive branch into a more powerful player. He isn't merely the greatest among the accidents, he is in the running with Lincoln and Polk as the greatest ever. LBJ would be next, although with mixed reviews, enormously effective on the domestic front, total calamity in foreign affairs. After those two, the rest aren't very distinguished, a few points to Arthur who against reasonable expectations to the contrary, ceased being a sleazebag and ran an honest and calm administration.

[LongtimeBravesFan]

Any thoughts on the passing of Skip Caray?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by LongtimeBravesFan

Any thoughts on the passing of Skip Caray?

I had no special attachment or admiration, but there is that vague uneasy feeling that you get when something long familiar is extinguished.

Being good as a baseball announcer requires a mix of skills which a relatively small number of people have. Thus, even the mediocre announcers are still folks who are vastly superior at this than would be the average person, although this is one of those jobs where a lot more people think that they could do it well than could actually do it well. Skip was a middle of the packer, but a middle of the packer among an elite pack. He never said anything which angered me or made me groan, but neither did he say things which stuck in my memory because of special cleverness or original insight. He was pleasant, he was competent, he seemed like a nice enough person.

[phenweigh]

Do you think it’s correct to count Grover Cleveland twice when counting US presidents?

(That is, do you think "W" should be referred to as the 42nd or 43rd president?)

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by phenweigh

Do you think it’s correct to count Grover Cleveland twice when counting US presidents?

(That is, do you think "W" should be referred to as the 42nd or 43rd president?)

I have no serious position, i.e., I see no right or wrong in either method for counting, it's a pov sort of thing.

If I was placed in charge of ruling on the issue and was forced to come up with a decision, I'd count Cleveland as one dude and W would be # 42. I'd probably be asked my reasons for this and my lame argument would be that since serving more than one term did not double the presidencies of anyone else, neither should it do so for Cleveland on the grounds of his service being non consecutive terms, it was still one guy for eight years.

[perfectstormhits]

Can you sic mugthis on Favre?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by perfectstormhits

Can you sic mugthis on Favre?

The situation strikes me as one of foolish behavior based on psychological perceptions of chronology. Had Favre decided against retiring and made no announcement, what would be the situation at the moment? Would there be the slightest question in anyone's mind as to who would be the starter for the Packers this fall? Would there be any talk of him having to win the job from Rogers? I do not understand the mentality of the Packer front office behavior. They are acting as though the announcement they made about Rogers being the starter, when Favre was thought to be out of the picture, somehow or other locks them permanently into that position even when the situation has changed and Favre is once more available. Why?

[perfectstormhits]

My son will be eligible to drive an auto 10 years from today.

Should I start saving for auto insurance now?

[perfectstormhits]

I think I need an avatar.

Could you recommend one?

[apicalbodscan]

Originally Posted by perfectstormhits

I think I need an avatar.

Could you recommend one?

Will this work?

[perfectstormhits]

Maybe, but let's see what GS finds.

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by perfectstormhits

My son will be eligible to drive an auto 10 years from today.

Should I start saving for auto insurance now?

I was lucky that nothing bad happened, but I drove like an immature jerk the first few years I had my license. I attribute this to being an immature jerk at the time. I wised up, most people seem to do so, some sustain the immature jerk mode well into adulthood. You say all the things that you have to say and hope for the best. You saw that thread about the kid contesting the traffic ticket on the basis of GT readings? His parents had installed it so that they were informed if the car went over x mph. Probably in ten years they will have come out with even more heavy duty kid monitoring devices and you'll be able to fix it so that your son gets an electrical shock each time he removes his hands from the ten/two position.

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by perfectstormhits

I think I need an avatar.

Could you recommend one?