I think of this exchange:

Charlie Young: [telling the President that he has to practice throwing a baseball with a bullet proof vest on before throwing the first pitch out at a baseball game] Sir, everyone agrees.
President Josiah Bartlet: Like who?
Charlie Young: Leo, Josh, CJ, your wife, the Notre Dame athletic department…

Maybe Obama should have practiced more, too, since he barely made it to the plate – oh wait, the announcer doesn’t mention that. Good thing there is THIS video that shows the entire pitch:

And he gives himself a little fist pump for barely making it to the plate, too!! Perhaps that’s why some people are booing him? Oh, no wait – it started before he threw out the pitch. Funny, the announcer doesn’t mention that, either. Did you notice the driver of the golf cart in the first video barely shook Obama’s hand? Interesting commentary there, too, I think.

Since I mentioned the “West Wing,” and since we are in the midst of hearings for a new Supreme Court Justice, how about this classic clip regarding nominees for the Supreme Court:

Ah, the politics involved in selecting the next Supreme Court Justice…

By the way, in response to my post recently on the grave robbers, a number of people mentioned that Michelle Obama’s father was buried in Burr Oaks Cemetery, too. As it turns out, that was not true. Apparently, Michelle Obama’s Communications Director put that out there without bothering to check the facts first (oh, now THERE’S a surprise – hahahahahaha), and has now had to retract that statement. Turns out, her father is not buried there after all. Gee, it is a little hard not to be too cynical about that revelation…

And while this is going on, there has been something else going on in Obama’s hometown, Chicago. Maybe it was because I was on vacation last week, but I had not heard anything about this until Disturbed mentioned it at No Quarter in my “For Some Peaceful Reflection” post. And that is the grave robbing going on in the Burr Oak Cemetery. This is an African American cemetery, and as I understand it, seven thousand families have now filed reports. It is a tragic story, one best told by my favorite Chicago writer, John Kass. He does so poignantly in this article, “The Dead Don’t Deserve This; Nor Do The Living“:

The disinterred bodies were in weedy mounds a short bus ride away, lumpy in the dirt, in a back section near the fence at Burr Oak Cemetery.

There were broken caskets and concrete grave liners in the mounds, too, and detectives said that when the grave robbers got tired or sloppy they just dumped the bodies on the ground.

So there were human teeth and leg bones, hips and finger bones scattered out there in the weeds.

Charles Taylor didn’t want to see them and neither did I.

“What kind of person does this? I’ll tell you,” said Taylor, a retired child-welfare worker, one of the anguished people in the cemetery on Thursday, each desperate to learn if the graves of their dead were among those that had been pillaged by the grave robbers.

“It’s the kind of person who breaks into a church and steals the cross of gold and sells it. And people ask, ‘Who could do something like that?’ But they know.

“A thief breaks into the church. A thief pulls bodies out of the graves for cash money and dumps them in a pile. That’s what we have here. Thieves of bodies.”

This is just beyond sad. The disrespect, of both the living and the dead, and all for money:

Those bodies once belonged to the dead. But the grave robbers stole more than that. They stole peace from the dead and from the living and they stole dignity and memory. They plunged every survivor in that cemetery on Thursday into despair.

There were hundreds and hundreds of people, all of them African-Americans, at the cemetery that predates the end of segregation. Each one was heartbroken. Some were guilty about not having visited their family plots sooner. Others were people, women mostly, who visited the graves at least once a month, with flowers and tiny pinwheels and watering cans.

Yet whether they provided constant vigil or offered just a thought from a distance, every one had been violated.

“I came here to visit my grandmother’s grave a couple months ago, and it didn’t look right, it looked like there was fresh dug dirt next to it,” said Precious Hicks, 21. “And the cemetery people wanted me to leave. You know what they told me? They said it was wild coyotes.”

Oh, my. So lies on top of theft, while looking these people in the face. That takes a helluva lot of nerve, to put it mildly. Kass continues:

Surely you haven’t missed the story. Up to 300 bodies, and perhaps even more, were torn out of their graves, allegedly by a gang of gravediggers and a cemetery official. The open graves were resold for cash, and the bodies that had been in those graves were dumped onto those terrible mounds.

The cemetery boss is suspected of taking the cash and driving out to the gambling boats, and the gravediggers received overtime for plucking bodies from graves, sources familiar with the investigation said. It worked like this for years.

Sometimes they just pushed the new ones on top of the old.

“They smashed the old ones down,” said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, whose office and investigators broke the case. The investigation is being run by the head of the financial crimes and public corruption unit, Jack Steed.

“This is sickening,” Dart told me. “All the people here, you look into their eyes, and you see pain.”

My heart just breaks for these families, who have endured so much at the hands of a few, at the hands of those who had been entrusted to care for their loved ones in death. Those who abused that trust from their own greed. These families, alive and dead, do not deserve this. One can only hope the grave robbers get their comeuppance:

Later, Dart and Cook County State’s Atty. Anita Alvarez held a news conference off to the side, and Dart explained the scheme, while Alvarez explained the charges.

The FBI brought in a forensics team, some of whom had worked sifting through the mass graves in the Balkans, and it will take months to sort it out, and match bone to bone.

With Alvarez and Dart there, I thought I might see another prominent politico with 19th Ward Democratic organization connections: Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes.

A few years ago Hynes campaigned on cemetery rip-offs and made news splash after news splash about abuses in what he calls the “death care industry.” He vowed to fight them. His Web page is full of such vows.

Though Hynes’ office is responsible for the oversight of privately owned cemeteries like Burr Oak, he wasn’t at the news conference. His office said he has oversight but little legal authority to enforce cemetery upkeep.

Perhaps Hynes was busy making plans to get into the U.S. Senate race. Sen. Roland “Tombstone” Burris, who cozied up to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich for the Senate appointment, has apparently decided to drop out of politics.

It’s too bad Dan Hynes wasn’t there.

But Rev. Jesse Jackson was at the news conference. He terrified funeral directors by asking if any of them had ever resold used coffins through Burr Oak.

“There are prominent people buried here,” Jackson said, of civil rights martyr Emmett Till, and old Negro League baseball players, and entertainers and champion prizefighters.

“But everybody here is special. And those grave robbers deserve a special place in hell,” Jackson said. “How far did this scheme go? That’s what we want to know.”

As the politicians made speeches, Robert Gardner, 73, a retired steelworker, waited to speak with investigators about his father-in-law, Johnny Marks, buried in 1982.

“This is worse than bad,” said Gardner, pointing toward the death mounds out back. “All those people turned out of their graves, left out there. They get no peace. Neither do we.” (jskass@tribune.com)

“Worse than bad,” indeed. Here is a video on this issue, too:

There are more videos and related articles at the link above for Kass’ article.

Whatever one believes happens after death, whether the body is just a vessel, or that the soul is still there, this is just horrendous. The grave robbers have shown tremendous callous disregard for these people, for their remains, and for their families. It is heart-breaking, plain and simple. I hope the perps get everything that is coming to them. If they have an ounce of humanity in them (which they have not demonstrated), I hope they have to look each and every living family member in the eye, and apologize to them. Each one. That is the very least they can do. And then I hope they have the book thrown at them. They deserve no less.

So, there WERE African Americans and Hispanics who passed the exam, too, something previously unreported. As Mr. Ricci said, the press did NOT do its job, accepting as fact the city of New Haven’s talking points. Wow – what a HUGE surprise – the press not engaging in fact checking. Again! Shocking. Ahem.

I thought this was an interesting interview. Congratulations to all of the firefighters who worked so hard to pass their tests (Ricci was not the only one who sacrificed studying for the exam – it sounds like EVERYONE sacrifices for these extra classes and tests). Here’s hoping you all get the positions, and back pay, you worked so hard to achieve.

Toss another knuckle-dragging sack of crap into the pile that guarantees the Republican Party will never recover. Imagine being married to something like this and not killing it in its sleep?

And don’t forget to buy some gold from this neanderthal, you hear?

Gordy talks periods at :35 seconds.

Say good night to me, Republican Party. Between Rush “feminazi” Limbaugh, Glenn “I’m 95% chick! I blubber all the time!” Beck and now this animal, I will stay home before I vote for the next Republican candidate. Guys like this are the best weapon the Democratic Party has. This ranks right up there with, nay it surpasses, Barack The Pig Obama’s reference to “Periodic moments” aimed at Hillary. It takes some real experience to outPig Barack Obama in the “Offend women” department. Is this what you REALLY aspire to, Republican Party? If so, say goodbye now. You deserve to be eaten alive by the other animal farm.

And I couldn’t resist stealing Gordie’s “hot” pic from Riverdaughter. I nearly went blind when I saw it. And speaking of “Patriotism,” there’s nothing like wearing the American flag over your old and shriveled age-induced low-hanging ball sac.

I’m sorry, but this is just beyond the pale!

Poor Michael Steele. It’s hopeless, isn’t it? I will keep this video to remind myself to stay home in 2012. This is the face and voice of the Republican Party.

And by the way, I find it hysterically funny that the men in this party don’t like how Sexism feels. You would think it would cure them, but nope. What do you expect from a guy who actually let’s someone take a photo of himself looking like this?

Hey Gordy! Scuse me, “G Man”. Eat shit and die!

Rachel’s commentary speaks for itself. Judge Sotomayor is a moderate, and has made several pro-business rulings. Here’s Rachel’s source:

From Rachel Maddow’s Web site:

The not very liberal-sounding dissent by Judge Sotomayor referenced on the air by Rachel: 209 F.3d 200 (2nd Cir. 2000)

Below find a screen grab of the top portion of this ruling.

MY NOTE to our readers: Please consider that ANY ONE of us who truly wishes to know what Sonia Sotomayor is made of as a judge must judiciously and openly read ALL of her rulings — including this ruling, in full — and not selectively pick and hammer on a few.

Her abilities are found in the sums of her experience and her judgment — as well as her not inconsiderable academic achievements in the first quarter of her life.

(Click on the image to view the larger version.)

UPDATE:

Lest there be any confusion about Rachel Maddow’s view of Judge Sotomayor, here is the first segment of her show last night:

I could have done without the cocktail metaphor, but I wanted to be sure you understand that Rachel Maddow is in favor of Judge Sotomayor’s appointment to the USSC, but that she is taking great care to point out that Judge Sotomayor is not some far-left radical. Hence the segment on her pro-business rulings.

Imagine a time when a female candidate for a position of power is actually judged on her merits. That moment is coming. It’s called The New Agenda.

On the back of the Sotomayor nomination, the Washington Post writes Women’s Groups Vow to Fight for Swift Confirmation. Which women’s group is the first to be mentioned? The New Agenda:

The New Agenda, a nonpartisan group formed during last year’s presidential campaigns, hailed the selection as “inspirational” and pronounced itself “thrilled” that four of the 10 women it suggested for the court were interviewed by Obama.

“It’s a great day for America and a great day for women,” said New Agenda co-founder Nancy Hopkins. “The choice of Sotomayor also shows that excellence and diversity go hand in hand. In this case, they were inseparable,” she added.

Yes, we are ready for a fight. We’re raring to go. Judge Sotomayor – We Have Your Back!

But imagine this in the future – the not too distant future – an organization with millions of members. Now that is a real voice. Then we wouldn’t be hearing “bad temperament”, “not that smart” (see video below) while of course we all knew, even the left, that Alito and Roberts were just “brilliant”. We could end this double standard in it’s tracks! Issues are fair game, sexist treatment is no longer fair game!

And to be a national organization with millions of members and real power to end the likes of the upcoming Sotomayor misogyny-fest – you know, the stuff that Hillary and Sarah had to endure – we need to build the infrastructure to become a national organization. And infrastructure requires dough – and we need your help. Remember – we are not a blog – we are a grassroots organization with a blog to keep our members informed.

Please donate to The New Agenda. We can and will make this country a better place for women and girls.

One donor from the West Coast wrote to us today to say that she was cutting into this month’s food budget to donate funds. She had been a lifelong feminist and was ready to throw in the towel until The New Agenda came along. Another donor wrote to say that TNA gives her hope for real progress for women: “If not TNA, who? And if not now, when?”

JOIN US! DONATE! WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Even our friends at Fox are joining the misogyny-fest. Who can we count on? Ourselves!

From the “About Us” page:

The New Agenda was founded on August 11, 2008, when 30 women met in Westchester, New York, to sketch out plans for a new non-partisan women’s rights organization. The attendees were community activists and leaders of women’s organizations from around the country, many of whom had met during Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. It was the painful lessons of that campaign that provided the raison d’être for the new group: to support women for public office, to draw a line in the sand against the sexism and misogyny so much in evidence in 2008, and to build a broad, non-partisan coalition to advance key goals for women.

The New Agenda calls on President Obama to select a woman to fill Justice Souter’s seat

The New Agenda, a non-partisan national movement advocating for all women, called on President Obama to fill the seat that will be vacated by Justice Souter with a qualified woman. Currently only one of nine positions on the nation’s highest court is a woman.

“Women’s experiences, expectations, and lives are sufficiently different from men’s that men can not represent women no matter how sympathetic they may be,” said Nancy Hopkins, MIT biology professor – a leader in her field and New Agenda co-founder. “Women are best represented by women. The fact that only one of nine Supreme Court Justices is a woman is an enormous injustice to the women of the United States.

We expect – we demand – that President Obama begin to correct this injustice.”

Last week Hopkins was awarded one of Women’s eNews 2009 21 Leaders for the 21st Century – a distinction shared with Lily Ledbetter. Hopkins knows what it’s like to be in a field dominated by men who are highly educated and smart, but often clueless about gender. Hopkins was in the audience when Larry Summers famously stated that girls are genetically inferior to men when it comes to math and science – a statement Hopkins’ life and career strongly refutes.

The field of law would benefit greatly from a feminine perspective. Upon learning that John Roberts would take her place, former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor declared him “good in every way, except he’s not a woman.”

“There is an amazing pool of incredibly talented women who are leaders in the field of law,” said The New Agenda co-founder Amy Siskind. “We look forward to President Obama selecting one of them.”

To reinforce the message that there is a rich pool of candidates, The New Agenda released the following list of exemplar candidates for the Supreme Court seat.

• Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm: Harvard Law School graduate, former federal prosecutor and a county attorney

• Kathleen Sullivan: dean of the Stanford Law School after teaching at Harvard Law School. Has argued key cases before the Supreme Court

• Diane Pamela Wood: longtime professor at the University of Chicago Law School, federal appeals court judge (7th Circuit)

• Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears: the first black woman to be appointed chief justice in any state

• Kimberly McLane Wardlaw: federal appeals court judge in California, and would be the first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court.

• Sonia Sototomayor: 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

• Sandra Lea Lynch: chief judge of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

• Elena Kagan: U.S. Solicitor General

• M. Margaret McKeown: 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

• Pamela S. Karlan: Stanford University law professor