ZoNotes: Stuck in the Middle With You...
Off To the West Coast
ZoNotes takes the show on the road again, this time to the beautiful California outpost of San Diego. Postings starting Thursday will be infrequent and sporadic.
Dominican Thunder: Don't Make Sammy Mad!
One thing really sets my hair on fire -- the assertion that Prez Bush was a fool for trading Sammy Sosa, given his awesome home run power. You know how many world titles that Sosa has brought to Chicago while with the team? Could that be none? And if it's home run power that you want -- the Texas Rangers have perennial-All Star A-Rod for that!
Ok, with that out of the way, let us proceed to the news at hand. Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly coyly suggested that Sosa take a drug test to prove that he wasn't on steroids. There's something girlishly catty about this request -- if Sosa accepts, Reilly gets cute face time. If Sosa refuses, then obviously he's guilty, right? Reilly is a good writer, but he's too clever by half for this one. Sosa predictably lashed out at Reilly, who then acted "who, me?" I've always thought that some sportswriters were arrogant miscreants with no appreciation for the game. Why did Reilly pick Sosa? Why not Barry Bonds, Derek Jeter, Mo Vaughn, or A-Rod? Why isn't he knocking on Ken Griffey Jr.'s door?
Courting an Appeal
More criticism is in regarding the way that the Administration is forcing a play on the Bosnian police mission as a way to curtail the authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Humanitarian interventions -- Kosovo comes to mind -- are a dirty business. The missions require a significant use of violence to get the job done. It is hypocritical to argue in favor of a muscular interventionist policy and then argue that American and coalition troops won't get blanket immunity. If you're going to deputize a NATO-led force, you have to give it certain gurantees that its troops will have the benefit of the doubt. It is a tough tradeoff to make, but it must be made nonetheless. An Argentine security official mentioned in the aftermath of the Guerra Sucia against dissidents critical of the junta that if the Germans had won World War II, then the war crimes trials would have been held in Virginia. I don't think highly of the source of that quote, and it smacks of authoritarian cynicism. Unfortunately for the rest of us, it's a relevant point. The Nuremberg trials were conducted with Soviet judges in attendance --- not as a sign of respect to that country's draconian security apparatus -- but because the Russians were part of the victorious Allied powers. The whole point of war crimes trials is to get a conviction. To find someone not guilty kills the essential point of having a tribunal in the first place. Thus, the political composition of said court matters. Why go after Pinochet of Chile when you're toasting Castro? Why make hay over Israel when you won't go after Arafat?
Wordplay
"Apologies should never be repetitive."
Off To the West Coast
ZoNotes takes the show on the road again, this time to the beautiful California outpost of San Diego. Postings starting Thursday will be infrequent and sporadic.
Dominican Thunder: Don't Make Sammy Mad!
One thing really sets my hair on fire -- the assertion that Prez Bush was a fool for trading Sammy Sosa, given his awesome home run power. You know how many world titles that Sosa has brought to Chicago while with the team? Could that be none? And if it's home run power that you want -- the Texas Rangers have perennial-All Star A-Rod for that!
Ok, with that out of the way, let us proceed to the news at hand. Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly coyly suggested that Sosa take a drug test to prove that he wasn't on steroids. There's something girlishly catty about this request -- if Sosa accepts, Reilly gets cute face time. If Sosa refuses, then obviously he's guilty, right? Reilly is a good writer, but he's too clever by half for this one. Sosa predictably lashed out at Reilly, who then acted "who, me?" I've always thought that some sportswriters were arrogant miscreants with no appreciation for the game. Why did Reilly pick Sosa? Why not Barry Bonds, Derek Jeter, Mo Vaughn, or A-Rod? Why isn't he knocking on Ken Griffey Jr.'s door?
Courting an Appeal
More criticism is in regarding the way that the Administration is forcing a play on the Bosnian police mission as a way to curtail the authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Humanitarian interventions -- Kosovo comes to mind -- are a dirty business. The missions require a significant use of violence to get the job done. It is hypocritical to argue in favor of a muscular interventionist policy and then argue that American and coalition troops won't get blanket immunity. If you're going to deputize a NATO-led force, you have to give it certain gurantees that its troops will have the benefit of the doubt. It is a tough tradeoff to make, but it must be made nonetheless. An Argentine security official mentioned in the aftermath of the Guerra Sucia against dissidents critical of the junta that if the Germans had won World War II, then the war crimes trials would have been held in Virginia. I don't think highly of the source of that quote, and it smacks of authoritarian cynicism. Unfortunately for the rest of us, it's a relevant point. The Nuremberg trials were conducted with Soviet judges in attendance --- not as a sign of respect to that country's draconian security apparatus -- but because the Russians were part of the victorious Allied powers. The whole point of war crimes trials is to get a conviction. To find someone not guilty kills the essential point of having a tribunal in the first place. Thus, the political composition of said court matters. Why go after Pinochet of Chile when you're toasting Castro? Why make hay over Israel when you won't go after Arafat?
Wordplay
"Apologies should never be repetitive."
posted by Lorenzo at
8:49 AM
