Pandagon

Jeffrey Dubner at Tapped says, "That's a start, but it's not enough." He might be right, but I like how this could turn what seems to be the CW on this issue on its head: that Kerry himself couldn't get involved because it would drag him down, so it would have to be up to the surrogates to fight back. The reality on Bush's side is that he's going to have a hard time gaining anything from this if he has to open his mouth about it, but I'm not sure how he can avoid doing that now.

This is almost surely attributing too much Machiavellian skill to the Kerry camp, but how's this for a theory: this puts Bush in even more of a quandary now than if he had had to renounce the Swift Boat guys right when they first hit the air, because now he'll look weak for having responded to Kerry, instead of Bush plausibly looking principled if he had denounced them immediately. That could be an optimistic take on how this'll play out, but it would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?

Damn. He's bringing the high heat and his curve goes from 12 to 6 in a heartbeat. Looks like he's going to strike out the side.

Question is: can he bring it in the ninth, as well? We won't know for a while yet, but my confidence grows with every day that he's going to be able to slam the door on these no-talent ass-clowns come October and November.

And now, I'll stop torturing the metaphor.

I choked when I tried to post the Tapped link, here it is.

Gagne just blew another save last night. Maybe you could have found a better comparison for Kerry.

I just noticed this as well. Great speech. If Bush wants to benefit by remaining above the fray while his attack dogs do all the mud-slinging for him, then he'll just have to deal with the fall out of supporting (by not denouncing) an untenable position.

This is a good first step for Kerry to call bullshit on the transparency of the Bush administration. Let's hope it continues.

JJF - which makes him 98/100 over his past 100.

Sure, if you don't count blowing the 2003 All-Star Game.

Dizamn. Well played. Drops this right back in the lap of GDub and--thanks to Kerry's smart repudiation of MoveOn's ads--forces Bush into a quandry: Bush must either move to repudiate these ads now (which he doesn't want to do), or he chooses not to, tacitly admitting that he supports the ads (which he does, but which is impolitic to do).

So is Bush a dirty campaigner? Or is he going to heed Kerry's call and cut the Swifties loose, thus defusing the issue? It's a great box, and I look forward to watching Bush squirm out of it.

Oh, and as for closers: the Twins' Joe Nathan is on like a 28-inning scoreless streak, and has an ERA under 1.

Damn! Mac beat me to the All-Star game take. What a great couple of days. First GA wins the home run derby, then he wins the All-Star MVP. First AS Game I've ever been to, and I was probably the only Angels fan in the stadium.

Jesse - since "il gagne" is French for "he wins," maybe it's an apt comparison after all.

yeah, but he's from boston though.

jpb - The only fear I have about the bottom of the ninth is that we're playing this game in their park, and I wouldn't put it past them to have somebody in the stands with a sniper rifle pointed at the mound ...

Am I the only one who thought this would have something to do with the AWA? OMGLOLROTFLMAO

Yeah Buh Buh, I read it and I was like "WTF? What do Verne and Greg have to do with anything?"

I happen to be going to Dodger Stadium tonight to see them play Atlanta -- and it's Gagne Consecutive Save pin night.

Let's see if Gagne and/or Bush can produce an October Surprise for their respective teams

And Gagne loses again! (Go Braves!) It looks like Jesse hexed him; I hope he didn't hex Kerry too.