Posse Incitatus

The Mass Exodus

The world truly is a veil of tears, as Christian theology teaches.

Those who think they can escape the pain and tribulations with hedonistic pleasures and materialism are really deluding themselves, because sooner or later they and their loved ones will suffer physical and/or emotional pain.

Yours truly is among those who try not to think too long or grieve too much about the hundreds of thousands of Syrians, Iraqis, Libyans and other inhabitants of the Middle East and Africa who are fleeing atrocious, dangerous conditions, hoping to find a better future for themselves and their families. They walk for hundreds of miles, carrying babies and with young children in tow. There is little to eat or drink, nowhere to go to the bathroom, no protection from the elements, and often these poor souls must sleep out in the open. It is disturbing. I say a quick prayer, feel a bit of sympathy, then get back to my busy day.

As is the case with my co-blogger, K.N. McBride, I probably spend too much time watching and paying attention to football this time of year. But I remind myself not to lose sight of the long-term ramifications of one of the largest group of fleeing refugees in decades.

The United States has long been a magnanimous nation, opening its arms to embattled refugees from oppressive and/or war-torn, poverty stricken hellholes including Vietnam, Bosnia, Myanmar, Iraq, the former Soviet Union and Somalia, among others.

The Obama administration announced the other day that the U.S. will take in and help resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year. But as is the case with Mexican and Central American refugees, most of them are not being vetted by this utterly naive administration. Drug running gang bangers from MS-13 enter through the southern borders, and some extremist Muslims will undoubtedly enter from Syria and elsewhere.

In recent decades, many European nations have also welcomed untold numbers of refugees from largely Muslim-dominated nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. Frequently, this is out of necessity: The low birth rate in Europe in the past 30-40 years has led to a dearth of young workers who can fill the many service jobs -- working in restaurants or retail, doing landscaping, washing cars.

Some of the current refugees are Christians, but most are Muslim. The fly in the ointment is that Islam is a dangerously dysfunctional religion, and although terrorists and extremists are in the minority, they represent way too large a minority to ignore. In other words, without properly vetting the incoming Muslims, we are planting destructive jihadist seeds. It's like a person using a contaminated needle to inject something into his vein. Serious trouble is guaranteed, in short order.

Those who read this blog know that I have spoken out loudly about the need to close our southern border, and bemoaned the burden illegals from Mexico and Central America put on our social services, schools, hospitals, and law enforcement.

Granted, many of them come here to work, and do work hard, but they don't pay much in taxes (For example, often a dozen or more cram into one residence, paying little in property taxes but sending several youngsters to public schools), and still tap into the government teet in a nation that is beyond broke and simply cannot afford to fund more entitlements. I believe we are pretty much at the point where there are more people riding in, rather than pulling, the metaphorical wagon.

And it is true that way too many of the Spanish speaking immigrants do not want to learn English or assimilate. But I can say one thing for them that tempers my frustration: At least they are, generally speaking, Christians, and we don't have to worry about any of them blowing themselves up in a restaurant, bombing the Boston Marathon, or walking around in burkas. Regrettably, I cannot say the same for all of the incoming Muslim immigrants.

Personally, I don't give a rat's ass if any leftist who reads this calls me a bigot, hater, Islamophobe, mean-spirited, narrow minded or ... (pick your pejorative). I am stating facts and reality. This nation is generous, but cannot afford to be stupid. Unfortunately, the latter characterization seems more apt with each passing day.

 

 

 

Is 9/11 back to being just another day?

It seems to me that the fading significance of Sept. 11 is due to more than just the passage of time.

That horrible day 14 years ago was a rude awaking to a people who wanted nothing more than to stay asleep.

In 2008 we elected a man to help us do that, and so he has.

Even our military analysts are now coming forward and saying that their alarming reports of enemy activity are being re-written to downplay the danger.

We are back to a Sept. 10 mentality.

Of course none of this makes the problem or the danger go away.  Our dead haven’t come back and our enemies haven’t gone away.  The next attack will come, and we will mourn, shake our fists and perhaps rouse ourselves fully to face the danger before us – one that has grown exponentially in the years since.

Or we will finish our tantrum and go back to sleep.

Oregon invades Michigan

By a remarkable coincidence, Michigan State is hosting Oregon on the same day that the University of Michigan is hosting Oregon State.

Both games are important in their own ways.  Let’s begin with the undercard fight.

SKUNK BEARS HOST BEAVERS:  Harbaugh-mania will be full force as 100,000 cultists descend on the world’s largest open-air mental health facility, but will it be enough to spur the winged helmets to victory?

That question is up to the Beavers and their new head coach, who formerly was at Wisconsin before the Great Coaching Shuffle caused a half-dozen programs to jump all over the place.

Gary Andersen was a decent coach in Madison and I count myself among those that wonder why he would want to go from leading the Colossus of the Big Ten West to the Spoiler in Corvallis.

News accounts suggest he wants to move away from a pro-style offense to a run-first spread, which could give the Skunk Bears some issues, given how poorly they have historically fared against the spread.

Some commentators might suggest that running against the Wolverines is a bad idea, but a careful examination of the record reveals that the vaunted Skunk Bear run defense is merely a statistical artifact.  Teams that chose to run on U-M did so and did well:  Minnesota, Michigan State and Ohio State all racked up more than 200 yards apiece on the winged wonders last season.  Other teams chose to simply throw the ball since they could score at will (see Notre Dame’s beat-down).

Thus we have a team that is a long way from home but with much to prove – particularly since their hated rival will be getting the spotlight.  I’m sure Coach Andersen will use this as additional motivation:  A win in the Big House would give them a chance at stealing some of the Ducks’ glory, particularly if the Spartans achieve their revenge.

Their opponents clearly have some issues.  I must admit I am fascinated to see thumb-sucking articles like this one that note that film sessions after a loss can be unpleasant.

Did Brady Hoke not point out flaws?  Are we to believe that this is a new thing in Ann Arbor?  They player seemed shocked at the accountability.

None of which convinces me that the change will be quick or comprehensive.  It is an oft-repeated truth that the biggest improvement is between the first and second games, but the Skunk Bears have chosen as their ringer a fifth-year QB who was found wanting by a mediocre Iowa squad.  Not only doesn’t this say much for their bench but it also has to be demoralizing since by that time, players are pretty much beyond help.

MSU experienced the same problem with Andrew Maxwell – he was as good as he was going to get.  Connor Cook was rough, but he had tremendous potential (as we’ve seen).

Prediction:  Beavers 28-17.

AND NOW THE MAIN EVENT:  The Spartans have been waiting a year for this moment and with a home crowd at their back, they Will. Not. Be. Denied.

As I noted earlier in the week both teams’ first games were lackluster, but I think MSU had the tougher opponent.

Western Michigan has considerable talent and will be making some noise in the MAC this year.

Meanwhile, the Ducks buried an I-AA squad that was picked apart by its former starting QB (who obviously knew the weak points) while coughing up 42 points.

Once again we have the sages of the Football Industrial Complex questioning MSU’s secondary, but it will be the Spartan offense that holds the key to this game.  Cook’s passing and a pounding, clock-killing ground game will be the path to victory, not a restoration of the “No Fly Zone.”

Prediction:  MSU 42, Ducks 21.

Football roundup: " What's a Saluki?" and other questions answered

The opening weekend of college football has been pretty dull over the last few years.  The decision to add a 12th game to the schedule resulted in an almost universal choice to make that team a cupcake taken solely with the goal of enhancing bowl eligibility.

Because there are only so many pushover schools in the upper division, teams resorted to bribing  I-AA schools to play them.

This backfired spectacularly in the case of Appalachian State's victory in Ann Arbor in 2006, and a big part of why the college football world was shocked was that the opening weekend is otherwise devoid of news.

Not only are lop-sided blowouts boring to read about, they are boring to watch.  Happily, this year has already had some excellent games.  I offer my thoughts in roughly chronological order.

NORTHWESTERN STUNS STANFORD:  For years Northwestern was the punching bag of the Big Ten, but in the 1990s they rose up and became only the sometime punching back of the Big Ten (splitting reps with Indiana, Illinois and Purdue).

The Wildcats have often played the wildcard in the conference and after yesterday, they look a little more wild.  Stanford, on the other hand, looked terrible.  Most of Northwestern's yardage came on the ground, which is not a good sign for a team that prides itself on stopping the run.  The Big Ten West just got more interesting.

HOOSIERS VANQUISH THE FEARED SALUKIS:  So apparently Southern Illinois changed its mascot from "Maroon" to "Saluki" in the 50s because they wanted to be unique.  Salukis are the royal dog of Egypt and southern Illinois has some folklore about being like Egypt.  So there you are.

For a while it looked pretty grim for the Hoosiers, but they pulled out the win in front of an indifferent home crowd (at least that's what it sounded like on tv).  Perhaps the best part was watching the BTN panel trying to find something nice about Indiana's performance.  Gerry DiNardo boldly stepped up and offered praise for his old team and we give them this:  Winning a close game against an obscure school is better than losing .  The Hoosiers did their part.

PENN STATE BOWS BEFORE TEMPLE:  Ah, the glorious traditions of college football.  I've often said that the college game brings out the best and the worst in people.  While the Walmart Wolverines have perverted the word 'tradition' to mean mindless trash-talking about games won by paid non-students against high school teams in the 1890s, it is still what makes the game more interesting than the NFL.

As every dispatch has reminded us, the Owls haven't beaten Penn State since 1941.  Given the world war and the decades that followed, I can't imaging that a great many of the people at that game are still alive.  That Temple was coached by a Penn State alum adds to the moment.

This doesn't mean the end of Penn State's season by any stretch, but it isn't a good sign.

WHO KNEW MORMONS VENERATED THE VIRGIN MARY?  Speaking of streaks ending, BYU's literally last-second win over Nebraska was another great game to watch.  In many ways it defined what is great about college football:  Changing momentum, emotional ups and downs, unexpected twists as starters leave and unheralded backups earn a chance for glory or infamy.  That game is going to be hard to top.

As a side note, BYU will destroy the Skunk Bears in a couple of weeks.  And yes, that was one of the games I'd put them down as losing.  More on that later.

LOU-UH-VILLE SCARES AUBURN:  Another game of momentum changes that I unfortunately did not get to watch as closely as I would have liked, what will all the other drama.  (This by the way is a great problem to have.)  I know the SEC won some games yesterday, but can we put to rest the idiotic notion that they are somehow dominant?

NICK SABAN DEFENDS HIS HOME TURF:  After all that, excitement, I was a little jaded by the time we go to the prime time match-ups.  I figured Wisconsin would put of a fight, but honestly I'm getting a little tired of Nick Saban refusing to play in a Big Ten stadium.  He backed out of the home-and-home with MSU and his idea of a "neutral venue" is one that is five times closer to his fan base than the opponent's.

And yet this guy is treated as some sort of genius.  I'd love to see him bring that swagger to Madison or East Lansing, particularly in November.  No doubt that's why he's staying as far away as possible.  The taunts he'd pick up in East Lansing would be epic.

THE NOTRE DAME NETWORK HOSTS A SNOOZER:  Yeah, I watched about five minutes of this.  Between NBC's obnoxious fanboy coverage and fact that Texas is basically a shadow of its former self, it got boring so I turned it off.

AGGIES PLAY SUNDEVILS - AND I DIDN'T CARE:  This was a decent game for a while but I was fading fast.  Normally I'll go the full 12 hours on a football Saturday, but I'd already been up late on Thursday and Friday, it I called it a night.

Which brings us to the earlier games...

SPARTANS WIN PRACTICE MATCH, WMU ALMOST KILLS ITSELF:  I give full credit to Western Michigan Coach P.J. Fleck, but the guy needs to tone it down a little.  Yes, beating MSU would give a boost to his program and be an upset for the ages, but not at the cost of crippling one's team on the opening weekend.

This was also why hand-wringing on the part of the Spartans is a bit much.  Yes, the secondary got lit up and at times the defense seemed to be phoning it in, but we must remember that it was extremely hot and humid, with cramping being a major concern.  Also, there is that game against Oregon that people have been waiting a year for.

No one on the Spartan side wanted to get hurt running up the score on an already-beaten WMU.

And let there be no doubt about it, MSU was going easy.  You could see this in the way that MSU responded as the Broncos closed the gap.  Yes, I'd like to see them finish, but even the coaches knew this was basically an extended live practice.

The fact that Dantonio was rotating his running backs irrespective of their performance was a pretty clear indication that he wasn't about establishing dominance.  The main event is next week.

ABOUT THURSDAY NIGHT:   As I watched every sportswriter in Michigan (even those who had been praising Harbaugh the loudest) pick Utah to win, I admit I had my doubts.  Usually these people are reliably wrong about everything.

However, this was one of those cases where a stopped clock was in fact giving the correct time.

This game would not have been as close as it was without two ill-timed and utterly inexcusable late hits from the Utes (the same player, whose name I will omit because I'm too lazy to look it up).

This one player basically spotted the Skunk Bears 10 points.  And they still got crushed.

Looking ahead, Oregon State is transitioning to a spread offense but they appear to want to run the ball.  I have this game as a tossup.  On the one hand, Harbaugh-mania will be off the charts but a strong early performance will quiet the crowd used to seeing a home-field disaster.

I'm getting ahead of myself, but BYU having weathered the storm in Nebraska, will revel in pulling off another road win.

 

The hell with Trump and Hillary, I want college football!

A brief taste of fall weather has the Posse eagerly anticipating the start of the college football season.  The days of empty hype are over.  From now on, the hype will require something to back it up.

AGGIES FACE HILL TOPPERS:   Ah, nothing like a venerable in-state rivalry that goes back more than a century.  The series was pretty even when the MAC Aggies last took the field against Kalamazoo College, but the programs have grown apart since then.

Western Michigan is pleased with the trajectory of their program, which is great.  I count several Broncos in the family tree and like just about everyone who didn’t go to U-M or live in a trailer park, Spartans normally enjoy the support of the directional schools against the Colossus of Ann Arbor.

The Broncos return a veteran and talented quarterback as well as an experienced secondary.  Many of their fans hope to use these advantages against MSU’s inexperienced and sometimes vulnerable secondary.  At least that is the hope.

For a moment – and only a moment – I contemplated this possibility and thought that the game might be a shoot-out, but then my eyes fell on the Spartan defensive roster, in particular the front four.

The Broncos are doomed.

Two years ago the great debate was whether MSU’s defense could stand up against Ohio State’s vaunted offense in the conference championship.  We at the Posse astutely noted that there was another, more pertinent question:  could their defense stop us?

I expect the same dynamic will be in play in Waldo Stadium.  MSU’s ground attack will likely chew up unlimited amounts of clock and yardage, with pass plays thrown in only for variety’s sake.  Indeed, with the exception of missing a wing-back, MSU may as well dust of Biggie Munn’s playbook here because pounding it is the way to go. 

THE VERDICT:  Spartans by as many as they want.

MEANWHILE IN BIG SKY COUNTRY:  I’ve got to hand it to the Skunk Bears’ press agents.  They have really captured the imagination of the nation with their choice of head coach.

Now teams that might have looked past them are extra-motivated to earn notoriety by handing St. Harbaugh a defeat.

The Utes are at home and actually lead the series over all 2-1.  They are a veteran squad with a stingy defense.  The arrival of the “Harbus” is likely to fill them with even more motivation than usual.

The Skunk Bears on the other hand are riddled with attrition and the third offensive scheme in as many years.  Their starting QB is shrouded in mystery, though the mercenary from Iowa is likely to get the nod.  As someone who watched the debacle against Iowa State last year (and the struggle against numerous weak teams), I have to say I’m underwhelmed by their options.

The real question is whether the Great Harbaugh will be able to keep the team from falling apart once it falls behind on the road.  To that, we have no answer.

PREDICTION:  Utes extend their series lead.