No biggie, we'll just blow it up further

By now you have probably seen the photo of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and President Obama. If not, we have it right there for you to see. The argument and/or finger pointing stemmed from the way Jan Brewer retold an incident between she and President Obama in her book. She described it in a way that painted the President to be cold and aloof, after initially saying something complete different.

Governor Brewer later would say that she felt a little intimidated by the President. Governor Brewer said that the President was being "professorial" and "condescending". If you look at the picture you can get that vibe from it. But, if the picture had been reported to the tune of "President Obama and Governor Brewer spar over the Phoenix Suns vs. Chicago Bulls game" you would get that vibe as well. However, President Obama has said that the row was no big deal. Unfortunately, the way he said it comes off "condescending" and patronizing. "I think it's always good publicity for a Republican if they're in an argument with me", President Obama said, adding, "But this was really not a big deal". The President has charm and charisma to spare. But, when he uses them from time to time it can come off condescending. That is not to place all of the blame on his shoulders, Governors need to have a bit of decorum in public and wagging your finger in front of someone else, let alone the president breaks that mannerly code. But, we shall place more blame on the buzz being stirred by the press over the incident with the introduction of racism. The picture is open to interpretation and if you want to go out of your way to making it out to be somehow racist, you can.

Joy Ann-Reid wrote an article questioning what she could be intimidated by. She pulls out the white woman was afraid of the black man meme while criticizing the unfair black man is threatening meme. Of course racism exists and too often are men (and women) of color discriminated against. This was not such a case though, or at least we cannot possibly get that from a picture without a little invention on our parts.

Charles Blow, a New York Times columnist tweeted "Brewer said she felt 'a little bit threatened' by the President - CNN < Oh my. Was it his sagging pants or the way he was eyeing ur purse..."

The blogger New Black Woman wrote: "Sigh... really, Jan Brewer, threatened by a super, skinny intellectual black man serving as president of the United States? Nothing like the convenience of using the big, scary black man stereotype to excuse one's racism and lack of deference to the person holding the highest office in the land..."

Mr. Blow's rhetoric is about as helpful and insightful as many of my posts. It takes quick perception shots and creates a whole story around them. This is fine, but that is why we've posted our blog as entertainment and satire. We don't pretend to be newsmen. Ok, we do, so we're being hypocritical. But, in response to the New Black Woman's quote, you have used a stereotype to accuse Jan Brewer. There was certainly a pretty inexcusable lack of deference for President Obama by Governor Brewer, but to assume that she was intimidated by the color of his skin would be as ignorant as someone being intimidated by skin color in this century.

However, if Governor Brewer did this as a stunt to promote her book (which we won't name here in case she did, we don't want to give her the satisfaction), then she is an evil genius and no amount of optimism can be injected to cure such blatant cynicism.

Justice Sotomayor, Guam and Puerto Rico

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor has traveled to Guam to swear in some lawyers, one of whom is named Perfecto T. Gallman. We know nothing about this individual other than he has a great name. On her trip though Justice Sotomayor drew some parallels between Guam and Puerto Rico. Justice Sotomayor is of Puerto Rican descent and knows the ins and outs of the ceaseless debate over what Puerto Ricans want and/or do not want and/or might not want now but will later.

Guam and Puerto Rico both share a special unincorporated status within the United States. Puerto Rico has more independence in their governance, but both territories struggle with the same basic options: the status quo, full independence, or statehood. There are also people in Guam who would like to join Hawaii and gain statehood in that fashion. Statehood would give the the people of Guam and Puerto Rico more voice in national politics. But, it wold also come with more centralized controls.

For now though Justice Sotomayor makes a good point. She, and we are paraphrasing, states that the choices of the citizens of the two territories ought to be the deciding factor. These should come in an evolutionary fashion and not a revolutionary way. This way no hasty decisions are made and annexation, long out of fashion, makes a comeback. However, that said, the fifty stars could use a sprucing up. It's been stuck at that number for 53 years. A new star or too might brighten the mood in the ol' US of A.

The Tea Party Caucus - Todd Akin

Todd Akin, the Tea Party Republican representative from Missouri has found himself in the midst of a emotionally charged debate. A member of the US Army named Chazray Clark was wounded passed away in Afghanistan because the medevac chopper that was flying in to rescue him had no armed escort. A blogger named Michael Yon, was embedded with the unit and has spoke out about arming the medevac squad.

Todd Akin has stepped in to give his opinion on the matter, saying, "Any policy commitment that would impede even a single wounded soldier or Marine from receiving medical care in the least amount of time possible is simply unacceptable”.

Medeveac units don't carry weapons because of the complex rules of war set forth by the Geneva Conventions. But, Akin argues that the Taliban and other terrorists do not play by those rules and thus, they do not apply. While it would be wrong to call Akin a means-justifies-the-ends type of guy this is a slippery slope. No soldiers should be placed in the way of undo harm, but if a superpower were to ignore the Geneva Convention simply because the enemy does not, the results could be disastrous.

We here at the Leibnizian Ramblings blog have no satire for this grave post. We merely wish to express our condolences to the family of the soldier whose life was lost. We do however, want to maintain our optimism and hope and pray that a resolution to the Afghanistan problem is in the making currently. America must take the moral high ground and protect its soldiers. We understand the delicate balance that this entails and do not offer and easy solutions. We caution against throwing the rules of engagement out, but likewise do not advocate leaving someone to die unnecessarily. As the conflict in Afghanistan continues to evolve, the United States must maintain its place as the moral center in this war, otherwise all that Chazray Clark fought for will have been in vain.

Crocodile Tears No More

John Boehner has long been known as a crier. It seems that his tears come at politically opportune times though. This has led to a great deal of cynicism surrounding his emotional status. Of course, we are not nearly as famous as he is so when we cry it is not debated on the seven o'clock news. Therefore, we shall suspend our judgment.

However, when Gabrielle Giffords announced her resignation there was a cease-fire of sorts to John Boehner's show of emotions. He, like many other represantatives, was emotional at the scene. Mrs. Giffords, the democratic representative from Arizona, was part of the brutal attack on January 8th of last year. She announced this week that she would resign from office. This moved many to tears. John Boehner can be called an opportunist on many occasions, but this one may have been genuine. If not, then he is truly a cold and calculating politician.

Ronaldinho can't catch his breath

Ronaldinho and his Flamengo were defeated by a score of 2-1 by Bolivia's Real Potosí.

Flamengo is one of the storied franchises of Brazil. The day that it was founded is celebrated as a National Holiday. In 1981, they shut out the mighty Liverpool 3-0 to become World Champions on the back of play by the incredible Raul Plassman, Leandro, Carlos Mozer, Jorge Luís Andrade, and one of the greats, Zico. It was in that same year that they won their one and only Copa Libertadores (the top international South American tournament). But in 2012's rendition they lost a humiliating first game against lowly Real Potosí.

Real Potosí had one key advantage over Flamengo, one of the greatest home field advantages in sports. Real Potosí plays in the Estadio Víctor Agustín Ugarte. While 32,000 screaming fans would be enough to intimidate any of the Brazilian greats, its location at 3,960 meters above sea level makes it the penultimate castle upon the hill. Flamengo trained for a week at the high altitude, but it was to no avail.

Real Potosí can and should celebrate this victory as it was a true David and Goliath affair. But Flamengo gets them back home in Rio de Janiero to finish the tie. Unless Real Potosí can conjur up some incredible magic, it is likely that they will return home only with their moral victory.

Zombie Capitalism

It is the year 2012 and apocalypse is on the lips of everyone. Whether the end comes from the ancient Mayans, street corner preachers like Harold Camping or Zombies, eschatology is making a nice showing this year. Now, ingenious capitalists are looking profit from your fear.

The Zombie Apocalypse store in Las Vegas has all of your end of the world needs covered. It has bullets and machetes. It has do it yourself videos for sale. It has a gourmet food section so you can fill your bunker in case of the grim end. It also has gold and silver for where the currency markets implode in the wake of zombie pressure. One can never have enough bullion in the house for our liking. Maybe you want to make a fashion statement out of everyone's misery? It's got you covered with zombified Hello Kitty apparel. Basically, the Zombie Apocalypse store is the end all, be all you need. Don't wait until the end though or it will be like trying to shop at Walmart right before a major snowstorm hits the Midwest. There will be long lines of hoarders selfishly guarding enough milk to pour in a thousand saucers and so much bread that everything will be stale before the snow even melts. Which reminds us, why in the world do we go for only bread and milk if we truly think we're going to be snowed in for weeks? Is that really what humans need to survive?

Botswana amateurs holding their own against the pros

The African Cup of Nations is full of stars.

Gabon has five players that play in the top league of French Football, Ligue 1.

Mali has a player in the top flight in Greece, one in Germany and 8 in Ligue 1 of France.

Guinea has a player in the top leagues in Turkey, Switzerland, Belgium and Spain with two in Germany's Bundesliga and two in Ligue 1.

Morocco has a player in Germany and in the Scottish league. Two in Turkey, Italy, Russia and England including Marouane Chamakh who plays for Arsenal. It also has four players in the top French league.

Senegal has 9 players plying their trade in the top French clubs, 4 in England including the goal scoring machine for Newcastle United, Demba Ba. It also has two who play in Turkey and 1 in Spain and Denmark.

Burkina Faso has one a piece in Russia, England and Turkey respectively and five who play in France.

Côte d'Ivoire is stacked with one a piece in Belgium and the Netherlands, two in Russia and Germany. It has three players in the Turkish top league and five players in Ligue 1. It has an incredible six players in England including Yaya Touré, Salomon Kalou, Gervinho and is captained by Didier Drogba.

Ghana has five who play in France and three who play in Italy. It also has one a piece in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, England and Turkey.

Tunisia has two a piece in Turkey and Switzerland, three in Germany and four that play in France.

Zambia has a player in the top Swiss league. Niger has one in the French Ligue 1.

Neither Libya nor Sudan have players in Europe.

But, Botswana has sixteen amateurs on their squad. In spite of this they played a match against Ghana that could have easily been 1-1, but was a valiant effort in 1-0 loss. Botswana is still poised to make some noise and win won for the little guys. In a tournament that has already seen Equatorial Guinea into the final eight, this is not out of the realm of possibilities.