Why Mitt Romney will never choose Paul Ryan as his VP

For republicans, this year's presidential bid is a throwaway election.  

Romney’s not going to beat Obama, and republicans are not even sure they want him to.  The Bush recession isn't over, and the slow growth is likely to continue for at least another year or so.  Better for republicans to carp from the sidelines than risk  taking responsibility.

You can tell Romney’s going to lose because despite Obama's hard times, he's still better liked than  Mitt.  Republicans know this, for one very solid reason – they don’t like Mitt either.

You know it’s a throwaway election because no serious republican even considered getting in the race – no Chris Christie, no Jeb Bush, no Colin Powell or Condie Rice.

The question the republican party needs to ponder is - do they really want Romney’s November flameout to drag the Ryan budget down with him?

If Paul Ryan’s on the ticket, November 6 will go down as the day America clearly rejected his much touted plan for returning America to the Days of Deep Depression.  It's one thing to have a bunch of nuns, labor unions, Democrats and Catholic bishops tell you your budget plan is unholy, but when Americans reject in an election, it's toast.  Fait accompli.  

 

If republicans want to go into the 113th congress with the continued hope of further confounding Obama, privatizing Medicare and Social Security, taxing the working person and returning to the Roaring 20’s, they need the pseudo-serious Ryan plan to rattle in their fists as they spew their fire and brimstone.

But when a Romney-Ryan ticket loses, what will they have, except foul temperament and the penchant to blame Obama for everything from the weather to their dog’s unfortunate bowel habits.  

A Romney-Ryan ticket is the death of the republican agenda.

So snooze up, America. It's going to be Portman or Pawlenty for VP.  Or, if Romney wants to suddenly go adventuresome, Marco Rubio to hustle up the Florida vote.  

What we can learn from Colorado Rockies pitcher Jamie Moyer and my buddy Tim Lyons

Slow is not necessarily better.  But it sure is a nice complement to fast.

Last night the Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 with Jamie Moyer pitching 6 1/3 innings, giving up one run and six hits.  Slow pitched, in that Jamie Moyer style.  The D-backs stood around waiting for his 74MPH fastballs and sinkers to catch up to their bats.

But that’s not the slowest accomplishment for the 49 year old veteran (2-3).

In the bottom of the 4th with Jordan Pacheco on 3rd and Dexter Fowler on 2nd, Moyer dribbles a roller down the 1st base line.

So slow a roller, D-backs pitcher Patrick Corbin just stood by in amazement, stunned by its timelessness.

Arizona 1st basement Paul Goldschmidt needed to abandon his post in pursuit of the dribble, and then two time it back to the bag to try and tag Moyer out in time.  Moyer ran slow, but Goldschmidt’s return was a tad slower.  Safe. Had the ball rolled any faster, things might have been different.

But like we said, slow complements speed.

While the play at 1st was creating its own freeze-frame replay, Dexter Fowler rocketed around 3rd and snuck in for a completely unseen score at the plate.   I was there.  I didn’t see it.  Jamie Moyer didn’t see it.    The in-house replay didn’t even catch it.

“I assumed he’d be on third base,” Moyer said after the game.  “Then I looked at the scoreboard, and realized he had scored.”

Sometimes time passes like that.  You don’t see it .  You just notice later on the scoreboard.

When I got home from the game, I saw my buddy Tim Lyons skulking the neighborhood.  He says he was out running, but it was slower than running.  More like skulking.

Then he told me about his latest You Tube video – him performing his own The Ballad of Dick Cheney.  It’s a nice slow waltz.  Slow enough even a guy like me or Jamie Moyer  can get up and dance to it.   Slow enough that you’re likely to notice.

Here it is here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YVlFUt1f-0

The Buddha wonders ...

Why meditate?

To know our mind.

Looking at our mind shows us the rhythm of stillness, of this very moment.  The Now.  Often we think of our mind as a continuum.  But the more we see of this very moment, absent of past grievances and future ambition, the more we lose anxiety and see the purity of the present mind.

Sometimes we mistake our mind for the thoughts that travel through it.  That’s like understanding the sky by studying the blueprints of airplanes.

In the Four Noble Truths the Buddha taught us that we suffer because of our attachments.

When we understand our mind as a thought it invokes, we attaching to that thought as if it is our mind.  We are getting stuck.

Meditation helps us see our mind empty of its thoughts.