I thought I’d take the time to reflect upon my favorite baseball players. The only rule I’m using is that I had to watch him play and remember him, so any Big Red Machine players are out. I’m sure I saw Johnny Bench play as a child, but I just don’t remember. 10. Paul O’Neill. I never real...

Half my life ago, I won the "Milk Duds Celebrity Bat Girl Contest" and had the great fortune of getting to stand on the field during batting practice. I was 16 years old and I missed a soccer game for it - I was the goalkeeper for my high school team and we were playing a small farm school, but even...

Anyone can learn Dick Cheney's methods. Here is an executive summary....

On September 17, while the financial world was still reeling from the collapse of several Wall Street institutions, a next day air envelope arrived at my house. I probably should have opened it and read its contents before this weekend, because it has a direct bearing on the present crisis. Inside I...

Of course, I'm talking about the State Farm Home Run Derby and alternative post-grunge southern rockers 3 Doors Down. Gotcha! It turns out that combination is an unmitigated disaster! I was really talking about: Here's how it works: I supply the Gallimaufry, you get hammered. Shot clock violation! L...

â–  Loading the bases on Daisuke Matsuzaka isn’t exactly the way to count a run or three on the scoreboard these days. After Dice-K got finished with the Baltimore Orioles Sunday (six scoreless in spite of five walks and thirteen baserunners overall), the enemy is 0-for-11 with ducks on the po...

Richard Clarke accused the Bush administration of ignoring warnings on terrorism. "I find it outrageous that the president is running for re-election on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism," Clarke said in a "60 Minutes" interview on the book with CBS. "He ignored it. He ign...

Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill on Defib Dick: NYT: Have you seen Dick Cheney since he fired you? O'Neill: I have been to a few events where the vice president was there, but we both did our best to ignore each other. You know, I was a pallbearer, and he was a pallbearer, too. NYT: You mean a...

From the March 30 NY Times Magazine’s interview with Paul O’Neill, former secretary of the Treasury: [NYT:] It’s so hard to understand how the subprime mortgage crisis has triggered a financial crisis of global proportions. [Paul O’Neill:] If you have 10 bottles of water, and one...

Before I move on to other things I want to say a few more words about Ron Suskind’s The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill . It is a hopeful book. Suskind frequently reminds us of the cadre of conservative political pros dating back to Ni...