No One Likes Georgie

Oh… it might be a pretty frustrating day for King W.

The only other person with a redphone to God is coming to town (no word yet on whether God often calls at 3am). This will be a meeting of two very powerful men. One popular, and one… not so much. But it seems like Ol’ W might be pretty confused by his meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. These two men’s vastly different levels of popularity can’t be explained by the issues. When you go down the list, they think the same thing about, well, most everything. Abortion? Check. Abstinence? Check. Gay marriage? Oh yea. Stem cells? Take a guess.

And even on the issues where they have a disagreement, Bush likely won’t acknowledge the difference. The Pope will call for a compassionate foreign policy that reduces war and promotes peace. No doubt that Bush will think that he’s doing his best on that issue, reality notwithstanding.

So, how will Bush get past the fact that Mr. Popular stands for the same positions he does? Wacky guesses after the jump!

Tiger, Augusta, and the Problem That Won’t Go Away

I’m a serious sports fan, but only a casual golf fan. I’m also of the Tiger Woods generation. He’s dominated the PGA Tour for just about my entire sports-watching life. I absolutely love watching him play. And yes, I’m that guy that doesn’t watch if Tiger isn’t playing. I might stop watching when he retires. He is bigger than golf and Augusta National is where Tiger belongs. Augusta is the Wrigley to Tiger’s Cubs, the Lambeau to his Packers… and that’s where it all falls apart for me.

Augusta National is a swirling disaster of contradictions. It’s Tiger’s home track, but it’s also the symbolic home for “restricted” courses, good ole boy politics, and pure, unadulterated racism. The black members are few, far between (something like 5 out of 300), and relatively recent (the first was in 1990). The club boasts exactly zero female members. And I remember the black cooks and waiters cheering Tiger on in 1997, the various Hootie related controversies since, and Fuzzy’s infamous comments. But everyone knows about all that. What’s left to discuss?