Loser

I was very surprised to read Matt Patterson's commentary in The Sun ("America the dictatorship?" Nov. 27). How did someone get a pro-freedom message past The Sun's editorial board at the White House? By the way, congratulations on your election victory. The media has now fulfilled its agenda which is to lift takers over makers. By 2016, we'll have a $20 trillion hole with no way to get out plus all the other little things this administration will continue to do as in Obamacare, bailouts, coverups, and, of course, let us not forget President Barack Obama's favorite constituency, illegal immigrants.

An uncle of the two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings said his nephews had brought shame to his family and ethnicity, while their father insisted they were innocent and had been framed. The uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, said Friday from his front lawn in Montgomery Village that he had been following news reports and never could have imagined his brother's children were involved in the attack. He and another brother living in the middle-class Washington suburb said they have been estranged from the suspects' family.

We had a spirited discussion Sunday on CNN's  "Reliable Sources" about Keith Olbermann's suit against Al Gore's Current TV. The video is at the end of this post, and I urge you to take a look especially at what Sharon Waxman, founder of TheWrap, has to say about Olbermann having played his games maybe once too often. Here's something Olbermann should perhaps be even more worried about: the fact that to win his suit he is going to have to trash a liberal icon in Gore. And how are Olbermann's liberal fans (however many might be left)

San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Anthony Davis called Terrell Suggs a “[expletive] loser” on his Twitter feed today after he took offense to comments made by the Ravens linebacker on a San Francisco-based radio show. Making an appearance on KNBR 680-AM largely to promote “The Coalition,” a movie he co-wrote, Suggs was asked about comments made by teammate Cary Williams following the Ravens' 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3. Williams, a starting cornerback who was involved in a post-whistle scrum during the Super Bowl that led to him pushing a game official, called the 49ers “fake tough guys” and “pretenders” in the locker room after the game.

Can two photogenic, likable, hard-working stars make a film good all by themselves? Not in the case of "Loser," a listless, disjointed collegiate opposites-attract comedy from writer-director Amy Heckerling. But at least Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari, as two New York University students meant for each other more than either suspects, make the film bearable. Paul Tannek (Biggs, "American Pie") is one of those fish-out-of-water types you find only in the movies, a kid from suburbs so sub the rest of the world that popular culture never set foot there.

And so, the end of the year is near.Hear, hear.If years were fish, we'd have thrown 1993 back long ago.From beginning to end, locally and nationally, it was a year of loss.Real loss. Sporting loss.The toy department, supposedly a joyful place, reeked of sadness.The big national story of '93? Michael Jordan's retirement, of course.He wins, we lose.The big story in Baltimore? We get whacked in the expansion game. Paul Tagliabue kicks us in the teeth.Isn't that special?And look at what else happened:The Orioles missed out on the postseason for the 10th straight year.

Is America finally ready to embrace its inner loser? From Benjamin Franklin and Horatio Alger through American Idol and The Apprentice, the rags-to-riches success story has been a central cultural myth. But now the most daring television heroine is Lisa Kudrow as an actress on a hopeless quest to regain her former stardom, in the new HBO series The Comeback. That show echoes, without quite matching, the tragicomedy of the British series The Office, about an obnoxious middle manager with no place to go but down.

THE WORD from California that former Gov. Jerry Brown is considering a third run for the presidency next year, instead of seeking a Senate seat, will no doubt run into the criticism that as a two-time loser in the White House sweepstakes he'll be wasting his time.That may turn out to be so, but if Brown should run again and lose, it will not be because he has displayed an excess of #F Potomac Fever. More likely, a third Brown loss would result from an inability to shake the public's perception of him as Governor Moonbeam, the political space cadet who to many seems to be off on some other planet with far-out ideas.

YOU CAN talk about globalization, the sexual revolution or the civil rights movement. But one of the greatest upheavals of the century is the liberation of the nerd.Many have noted the rise of the Silicon Valley programmer and the iconification of Bill Gates. Few have placed these developments in context.Nerds, once defined as squares and losers, now also lord over Washington (Newt Gingrich, Al Gore) and Hollywood (Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino).Just as the women's rights movement revolutionized male-female relations, so also has this movement created its own turmoil.

Image is everything?The outfit was cerise, black and white. The racket was hot pink. The hair was brown with streaks of blond. And the face was green.Say goodbye to Andre Agassi and rock and roll tennis.Looking like a man in need of a designer or a doctor, Agassi was shoved right out of the U.S. Open yesterday by Aaron Krickstein, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2. Last year's losing finalist became this year's first-round loser."It feels like the tournament hasn't started yet," Agassi said.Actually, the Open began under cloudless skies and contained the usual first-day assortment of chaos and surprises.

Goodell wins, loses Sam Farmer Los Angeles Times Roger Goodell was both the biggest loser and winner in Paul Tagliabue's bounty scandal ruling. Goodell's credibility has taken a huge hit over the course of this ordeal, and having his predecessor correct him in such a public forum has to be a blow to the ego. But Tagliabue did Goodell a huge favor too. By affirming the factual findings of the investigation, essentially siding with Goodell at every turn, Tagliabue did nothing to strengthen the legal arguments of the (formerly)

I was very surprised to read Matt Patterson's commentary in The Sun ("America the dictatorship?" Nov. 27). How did someone get a pro-freedom message past The Sun's editorial board at the White House? By the way, congratulations on your election victory. The media has now fulfilled its agenda which is to lift takers over makers. By 2016, we'll have a $20 trillion hole with no way to get out plus all the other little things this administration will continue to do as in Obamacare, bailouts, coverups, and, of course, let us not forget President Barack Obama's favorite constituency, illegal immigrants.

I and many other active Catholics, and apparently including many in the clergy, are becoming more and more disgusted with our bishops. If marriage is only between a man and a woman according to natural law, and it is the most perfect way to live in family as human beings, as they proclaim, why have they wasted so many millions on interfering with state law and not working on a real problem in their own backyard. Why don't they have the courage to stand up and campaign against the "mandatory celibacy law" of our own priests - surely this is against the natural law, and it certainly didn't come from Jesus.

Americans across party lines all have at least one thing to celebrate after this election: candidates supported by small donors won a David-and-Goliath battle in a campaign flooded with special interest money. But it would be a mistake to think that this victory means special interest or secret money will not continue to influence our politics. Campaign contributions are not a one-time gift but rather an investment, with the expected return being high-level access to our politicians.

In my review Tuesday night of Bristol Palin's new reality show on the Lifetime channel, I said that I had come to believe that the Palins were history. The mass audience no longer cared about Sarah, Bristol, Willow, Todd or any of the other characters in this screwy Alaska clan. Here's some of what I wrote about "Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp": But you know what? I am sitting here at 1 a.m. typing this post, and even though it's been a very long day, my blood pressure is fine.

UPDATES WITH LINK TO RESPONSE POST BY GRETA VAN SUSTEREN: After watching coverage of the Wisconsin recall, I am convinced more than ever that it's time for a major press gut check. We have been in real trouble for a long time with cable TV news, but we truly have reached a new low of partisanship at MSNBC and Fox News -- and confusion at CNN. It's the confusion part at CNN that has me truly worried these days. Monday night after watching cable TV, I wrote about being "dismayed" by the polarized place that MSNBC and Fox News had come to. Scott Walker, the Republican governor, wouldn't talk to MSNBC, and Tom Barrett, the Democratic challenger, wouldn't come on Fox. Who could blame them?

WASHINGTON -- On the day after the '96 vote, everyone seemed to be spinning victory claims.Republicans and Democrats alike found a bounty of positive nuggets in the national election returns. And from the Christian Coalition to the Rainbow Coalition to the Sierra Club to the Chamber of Commerce came competing boasts that they were the ones who had made the crucial difference Tuesday.But in politics, as in life, everybody can't come out ahead. What follows is a highly arbitrary listing of some of the election's noteworthy winners and losers.

WASHINGTON - As he plots his comeback, Al Gore is peering down a trail blazed by an unlikely path-breaker: Richard M. Nixon. Like Gore, Nixon was a sitting vice president who barely lost an election to succeed his term-limited boss. His defeat by John F. Kennedy in 1960 was the closest presidential contest of modern times - until the one in 2000. "If I was Gore, I would do exactly what Nixon did," said Patrick J. Buchanan, a close aide to Nixon at the time. "Take the abuse from the media and everyone that you're a loser.

Horse racing 'Redux' retirement home still up in air Rapid Redux is still retired, but his retirement home has yet to be determined. On Thursday, owner Robert Cole said the horse would not race again, and trainer David Wells said Rapid Redux would be going to the Kentucky Horse Park. But Wells said Friday that he learned that the part of the Kentucky Horse Park he had been speaking to was actually the Secretariat Center, which retrains racehorses for post-racing careers.

Let's face it, the Orioles are losers. You know it, I know it, they know it. Certainly, their opponents know it. It's just a fact. So let's stop whining about their losing record, poor management and lack of focus and get out there and support our beloved losers. Call your friends and go out to the park and watch the Orioles lose. Cheer when they commit an error. Applaud when they blow a three-run lead in the ninth. Jump up and down when they get swept by the Yankees. Losing isn't so bad, particularly when your mouth is full of overpriced beer and stadium nachos.