It's High-Time for a Moratorium on Comparing People to Muhammad Ali

The fact that Bill Simmons apparently seriously believes Tiger Woods faces a bigger uphill battle than Muhammad Ali ever did clearly demonstrates several things, including: A) Simmons has apparently dived headfirst into the pool of stupid so deeply he's never coming out; B) Simmons either completely ignores or has completely forgotten the landscape of racism in the 60s (when Ali was repeatedly attacked for his race) vs. the 90s and 00s (because clearly, the threats Ali faced were nothing compared to Fuzzy Zoeller's comments); C) obsession with the lives of celebrities in America has taken such a perverse turn that this is treated as front-page material on the biggest sports website in the country; and D) that it's high time comparisons of anybody to Muhammad Ali stop, unless those individuals are willing to give up their career to stick to their principles and fight for what's right politically.

But hey, having sex with a lot of women and insisting (correctly) that the Vietnam War was racist and that you were not going to participate for political and religious reasons? Totally the same thing. Just ask Bill Simmons.

Time to Grant Jay Mariotti a Wish!

Jay Mariotti, who in the best of circumstances is an insufferable, self-righteous attention-whore, once again flaunts his despicable qualities:

I didn't vote for anybody in the baseball hall of fame this year. Ya know why? To me...the first ballot is sacred. I think Roberto Alomar is an eventual Hall of Famer, not the first time. Edgar Martinez, designated hitter, eventually, but not the first time. Same goes for maybe Fred McGriff. As far as Blyleven and Dawson...if they haven't gotten in for years and years I cannot vote them in now. Ripken, Rickey Henderson and Gwynn. They are true first ballot Hall of Famers, but I didn't vote for anybody, throw me out of the Baseball Writers. I don't care.

It shouldn't have to be said, but to just touch upon the problems here - yes, some people (for example) are first-ballot hall of famers. To suggest Roberto Alomar wasn't, when he was one greatest second basemen ever, stretches the bonds of credibility. But to vote for nobody? "Absurdly indefensible" and "painfully stupid" don't even begin to describe it. This is arrogant, self-important preening from an incredibly little man. James Bailey perhaps put it best:

If Mariotti doesn’t want to vote, take the privilege away from him. He’s doing nothing but lowering the percentages of the players up for election, making it tougher for them to reach the required 75 percent. Who appointed this arbitrary, unprincipled king of principles gatekeeper? And does he imagine if we were voting for writers that he would even make the ballot?

We all know this is just a publicity stunt. Mariotti is nothing if not a spotlight hound. He’s not the only writer to take a “principled” stand with a blank ballot over the years, and he’s not the only one who ought to have their voting rights re-examined. But he’s certainly the most annoying.

I couldn't possibly agree more. And maybe, if they strip him of his vote, it will get the attention of some of the other members of the idiot squad in the BBWAA.

Well, here's one problem...

The local paper here did a sampling of people's opinions about healthcare reform. Here is one:

"I heard that if this passes, then everyone is going to eventually be forced to get government health care and I don't want that. I don't have it right now, but that's by choice. I don't want anyone telling me that I have to get it and pay for it."

Except that when this person has even a minor problem-- say, a fracture or a really nasty cut-- where is he going to go? To the ER. If he can't pay for the ER visit, the hospital eats it and has to make the money up somewhere else (like by raising the prices for services to people with insurance and inflating the skyrocketing price of insurance for those who are lucky enough to have it and responsible enough to have it if they can get it). If this person has a catastrophic illness, well, the financial consequences for the system are dire.

Of course, most people that don't have healthcare lack it because they can't afford it; I'm taking issue specifically with people like the guy quoted above, because it brings to the fore one of the more important aspects of the healthcare debate: a mandate. Even the craziest teabagging Neanderthal should be able to realize that the current healthcare system deincentivizes an individual (especially a young, healthy person) from getting insurance. After all, younger people tend to be healthier, get sick less, and treat various injuries or mildly serious illnesses at the ER. This raises costs for everyone. Having the healthiest demographic in the insurance pool is essential to driving costs down.

Socialism! Big government telling me I have to buy something that I'm willing to chance living without! Big brother! Right? Well, think of the parallel. The government forces you to buy car insurance, doesn't it? Why? So that when you do something that costs other people money (like plowing into their car), you have the financial ability (through your insurance) to pay for it. I wish people like the guy in the paper would take three seconds and make this connection; one that a particularly sharp second grader would be able to make handily.