CBS News: 'Tony La Russa Retires as St. Louis Cardinals Manager'

Source:CBS News- Tony La Russa: Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals (1996-2011) announcing his retirement as manager after winning the MLB World Series.

"Tony La Russa announced his retirement as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals three days after winning a seven-game world series against the Texas Rangers." 

From CBS News

The only thing keeping Tony La Russa out of the Hall of Fame as a manager was himself, because he's been managing for 33 years consecutively, his whole career, and I believe he's been the best manager in Major League Baseball that whole period, and that includes people like Tommy Lasorda, Billy Martin, Earl Weaver briefly, Bobby Cox. Joe Torre, Roger Craig, Jim Leyland, and many others.   Some may say Joe Torre because of the championships:  4 World Series Championships, 6 American League Championships, 11 Eastern Division Championships, and 13 playoff appearances.  Only Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox come close to those accomplishments in this time period.

But when Joe Torre was with the New York Yankees from 1996 to 2007, you could make a case that he had the best team in MLB every year he was there, especially from 1998 to 2007, but they came up short several times, as in 2001 losing to the underdog Phoenix Diamondbacks, 2003 losing to the underdog Miami Marlins, both in the World Series, 2002 losing to the underdog Anaheim Angels in the American League Championship, and 2004 blowing a 3-0 Series lead to the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship, something that will always be hated by Yankee Fans and loved by Red Sox Fans.  I know a few of those fans myself. And of course the Yankees always had the most money in this time period and could always basically put all-star teams together to win the World Series.

Other than the time period during which Tony La Russa was with the Oakland Athletics from 1988 to 1990 or 1991, he was there from 1986 to 1995, but in those 4 years you could make a pretty good case that the Athletics should have won at least three World Series if not four, because from 1988 to 1990 they had the best three teams in baseball.  And they only won one World Series.  Of course, one is better then nothing but in the two World Series that the Athletics lost in 1988 and 1990, they won a total of one game.

They lost 4-1 in the 1988 World Series to, I believe, the worst World Series Champion since 1969, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who only won something like 85 games that season.  And of course you had the famous Kirk Gibson home run in game one to win that game against the best closer in baseball at the time, Dennis Eckersly.  When Tony La Russa was in St. Louis with the Cardinals from 1996 to 2011, he didn't always have the best team and he still won 7-8 Central Division Championships, three National League Championships, and two World Series, and made the playoffs 9-10 times again. When only four teams make the playoffs in each league, they may go up to 5-6 teams in 2012, but we'll see. 

Tony La Russa was the best manager in MLB in his era as well as today because of what he got out of his players for the most part, not including his time in Oakland, but definitely in St. Louis, a midsize market. But with a great fan base, if not the best in MLB, it was just a matter of when Tony La Russa would retire.  That would determine when he was going into the Hall of Fame, because he's a first ballot Hall of Famer in waiting.  

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VOA News: Jim Bertel- U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy Dead at 77: The Dream Shall Never Die

Source:VOA News- U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts) the lion of the Senate.

Source:FRS FreeState

"Senator Edward Kennedy was the last of the Kennedy sons born to Rose and Joseph Kennedy. He followed the trail blazed by his brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General and Senator Robert Kennedy, both assassinated in the 1960s. Ted Kennedy was known as the Lion of the Senate and was respected for his long-term commitment to health care for all Americans.  On Tuesday night, at his home in Massachusetts, he lost his hard fought battle with brain cancer.  VOA's Jim Bertel has more on the career of this Democratic icon."

From VOA News 

When I think of the late Senator Ted Kennedy Edward M. Kennedy, I think of someone who represents the heart of the Democratic Party. Someone who represents the best of the Democratic Party as far as the things that we as Democrats have been fighting for going back at least to the 1930s or longer. Individual liberty, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, equality of opportunity for all, civil rights for all, workers rights, the little people, health care and health insurance for everybody. Retirement security for everybody, a foreign policy that represents the best of America. Basically a quality shot at the American Dream for everyone. Now we as Democrats don't always agree on how to accomplish these things.

Democrats tend to have the same goals, but differ in how to accomplish those goals. Some times we don't agree on any of those things as far how to accomplish them. We've always been a very diverse party. Politically, racially, different ethnicity's and everything else. We are basically a political party of three different parties in one. And thats what happens when you have a two-party System in a country as large and as diverse as we are. But its that progressive agenda of the party that brings us together when we come together. And a lot of that credit goes to Senator Ted Kennedy who's been the heart of the Democratic Party at least since 1980. When he unsuccessfully ran for President in 1980 and sort of took that mantle from Lyndon Johnson. When he left the White House in 1969 and when his brother Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.

Ted Kennedy didn't represent the Democratic agenda as far as exactly what the policy's would look like. Which is what Ron Reagan did for the Republican Party. he represented their agenda as well as policy's. Even though Senator Kennedy had his own policy's for all the key issues he cared about. The Democratic Leadership or the party as a whole, wasn't always behind the bills that Senator Kennedy wrote. But they shared the same goals on a lot of bills that Senator Kennedy got passed out of Congress. He did that by working with the Democratic Leadership, Senate Republicans like Orrin Hatch, Bob Dole, John Chaffee, Arlen Spector and others. And then working out a compromise with the House whichever party was in charge.

Senator Kennedy, was also good at working out agreements with the White House. This is how legislating works in Washington and Senator Kennedy is about as good or the best legislature we've ever produced. But Ted Kennedy has been a big reason why the Democratic agenda has always been the same for the last 45-50 years. And a big reason why they've been able to pass a lot of that agenda, including health care reform which they passed in 2010. And still serves as the inspiration for the Democratic Party today. If the United States had a system where each party had their own official leader, whether they are the ruling party or not, meaning they run the executive, which is what most democracy's have, then Ted Kennedy would've been that guy for the Progressive Party. Because he was the person that could bring the party together when times were good or bad. And is a big reason why he's the Heart of the Democratic Party. 

John Fitzhamh: 'The Iranian Hostage Crisis'

Source:John Fitzhamh- President James E. Carter (Democrat, California) I believe meeting with his National Security Council in 1979. But I don't know that for sure.

Source:FRS FreeState 

"The Iranian Hostage Crisis" 

From John Fitzhamh

The 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis was awful for lots of reasons. For one, the hostages who had to go through that ordeal. The hostages friends and families who had to go through that ordeal. The American People who had to go through this ordeal as well with all the news coverage and news specials that was dedicated to covering the hostage crisis. The country had to not only go through this ordeal, but also the embarrassment that came with it with how weak America looked as a result, that a group of students Islamic Terrorists in a third-world country could essentially take a country hostage.As well as take an American presidency hostage. 

President Carter had to go through the Iranian hostage crisis as well (obviously) and probably crushed whatever hope he had left in getting reelected in 1980, especially with Senator Ted Kennedy announcing that he would run for president in the Democratic primaries. 

America in this period was already going through a very rough period especially economically with double figure interest as well as inflation rates, with another recession in 1978 as well as 1980 and was facing several other issues that all commanded the attention of the Carter Administration. 

But when you have American hostages in a foreign country especially in a country thats not friendly with where we had already closed our embassy there, thats job one. And you stay on that job until you (pardon the pun) get the job done. (To paraphrase President Richard M. Nixon) 

The Carter Administration was on top of the hostage crisis and I give them credit for that despite all of the other issues they were dealing with. Like looking weak (to use as an example) with Russia invading Afghanistan a neighbor of Iran in late 1979 to try to install a communist government there. 

There are lots of reasons that led to the Iranian hostage crisis, none of them justified taking innocent people hostage. But most of them America's fault and the Iranians were justified in being angry at America. The main reason I believe being the Shah of Iran who was installed by the United States and United Kingdom. And could be removed and replaced at anytime the U.S. and U.K. wanted to.

The Shah even though he was pretty progressive on economic and foreign policy and was a very bright man, was brutal dictator in how he dealt with political dissent in Iran. And this was a reason why the Islamic Revolution started in 1978 and took over the Iranian Government in early 1979. 

And the Shah fled to Egypt and an Islamic Theocracy was formed in Iran in 1979. And of course the Iranian hostage crisis in November 4, 1979. And even though the United States officially declared War on Terror in late 2001 after 9/11, I believe we were already in this war over twenty years earlier.

I believe the Iranian Hostage Crisis was the start of it in 1979. The U.S. Marine barracks bombing in 1982. Libya's sponsoring of terrorism in the mid and late 1980s in Lockerbie, Scotland and other areas as well. 

And then you go to the 1990s with the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. As well as Saudi Arabia in 1996 and the East African Embassy bombings in 1998. America was already in the War on Terror long before 2001, we just hadn't officially declared it yet.