Mike Ward's show ends

Congressman Mike Ward's radio show has sadly come to an end. I called in to his show on the first day. America 2000 held a bloggers panel which I was invited to speak at. I had to, sadly, decline. It was mentioned afterwards that Congressman Ward wanted to interview me on his radio show. Due to the time that it was on, I knew that I couldn't do it during college. I had planned on doing it this summer but never really followed up on it. Sadly, it fell through with the recent news. This comes from the Bridge, an email service offered by Dr. Ted Schlechter.

The Mike Ward Show has ended after a three year run. Ward said, "It was great fun, but not financially sustainable." He added, "I have truly enjoyed all the old friends who have been a part of the show and have especially enjoyed making so many new ones. Thanks so much."

Dr. Ted believes Charlie Owen might be running for governor in 2007. Now, Owen has been running for years and never winning to where one can call him a "frequent candidate." I'm not saying I wouldn't campaign for him but I'm still waiting for Jonathan's decision.

This is some good news dealing with the Jonathan Pollard case:

A U.S. congressman asked the attorney general to release classified information relating to Jonathan Pollard’s life sentence.

The judge set aside a plea deal in issuing a sentence on charges of spying for Israel, relying on classified information to sentence Pollard to life in 1987. In his letter last Friday to Alberto Gonzales, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said Pollard’s sentence was disproportionate to his crime and that his lawyers deserve to examine the classified information so they can challenge it.

Here is an article on the legendary Jewish boxer, Max Baer.

But Baer’s greatest fight was in June 1933, when he faced a heavily favored German, Max Schmeling. Hitler had come to power a few months earlier and the Nazis were busy smearing Stars of David on Jewish-owned stores.

When Baer strutted into the Yankee Stadium ring, his trunks sported a prominent Star of David, and he then proceeded to demolish Schmeling, knocking him out in the 10th round.

This pugilistic victory, coming in the depth of the Great Depression and amid rising anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States, lifted the spirits of Jews throughout the world, regardless of Baer’s actual Jewishness.

Under Ron Howard’s direction and in the screenplay by Cliff Hollingsworth and Akiva Goldsman, Baer is portrayed as the designated bad guy to deepen the contrast to the gutsy, family-loving, Irish-American Braddock.

Though the realistically staged boxing scenes in Cinderella Man — which opened nationally last Friday — carry the action, the movie essentially is the story of a man overcoming defeat and poverty through his own courage and the devotion of a loving wife.[...]

According to sports historians and Baer’s son, this kind of cruelty was not characteristic of the champion.

Except for fleeting glimpses of the Star of David on Baer’s trunks, which the boxer displayed in every fight after the victory over Schmeling, the movie does not touch on his ethnic background.

His genealogy has been frequently debated and misconstrued, but was clarified by the fighter’s son, Max Baer Jr., better known to 1960s TV audiences as Jethro in The Beverly Hillbillies.

Speaking from Las Vegas, the younger Baer said the champ’s father, Jacob Baer, was a German Jewish immigrant, who worked as a butcher, cattle dealer and rancher in Colorado and California.

Jacob Baer married a Catholic woman and their children were raised in her faith, though the household wasn’t particularly religious.

"When I was around 10 and living in a Jewish neighborhood in Sacramento, I came across a boy wearing a yarmulke," Baer recalled. "So I went home and asked my mother why that kid was wearing a beanie without a propeller."

The idea of wearing a Star of David for the Schmeling fight, said Baer, "came from my father’s Jewish manager. At that time, the great boxers were Italian, Irish or Jewish, and there was a lot of ethnic pride and rivalry among the fans, especially in New York. I think it all started as a publicity ploy, but over time my father might have convinced himself that he was defending the Jewish people."

The younger Baer described his late father as cocky, "sort of like Muhammad Ali," who liked to clown around and would rather party than train.

But Baer trained hard for the Schmeling match. After watching that fight, the legendary Jack Dempsey observed that Baer was so good that night he could have beaten anybody in the world.

Whatever could be said against Baer, he was never petty or mean-spirited, contrary to the movie depiction, said his son.

"My father hardly ever bore a grudge, and after he and another fighter would beat each other to a pulp, my father would go to the other guy’s dressing room and invite him to a party," said the junior Baer.

"After he lost the world championship to Braddock, my father said he was glad that the title went to a guy who had to support a large family."

Such a better story than the one in the movie.

New GOP chair is staying out of the spotlight for now.

The new Kentucky Republican Party Chairman, Darrell Brock Jr., has been scarcely seen or heard from around the capital city over the past three weeks, even as his governor's administration was taking a heavy public relations hit.

That's not to say the GOP structure itself has been silent. The party's longtime general counsel Spencer Noe has been issuing regular press releases lambasting Attorney General Greg Stumbo for "playing politics" with the investigation.

Once again, Senator Bayh does not say he is running.

US Senator Evan Bayh walked past a row of "Bayh 2008!" campaign signs as he headed into an Indiana Democratic Party fundraiser. But he still remains noncommittal as to whether his name would be on the ballot for President in three years.

The Indiana senator told the 1,100 Democrats who attended Saturday's dinner at the Indianapolis Marriott that it's far too early for a serious candidate to acknowledge a decision to run for president. He says a decision would likely come sometime after the 2006 midterm elections.

Bayh also said he did not know the signs, made up by the state Democratic Party, would be there.