D. Hocking

So it appears now the GOP has successfully pushed the narrative that women who don't report an incident when it happens are suspect, that the man should be treated as the victim and the women treated passive aggressively or patronizingly. They also made it clear that a man can lash out and act angry and spew threats and be rude to women firmly but politely asking him questions - and it just shows how strongly he feels and that he must be the wronged party. I am not sure I would recommend a woman act like that on the stand, I don't think it would take too much for revive the "women are emotional and not as rational as men" men for the same people who praise Kavenaugh for his strong, heart-felt response. Someone also needs to point out that while there has been no smoking gun, nothing was actually refuted, and that one of the reasons there was not as much corroborating evidence was the investigation was very limited and did not even talk to Kavenaugh and a number of key people. I saw the clip of Trump mocking Ford by jeeringly saying "I don't remember" multiple times, but saw far less coverage of people pointing out a number of things Trump claimed Ford did not remember - year - description of the house etc., she remembered quite well. That Trump's taunt was not only offensive, a large portion of it was untrue. I did hear someone discussing some of Colln's recent statements about how the standard for Brett was not matched and then compared them to some strong statements she made criticizing Franken and did not seem to have the same standard for Al. Collins actually probably would do better with her voters if she had voted no, so am not sure why she is so bulldogged about staying the party line. Her statements the past couple of days have had a Trumpian quality about cherry picking some facts and ignoring others, that I would imagine she is going to be vulnerable in 2020. Has Jeff Flake ever followed through with any substance in his posturing? He seemed to a little bit last week with calling for the investigation, but when all was said and done, he fell in line with pretending it was sufficient and not incredibly limited and ham-strung.

I just finished the second season on Netflix. I thought it had some funny moments at first, and then once I got into it I thought it was pretty funny and original, but then the concept started to wear thin and I am luke-warm about whether to try and watch season 3. It is a show seems to be a bit too focused on "look how clever and out there we are". There are also "character growth" moments that don't really seem earned or true to the characters. This is a good example of a show that should have just had a limited ten to 15 episode run. I do think the cast is talented and have had some funny moments, but now their actions have gotten a bit repetitive.

Then there is this: Um - how about the time when he was evasive at best lying at worst on the stand, confrontational and rude (esp to the women senators), and incredibly partisan while giving testimony. I think he was older than 18 at that time, since it was last week.

I just heard a more extended clip of his mocking. Not only does he sound more vile with the extended audio, but the crowd's cheering getting louder and louder with each taunt is incredibly disheartening (and disgusting).

Mocks Dr. Ford -- has now spoken multiple times about the poor boys who are victims of false accusations, never speaking of how hard it is for the women who are assaulted, which is much more likely to happen then false accusations. He once said Ford sounded credible, that is about his only statement on assault that is sympathetic to women, and even then he went on about how great Kavanaugh was. Almost everything out of his mouth is an ad for why women don't report - and he is our president. Couple this with his sneering, condescending "you never think?" to Cecilia Vega (which is so much worse when you hear the tone of his voice in the actual audio) with all the male sycophants grinning behind him when he said it, it is amazing he has any female support (or really any support in general). Not to minimize the sexual assault claims, but there are so many red flags with Kavanaugh, that he should be disqualified even if those were not a factor.

This seems to go with LENIII - Molitor was surprised: I am thinking there would have been some discussion with the Pohlads before last week - but maybe they wanted to have everything in order first. They certainly have not done the rip the band aid off quickly for this regime change. One year they fire much of Gardy's coaching staff but keep Gardy. The next year the fire Gardy, but keep Ryan. The next year Ryan leaves, but the new GM is made to keep Molitor as manager and not bring in their own person. Then the team plays just well enough where they end up extending Molitor only to finally fire him.

This was kind of cool:

Sometimes the most logical answers are the ones that get missed.

Yes -- both because it points to Lavine and Falvey wanting to put their own mark and move on from the old Twins and because Joe seemed to really like Paul. Whatever his flaws as manager he was probably the perfect manager for Joe (which obviously is not enough to keep the job). Joe is probably at the point - do I really want to play on another complete rebuild at this point. I remember seeing some national sports figure asked about who he thought would be a good player manager. Someone mentioned Mauer - and his reply was "he is too nice". I like Paul, I feel bad for him, and I think I would have given him one more year. While the season was a disappointment, I thought it could have been a bigger shipwreck at the end of the season, and he kept the team playing as well as the talent would provide. I tend managers tend to get the blame and the glory that largely lays elsewhere. That said, I can understand why the powers that be want to get their own guy.

Nice article. Yes -- I always thought a good portion of who was perceived as a leader largely hinged on being verbose when talking with the media. It actually sounds like Joe did more actively take a leadership role the last few years and his teammates do seem to look up to him. I think if you asked them, they would want him back next year. His even keeled -- stick to the routine and focus on the current game -- probably helped set an example that helped prevent the team from completely imploding when they dismantled everything in July. I suspect he was still getting to the ball park early and preparing for the game even when it was apparent that the front office had called it a season. The Twins did a nice job with this video: Watching him put on his catching gear you can see he is almost overwhelmed. https://twitter.com/Twins/status/1046876533313363969

While I am sure this is/was a very hard decision, it does seem like he will be at peace with it. In some ways he already had his big professional heartbreak when he gave up catching. He did a podcast with Corey Koskie about a month ago, where he said he went in a room and cried when made that decision. (the fact that he did that fairly long interview and was pretty open is when I began to think this might be it). I think he grieved when he had to give up the tools of ignorance, where this decision is one of his own making - and while hard, more bittersweet than just bitter. This was a nice gesture:

The way those two little girls ran and jumped into his arms makes me think that he will be just fine if he never plays another game.

Not that it mattered or would have ruined Joe's day, but I am glad they finished off Joe's career with a victory (and a pretty good final homestand, even if it was against sub-par teams).

Yes - I think technically he still has talent to be on a team, but since the last concussion I have been thinking it might be time to step down. Plus, I think the Twins need to fully embrace the rebuild mode (again - still) and play the younger players of the future. I think there are teams where he would be a good fit, but he really only wants to be a Twin. At least Joe's last game has had some dramatic moments. Hopefully he will end his career with a victory over the White Sox -- the big rival fora number of his seasons.

I think it is time for him to retire - but damn - I am kind of sad.... (and feel old). Glad he was able to get in one last double. The crowd sounds very supportive on the radio. Back to the pregame -- the moment with his twin girls at first base was a nice moment.

Playing both games in a double-header when there is nothing at stake, does make me think that he at least thinks this could be it if he has not already made up his mind. It probably is best for him (not sure I would have said that prior to the latest concussion - because I think he still loves to play), and where the team is at it is probably best to get some of the younger players of the future playing the position (watch they will sign some player past his prime next spring for a veteran presence), but it does seem a little sad to think he will be done. He is the last person from that 2000's Twins era and in many ways he seems like a throw back to another time with his demeanor and style of play that we probably won't see again for awhile. It is nice that he has had a few good moments and milestones the last few weeks and he has been playing pretty well, so if this is it, he will be going out on as positive note as you can for a team that under-performed. Side-note, while the team has not exactly been good the last couple of months, they also did not just completely mail it in when the team was dismantled in July. They have had some bad games, because they aren't that good, but I feel like they are still trying to win and it does not seem like the club house is toxic (although who knows for sure). I don't think you will be hearing any stories of how Mauer was a dark cloud at the end of the losing season.

This is depressing and I feel like I need to shower. Trump just tweeted how powerful, honest and riveting Kavanugh's testimony was. None of them care how clearly powerful honest and riveting and devastated Ford appeared to be. The GOP did not even try to appear to be looking for the search having a prosecutor question Ford while they held Kavanaugh's hand.

And he was not exactly completely honest and forthcoming at his initial hearing. Even disregarding the sexual assault accusations, this is not someone who seems qualified to be on the highest court of the land for the next 30 years. Plus, as angry as he is now, you can't tell me he is not going to allow his resentments against anything relating to the Democrats affect how he will rule from the bench.

Speaking of Trump --

It actually seems like how Trump would suggest to go - be angry, be the victim, double down on everything and make sure you shower blame at the Democrats.

From his other comments, I think he is leaning towards the latter. Also he might not be a Lindsey fan either: Lindsey does not exactly show much empathy or awareness here: https://www.newsweek.com/graham-woman-rape-sorry-tell-cops-1142445

You can then introduce them to great 80's cinema, mullets, and the role where Courtney Cox was robbed of an Oscar (I don't even think she was nominated).

They could probably also give a more coherent (and honest) press conference than Trump is giving right now.

Taking from the title of this thread "Let's Enjoy It" am not going to do any analysis of whether he should come back or not (think there are enough other threads for that, but just going to enjoy the week. Glad he was able to reach a few more milestones at the end (including tonight. He has really seemed to appreciate some of these moments (which does tend to make me think this might be it). I know a lot of people don't think he has been a good leader, but this past year there have been a few comments from teammates where I have really gotten the impression that they respect him and there could be a lot worse examples in the club t house than him.

He is now claiming “Oh it was great. Well that was meant to get some laughter, but it was great.” Even though at the time he said "I didn't expect that reaction." He is like a little kid who claims he did not go into the cookie jar while holding the cookie in his hand, except a four year old might be more likely to own up and take responsibility for his actions.