Wonkette
Former federal prosecutor and current National Review smart person Andy McCarthy has a number of interesting political opinions about such things as Barack Obama’s memoir, Barack Obama’s attitude towards Iran, and the Uighurs. Now he has a new interesting political opinion about Barack Obama’s first pitch at the Baseball All-Star Game Tuesday night. What does he have to say?
Here’s a major chunk of Andy McCarthy’s latest interesting political opinion, but you must be sure to read the whole entry, so as to be properly politically informed!
The media fawning really is so shameless it’s become self-parody. Take ESPN, for example.
Put aside the unacknowledged booing for a moment. The other embarrassing fact is that my six-year-old throws a baseball better (far better, in fact) than Obama. Yet the media went out of its way to obscure that, too — no doubt wishing to avoid unfavorable comparisons to the strike President Bush famously fired from the mound at Yankee Stadium at the 2001 World Series. In its live broadcast, Fox (and remember, this is Fox Sports, not Fox News) covered Obama’s first pitch at a very weird angle that conveyed his spastic motion but didn’t do justice to how pathetic the toss was. But that’s nothing compared to ESPN’s laughable coverage. Here’s the clip. Besides reporting only that there was a “standing ovation for the commander-in-chief,” the announcer made a point of noting that Obama’s pitch “didn’t bounce” before reaching home-plate (though the announcer did cop to the “horrible camera work that made the trajectory of the pitch impossible to see).
Now, take a look at this clip from MLB.com, about 24 seconds in. It’s the only decent footage I’ve seen, and it shows that Obama’s first pitch did bounce. In fact, the pitch did not even reach home-plate — and they evidently knew it wouldn’t. The player who was sent out to catch Obama’s pitch (more on that in a moment) was crouching on top of home plate, not behind it where catchers always set up. And even so, he had to reach out a couple of feet in order to short-hop the ball, which otherwise might have bounced all the way to the backstop.
Now, about that player who caught Obama’s pitch: It was none other than the Cardinals’ great first-baseman, Albert Pujols. What does that matter? Well, the tradition is that the first pitch is tossed to the catcher, not the first-baseman — and, in fact, the starting catcher for the National League last night was the Cardinals’ own Yadier Molina. But while Molina is popular, Pujols is like God in St. Louis (in fact, a fan in the stands either last night or the night before was holding a banner that said, “In Albert We Trust”).
It is true that Barack Obama threw his baseball pitch like a 4-year-old dandy, from France. Beyond that, though, who fucking cares about any of this, right?
Meet Me In St. Booie! [National Review/The Corner via Balloon Juice]
Good God, man. Leave your mother’s basement and get a clue about what’s important.
That’s not a change-up you can believe in! Impeach him! Plus the Marines give him the finger instead of saluting him when he gets on his helicopter! And what about the birf certificate!
Now W… he was great at baseball.
I’d like to see Andrew McCarthy throw a strike from 60 feet out on an MLB pitcher’s mound. I’m not sure I could do it, and I used to play first base and have a fairly decent arm.
But yeah, why is this even being discussed?
“Beyond that, though, who fucking cares about any of this, right?”
And the neocons used to talk about Bush Derangement Syndrome.
My god, the dude from St. Elmo’s Fire really let himself go!!!!
Oh, you mean the other guy? Seems the only thing that Andy’s athletic prowess is in competitive sitting.
I wonder which dad gets in the most fights at their kid’s games and calls the parent/umpire at little league a “pussy” hmmm? Yes, the tougher man, indeed.
I look for these qualities in my leader, also, as well as athletic ability himself, also.
FUCK, My President throws a baseball like a girlie-man?
We are DOOMED I say…. DOOMED if we should ever be on the brink of was or financial disaster and the only way out of that shit-storm is for our president to throw a strike that knocks that boogie-man off his perch into the water at the carnival that is DC.
Otherwise, who really gives a fuck!
Only little girls, but not the athletic ones who will grow up to be lesbians, and sissy-boys can’t throw a baseball. So what does that say about our President. Do we really want a girly-man to be Commander-in-chief when North Korea starts tossing nukes around like beads at a Mardi Gras parade.
HE PUTS DIJON MUSTARD ON HAMBURGERS-SECRIT MUSLIN!!1!
I was trolling Craigslist’s Rants and Raves last night and this idea was big among the righties — also that he wears Mom Jeans (which is a stretch, no pun intended).
I guess Andrew McCarthy’s real leaders, to judge them by their manliness, would be Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Dubya. How did that work out again?
Andy - that’s kind of a girl’s name, isn’t it?
God people are fucking terrible.
Yeah, the pitch was bad, but then he hadn’t been on the ’roids either.
Andy’s just upset because Hopey threw the republicans for a curve and they are still in the dugout spittin tabaccy.
Yeah. Real men throw like …uh, real men. And waterboarding is not torture. Thank you, Andy. Now get back under your rock.
The first pitch is symbolic of our great american freedoms and security, which Nobama is trying to take away by putting terrorists in American prisons and by taxing the cool rich people to take care of poor lazy people real Americans love to hate. It’s just 1 more reason Noobama sux, 4ever. Also.
Not that it matters, but Hopey was apparently wearing a bullet-proof vest, on account of the bitterz, which is at least part of the reason his throw was a little bit low.
I’m not sure where McCarthy’s going with the Pujols thing, but you can’t really pass up too many opportunities to say “poo holes” on national TV, so I’d give him a pass on that.
Good god, no! This means there is a vast left-wing conspiracy to cover up the fact that President Obama can’t throw a baseball very well.
Pujolsgate…the latest winger rallying point!
I love the last sentence: “If you were watching, though, Obama looked like the guy who bowled a 37.”
Mmmm hmmmm… and didn’t then-Senator Obama sink a 3 on the first try in Iraq, in front of the troops?
Obviously, the lousy at baseball thing is meant to be a huge distraction from the fact that that first dog is not working out so well and refuses to chase any of O’s throws.
I’d like to see WALNUTS try and get it to home plate. Also,
19kevin8: Come now, we all now that basketball don’t count! You can only judge a leader by their skills in baseball and bowling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nty6xBIqLLs
That is all
Dwight Eisenhower threw a baseball like he takes it up the ass.
And here I was thinking the Colored Muslins were good at sports.
19kevin8: Perhaps if Obama sunk a 3 in Andy’s gaping pink ass, he might feel differently about our President’s athletic prowess.
And enjoy it, also.
It is now my turn to strike back at the liberals who have hounded me for so many years. Yes, my president was the biggest embarassment to the United States ever, but I couldn’t let them know that! Instead, I carried on and gritted my teeth and tried to ignore the depression he left us with. But now, by gum, I’m gonna stick it where it hurts for those liberals: right in their mocking grins. Look at this pathetic excuse for a human being! He can’t even throw a baseball sixty feet! Hahahaha oh Hahahaha, this is too much, sorry I need to wipe my eyes. No wonder our country is mired in a morass of defeat! You may have said to mean things to me before, liberals, but this makes up for EVERYTHING!!!
19kevin8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdU_mJSWK-w&feature=player_embedded.
Andy McCarthy, sink a three or STFU.
Buzz Feedback: That’s funny because his arms don’t move real good. Because of the Japs or something.
Just in case people were looking for clarificaiton.
This is Andy “Torture” McCarthy, right? The guy who wets his pants if we aren’t torturing people ’cause he’s scared of the mooslins, right? And he carries on about this at National Review, Bill Buckley’s old mag? This is what the “conservative movement” has become.
Babba Boey recalibrated the mininum bar, which Hopey easily surpassed.
William F. Buckley would be so proud.
I can only assume that this “pitching” and “catching” stuff means a lot more to Repubs than it seems on the surface.
“In May 2009, Mr. McCarthy provided details of a letter declining an invitation from Attorney General Eric Holder for a round-table meeting with President Barack Obama concerning the status of people detained in the War on Terror. Mr. McCarthy noted his dissension with the administration in their policies regarding the detainees. ” (Wikipedia)
Big man, that Andy McCarthy. I’m looking forward to a couple of those ex-detainees (terrorists all, surely) beating the crap out of him, in the NR parking lot. With baseball bats, say.
This is why we should request - nay, demand - that presidential candidates demonstrate their pitching skills before the election. Otherwise, how can we make an informed decision at the voting booth?
When is National Review contributor Meschach Taylor going to weigh in?
But seriously, ESPN should have dubbed in a laugh track and MLB should have made Roger Clemens in a “I HATE ST. LOUIS” T-shirt catch for him. For America.
Another right wing Irish loon. Is Wonkette ready with the wording of the Irish Exclusion and Repatriation Act of 2009?
Meh, so he’s not a baseball player. Wanna play a game of H-O-R-S-E against him, McCarthy? Compare it to the LAST pitch thrown out at an All-Star game by a POTUS. If Obama throws like a girl (and he does, kind of, like a middle-school softball-playing girl), Gerald Ford throws like a 2-year-old.
Lace up your shoes and go one-on-one on the basketball court with Obama, Andrew. Then we’ll see who the real man is.
All those who made a big deal about Bush’s pitch never tell you that baseball was his sport, although he didn’t get any farther than sitting on the bench for the Yale freshman baseball team.
What isn’t being discussed here is the [italic] movement [/italic] on the pitch. Watch it again! Starts high and left. Finishes low and and right. It’s a perfect 12-6 curveball! It’s supposed to be in the dirt! Even Pujols couldn’t hit that one! Sure Bush threw a fastball over the plate, but Pujols would have smacked it into New Jersey! Obama should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, as he is the best pitcher that I have ever seen. Let’s start the relevant, meaningful debate on this issue- BO for HoF. It’s SO much more pertinent than Health Care, Foreign Policy and whatever the hell they were voting on in Congress today, because who cares about that right?
norbizness: HEY!
I know why he can’t pitch: Baseball is an ‘MERRICAN game and we all know he’s not an ‘Merrican. The proof is in the pitchin’. Also.
SethCReedermeyer: When you say “[italic] movement”, are you referring to the way Obama leans forward during the pitch?
IExtemporanus: I’ve been making Meschach Taylor jokes since you were in short-pants.
I’ll try again: The reason he’s not a good pitcher is because baseball is an ‘merrican game and well all know the Pres is not really ‘merrican.
/snark
Zorg: Whoa whoa whoa. You got a problem with us micks? wtf?
Extemporanus: Yes, that’s exactly what I meant and was not a failed attempt to put my text into italics because you’re exactly right and I’m not embarassed. I also learned grammar and articulation skills during the presidency of George W Bush so I don’t know what a run-on sentence is or how to feel shame.
Is ol’ Andy sying we can’t trust Fox Sports like we can trust Fox News? Is that his point?
Andy McCarthy’s six-year-old can throw better that Obama, but how do we know that Andy McCarthy himself can, HEHNNGH?
What a dickwad. Let’s see him sink a three-pointer in front of the entire 82nd Airborne.
Hahahaha I will take any excuse to read/hear/speak the name of Albert “Poo Holes”.
Yes, there was booing there. I’m surprised no one has commented on that.
norbizness: That was more a “HEY!” of solidarity than a “HEY!” of superiority.
I am aware of all Internet traditions—love your work!—so I’m kinda surprised you didn’t say “Doughy pants”. Or was “shorts” a loaded way for you to whore two blogs with one stone?
SethCReedermeyer: Don’t feel embarrassed—I actually really like the phrase “italic movement”, and plan on using it with a sexual connotation whenever possible going forward.
Extemporanus: I don’t know of many pimps who traffic exclusively in prostitutes who have been dead for five years, and please don’t tell me of any.
Let me see Nobama take Andrew McCarthy on some 1/1 basketball and we’ll see who the pussy is.
8 years of fail, and Andy McCarthy STILL has a hard-on for W.’s athletic prowess.
Get a new crush, already. Isn’t Mitt manly enough for you?
Buzz Feedback: I bet Walnuts has an awesome curve ball. I guess he throws side arm.
norbizness: Don’t be so modest—even after five years, it’s still a damn good looking corpse.
I’d hit it!
(And used to. Repeatedly. Ahhh, memories…)
Youshack, Meshack and Tobedwego?
19kevin8: Really.Obama would whip these pasty NRO dumbfucks in a game of 1 on 5, and the spread would start at 20 points. Remember those “conservative” college news-papers that would “spontaneously start through the sheer determination of the students” (translation: “that started because some rightwing asshole came to town with buckets of cash”)? None of those cellar-dwellers could toss a frisbee more than 5 yards without spraining something.
Ok, back to the Michael Jackson coverage now…like Our Wingnut Correspondent, part of MJ’s brain has gone missing….
19kevin8: No, you bog-trotting, Pope-worshipping, brickbat-throwing, election-rigging, no-premarital-condom-wearing, drunken Leprechaun, you. Why would anyone have a problem with the Irish?
I could totally best Andrew McCarthy in a slap-fight. In fact, I think I will…
keepinitrealyo: He traded Sosa. As my old advisor said, that was all we ever need know about his administrative skills.
What were GWB’s pitches like?
Zhu Bajie
qwerty42: They are the unofficial Raving Loony Party.
19kevin8: Harlem race riots during the Civil War…Boss Tweed…Joe Kennedy…Father Coughlin…Senator Joe McCarthy…Pat Buchanan…Bay Buchanan…Joe Queenan…Bill O’Reilly…Sean Hannity…Ann Coulter…Shall I go on?
19kevin8: Oh, and did I mention Ronald Reagan? You people got some ’splainin’ to do!
McCarthy’s just jealous because he knows the president would use his doughy ass up in any sport McCarthy wanted to pick.
Can a party and movement being composed entirely of dicks and prigs. Yes; yes they can.
Zorg: From the mean streets of Boston I ask: why are the actual-Irish hereabouts full of wit and charm and soul and sparkle and then after a couple generations they devolve into pasty, mean, narrow-minded, ignorant fucktards like my former in-laws? I always assumed it was something in the water. But maybe it’s a chemical reaction from prolonged contact with stingy, inbred, yankee WASPs?
american mutt: Most of them were booing his White Sox jacket, not him. (Baseball fans are classy that way.)
HuddledMass: Good question. Boston is the city where help wanted signs used to have, before the Second World War, a second notice posted below saying “Irish need not apply.” There was a large enough demand for these notices that printers made them up and sold them in quantity. You can still find them at antique or flea market meets in the area. Maybe that is what soured the people who also gave us, on their own native heath, Yeats, Wilde, Joyce, Shaw and Beckett. Which causes us to ask the question, if we sent Buchanan, Noonan and O’Reilly back to the auld sod, would they start hanging out in pubs, slowly sipping a Guinness and quoting favorite bits of poetry and philosophy? Or would they stay mean, truculent and racist?
OMG maybe he’s not really black!
Zorg: Are you really bashing “Old Joe”? That man funneled happiness, pure liquid joy, to thousands of poor souls along the East Coast during the time of our greatest need.
You don’t hate alcohol, do you? So how can you hate it’s arguably most successful peddler?
He may throw baseballs like a girl, but he shoots three’s like friggin sniper.
What’s this guy’s point?
God this conservative conspiracy theory is getting so old. It is the same here in Australia. The big bad liberal media is always out to get the conservatives.
McCarthy writes: “most of us who disagree intensely with Obama’s policies would be more apt to stand and cheer our president respectfully”
So you are saying that it was disrespectful to jeer the President? Is it therefore possible that if you yourself Andy McCarthy decided that it was disrespectful to jeer the President, and it surely must have been VERY disrespectful for you to think so, that maybe the media decided to ignore it? To not give it the credit of notice? Why would you bother to report people being disrespectful? It is not significant of something bigger…. it is just people being disrespectful. Man I can take you to the bar down the street and show you that.