The big news in baseball today is that Derek Jeter broke the hit record for the NY Yankees. The Yankees don't really do it for me as a team any more (lots of the players are actually almost strangers to me), but Jeter -- and not only because he was at the creation so to speak -- remains a special player in my mind. He is not only one of the top in the game in skill, but has that extra something that counts a lot too. Basically, he does his job, does it well and without fanfare. "Decency" might have his picture next to it in respect to baseball image. For cause.*
This ability to do one's job right without being an asshole can be in short supply. I myself recently dealt with someone who came off as a [not nice word] in the course of her duties. Rep. Joe Wilson (A-SC) also comes off this way, which is why even some Republicans (if not his base in a conservative district) are tired of his type. The talk is that this is not some one time thing as shown as him being upset that an elderly woman spoke out about being Sen. Thurmond's granddaughter -- either we don't know, or she should have kept her mouth shut for the good of his memory. Sort of reminds me of this guy.
Glenn Greenwald on Twitter pointed out that a new book on Pat Tillman is an important read. My local paper had a notably strong article on it, forcibly pointing out "galling" aspects and noting how Tillman was very concerned about being used as a propaganda tool. The paper has some good national coverage though the op-ed department leaves lots to be desired (kneejerk Lieberman). A taste:
Lynch's case was one of the war's most glaring examples of Pentagon propaganda.... Tillman's saga is equally galling.
The Pentagon initially claimed Tillman, 27, was a hero who died from enemy gunfire in 2004 while trying to save a group of ambushed soldiers in Afghanistan. Only after Tillman's furious family demanded probes into his death did it emerge that he was killed by one of his own....
"I don't know how the conversation got brought up, but one night he said that he was afraid that if something happened to him, they would parade him through the streets," Spc. Jade Lane told Krakauer. "Those were his exact words: 'I don't want them to parade me through the streets.'"
Tough but accurate. Again, simply doing a job right.
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* One example of this, and underling why women of all ages think him sweet, was his penchant of always calling his old manager "Mr Torre." One of the few pieces of his personal life, other than his penchant to hang out with cuties, that we do know is his interracial parents.