Chris Matthews earns a bit of respect in slicing and dicing right-wing radio talk show host Kevin James, who obviously doesn't know an obvious bit of history -- appeasement was when Neville Chamberlain, with his1938 "Peace in our time" speech, gave the Czechoslovakian Sudetenland to Hitler, in the Munich Agreement.

From Salon.

It does sound unlikely that Obama could carry Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. That sounds bad, of course, but consider McCain's: A) inability to campaign well; B) inability to raise money; C) inarticulateness in debates; D) the "real Republicans'" ambivalence about him; E) his immigration stance. Lately, it looks like he's even trying to distance himself from Bush positions on Iraq ("Out by 2013!" McCain said -- who believes that?) and global warming.

The most important factor is McCain's age -- not that him being old means he's too old to be President, but that he's too old to raise the money and create the campaign energy necessary to get elected. George W. Bush could campaign. Bob Dole had no chance -- he was running against Bill Clinton.

The old Reagan rule applies: looking on paper, the analysts of the day said, "He can't win." But others said, "People just like this guy."

If Obama can outspend McCain and control the national debate with the unyielding "Hope" and "Yes We Can" message that created the base for him to defeat Hillary Clinton, then he should win. Think about it -- Hillary is a stronger candidate and campaigner than McCain.

Mike D'Antoni has moved from the Phoenix Suns to the New York Knicks. When I heard this, I thought it was kind of exciting: he's getting big money, and New York is a big market where he can show his stuff.



I will sorely miss the D'Antoni-era Phoenix Suns. Nearly every night they were on Fox Sports Southwest, with the most exciting brand of basketball since the days of the Lakers' Showtime, the Larry Legend Celtics, and of course the years of Jordan, especially in his insane athleticism phase from 1991-1993.

The Suns were just special to watch; every quarter they had the capability of scoring 40, or even 50, points in a single quarter. And everybody loved it -- D'Antoni would have a broad smile on his face, and if he wasn't getting calls, he wouldn't be angry; he'd just look sarcastically at the ref.

Truly, the 2007 playoffs will remain one of my great sports heartbreaks -- right up there with Sid Bream sliding past Mike Lavalier in the 1991 Braves/Pirates NLCS. When Steve Nash got kicked in the balls by Bruce Bowen, and David Stern gave the series to the Spurs by suspending Amare Stoudamire for having taken one step over a line.

When I saw D'Antoni on Pardon the Interruption, he spoke with an honesty and intelligence seldom seen in pro sports. "We had the better team, and the league screwed us," I think he said about 2007. Talking about coming to New York, he was honest. And he should be able to make the playoffs with their roster -- as long as they can unload Stephon Marbury (D'Antoni already got rid of Marbury when he first got to Phoenix, anyway).

But tonight, I worry for my coach. The New York media spotlight has felled trees far larger than Mike D'Antoni. The freespiritedness and smiles of his days in Phoenix may last no more. He's got that contract, he's got W's to get, he'll have criticism worse than he had from Steve Kerr.

And whatever, Steve Kerr -- maybe the Suns didn't win a championship, but the city and the NBA loved the team, and the team surely turned a big profit. Even if they didn't take it all the way, there was an absolute sense of rightness to how D'Antoni led the Suns. The refs insisted on making "postseason" calls instead of "regular season" calls -- Nash got absolutely hammered. There's a reason he was MVP twice: he plays the game the way it was meant to be played.

And now, one year removed from the 2007 Spurs/Suns series, I remember listening to Game 6 on May 18, on the way from Tucson to Colorado Springs, to stay the night with my father in law. The sun slipped behind the Rocky Mountains; the Suns fought valiantly, but lost -- and I knew they would.

That team changed the NBA, and brought basketball back to the NBA. I lament and celebrate the Suns of D'Antoni, Nash, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudamire, Leandro Barbosa, et al. May another team lift our hearts again, tho' we may wait decades.

Katherine Kersten falls so easily into a self-righteous, false patriotism when talking about a student's right to choose not to stand during a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance (Twin Cities section, May 15). "Simple respect should prompt you to honor those who bled and died for that flag," Kersten writes.

Wrong. We do not fight for a flag; we fight for the rights that that flag represents. Chief among those rights is the part of the First Amendment to the Constitution reading, "Congress shall make no law [...] abridging the freedom of speech." You read it right, folks: the US wages war to guarantee not only its citizens' lives but also their liberty, part of which is the choice to refuse pledges to both God and country.

That's pretty radical, but the Framers wouldn't have had it any other way.

The Magic Hour.