The Mark Whitaker/Mark Whittaker “confusion” resulted in 52 visits to MarkWhittaker.com on Tuesday, and 83 page views. A record day for this lowly, humble blog!
It would have been nice to get comments from some visitors, though.
No, no … that’s the OTHER Mark Whitaker
Just to help anybody who may have Googled me by mistake, here’s the Washington Post short about the appointment of Mark Whitaker to replace Tim Russert as chief of the NBC News Washington bureau.
I’ve been aware of Mark’s career for a long time. He’s just a year younger than me, and we both started our journalism careers at the same time. I used to see his name listed in Newsweek as a researcher. Of course, he eventually became editor of that great magazine. I’ve been on different part of the news industry spectrum (notice I didn’t say lower!).
As to the number of T’s in our names, I’m told that in my family history there was a family split sometime, and one family member added a second T to separate himself from the rest of the family.
There’s another famous Mark Whitacre. He was the president of the Archer Daniels Midland BioProducts Division who, as an FBI informant, blew the whistle on a price-fixing scheme. He was a key witness in an anti-trust case, although he pleaded guilty to fraud and spent eight years in a federal prison.
2nd place
A long softball season ended today with a second-place tournament finish for my church team.
We had a couple of close games today. We got into the championship game by beating Discovery Church 7-5. In the final game, St. Killian Blue came back with four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win 13-12.
It was a great season, highlighted by some close and exciting games and a ton of home runs. This was Hope Lutheran’s best season in the last five. We’ve got just one more step to take!
Dear Daryl Metcalfe …
Dear Rep. Metcalfe (may I call you Daryl?),
I am in receipt of your letter dated, um, well it’s not dated, but I received it Monday or Tuesday. Anyway, it’s the letter you started with “A despicable act of fraud has been and is being committed against me as your legislator, and against each of you.”
The letter goes on to describe a conspiracy to sully your reputation by associating you with the Ku Klux Klan, or at least some group that has ties to the Klan. Did I get that right? In fact, you also included a letter of response that you wrote to this group, which may or may not be fictitious and which apparently doesn’t collect its mail at the Post Office box in Erie to which you mailed your response. Did I get that part right? (It’s kind of like me writing this response in my blog. The odds are against you actually ever reading it.)
I appreciate your distaste for the Ku Klux Klan. Your adjectives were “race-baiting,” “deplorable,” “repugnant” and “sickening,” and then there was “hate-mongers” (which is a noun, of course). Your staff obviously spent extra time with the Thesaurus. Should the Klan or some related group wish to bestow an award upon me, I would no doubt decline, just as you have. On that point, we agree.
However, I’m disappointed that you’ve sent these letter to me and residents of your district at our expense. Clearly, your letter to residents is campaign literature, yet it came to me in envelope with your state legislative office’s letterhead. It’s your attempt to defend yourself against an effort to defame your name and harm your reputation. Such a defense is a personal matter, and in an election year, is clearly related to the election. Yes, that’s right. Even though it’s highly unlikely that you’ll lose to Democrat John Olesnevich, or any other Democrat in our conservative district, your letter still smacks of campaigning.
You were right. An act of fraud has been committed against me. It’s your letter. But don’t worry, I’m not taking it too seriously. It’s hard to take anybody in the state Legislature too seriously. I just won’t vote for you again.
Kindest regards,
Mark Whittaker
AHHSUMR
Pirates 12, Cardinals 11
I haven’t seen much good baseball from the Pirates at the games I’ve attended, and tonight’s game was no exception through 5 1/2 innings. I’d been in my seat for 2 hours. I was there by myself. The Bucs were down 8-3. I left.
Crap.
On my way to the car, the Cardinals added another run, 9-3. The Pirates scored once in the bottom of the seventh: 9-4 I’m listening in the car, and the Cards add another run in the top of the eighth (the scored in six consecutive innings): 10-4. Bottom of the eighth, Jason Bay cracks a two-run homer (his second of the night), 10-6.
I’m home by the time the bottom of the ninth starts, and I’m switching back and forth between “A Fistful of Dollars” and the what I figure will be the waning moments of the game. Wrong.
Nate McLouth smacks a three-run homer: 10-9. There’s just one out. Rivas singles. Doumit singles, and Rivas goes to third. Bay hits a slow grounder to short — potentially a double-play ball — but the Cardinal second-baseman bobbles the throw and can’t make the relay. Run scores. 10-10.
In the top of the 10th, Cardinal third-baseman Troy Glaus (he’s HUGE by the way) homers to deep left. 11-10.
In the bottom of the 10th, the miracle. Raul Chavez singles. Jason Michaels homers to left. 12-11. Game over.
I got a beach towel. And the Pirate mascot launched a rubber stress ball before the game started that I actually caught.
Pirates win! Pirates win! Pirates win! And I coulda been there!