The Power of Dope*, The Promise of Justus**

Yes, I'm going back to the pretentious *'s to to signify multiple meanings. This is also an especially narcissistic self-obsessed post. You've been warned.

Over the last few days, at least a half-dozen people have looked at me and commented "Is everything OK?" Basically, I've turned into the Hu ("Dude, you look like shit"*).

I don't know what it is. Let me re-phrase, I don't know what it is specifically. I feel overwhelmed by a lot of different shit including but not limited to:

1. While the Indians took 2 of 3 games from the Sawx (outscoring them 28-12, ouch), the Cavs have struggled. With their loss Tuesday night, the Cavs are now tied 1-1 in their best of 7 series with the Wizards. The conventional wisdom* is the loss was due in large part by a hard foul on LeBron from Brendan Heywood (Tar Heel*). From the WP's Micheal Wilbon:

LeBron James and the Cavaliers were having their way with the Wizards for the second straight game, leading 19-8 with 3 minutes 47 seconds left in the first quarter when... Haywood grabbed LeBron's upper body and not only stopped him from sashaying to the basket for an easy hoop, but turned his face into a mask of momentary anger and game-long frustration.

It's no coincidence that the Wizards, moments after that foul, went on an 18-0 run that wiped out a 15-point deficit and the notion that the Golden Child is untouchable and infallible. It's no coincidence that LeBron missed 18 of 25 shots and never again went to the Wizards' basket like he owned it and them.

He missed one breakaway dunk, going for the two-hand reverse where he could look back down the court and see if any Wizards were coming to take his head off. In football, which LeBron played a ton of in high school, they would have said, "He heard footsteps."

I have no doubt that the Chosen One's resurrection is inevitable. Tonight, 8:00pm, ESPN, Game 3. I believe.

UPDATE (4/29) - LEBRON IS MY LORD AND SAVIOUR. I shall not be in want.

If you missed it, LeBron almost single-handedly beat the Wizards with a game-winning shot with 5.7 seconds left.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

2. My suitemates from last year may remember that, in a fit of rage and trife, I burned this poster of Ricky Williams in our GC bathroom. For those that don't know, I was angry at Ricky for abandoning the Dolphins just weeks before the season began to go smoke weed. Seriously. Well Ricky's at it again. From ESPN.com:

According to various reports, Williams tested positive, likely in December toward the end of the 2005 season, for a substance banned by the league. In at least three other violations, Williams tested positive for marijuana. Several sources have claimed that the substance in the latest positive test was not marijuana.

News that Williams had failed another drug test surfaced in February, while he was in India studying yoga and holistic medicine.

Fucking hippy. Anyways, see how the Fins, Browns, Pats, and everyone re-build during the Draft this weekend (ESPN, Saturday at Noon).

3. Matt Brown is out of the RI Democratic Primary for Senate. At one point I was actually going to work for Brown. Then I realized he was unelectable and, well, boring. After his fundraising "issues" and blowing all his money months before it would matter, it seems like someone finally pulled him aside and told him he's a loser. Hopefully in a couple years I will be that guy who grabs politicians by the arm and says, "Alright, that's enough. Wrap it up."*

4. It's been over 3 months since I've been in Cleveland. I believe this is a new record. It's the little things I miss. Like this Norton's Furniture commericial:

In finding this video, I found a MySpace account (myspace.com/nortonsfurniture) that may or not belong to the guy who does the commericals. My favorite line:
"About me: I sell furniture...I own a store called Norton Furniture...We have large mannequins at our store so your children won't get bored while you're looking for furniture...We also have free bread...."
Also in the background, an audio player blasts "We Built This City on Rock and Roll" (get it, because its Cleveland).

But that's not all I miss, of course. There's also the airport shootings! From CNN.com:
CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) -- A man who argued with workers at an airport ticket counter grabbed a police officer's gun and shot a patrolman before he was killed by another officer Thursday, authorities said.

The patrolman was shot twice in the chest but was in stable condition, authorities said. Another officer was treated for a bite to his neck by the suspect, Police Chief Michael McGrath said.

Other big Cleveland news that you don't care about includes on-location filming of SpiderMan 3, the ritualistic killing of a nun, and a poll that shows only 33% of the state thinks Bush is doing an excellent or good job. Among Black respondents, ZERO PERCENT think he's doing excellent and only 2% replied good (the margin of error is 4% BTW). Also our Republican governor, Bob Taft, has an approval rating of, I'm not kidding, 18% (Survey USA).

5. For reasons way too numerous to explicate* here, politics is driving me nuts. I spend at least three hours every day reading political blogs, thinking up campaign slogans, and keeping up with the latest Republican scandals. Even as I'm sitting here, I have bright post-it-notes of political strategy shining back at me.

So I have made a major decision. No politics for the next two weeks. No DailyKos. No MyDD. No Crooks and Liars. No Media Matters. Not even any TheDemIM. Let me deal with graduating college before I save the world.

6. Obviously the issue pressing most on my mind is that in exactly one month, college ends. There's not much I can say about this that hasn't already been said. Instead, I offer this comic of Stewie from Family Guy making fun of South Park (for the uninformed, SPark did a 2-part ep making fun of FamGuy's formulaic structure. From ubersite.com/m/86636 (submitted by Razor):