Niemi to start vs. Dallas
Posted by TimS on Tue, 02/09/2010 - 15:03
Antti Niemi gets another opportunity to start back-to-back games tonight against Dallas at the United Center.
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said he decided on Niemi because of his strong game in Saturday’s win at St. Louis and because Cristobal Huet is 0-2 against the Stars this season.
“Antti hasn’t played against them and, not winning, he’s gets a chance," Quenneville said.
Ben Eager will sit again with a lower body injury and Quenneville said the left wing isn’t skating at the moment. There’s a good chance Eager won’t play again until after the Olympic break.
As last year's roster jelled into a fearless never give up group, they seemed oblivious to adversity all the way until the Final four wings proved more active.
Surely the standings do not lie and the new add-ons to the team's roster have also helped boost confidence and steady team commitment during this season tune up before the real season begins.
I think one could argue that the last two regular seasons where San Jose rolled confidently through their schedule and by early spring had lots of confidence so much so that there were not giant losing streaks that would have brought a little more on ice re-focus and a little more on ice and off commitment to detail.
I an not saying that winning prior to the playoff was the only thong thY lead to their early playoff exits, but it could be argued that a few stumbling block losing streaks before the playoffs can aid a team that might be thinking they are full speed and committed in every zone to come together with firm resolve.
So any issues I may have with poor Hawk play are not going to rehashed by me because besides maybe a little tweak they are our dancing partner for the ball, and my disenchantment won't help solve it, the team will have to try and do that, not me or you with our "suggestions."
Better to suck in February, expose weaknesses, have them fixed and then rev it up for the playoffs, then coast along and implode in the 1st round.
I honestly, dont' even know if the #1 seed is ALL that important anymore. It would be nice, but the Hawks have proved they can in the shark tank, having gone 3-1 in the past 2 years.
Agree, a little adversity along the way can help them see what adjustments to make before the playoffs. They don't want to be the Sharks of the recent past.
I'm curious to know if the Hawks are looking to trade Versteeg while he still has some trade value. His stock is dropping by the minute and now might be the time to unload him and his contract to another club.
I sure hope so. He absolutely brutal in the neutral zone. another bone headed turnover in the Dallas game. He is inconsistent to say the least. I've said it before & I'll say it again....I will be shocked if both he and Barker are on this team after the trade deadline. We've got to cut salary and these two jokers are the first step to doing this...without disrupting the team. Of course, we'll have to go out & get a D-Man in return.
Yeah, Versteeg isn't living up to that contract extension Tallon had to give him since he screwed up the paperwork. Tallon deserved to be demoted after giving Jim Hendry-like contracts to underachievers like Versteeg, Brian Campbell and Cristobum Huet.
Well folks, it is what it is! We will have to let the Hawks braintrust handle this one. We can all be armchair GM's, goalie coaches and the like but we have to play the hand we have been delt. Lets see how things shake out these next two games prior to the break. I have and never have been a big Huet supporter but stand behind him as he is a Hawk and I am a Hawk fan and have pride in the Indian. Nemmi will get his chance just as Huet will and hopefully we will get to that next level. My biggest concern with Huet is his confidence, he lets in that one softie and he seems to fold like a house of cards. This happens to the best of goalies from time to time and maybe he will get beyond it. We still have a lot of hockey ahead and lets just hope for the best. We have been very blessed to have a good team & should support them as best we can. I was very disappointed with Campbell earlier in the season and he seems to have turned things around a bit so maybe Huet can too. GO HAWKS!
For the record this was not a strong game for Niemi and were lucky the game wasnt one second longer. Forget overtime and you have a Huet like 3 goals in 22 shots. The defense was amazing for the first 2 and half periods and then some mistakes started happening.
Forwards started sneaking behind the def in front of Niemi but they only capitalized once and the blatant giveaways led to a goal (but you could say the Stars fought hard in the corners all night and forced turnovers).
I have seen 2 very good games from Niemi, one awful and this last one ok in the last 4! I still fail to see any difference in the two as far as one being more consistent than the other!
Olcyzk said there 14 rebounds in the Blues game and I counted 13 tonight...is that too much?
I still support both as Southpaw said were stuck with Huet (cap) for better or for worse!
I wouldn't say the defense was "amazing" for the first two and half periods. Both D men were out of position and Fraser bit on the wrong guy on the first Stars goal. The second goal was due to Buff not getting a backhander out of a zone. Niemi made the first save on a deflection, but another guy had snuck in behind Keith and Seabrook. Same on the third goal. Lots of blown coverages, and bad turnovers. I really want to see the Hawks get out to a 3-1 lead early, and clamp down. At that point, there is no need for d-men to be rushing to get into the play. These habits of pushing for offense all the time, is going to bite them in the playoffs. Especially, with the league starting to let teams get away with the old clutch and grab routine.
Niemi was good at times, and I think his rebound control is off, but I also wonder how much of that is due to his pads being rock hard with no curve to them? It's like using a new baseball glove without breaking it in. The puck seems to just bounce off his pads automatically. The one thing I do notice is that Niemi plays the percentages very well. He looks big, has strong fundamentals in the butter fly so when redirections happen, he's playing the odds that the puck will find him. That's the difference. Huet;s fundamentals are off, and that's why he's not making that first save on redirections.
I love Kane, but the kid is STRUGGLING mightly on the shoot out. For all the skill the Hawks have, you would think that a shoot out should be a sure thing. Same with the PP, which is costing them points right now. There PP looks horrible. When they dump it in, nobody is moving forward to forecheck. When they get all fancy they stickhandle themselves into a corner.
They need to get Buff off the point, and park him in front of the net.
The shots that Niemi has trouble controlling are the low shots.....the pads??who knows.
I thought the lack of shots was telling of a concentrated effort by the team to improve in this area. one pass by Byfuglien? There were many times we couldnt get the puck out by various players and the other goal (first) was a result of that.
I wasn't trying to single him out. I was just saying the 2nd goal happened because he didn't clear a puck. There were plenty of guys who couldn't clear the puck last night.
Agreed on the low shots. Niemi seems to be able to control the high shots pretty well, but the low ones just rocket off his pads and are left in vunerable areas.
For the record, I don't know if Wisniewski is the stay at home defenseman this team should be looking at. I also find it a little weird that Anaheim trades for him, and then wants to deal him after 1 year? Not trying to be a capologist, but if/when Niedermayer retires, they could have enough money to resign Wisniewski.
I harp on Buff all the time, mainly because he could be SO MUCH BETTER. anyway, you are completely right about the 2nd goal. I saw someone else either blog or post somewhere on the site about it after the game. It started with him shying away from contact at the blue line, he could have made contact and knocked the Stars player off the puck, instead he reached and wiggled for it with his stick to no avail. Again, not a bone crunching hit, just a gentle 265lb rub would have done the trick.
Result: Stars gain full control and have numbers, but fortunately for us it jumps away, there is a scramble and it comes to Buff. What does he do? Tries a wimpy, flatfooted, backhanded pass out through the middle of the zone. It gets held in - BOOM - Goal. I yelled about it as it was happening. Ask my girlfriend. She doesn't care though as long as I'm not yelling at Sharp - if I was, then we would have a "domestic issue"
No i understand ..glitch on my part
Since Wisniewski`s knee injuries i cant believe we would trade for him! Your not the only one who thinks that...
I think its a rumor only because hes a former hawk and a UFA!!
Can anyone give a best guess estimate on what 2010-11 salaries would be for these guys: Ladd, Hjalmarsson, Niemi, Burish, Fraser, Madden, Hendry, and Eager?
Thanks!
Hard to say as there were too many $3MM/year contracts thrown around by the last regime. By those standards Ladd, Hjalmarsson and Niemi are clearly $3MM/year guys. Burish will do well to get over a million a year here or anywhere else, unless he comes in after the Olympic break and goes on an absolute tear. Fraser is around a million per guy as well. Eager's got an injury history now that may keep him from making a million per although he should be close if he can stay healthy throughout the playoffs. Hendry is looking at a two-way contract that probably pays him in the $750K/year range. Madden may command close to his current salary somewhere, but not here, and may choose to re-up with Chicago for something considerably less, especially if he enjoys his mates as much as he seems to. Right now we have too many guys that should be making in the $1.5MM/year range making $3MM/year or better which really mucks up the cap moving forward. Frankly, mistakes with contracts were not only made with Huet and Campbell but probably as well with guys like Versteeg, Buff and Barker, and maybe Bolland although that remains to be seen, which only compounds the problems with Huet's and Campbell's current deals. It's really ashame as Tallon built an incredible team if you only take out the salary cap which is like saying Germany won WWII if you only take out the United States and Russia. Tallon should be proud of the team he assembled, though, and I hope he is!
Thanks Orchardcreek! I would think they would want to re-sign Ladd, Niemi, and Hjalmarsson for sure. With $60.5M already commited for 2010-11 and lowest possible money for the 4th line, 6th D-man, and backup goalie, I don't see how they won't have to lose 3 of these 4: Barker, Versteeg, Byfuglien, and Sharp. Unless they can find a way to unload Huet.
Buying him out (sure Rocky would love that) saves the 'Hawks $3.75M a year for 10-11 & 11-12 but it costs them $1.875M a year for 12-13 & 13-14 for him not to play. May not be the best option.
Trading him for prospects will not happen. Teams know the 'Hawks situation. They're not just going to help out the 'Hawks and take a bad salary without sending some salary back.
I just can't see Huet being moved for a player or two that are going to be UFA's this summer.
The 'Hawks can take a big step towards fixing their cap issues if they can convince another team to send them the right player or two - that'll be UFA's this summer - where they can then send a combo of guys back like Versteeg, Buff or Barker.
Way too many blown coverages again tonight. All 3 goals were gimmees thanks to Hawks defenders losing their guy.
I don't care who you have in goal, until they wake up and start eliminating these lazy mistakes, nothing is going to change.
The Stars had a lot more trouble in their d-zone, nearly doubled up in shots.
Turco gave his team a chance to win, but eventually the Hawks depth and skill got the better of him.
Goaltending matters.
If a team has great goaltending, there's no such thing as a gimmee.
If a team scores goals in buckets, great goaltending is less necesary, but only if...
Niemi was good enough tonight, but at least one of those goals was due to his ongoing struggle with rebound control. Let's hope he works it out with practice.
But you're right, the defensive coverage needs to tighten up. Buff was -2, and what's up with Madden?
I was wondering the same thing. I didn't see him get hurt and the first thought that I had when they said he wasn't on the bench is that he was being traded. There have been rumors that the Hawks might trade him.
behind the stars net, i seen him wince after he was hit! But might have been a combination of a few things ..who knows
Sopel for Norris!!!
JK but what a statement game for him!
...and resolving not to discuss it won't make the problem go away.
However, since we're all just fans on here (and we are ALL just fans on here), we are powerless to change the situation, and feeling powerless sucks.
But we do have the power to change the subject though, don't we? Hmmmm. I suspect that's what' "going on" here, OrchardCreek.
Call me irrational, but I see a chasm beyond a significant leap of logic separating a poster criticizing a player's performance or ability and the childish supposition that the only reason a poster would do so is out of hatred for that player.
I mean, the French-bashing is silly and ahistorical (Fact: If you're American, you owe your independence to the French), but mostly harmless. For the record, I always interpreted Cheese's "Flour Dough" as a dig at Huet's softness, not his nationality (and sorry, Cheese, French-Canadians DO count as French. It's more than just the culture, it's in the blood).
It's not personal; it's all about performance. Even if it were personal, I guarantee you that if Huet played lights-out on a consistent basis, even the most venemous of Huet's critics would paint black and red Fleur-de-lis on their faces and wear powder-blue berets that read "Vive #39!".
Why?
Because we all want this team to win, and by win, I mean WIN IT ALL.
Huet gets flamed on here out of frustration because his play this season suggests he's not the guy to get us there, but we're stuck with him (but apparently, he's so awesome that no other GMs want him).
Frankly, THIS season is the only season that matters, but if you'd like to wax historical, THIS season Huet is working on losing his job for not the first, not the second, but the third time in his career. Oh, and he's never won anything when it counts the most.
The doldrums that the Hawks currently find themselves in is also a concern, but I assure you, the Hawks are young men, not kids, and playing the minutes some of them are playing, they can most certainly be tired. Motivation is always a legitimate concern as well, especially for a team as talented as the Hawks, a team that won so easily in the fall.
The thing is, Q can always give a pep talk and the "boys" can always take a nap.
Maybe Niemi is the answer. What makes me nervous, and I think, makes a lot of posters on here a little testy lately, is that he HAS to be.
I agree that it's not necessarily constructive or healthy to grind our teeth to the root sweating something that we are all powerless to change, so by all means, let's change the subject.
How 'bout them Cubbies?
Nice post.
Haven't heard from you in a while.
You are right on all counts in the post.
I do not hate Huet or his Frenchness. He seems like a good guy when you hear him talk hockey.
I just see a goalie that will not lead the Hawks to the promised land based on his sporadic soft play. (Hence, the name Flour Dough. Has nothing to do with him, the man.)
For the record, I am a Sox fan.
That means pistols at dawn, Southpaw.
40000 posts and not one mention of Ben Eager!!
I hope the men come out with a purpose tonight.
And I am hoping Niemi stops all deflections. I also recognized the jinx, so i am not jinxing it. My deflection comment is for my buddy Boldirev.
Dallas beat Phoenix 4-0 a few days ago and Dallas is without Ott. It should be a good game.
I would take all the crap on here and ask for seconds from all you people if we won the cup!!
you ladies could rub it in my face all year long that you were right and i was wrong and it wouldnt faze me
aside of all that..I hope the defense crease work continues to improve and the forwards covering the points play as they did vs St Louis as that will ensure whoever is in the net will stand a chance for a win!!
You are calling me names and I am offended enough to inform the ACLU and Sarah Palin......
Ahhhh....screw it.
Buy me a shot of booze and we are cool.
Now go cream Dallas.
the palm reading Palin!!!!
How about a Banana Daiquiris???
Palms and all!
She is a lightning rod isn't she?
Did you see Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary, the other day?
He was poking fun at Palin by showing the White House press correspondents how he made notes on his hand.
None of them laughed and a couple groaned dis-approvingly.
Yet another example of this White House being more out of touch with the folks than the previous administation.
As an independent voter, I did not think that was remotely possible.
Sadly, I am learning otherwise after supporting the Chicago guy in the White House.
Can we have an election 'do over'?
but ill bet it will be on Ebaum or utube for my viewing pleasure!
Palin is not celebrity worthy, not smart and not any possible answer, just spoutin the same old same ole company line, or anything else that is put in front of her.
She's a target because she's a threat. Regardless of whether or not she runs for office, that is irrelevant. She has the full attention of DC and she's not even in office herself. You're watching too much MSNBC. Can't tell if you're as bitter as Keith Olbermann or not; too close to call. But don't worry, soon you'll have the channel all to yourself.
Just by your headline, you spout off the arrogance that is what's wrong with DC these days. No one has to accept anything as fact. Just like the health care fiasco. Blathering at yet another speech the same old crap isn't going to change the country's mind. The arrogance of the white house utterly amazes me. It's like if we're told this the 100th time, it'll be better than the 1st through the 99th time.
Definitely not presidential timber, but she has a way of speaking to/about the common folk that elitists seem to get upset about.
It is such an odd phenomenon.
You can tell by watching Robert Gibbs that he, and the White House are really annoyed with her, and do their damnest to stomp her down.
As alleged elitists, they do not get the fact that by trying to stomp her down, they make themselves look bad in the eyes of guys like me, the independent that supported the Chicago guy, but now has HUGE 2nd thoughts.
Not to mention the regular Arkansas, Kentucky, North Dakota folk that identify more with the Palin persona than the Obama persona.
Obama and his bunch would be wise to recognize Palin for her appeal and try to respect her, not trash her.
That would win them much, repeat much, favor from those who are having 2nd thoughts about them and their ability.
Having second thoughts, eh?
I should have told Sarah Palin that I copyrighted that saying just for fun just to see her reaction. I met her at a book signing a couple months ago and that was the first thing I said to her, "how's that hopey & changey thing working for you?" Her reply was, "we are going to be in big trouble soon..."
Just by being a Chicago guy as you said should have raised red flags (no pun) left and right.
If we're talking Chicago sports, then I would defend our guys til the cows come home. Politics? Not so much. I mean is there a more corrupt city government and state government in the country? Don't think so.
"When you spread the wealth around, it's good for everyone" 10/12/08 think was the date. That clinched it for me. I had always suspected him, that comment made it clear.
10/30/08: "We're 5 days away from fundamentally transforming this nation...". That was the nail in the coffin.
I'm loving it just watching the WH unravel and all the infighting. House majority by 40+ seats. Super majority in the Senate until Scott Brown! What'd they do? Nothing. Why? Radicals.
Oh by the way, those are not alleged elitists, they ARE elitists.
Ah, the elitist argument... Does that mean someone from the southside (and not the nice areas of the southside) whose dad was a Chicago cop who decided he would get some education and have a career that now affords him the luxuries of life yet still wants to help the less fortunate because he believes that, as a nation, we are only as strong as our weekest links and that we have a moral obligation to help the less fortunate even if that means paying higher taxes? 'Cause if it does, sign me up! This board is cluttered up enough with the Huet debate to add political discourse to the mix but, you know, whatever...
"...we have a moral obligation..." That is great! That is the good part!
We don't have to look any further than Haiti. Look how the US has helped out. By volunteering, the good heartedness of the people; no Gov't needed to tell us what and how to do it by taxing us. We just went out and did it. Millions of dollars in private donations!
The bad part is the Gov't telling us what and how to do it. That is the problem MANY folks have around the country.
You don't have the look any further than the election results in VA & NJ for Governor November and then the MA Senate seat last month to see the reactions.
Pleae explain what you are trying to say.
OK, more to the point: I resemble your remarks about "elitists" -- also referred to as liberal elites -- as I understand the term and its derisive use by right wing conservatives in our great country. In other words, I'm a self-made, fairly weathly person, from very humble beginnings, who doesn't mind paying taxes and believes in universal health care and helping the poor and all of that other good stuff, so I take personal offense to attacks on "elitists". So, please, if you wouldn't mind, leave the political crap off of the board. Thanks.
You worked hard and earned your way; outstanding!
I may not agree on your one major position there but that's fine. But what our Gov't has done the last several years - both sides of the aisles - is bad. We're spending TOO much as a country. Money we DO NOT have. China is catching up to Japan as largest owners of our debt. That is NOT good.
Running up the debt only forces taxes to go higher. Paying taxes for noble causes is one [good] thing. Paying taxes to fend off debt due to excessive spending is not.
Tell me this, if you have bills coming in left & right - personal bills, your own expenses - do you go out and spend MORE? Or do you tighten the belt and wisely watch your money? Based on your response above, its the latter. You did well by doing that and that is to be commended by all regardless of political beliefs. But our Gov't - BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE - have SPENT TOO MUCH. And it's gone from bad to worse the last year+. Our debt ceiling is now over $14T !! Can anyone here comprehend what that means to our GRANDCHILDREN? That is $46,000 for every man, woman and child in the entire country.
OK, back to hockey: I still want Niedermayer even if it is a pipe dream!!
So am I
and also take offense,
....and stand with you in your hopes of Hockey is the thing we do here.
It is enough to try and see what valid true hockey opinions we can pull from the repetitive posts we all do, much less help the doofuses add Tea party tools here.
Somewhere else, not here, NOT NOW, not ever.
You might want to take a look at that Tea Party, and not just name call.....That thing is growing, and it is growing with Dems and Repubs, conservs and libs.
All with one thing in common.....distrust of the two party gov't system the way it is.
I am not part of the Tea Party deal, nor do I want to be.
I do not listen to MSNBC, or CBS, or ABC where they immediately dismissed and trashed the movement, thus slanting the view pont of those who ardently watch.
CNN is not favorable to the movement, but they give it adequate coverage to let folks decide.
FOX tries not to like the movement, but you can tell they do. Yet they still give you both sides of it.
They show the lunatics in the movement, and they show the clear thinkers so the folks can decide.
I am also not part of the Ameerican Idol crowd who has no idea what heck is going on anywhere.
So take some time to rethink your Tea Party position. It would do you some good.
Go Hawks!
Fox news is strictly a Republican slant. MSNBC is a Democratic slant. CNN is considered nutral. Fox should change their slogan to FOX Entertainment, because alot of their so called news guys (or what the lemmings consider news) are not! Like Glen Beck! He spins storys that are not even the truth and people believe it like it's fact. What was the name of his march in Washington with all those toothless clowns waving their signs? There were so many spelling errors it was comical.. (if I'm gonna walk around DC with a sign, I'll at least spell everthing correctly)..Another thing Palin is an idiot, if she was ugly, no one would listen to her at all. Not that they do now! Sorry to go down this political path...I won't do it again. Back to hockey only!
eye to eye.
Never will, and yeah I have teed off on you ,and the reverse order is true, too.
H2O off duck's back if you ask me.
But there is one thing I have learned from watching all cable news and listening to people's responses to cable news:
Fox News elicits so many hate responses it is somewhat troubling.
However those hate responses are in the minority.
Why? Because according to Democratic polls, Fox News is where the majority of Americans go for information.
Something like 47%; as compared to the 30% bracket for CNN.
NBC, CBS, and ABC, trail listlessly behind those numbers.
Obviously that 47% is not all lemmings from one side of the aisle.
It is impossible when the majority of the folks in the USA say they are either conservative or independent.
Only 26% describe themselves as liberal.
Your personal attack on Palin is proof of the hate.
The woman is no brain surgeon, and defintiely not presidential timber.
But she has a way of identifying with a large mass of the population.
That must be respected, along with her rise to success running a city and state.
Regarding Beck, yeah, he is way out there.
Question is: Are you smart enough to disciminate what he says as just his opinion, or is it factual?
He is 60/40 opinion vs fact (my view). That is OK. I can see it, so good for him.
He was at the very bottom of life a few years back, drinking like a fish, living in dive where he could not pay rent.
He thought about the big 'S' word, he says.
So if the guy spews crap, I can see the crap and good for him. He has made it.
Ain't America grand?
Swisscheese you might be able to decipher the crap from fact. But I think there are alot of people in middle america who think this is all truth, that Beck spews. And those my friend are the ones that go out marching & feeding into his hate and stupidity. If those people are a cross section of Fox audience, that's a sad situation. Like Palin all you want, but she lost it for the Republicans in November of 08.
I don't have a big 'like' for Sarah Palin.
I just respect her for what she has accomplished. Hell, she has accomplished more than me.
I think you underestimate Middle America. We are probably both in that category.
We can see what Beck is all about. (If you want my opinion, he makes me laugh and makes me think. I know what he says is sometimes crap, but he does make me think.)
Beck does not hate anyone! How can you say that? Because he openly questions Obama's policies and belief system?
That is not right.
Beck is a libertarian. That means he is beholden to no party or ideology.
Just a belief in liberty.
Now if some right wing nut jobs want to take to the streets with a twisted idea of what he is saying, what the heck is he supposed to do?
(Don't say Tea Baggers. You would be limiting yourself intellectually if you do.)
Beck has taken swings at Bush's failed policies that put us in this mess in the first place.
Moots, if you do not like Fox News, that is fine. There are alternatives to them on your TV dial.
But most Americans are tuning in and staying tuned in to what they are saying.
Me included but.....,I watch them all.
I will say Fox News is pretty accurate. BUT when they screw up trying to slant the news, they man up. (Google Jane Skinner - Tea Party Protest.)
When was the last time you heard a liberal bias media station do that?
Who is Jane Skinner? Fox News reporter and wife of NFL boss, Roger Goodell.
I understand the term to mean those who look down on the regular folk as not being as 'smart' as them due to their higher education at prominent places of learning and big politics 'know how'.
I mean, 'How dare these type of folk question those of us who have higher learning and know better'?
Orch, If you want to pay higher taxes for social equality, write a check and go for it.
No problems with that, and I applaud you for stepping up.
Just don't tell those of us with dirt under our finger nails and burn scars on our arms that this methodology is the way we should think too.
That is the gap the Obama White House cannot seem to grasp. If they ever do, they will do some serious good things for this country because they are smart guys.
All the more confusing for guys like me because they are smart, yet blinded by social ideology.
That is what I mean by Elitist. Not the guy like you who is self made and has a liberal view.
I understand your point but that is why I think this stuff should stay off of these boards. And, I know that the right wing conservatives want you to believe that when they say elitists they are talking about those that think they are smarter and look down on the working class but they are really talking about guys like me who don't see the world the way they do and believe in social equity and don't have a problem with paying taxes, etc. I am a man who comes from a working class background and did plenty of working class work while working my way up and I think the greatest thing about America is its working class. You can't not believe that when your grandfather fought in WWII and retired from the steel mills (remember when the southside had all of those steel mills) and your father and uncles and virtually everyone you knew growing up earned a meager living working their fingers to the bone. And, that's why I find the elitist argument so offensive. But I hear you!
I am an independent who thinks the far-right are nut jobs, and the far-left are loonies.
FYI, as a South Sider, I know Obama's neighborhood in Hyde Park, as I am sure you probably do.
It is surrounded by low income and in some cases, poverty. But Hyde Park is teeming with life and intellectuals (University of Chicago).
Hence the Obama disconnect I see from my centrist point of view.
Just gotta keep livin' man.
Peace out.
FYI. My uncle (God rest his soul) and my cousin are Vietnam and Iraq War vets, respectively.
I hear you.
Don't believe the hype! Obama wasn't born in Hyde Park just like I wasn't born in the West Loop. Obama's kids may never know what it's like to struggle but Obama certainly does. That doesn't mean he's NOT out of touch, because he may well be, but living in the nicer part of Hyde Park doesn't mean he necessarily IS out of touch, either. And, I agree, any and all extremists are a bit wacky for my taste no matter their particular point of view. Really, though, I've got to stop this because I'm just doing now what I've asked you not to do. As you say, though, no worries!
Hell I know Obama was born in Hawaii. He is remarkable for achieving what he did in a single parent household, that shipped him out of the country for a spell, as a kid.
He spent his college life going to the best schools on grants. Good for him, man. He is remarkable.
He then moved to Hyde Park because of Michelle, spending the better part of the last 10 years there.
Again good for him.
This is where I see the disconnect:
He struggled at a young age and achieved because someone believed in him enough to put him through the best schools.
Then he moved to an affluent neighborhood, which showed him more or the social inequality he is striving to re-engineer.
Why? Because some one did it for him and look how much he grew? Why cannot it be done for everyone?
Idealogically, it is Utopia.
But we all know the world is not fair: and in a country as big as the USA, (Not Switzerland) this idealogical re-engineering will bankrupt the nation.
Like I said, he has good intentions, but not a realistic view of how to implement those intentions.
You can RSVP all you like Orch. I do not mind hearing what you have to say.