Will Angels Take Flight After Arte Moreno Sells Team to Stan Kroenke?

In a surprise move, Arte Moreno announced plans to sell the Los Angeles Angels to Stan Kroenke, the current owner of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams pending approval of MLB.

Moreno purchased the team from Disney in 2003, a year after the Angels won their only World Series title in franchise history. 

At first, this wasn't such a bad thing. The Angels would win the AL West five times between 2004 and 2009 reaching the ALCS twice. 

However, since 2009, the Angels have made one post-season appearance in 2014 when they were swept in the ALDS by the Kansas City Royals who went on to win the AL pennant. 

The Halos haven't had a winning season since 2015 and entered tonight with a record of 53-86, the worst in all of MLB. Should the Angels go 9-14 or worse the rest of the way then they will have lost 100 games for the first time in franchise history. The team lost 99 games in 2024 under former Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington who went to the World Series in back-to-back seasons in 2010 and 2011. It is remarkable when you consider that the Angels have had Mike Trout paired with both Albert Pujols and Shohei Ohtani in the middle of their lineup at various points. Long term contracts handed out to Pujols as well as Josh Hamilton and Anthony Rendon left the Angels in the dust.

Since Mike Scioscia departed the team after the 2018 season, the Angels have had six managers - Brad Ausmus, Joe Maddon, Phil Nevin, Ron Washington, Ray Montgomery and now Kurt Suzuki. And don't expect Suzuki to last beyond this season given that he signed a one-year contract to manage the club. 

There have also been dark shadows such as the death of pitcher Nick Adenhart and two of his friends at the hands of a drunk driver early in the 2009 season and then the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs due to a drug overdose a decade later. In the Skaggs case, an Angels employee gave the pitcher the drug that would take his life. Skaggs' family brought suit against the club, and the case was finally settled out of court last year.

Then earlier this year, Moreno raised eyebrows when he declared that a winning ballclub was not a top five priority for Angels fans.

All things considered, the Angels really have nowhere to go but up. The question remains how quickly. Let's consider that in the space of two years, the Chicago White Sox went from having the most losses in a single season to being on the verge of winning the AL Central. 

I think it is more likely than not that the Angels will eventually take flight after Stan Kroenke takes over the team. Angels' fans should be happy. That is unless Kroenke decides that the Angels should take flight somewhere else.

Markey Trounces Moulton in Massachusetts Democratic Senate Primary

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ed Markey easily fended off a Democratic primary challenge from soon to former Congressman Seth Moulton.

With 68% of the polls in, Markey has a lead of just under 30 points over Moulton despite being more than 30 years older than Moulton.

This is more than triple the margin by which Markey bested Joe Kennedy III exactly six years ago today.

While I prefer my Democrats to be moderate as opposed to progressive, I loathe candidates who believe they are entitled to my vote by virtue of their age by the vice of someone else's. The older I get the less patient I am with this line of reasoning. Critique a politician for their performance not for what year they were born.

I also found Moulton utterly insufferable when he went out of his way to say he would return AIPAC donations last year. When I hear that from a politician, I hear a politician telling me that Jews should not participate in the political process. With that being said, Markey has long been hostile towards Israel. So, I have no great affection for him either. 

Markey will face Republican John Deaton who is also critical of AIPAC's participation in the political process. Not that it matters much. There's no way Massachusetts is electing a Republican to the U.S. Senate no matter how anti-Trump he might be.

I am a stage in my life where I just don't have a high opinion about politicians whatever their party. 

As for whose side I am on, I am on my side. I prefer to keep my own counsel and will do for as long as I can.

Thoughts on Treasury Secretary Bessent's Contempt for Canada

 

Despite Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's role in helping to derail trade negotiations between Canada and the United States, the Trump cabinet member with the most contempt for Canada might very well be Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. 

Consider Bessent's interview with CNBC yesterday in which he declared:

Very unfortunate that PM Carney has turned this into a political shouting match. I mean, we’re not at war with Canada.

What are they going to do — take their two submarines from the Edmonton Mall and sic them on us?

Shouting match?

Clearly, Bessent has never listened to Carney speak. He is remarkably even keel. The same cannot be said for Bessent's boss.

Of course, this didn't prevent Bessent from further claiming that Carney was doing what was best for himself rather than for the Canadian people. 

It must be said that Bessent works for a man who uses the federal government to enrich himself.

In any case, the Canadian people don't share Bessent's assessment. They spoke in three by-elections last night giving the Liberal candidate more than 50% of the vote.

You would be hard-pressed to find a Canadian who believes Bessent's claim that Canada was "offered the best trade deal of anyone on the globe and he walked away from it at the last moment.”

Now, I'm sure that Bessent is saying all of this to stay in Trump's good graces.

But it must also be remembered that Bessent has seen fit to publicly criticize Carney on other occasions while demanding Carney not criticize Trump. For bad measure, Bessent has also praised Alberta's separatist movement. So Bessent's concern for the interests of Canadians rings false.

For his part, Carney has said that Canada is prepared to return to the table if and when the Trump Administration will "stop doing memes, stop posturing, stop trying to be tough and start being serious."

Unfortunately, the Trump Administration doesn't do serious where it concerns its closest allies.

Michigan AG Nessel Saying Jews Must Place The Needs of The World Above Our Own Survival is a Suicide Note

In an address to the Michigan Jewish Democratic Caucus yesterday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel stated:

We have a moral imperative to place the needs of the world above even our own self-interest and, yes, even our own survival.

Mind you, this is the same individual who only last month publicly made it known she did not feel safe attending her own party's state convention.

It is clear to me that Nessel will endorse Abdul El-Sayed after his so-called apology to Jewish Democrats over his equivocation on the terrorist attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan.

Given her role as Michigan's top law enforcement officer, it is dereliction of duty for her to tell Jews to set aside our very survival. 

How exactly are the needs of the world incompatible with the survival of the Jewish people?

And where is the morality in sacrificing our survival and that of our children?

She is telling Jews we have nothing to offer the world and are thus expendable.

As Rabbi Hillel asked, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?"

Nessel is giving Jews a false choice. Her declaration amounts to a suicide note for the Jewish people. 

She also displays a remarkable ignorance about Judaism by misrepresenting the story of Queen Esther:

It is perhaps up to us now to follow in her path and sacrifice the comfort, safety and security and even the very future of our own people in exchange for the opportunity to save the rest of humanity.

Except that Esther did not sacrifice the future of her own people to save humanity. She saved the Jews of Persia from a pogrom at the hands of Haman by having an audience with King Asasuerus without being summoned, an act punishable by death. Esther's intervention allowed the Jews to defend themselves from Haman. Jews celebrate this triumph during Purim.

Yet, by Nessel's logic, Esther saving her fellow Jews failed to consider the needs of the world at the time. If Nessel has such as a fundamental misunderstanding of the meaning of Purim, I shudder to think how she understands Chanukah and Passover. 

Then again, for Dana Nessel, being a Democrat in good standing with Abdul El-Sayed is more important than being Jewish in good standing with G-d.

Trump's Lake Ontario Renaming Stunt Proves Yet Again He Does Not See Canada as a Partner

 

A little over 72 hours ago, President Trump saw fit to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America by an Executive Order.

This move is, of course, reminiscent of when he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America on his first day in office of his second term.

As silly and stupid as Trump's Executive Order is, it still carries weight and Google Maps has gone along with it for users in this country.

For Canada and the rest of the world, the easternmost of the Great Lakes will remain Ontario. 

Yesterday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford erected a large sign near Grimsby, Ontario bearing the inscription, "Lake Ontario Now and Always" in both official languages.

Ford stated, “Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario.” 

Above all else, it demonstrates once more that Trump does not view Canada as a partner but as a nuisance because it will not roll over and play dead. 

Yet I would not be surprised if the Trump Administration makes overtures to Canada to return to the negotiating table between now and Labor Day weekend as Canadian counter-tariffs are due to take effect on September 8th. 

But as long as CUSMA is a dead letter, these tariffs are in place, and the White House insists on using the Lake America moniker then there is nothing for Canada to discuss with the Trump Administration.

Thoughts on El-Sayed's Non-Apology Apology to Jewish Democrats

(Andrew Lapin/JTA)

Yesterday, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed made the following statement to the Michigan Jewish Democratic Caucus regarding his infamous comment that "hurt people do hurt people" following the attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan:

My comments may have been misconstrued to justify something I did not mean to justify. To anyone who feels like my comments might have been hurtful, I’m really sorry. That was not my intention.

What I was trying to do was offer context for why it happened, but it wasn’t the time for context, and you don’t ever want to trample somebody’s pain.

This is a self-serving, non-apology apology if I have ever heard one.

After all, it is worth remembering that El-Sayed was specifically asked if his "hurt people do hurt people" analogy would apply to a Jewish person whose family had been murdered by Hamas during the October 7th attacks. El-Sayed replied that the analogy did not apply and stated, “After Oct. 7, there was a whole genocide against Palestinians.”

In other words, El-Sayed doesn't believe his own bullshit. For El-Sayed, "Hurt people do hurt people" only applies to those who wish to seek revenge against Israel. Jewish victims of terrorism do not count because Hamas and Hezbollah are committing acts of resistance. 

So why did El-Sayed make his statement?

Let me offer a couple of reasons.

For starters there was Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel appearing on David Frum's podcast a few days earlier stating:

A lot of us perceived that as sort of making excuses for somebody who sought to murder over 100 pre-K school children, and that’s the kind of mentality that bothers me a lot. You can’t make excuses for that kind of domestic terrorism.

Let us remember this the same Dana Nessel who did not feel safe attending this very gathering of her own party due to anti-Semitic hostility towards her.

Now, I don't think that Nessel's statement alone would have been enough to persuade El-Sayed to make his so-called apology. Although recent polls have El-Sayed ahead of Republican Mike Rogers, I suspect his internal polling is less optimistic.

The question now is whether El-Sayed's statement for Nessel as well as Congresswoman Hillary Scholten and Jeremy Moss, who is seeking to succeed Haley Stevens in Congress, to come around and endorse him. I wouldn't be surprised if they do as Jim Clyburn has already done so. 

Although El-Sayed's alleged apology might be sufficient for Democrats on the fence about him, it remains to be seen if that will be the case for Michigan voters. A lot of it will depend on whether El-Sayed makes any future statements perceived as hostile to Jews or if any past statements come to light which he cannot adequately explain. 

And even if El-Sayed does face more scrutiny, Michigan voters might be more concerned by the impact of Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mike Rogers' support for them.

Then again, it is not crystal clear if Jewish Democrats in Michigan are buying El-Sayed's explanation. In which case, t is quite possible that some of those delegates might be pulling the lever for Mike Rogers in November. 

Sam Neill's Overlooked Performance in "The Piano"

 

This evening I went to the Brattle Theatre to attend a screening of The Piano starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin and Sam Neill. 

It marked the first time I had seen The Piano since my stint in London more than 30 years ago. When I stayed at the International Students House, sometimes there would be films shown on Sunday evenings. It was a good film but not one I would go out of my way to see again. An evening of light entertainment it is not. As you might imagine, the impetus for seeing The Piano was prompted by the passing of Sam Neill last month of pneumonia following a several years long battle with cancer at the age of 78.

The Piano would win three Academy Awards out of eight nominations. Holly Hunter deservedly won for Best Actress. Seldom has a performance said so much without uttering a word. Anna Paquin won Best Supporting Actress in her debut acting role at the age of 11 displaying a maturity well beyond her years. Director Jane Campion would also win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Campion would earn an additional Oscar nomination for Best Director becoming only the second woman ever to receive consideration. Lina Wertmüller was the first woman to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Director for the 1976 film Seven Beauties. For her part, Campion would eventually win Best Director for the 2021 film The Power of the Dog. 

Stuart Dryburgh, Janet Patterson and Veronika Jenet also received Oscar nominations for cinematography, costume design and film editing, respectively. The film, which was set in New Zealand, is also significant for its use of British sign language and the Māori language. 

Amid all these things, the New Zealand born Neill's performance as Allisdair Stewart gets lost in the shuffle. Stewart arranges to be married to a deaf pianist named Ada McGrath (Hunter) who journeys to New Zealand from Scotland with her daughter (Flora) with a piano in tow. Stewart's right-hand man George Baines (Harvey Keitel) acquires the piano ostensibly to take lessons. But in reality, Baines is aroused by Ada and makes his intentions known to her. Although initially repelled by Baines, Ada gradually falls in love with him. 

Stewart learns of their tryst but is initially forgiving. The pair try to consummate their marriage without success. Stewart's forgiveness turns to rage when Flora gives him a message Ada intended for Baines. During this rage, Stewart chops off Ada's finger much to the horror of Flora who tearfully tells Baines what has happened. Baines wants to kill Stewart, but Flora pleads with him not to do so. 

However, Stewart has his own ideas about killing Baines. Yet when Stewart holds a gun to Baines' face, he has an epiphany and realizes it is best that Baines be with Ada and that they return to Scotland with Flora. In his performance as Stewart, Neill is capable of both cruelty and kindness. 

Next month, The Brattle will have a tribute called "The Weird Wild World of Sam Neill" which include films like Jurassic Park, Possession and Event Horizon. I'm not sure if I will attend but I have not ruled it out at this point. Yet, from where I sit, The Piano is a key part of Sam Neill's acting legacy. R.I.P.