Let the Patriot Act Expire

On December 31^st, most of the provisions signed into law under the Patriot Act were due to expire. Many Congressional Republicans wanted to extend the law for several years (so does our dear President), saying that the Patriot Act has saved the country from terrorists attacks in the days since it was signed, following 9/11. Then they run this “fear-trip” on everyone by saying that if we want to be safe, then the Patriot Act should be renewed. Unfortunately many Congressional Democrats have fallen underneath this spell and only want to modify the Patriot Act instead of letting it expire. Gladly though, the Patriot was held up in one of the Houses of Congress and only received a 1 month extension.

And can you believe that yours truly, Maelstrom, actually started listening to those fear-mongers on Capitol Hill too?!! I started thinking, yeah, don’t get rid of the thing, just modify it, I don’t want to be unprotected. Fortunately I got my mind right, and remembered that the Patriot Act is a huge farce. That’s right, the Patriot Act is a sham, and is only another way for the government (this Administration in particular) to intrude on the privacy of its citizens.

My evidence you ask?

Look, name one terrorists attack that was thwarted by the Patriot Act. Go ‘head, name it.

See, can’t name one can you? The reason why is because there hasn’t been one. If this administration wants to keep hiding behind the guise of “this Act has prevented terrorists attacks,” then prove it. If they’re going to make the case for the Act, then they have the burden of proof.

And the fact that there hasn’t been a major terrorists attack here in the States since 9/11 is invalid for several reasons.

First off, it takes several years for major terrorists attacks to occur. Especially the ones that al-Qaeda administers. The previous al-Qaeda attack (before 9/11) on American soil was at the World Trade Centers in 1993. That’s 8 years, and we’re only 4 years removed from the last one. Secondarily, if terrorists wanted to attack us, they certainly could through the many unprotected ports and broken borders that exist in the USA. Finally, where are the perpetrators? In Madrid after the Train Bombings, in London after the Bus Bombings, and in Jordan after the Hotel bombings, there were people arrested, body parts found, something.

And if you want to argue that nothing was found in the USA because the catastrophe was prevented, then what about when the second round of London bombings were thwarted? And don’t you think that if the Patriot Act was specifically responsible for halting a terrorists attack that the Bush Administration would be loudly singing its praises? No way would that be a silent victory!

My point is simply this, whenever a terror threat has been averted, there have been arrest, and this knowledge wasn’t “in-house” or even local, it’s been worldwide. So again, ask yourself, where is the proof that another terrorist attack has even been attempted on the mainland since 9/11.

NO TERRORIST ATTACK HAS BEEN ATTEMPTED HERE SINCE 9/11!

But here’s what has worked to this administration’s advantage, and has caused many people (who were initially against the Patriot Act) to sharply soften their opposition: Time and Fear. So I’m writing just to remind you of this simple fact: The Patriot Act is not necessary, and it certainly does infringe upon our Constitutional Civil Rights.

The Patriot Act was not necessary, and would not have been necessary to prevent the events of 9/11. All the information needed to stop 9/11 was present at the time, according the 9/11 Commission Report. The only thing that needed to happen was for the CIA to talk to the FBI and the other investigational services. The needle was in the haystack, and could’ve been found, but the information that would’ve caused it to be found wasn’t being put together.

This is what the Patriot Act has accomplished, in my opinion: The Patriot Act has added more hay to the stack, so now if we are ever to find the proverbial needle, we will have to dig longer and deeper. And while adding more superfluous hay to the stack, it has been surreptitiously taking away our Civil Rights. The government can monitor the people, but the ability of the citizens to counter-check the government has been diminished. For example, if you check out a book at your local Public Library, the government can pull up those records (for whatever the reason…maybe the book you checked out is a book “only terrorists” would check out). Now, if you want to know that the government has been checking your library records, you CANNOT find out as a direct result of the Patriot Act.

So now a government that was designed “by the people and for the people” is now a people existing at the mercy of the government. And maybe not completely at the mercy of the government as of yet, but we’re swiftly heading there (as apparent by our President’s assertion that he has the right to wiretap American citizens without a court order).

My plea to you, please don’t be blinded by the fear-driven rhetoric. We are no safer today than before 9/11, and fighting “them” over “there” so we don’t have to fight them here is silly too, and won’t work (didn’t work for Spain, or even our number 1 ally Britain, so why would it work for us?).

We don’t need the Patriot Act!

-Maelstrom

The Sidebar

If someone says the word “bomb” on an airplane, then they don’t have one!

The other week someone on a USA flight overheard a passenger say the word bomb more than once, and so the flight was halted.

Now look, anyone with a bomb knows they have one, and the absolute last word they’re gonna say is “bomb.”

I would be more worried about someone repeating the word “doughnut” over and over again.

And then I’d ask them how many they have and if they’re strawberry filled or chocolate glazed, and can i have one.

Just a lil word to the wise brought to you by Maelstrom.

The Hypocrisy

A couple months back the number of US casualties in Iraq reached 2000. Several Democrats on Capitol Hill marked the event and noted its significance. Meanwhile, I heard several Republicans criticizing the Democrats for marking the 2000^th death, saying that it was a “false milestone” and that the Democrats were using the 2000 deaths to further politicize the war.

Now, I do indeed hope that the Democrats were sincere in marking the number, and not attempting to use the ominous number as a political device. Though I do suspect that at least some of them were. And they were wrong for doing so.

However, I was completely and totally incensed at the very notion that 2000 deaths in this war could be called a “false milestone.” How dare the Republicans assert such a criminal statement. The nerve of those “life-loving,” “criticizing the war is not supporting the troops,” “either you’re with us or against us,” Republicans. If they truly love life, then every single death in the war is a significant milestone. If they truly want to call themselves supporters of the troops, then death number one-thousand five-hundred and sixty-three is a significant milestone. If the safety of our armed forces is truly the focus, then death number ninety-one was a significant milestone.

I was appalled and disgusted at each statement that even suggested that 2000 deaths was a “false” milestone. The nerve. And they want to say that criticizing the war is not supporting the troops. Well I guess the families of the 1,999 fallen soldiers (since death number 1000 was marked and apparently considered a legitimate milestone) are glad to know that their loved ones died in vain, and that their deaths aren’t considered significant to some of the most powerful leaders on the Right side of the political spectrum.

It’s bad enough that this administration refuses to honor their fallen sons and daughters by not showing their flag-draped coffins as they are deployed back here on the homefront. But now, just in case that disrespectful action isn’t enough, your loved one’s death is insignificant too.

I wonder what number will have to roll around for the death to be considered “not-false” by those treasonous politicians; 5000? 10,000? Maybe seven-thousand five-hundred!

Shame on all of them!

-Maelstrom

Exit Strategy Revisited

July 2^nd, 2005, I wrote a post here that stated the USA should set a specific date to leave Iraq. I’d like to take this opportunity to agree with myself 5 months later, especially since several Congressmen and Political pundits have since joined me in my opinion (thanks to Congressman Jack Murtha, who has certainly changed the game by being so outspoken about his disagreements concerning the War in recent weeks). Just remember, you heard it here first.

So please allow me to restate my case and my reasoning. June 2004, the USA turned over control of Iraq’s government to the Iraqi’s. January 2005, the first round of elections took place in Iraq. October 2005, a referendum was passed in Iraq.

The common link? Specific dates set for each.

The common outcome? Each process was successful and garnered no major violent uprising from the terrorists or insurgents.

The June 2004 turnover took place (a day early) with little drama. The expected bloodbath that even I predicted in January never materialized. And the October referendum didn’t even make much noise on the news when it occurred a couple of months back.

So why wouldn’t a specific pull-out date work in the same fashion (go ahead, tell me why, I’m open to criticism…but make sure you back it up with evidence).

You see, this false and silly doctrine of “staying the course” is fundamentally flawed to begin with simply because when we went into Iraq, we had no course to stay. Beyond toppling Saddam’s regime (which was absolutely NOT an imminent threat) we had no plans for keeping the country of Iraq together. We thought we’d be hailed as heroes and that there’d be dancing in the streets. We weren’t and there wasn’t. We thought that the war would pay for itself because of the huge repositories of oil in Iraq. It hasn’t and Congress will probably end up passing another major supplementary (or series of them) in the coming months. And need I remind you that ALL the reasons that the Bush Administration used to urge the country into war turned out to be false and unfounded. No connection to 9/11, no imminent threat, no Weapons of Mass Destruction; ALL FALSE!

So to “stay the course” would be to follow a path of fallacies.

I bring this topic up because today the citizens of Iraq will be once again going to the polls; this time for much higher stakes than the last 2 times. But as in January and October, I expect that this election procedure will also go on without major disruption or interference.

I guess the big question for the American public should be, how can we trust the Bush administration when they say we need to stay the course and that setting a date to leave Iraq would “send the wrong message to the terrorists.”

And can I just be myself for a minute and express to you how ABSOLUTELY STUPID I THINK THAT STATEMENT IS? How can you send a wrong message to terrorists? By definition, aren’t terrorists irrational? Don’t terrorists contort or twist any message they receive to fit the means of their tyranny? And who cares about messages sent to terrorists when the majority of Iraq’s citizens aren’t terrorists, but are certainly nationalists tired of seeing the vast American presence there. ISN’T STAYING THE COURSE SENDING THE WRONG MESSAGE TO THE IRAQI CITIZENS? You know, sending the wrong message to the individuals that we’re claiming we’re trying to benefit! In fact, not only is it sending the wrong message to the Iraqi citizens who’d like to govern themselves, it’s sending a horrendous message to the rest of the world, especially other Middle Eastern nations.

To the rest of the world it looks like the USA is there to occupy the land in order to benefit from Iraqi oil or to have a strategic location of military bases in the Middle East (presumably to protect Israel). To many Muslims it looks like the USA is trying to spread its idea of Democracy, and make Christian proselytes of the Iraqi people in an area of the world where Theocracy (in varying degrees) and Islam (in various forms) are the order of the day. And I’d suspect that many of the Iraqi’s feel as though they are strangers in their own land. Imagine how that would make you feel.

And finally, what have we gained by “STAYING THE COURSE?” I mean, it doesn’t appear to be working out that well for us. It’s certainly not going like Bush said it would. By this time we were supposed to be out of Iraq, leaving behind only a trace number of military servicemen. Instead we find ourselves increasing the number of troops in Iraq, having never squelched the insurgency or terrorism that exists there, with not even a tentative idea of when we’re going to leave.

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!! And my list of substantiated criticisms could go on. But back to the topic at hand…Exit Strategy!

So Bush has been saying that “as the Iraqi’s stand up, (we) will stand down.” But that doctrine hasn’t been working either. It requires us to train the Iraqi National Army, and to train enough of them that they can defend themselves. And over 2 years into that process, only a few thousand Iraqi soldiers are up to the task. We need to attack this problem another way. I say let them know we’re leaving and they’ll soon get their butts in gear.

Now, I am in no wise suggesting that we leave the country without training the Iraqi National Army. Neither am I suggesting that we don’t leave behind some troops and/or safeguards. I am emphatically saying, however, that we need to set a specific date for leaving Iraq because unless we do, none of these benchmarks for turning this war over to the Iraqi’s will ever be achieved.

Let me give you a (simplified) example of what I’m talking about. If you are reading this and you’ve ever had a term paper, research project, or book report to do for any class in your lifetime, I’d be willing to bet my next 3 paychecks that you’ve experienced the “last minute” phenomenon. Your teacher told you the due date, but you didn’t really begin working on your paper until you realized the deadline was fast approaching, and if you wanted to do well you had a lot of work to do as the deadline drew near. If you initially had a month to do the project, you probably covered more ground in completing it during the last 4 days before it was due than you did in the previous 26. And if it required you to pull an all-nighter the night before the paper was due, you’d somehow pull it off.

Why???

Because you had to.

Gee-whiz…even a mother bird eventually kicks her nestlings out of the nest when the time comes. And you know what, the baby birdies learn how to fly and fend for themselves real quick!

I submit to you, that the same thing would occur in Iraq. Maybe not so smoothly; and I certainly do believe the violence will continue with maybe even a temporary spike in violence. But the fact remains that the violence continues, with periodic spikes in violence, while the USA is there. At any rate, setting a date would force all the Iraqi’s to work towards the goal of governing and protecting themselves. Because there’s nothing like having a broken leg, but knowing that you’ll have to give up your crutches in a little while if you’re ever to walk on your own again.

Mr. President please set the date, and let’s get our troops out of there. They, the Iraqi’s, WILL stand up!

-Maelstrom

PS: I was pleased to see a Time Magazine Online article that echoed many of the sentiments I've posted in this post and my July 2nd post. They even addressed some angles that I didn't. You should read it!

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1136485,00.html?cnn=yes

The Promise

I am happy to report something so amazing that I am still sorting through all the many benefits. I am in a state of total amazement. The news has been reported on CNN, NPR, the internet, all over. It has set my hometown abuzz, and many institutions of higher learning in my home state have praised the proposition. I simply can’t believe it.

Ok, so here’s the deal…

…an anonymous donation was recently made to the Public Schools in my hometown (if you know me, then you know what city I speak of); a really big donation at that. For the next 13 years anyone that graduates from my city’s Public High School’s will get a Full ride scholarship to any Public College or University in my home state of Michigan.

That’s right, just graduate with a 2.0 (the graduation requirement) and you get a guaranteed Full ride Scholarship to a Public University, no questions asked.

Simply remarkable!

Here’s a lil Maelstrom Hometown history. My hometown was founded by Titus Bronson in 1830. It was initially called Bronson, Michigan, but was later changed to honor the Native Americans that previously settled the land there. Its name comes from a Potawatomi Indian term that means “boiling water”; so-named because of the river that runs through it.

Many major businesses found their home there, including the famous Checkered Cab company (that made Taxi’s for major cities such as New York), the James River paper company (which utilized the river and the vast number of trees in the area to form a major United States paper company), First of America Bank, Gilmore’s (a Department Store) and the UpJohn Company (a major Pharmaceutical Company). Also centered there or in the area were Eaton, Stryker, Perrigo (the #1 generic Pharmaceutical Company in America), and a Georgia Pacific plant, to name a few.

Unfortunately most of these companies suffered through hard times and by the 1990’s had either been bought out by companies that weren’t located in the area, or had to cut hundreds of area jobs.

The UpJohn Company was bought by a European Pharmaceutical company called Pharmacia, which was then subsequently bought by Ann Arbor, MI based Pfizer (the world’s largest Pharmaceutical Company). Many of its jobs were cut or shipped to New Jersey. First of America was taken over by Cleveland, OH based National City. And Gilmore’s, Georgia Pacific, and the James River paper company all ceased to exist. Several other local businesses closed or were forced to cut jobs as well.

After all the job losses and business buy-outs, my personal fear was that the place would end up like its northeastern Michigan neighbor Flint, or southwestern Michigan neighbor Benton Harbor. Both of these towns at one time had thriving economies and viable businesses which severely crippled the cities when they pulled out (as was documented by Michael Moore in the film “Roger and Me” for the city of Flint). And the only thing that truly kept any life in my hometown area for the last 10 years or so were the Colleges (one of which had to close) and the University.

The area needed something to revitalize it. In recent years many revitalization attempts have been made (and are ongoing), but I am 100% confident that this will do the trick. Improving the Public Schools will improve the economy for the whole region.

Why only Public School students and why only Public Colleges, one might ask! Well, Michigan once had a Governor (John Engler of the last GW Bush administration) who didn’t believe in Public education and literally destroyed it in so many ways from top to bottom. Furthermore, Public Schools are arguably the basis of a middle-class community. And undoubtedly, the Private Schools in my hometown were largely separatist and elitist at best. But now I bet that even some of those Private School students’ parents are having second thoughts about where they want to send their kids.

“But are the Public Colleges in the State even that reputable,” one might ask.

Well, Michigan isn’t just another State in the Union with respect to higher education. There are a handful of World-renown Universities including Wayne State, Western Michigan, Ferris State, Eastern Michigan, Grand Valley State (whose football team just won their 3^rd National Title in 4 years in Div. 2) and Central Michigan. And probably more significant is the presence of Michigan State University as well as the University of Michigan (which is often in the top 3 in the nation as far as student enrollment expenses are concerned).

In all there are some 15 public Colleges and Universities in the State of Michigan, and each of them is accredited and well respected. Indeed, the University of Michigan is often ranked in the top 25 overall and in the top 3 public schools in the nation for overall curriculum.

So a decree, like the one that has been handed down to my Hometown, is not just a blasé occurrence. It really means that you have an opportunity at not just a free higher education, but a free and credible education.

Now consider all the advantages. I envision a glorious snowball effect that can only mean good things for the community. Consider, now that parents realize their children will go to school for free by just graduating, they have a huge incentive to stay in the area. Some of the families that live in nearby communities (many of whom moved from my hometown to the suburbs) will now move back into town simply because of The Promise.

As a result, businesses that were once in town and ailing would benefit from the steady (and potentially increasing) adult population. Outside businesses will be more willing to invest in the area because they know that there will be a strong number of potential workers as well as a consistent consumer base. Plus, what a bargaining chip. Imagine that you were a parent of two pre-teen children and you were offered a job in a place where your kids would for sure go to college for free. Sounds like a sweet deal to me.

Plus, parents will want their children not to just get a free higher education, but would want them to be well prepared for schooling post-high school. Therefore the parents would demand an increasingly more competent group of Public School teachers, faculty and administrators. Also, parents would pay more attention to their children's attendance in school as well as their grades.

The dropout rate should decrease, the concept of community would re-ignite (ie people will be more apt to confront children who are not in school when they should be), and the list of potential benefits goes on. This commitment will not only benefit the local area, but it will indeed benefit (to some extent) the crucially ailing Michigan economy overall.

Amazing!

Knowing the number of students that graduated with me, and knowing that the High School across town has about the same amount of students, I’ve estimated that whoever is responsible for this donation must have set aside about $500 million. The question around town is “who has that kind of money?” It’s apparent that there was a joint or maybe even group effort. I suspect that maybe the Gilmore’s and the UpJohn’s teamed up with the donation. Maybe local Professional Athletes Derek Jeter and TJ Duckett were in on it. Maybe it’s some random “outsider” just trying to make a point. Who knows? One thing I do know is that whoever did this is clearly aware of the advantages, and they have a foresight that this entire nation needs to get. Education is the cornerstone of a successful nation. When you focus on education everything else falls into place.

To that end, I am grateful for the many news outlets that have reported this. I first became aware of it one evening while watching CNN. Later I heard about it on NPR. Indeed several of my friends have informed me that they heard about a great educational donation for the Public Schools in my Hometown; one friend was in Florida when he heard about it.

Everyone in the nation should know about this because many more communities than just mine can make such a commitment to education. It doesn’t have to be 2 or 3 people; it could be a whole city collectively donating their money to the cause of making Public Education better. It will, I guarantee, make the whole community a better place to live.

Now, for those of you that thought I was out of my mind for always singing the praises of my city and saying that my hometown is the center of the world (and also the greatest metropolis in history…a megalopolis…yada yada yada)…whatcha gon’ say now???

-Maelstrom

PS: I forgot to mention that November 29^th was Don Cheadle’s 42^nd Birthday. Happy Belated Birthday Don!

Boondocks

Look man, people gotta start stayin’ up late on Sunday nights!

The rebel mastermind behind the tell-it-like-it-is comic strip Boondocks has turned his comic strip into a full length cartoon that airs Sunday nights on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim set. Aaron McGruder has delivered an outrageous, but truly insightful, look at the society we live in.

I have admired McGruder for a handful of years now. Not only for his comic strip, but for his no-nonsense, straight-talking manner. I’ve watched him speak on several occasions, and on each one he held no punches.

Look, one time I saw him on a panel of esteemed men in the Black community speaking to middle-teens. Towards the end of his speech, he’d gotten really real with the young people. He finished by saying something along this line: “Look, I’m a critic…I’m not here to tell you that you can do it, ‘cause maybe you can’t!”

I was in awe. I could not believe that he would cast doubt on all the hopes and dreams of those aspiring youths. But he was just being real.

And as I understand things, he has an incredible disdain for Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Well, can you believe that he actually had to sit next to her during a speaking engagement? So what does he say when he gets to the microphone to speak (while Condi is still there)? “Yall think yall funny sittin’ me next to Condoleeza Rice?!!!”

Again, no-holds-barred!

Well his cartoon is no different!

WARNING: You will be offended WARNING: You will be offended
WARNING: You will be offended WARNING: You will be offended
WARNING: You will be offended WARNING: You will be offended
WARNING: You will be offended WARNING: You will be offended
WARNING: You will be offended WARNING: You will be offended
WARNING: You will be offended WARNING: You will be offended

He takes shots at everyone, no matter the race, religion, social class, sexual orientation, job description, shoe size, disability…no one is safe.

But here’s the great thing about it: McGruder is simply presenting an extreme satire on American Culture. And every satire he’s presented thus far, I’ve actually witnessed playing out in real life. No matter how extreme, I’ve seen each scenario. No matter how not-PC, I’ve been witness to every circumstance.

And I sit there laughing my head off while thinking the whole time, “I shouldn’t be laughing at this.” But I do, cuz it’s real, and in the foolishness of the vicissitudes of this life, we all play into many stereotypes and carry on in shameful fashion. And Boondocks cleverly (but excessively) exemplifies this.

In reading previews for the show, I learned that McGruder and comedian Dave Chappelle are decent friends. And among other things, one of the reason that Chappelle canceled his incredibly successful Comedy Central show was because people didn’t understand the complexity of his many skits. Underneath the hilarity of every parody, there were real-life (often racial) implications. And apparently it bothered Chappelle that people (primarily White-America) would just laugh at his jokes and not consider the message he was purveying.

So what! McGruder is poised to tell it like it is, and he doesn’t care if you get it. I think McGruder said of the cartoon that either it’s going to be a big hit, or it’s going to be a big failure, there’s no inbetween.

Well, in my book he’s already knocking ‘em out the ballpark!

So in the half-hour space after watching 2 hours of ABC’s Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy Sunday nights, make sure to click over to the Cartoon Network and catch Boondocks at 11pm!

-Maelstrom

The Sidebar
Being the avid Michigan fan that I am, I have a deeply engrained disdain for Notre Dame (just a little bit less than I do for Ohio State). Despite being a not-top-ten team all season (I’d argue that maybe they deserve the 10 spot now, but shouldn’t have been ranked that high previously), they somehow find themselves in a guaranteed BCS spot. I don’t think they deserve the spot anymore than Fresno State (a team that also pushed USC to its brink, but doesn’t have the good graces of voter bias in their favor like ND), and certainly not Oregon (why do the pollsters hate on the Pac-10 so much). However, that’s not even what has made me to further dislike ND this season. The administrators at the school have somehow managed to frustrate me this year.

A few weeks back Notre Dame signed first year Coach Charlie Weis to a 10 year contract, apparently worth between $30 and $40 Million bones. This contract is virtually unheard of in college athletics and is incredibly unwarranted. At the time Weis was awarded this contract, ND had a record of 4 wins and 2 losses. Did I mention this was his first year coaching?

So right now you might think that this is just a minor point, and that it does seem a little silly for ND to sign Weis so early on at ND, with only a few games (including a couple losses) under his belt. But here’s what I’m really frustrated with:

3 seasons ago Notre Dame started the season with an 8 and 0 record under then-Coach Tyrone Willingham. It was also his first season, and he had a 5 year contract. By the end of the 3rd season, after suffering through two tough seasons, Willingham wasn’t even afforded the opportunity to finish out his 5 year contract (normally ND honors the contract, no matter how bad the coaching tenure). Willingham got the axe in a very cruel fashion from ND.

What’s the obvious difference between the 2 coaches? Weis is White and Willingham is Black.

Now certainly there are other factors at play. Willingham wasn’t the first choice for coach at the time he was hired by ND. He was hired by default when a scandal arose around the original choice for coach. So he was never endeared by the ND administration. Actually he was once he started out 8-0 and took ND to its first bowl game in years, but that immediately soured once they started to lose. The other thing to note is that Weis comes in with a resume that includes being a coordinator on the thrice Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots team. So he looks to have a bright future.

But all things being equal, if Weis is such a good coach, and his NFL background is so amazing, why in the world does his ND team have 2 losses when Willingham’s had none at the same point in the season. Plus Willingham cultivated many of the players that Weis now has. That means that Willingham was winning with a less experienced team, and Weis has losses with a more experienced team.

So why the big contract extension?

Though I think there are many political reasons for it, I can’t overlook race as a factor since this is occurring at ND. Notre Dame has a history of overt and subcutaneous racism. For many years ND wouldn’t allow Black athletes to participate in sports. And recently as 1999, a major Black hometown recruit that I’m acquainted with noted that ND basically tried to scare him away by threatening him with the Calculus requirement. Essentially saying that we don’t think you can pass the class, and if you can’t pass Freshmen Calculus, then you can’t play for us.

There’s no valid justification for Weis’s contract except his potential. Unfortunately for him I think his potential will crumble once Willingham’s product that Weis is currently benefiting from, QB Brady Quinn, enters the NFL draft.