O.G. Readless

A book industry report shows on average that conservatives read less books than liberals:

The AP-Ipsos poll found 22 percent of liberals and moderates said they had not read a book within the past year, compared with 34 percent of conservatives.

Among those who had read at least one book, liberals typically read nine books in the year, with half reading more than that and half less. Conservatives typically read eight, moderates five.

Former Liberal Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder (D-CO) who seems to forget that she’s supposed to be a book publishing professional has a partisan solution:

“The Karl Roves of the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans: ‘No, don’t raise my taxes, no new taxes,’” Pat Schroeder, president of the American Association of Publishers, said in a recent interview. “It’s pretty hard to write a book saying, ‘No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes’ on every page.”

 Schroeder, who as a Colorado Democrat was once one of Congress’ most liberal House members, was responding to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll that found people who consider themselves liberals are more prodigious book readers than conservatives.

She said liberals tend to be policy wonks who “can’t say anything in less than paragraphs. We really want the whole picture, want to peel the onion.”

I guess that would explain the inexplicable popularity of Glenn Greenwald. Apparently, his writing not tedium, it’s “peeling the onion.”

Of course, it could be that liberals are more likely to be sexual libertines who read trashy romance novels and erotica in great abundance, or are more likely to go out and buy whatever the heck Oprah tells them to purchase. This seem equally plausible. It should also be pointed out that this is the year of Atheist-affirming Best-sellers and that liberals are far more likely to be Atheists this may have something to do with it. 

Perhaps, the issue in regards to political topics is that Conservatives and Liberals alike have plenty of resources online. Less books being purchased should be a concern for book publishers, and Ms. Schroeder’s client should expect that she do something rather than try and score cheap partisan points on the issue.

Rockies Still In It

While, I’m obsessing over minor league baseball, it should be noted that my Major League Team is still “in the Hunt” at this point, sitting 2 1/2 games behind the Phillies and Padres for the wild card. There are several teams closer, it should be noted. The Braves are 1 game back, and the Cubs and Brewers (tied for 1st in the NL Central) are two games back. The Rockies do have a chance to make up some ground in the next week as they face the Pirates, Nationals, and Giants, some of the weakest teams in the league. It’s going to be tough for the Rockies to do it. Still, it’s good for them actually have a pulse this late in August. I can’t remember the last time they’ve been this close this late.

Opportunity Lost

The Spokane Indians lost 2-1 in Everett last night, but the Boise Hawks missed an opportunity to advance with a 4-3 loss to the Canadians. I listened to the excruciating 9th Inning on the radio. Audy Santana fell behind 3-0 on the first batter and then came back to strike him out, then got ahead of the second batter and ended up walking him. He then issued another walk and hit the batter after that, to load the bases after that, then a ball was hit to thirdbaseman Jovan Rosa that should have been a doubleplay ball, but instead, he bobbled it, allowing the winning run to score. When the Hawks play by play man read the inning line: 1 Run, 0 hits, 1 error, it was annoying. Losing a game because of a 9th inning longball is one thing. Giving the game away is something entirely.

I noted that the Hawks actually have lost a couple key players for the stretch. On August 16th, both Ty Wright and Marquez Smith were sent off to Peoria. One of the great frustrations of being a fan of a minor league team is that your roster is subject to so much fluxuation. Hopefully, the Cubs front office can wait a little while before moving key players such as Josh Donaldson to the next level. Still, hats off to Wright and Smith, they earned their promotions.

Tri City won a 9-8 decision over the Emeralds, while the Yakima Bears beat the Salem-Kaiser Volcanoes 10-4 (yes, Salem is made up of human beings after all.) That leaves the Western Division race very tight with the Hawks 1 1/2 games back of Spokane, the Dust Devils 2 1/2 back, and the Bears 3 1/2 games behind them. We have 15 games left, so it’s still anyone’s division.

Hanging Together or Hanging Seperately

The Louisiana Democratic Party is running a disgraceful campaign to show religious discord among Louisianans with lies and half truths about  Bobby Jindal’s record. Well, we compare the Democrats lies to what Jindal actually wrote.  (Hat Tip: Red State.)

Also, Canadian Christians flee their home in a preview of political correctness’ future in America. (Hat Tip: Jodi Cowles)

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