Talk about damning someone with faint praise …

Well, two of the least-surprising events of the new year hit the headlines Monday.

One is that Mark McGwire used steroids for a decade, including the year he and Sammy Sosa electrified the baseball world with their incredible home run contest. That was in 1998. McGwire finished the year with 70 HRs, while Sosa ended up second with 66. Both men broke the major league record of 61 set in 1961 by Roger Maris, who outdueled Mickey Mantle in another epic home run duel.

Almost everyone on the planet knew that McGwire used ‘roids, just as almost everyone knows Sosa used them, too. Sosa hasn’t yet come clean. McGwire’s admission Monday was heartfelt, teary — and is an attempt at redemption for the retired slugger, who wants desperately to get into the Hall of Fame.

Good luck on that one, Big Mac.

The other non-shocker?

Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and darling of the right wing, is becoming a commentator for the Fox News Channel.

It was just a matter of time that Sarah Barracuda would end up on the “Fair and Balanced” Network, where she’ll blend in with the likes of Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Mike Huckabee and Bill O’Reilly.

I’ll be interested to see if she’ll allow herself to be challenged by anyone who disagrees with her world view (such as it is) or whether she’ll just join the conservative echo chamber that Fox News has become.

But hey, in the interest of “fair and balanced” commentary, let it be said that MSNBC’s roster of lefty commentators — namely Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow — is just as guilty of mingling on-air only with those with whom they agree.

If the former half-term governor is willing to grow, then she needs to enter the rough and tumble world of honest political debate. It would be fun to see how she holds up when pushed, prodded and challenged. I don’t expect that to happen on Fox.

I’ve been struck by the rationale of those who think that Texas Tech did former head football coach Mike Leach wrong when it fired him.

All the brave talk I have been hearing from local Democrats about how they’re going to come storming back is just that: talk.

Looking at the ballot for this spring’s primary season presents a pretty gloomy outlook for Panhandle Democrats. In races involving Potter or Randall counties, I find a single name running for a contested seat: Abel Bosquez, Democratic candidate for House District 87, a seat that has been held since The Flood by a Republican. Bosquez is a political animal, namely as a one-time chairman of the Potter County Democratic Party. He is married to a Democratic justice of the peace, Nancy Bosquez.

I have to admit to being surprised that one longtime local Democratic officeholder, Potter County Commissioner Manny Perez, escaped getting a challenge this year. Perez seems to draw an opponent every election year, but not this time. Why is that a surprise? Perez didn’t acquit himself well with many Potter County leaders over his stubborn resistance to a tax increment reinvestment zone for downtown Amarillo. I thought the big-money interests in Potter County would have found someone to challenge the combative Perez in 2010.

But that’s what I get for thinking, I guess.

But given a chance to contest other races, the Democratic Party is a no-show in 2010 — at least in this part of the Lone Star State.

It’s a shame, given that a two-party system works better than a one-party system. A strong opposition party often keeps the party in power more accountable and less arrogant. It’s true no matter which party is in the driver’s seat.

And besides, the Democrats have a first-rate candidate near the top of the ballot; he is Bill White, the recently former mayor of Houston who switched his goal from the U.S. Senate seat he (and everyone else) thought would be vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison, to a run for governor. Make no mistake, he will mount a formidable effort against whomever the Republicans nominate in March.

That excitement obviously didn’t filter on down to the local level, at least not here, where the Republicans continue their vise-grip on the political infrastructure.

I spent a good bit of Saturday in Lubbock. I attended a meeting with the next Group Study Exchange team that will represent our Rotary district on a professional exchange in Thailand. The meeting ended around noon.

Then we had lunch and after that, we went to the Triple J, an eatery/watering hole at the corner of 19th Street and Buddy Holly Drive. Then the thought occurred to me: Where does someone like, oh, Mike Leach, hang out? The former Texas Tech head football coach has been in the news lately, as we all know. He’s a recognizable guy. He lives and works in a city that’s roughly the size of Amarillo (OK, OK, it’s a little bigger). Where does he go to escape the madness? Heck, even in his glory days — back when he had an actual job, such as coaching football players — he couldn’t show himself in public without being mobbed.

Now that he’s a mega celebrity as a result of some highly negative publicity, he must feel like a shut-in. Either that or he’s high-tailed it out of town to some posh resort full of other mega celebrities.

My wife made an insightful observation this morning at breakfast while listening to the quiet chatter among patrons and staff of the Pancake Station restaurant on Virginia Circle.

“I wonder,” she said, “if people in Alaska talk about the cold weather.”

Yep, it seems that the Arctic blast that blew in Wednesday evening has everyone in the Panhandle talking today about one thing: the weather.

Well, as a corollary to her thought, I offer this: If Alaskans do talk about the cold weather, how cold does it need to get before people discuss it? Yes, it’s mighty cold in Amarillo this morning, with wind chill factors around 10-below zero.

To those in, say, Point Barrow, that must seem like swimsuit weather this time of year.

I recently have become acquainted with a retired Amarillo firefighter who this morning sung the praises of a decision rendered Tuesday by the Amarillo City Commission.

He caught me a little by surprise.

The city did well in selecting a private company to take over ambulance service, said the former firefighter, citing the protections it has built in to the agreement with the company to protect Amarillo residents. Why the surprise? The firefighters union had lobbied hard to get the ambulance job. It believed it could be more faithful to the residents than some out-of-town outfit that is in it for the money. Northwest Texas Healthcare Systems, which used to provide ambulance service to the city, has quit, saying it lost $1.6 million just in the past year alone.

But then came the mountain of stipulations that the city laid on Colorado-based American Medical Response. Among them are the posting of a $1.5 million bond, which it would forfeit if it broke the terms of the agreement; requiring a six-month advance warning if the company decides to bail out of Amarillo; and the ability of the city to take possession of all the equipment that the company would leave behind — such as ambulances — if it broke the rules.

That is good enough, apparently, to suit the firefighters. My fire service acquaintance tipped his proverbial hat to the city for doing its due diligence in crafting an agreement that provides ambulance service to the city’s nearly 200,000 residents.

I, too, tip my hat, and not just to the city — but also to the firefighters for being so magnanimous in defeat.

A memorial service today made me sad and happy at the same time.

The service — at Polk Street Methodist Church — honored the memory of Walter Johnson, who I knew as a fellow member of the Rotary Club of Amarillo. He was, as Jon Mark Beilue noted in his blog today, larger than life.

It is hard to stifle a smile when thinking about Walter. He had a unique way of communicating — usually via e-mail. I will not attempt to mimic his style here. Suffice to say that, by definition of the term “unique,” Walter’s way of method of communication cannot be replicated.

Walter had whipped the cancer that nearly felled him. Then, just three days after Christmas, he suffered a massive heart attack — and died.

Thus, I am saddened.

Walter’s memorial service was full of humor and good tidings, which is so like Walter. He always — always — had a good word for those he met. And he didn’t need to know someone to extend a heartfelt greeting. That’s how he lived. That’s also how he was remembered today.

Indeed, that’s how he always will be remembered by those of us who loved him.

God bless his joyous spirit.

I’m glad Rush Limbaugh is recovering nicely from whatever ailed him while he was vacationing in Hawaii. The country needs him.

Why? One reason — other than the obvious, that I don’t wish him harm — is that we all should hear his skewed view of the world to remind us of how life really is for those who aren’t as privileged as he has become by virtue of his big mouth.

Daddy Dittohead proclaimed the other day that because of the health care he received in Hawaii that there is nothing wrong with the nation’s health care system. We have no need to reform it, he said.

So, there you have it: wisdom from a gazillionaire who can afford to pay for first-cabin health care, unlike, oh, 40-plus million uninsured Americans who don’t have access to anything approaching the health care available to the likes of Rush Limbaugh.

Yes, there is plenty wrong with the health care legislation being considered now by Congress. It’s too costly; I’m dubious of the requirement for all Americans to have health insurance; I’m suspicious of any program that requires more government participation, given that the feds manage to make hash out of just about everything they touch.

But we don’t need to take seriously any proclamation from Rush Limbaugh about the state of health care in the nation. It needs repair.

Limbaugh needs to go back to commenting on matters about which he knows something — although I’m unsure what that would be.

Happy New Year, y’all.

The one that has just left us kind of sucked — nationally, at least.

Although for me personally it was most gratifying and fruitful. Its highlight was a magnificent four-week journey in May and June through Israel with four of the most outstanding young people I’ve ever met. The Rotary Foundation Group Study Exchange experience would change my life, I was told over and over. Man, did it ever. So, my eternal gratitude goes to Fernando, Katt, Shirley and Aida for making me proud and for representing West Texas so beautifully on our shared sojourn through the Holy Land.
http://www.amarillo.com/opinion/MEJ.shtml
http://www.amarillo.com/staging/johnkanelis_slideshow.html

I turned 60 just a few days ago in the Caribbean with my wife and sons. That, too, was an unforgettable experience. The idea of swimming in the ocean on my birthday — four days before the official start of winter — never entered my mind until my wife informed one day about mid-2009 that we were going to St. Lucia in December.

What lies ahead? Well, I don’t predict anything these days, given that I’ve gotten so bad at it.

OK, I’ll take a stab at one thing: The race for the Texas House District 87 seat being vacated by David Swinford, R-Dumas, will be one of the more invigorating legislative races in memory. Who knows? It could turn into one of the marquee races in Texas this year. It will be fun to watch this one unfold up close.

It’s still too early to call the Rick Perry-Kay Bailey Hutchison race for governor. But if you put a gun to my head and told me to call it, or else, I would have to say it’s still Perry’s to lose. He is the incumbent and he does have considerable support among his Republican base. But mind you, I’m not predicting he’ll win it. He just might find a way to fritter this primary nominationg prize away. Waiting in the wings will be Democratic challenger Bill White, the soon to be former mayor of Houston.

The past year was full of downers. Job losses mounted. Companies in Amarillo laid people off in droves. The media business seemed to be battered throughout the year all across the nation. It became depressing. I hope we’ve bottomed out and are finding our way back to a new form of prosperity.

I’m glad people are still reading us in print and I’ve found that this blogging business is a whole more fun than I ever imagined. I’ve enjoyed the comments from readers, even those who have challenged my intelligence. Indeed, that goes with the territory. For more than three decades, hardly a week has gone by when someone hasn’t suggested that I’m not nearly as smart as I think I am. These good folks keep me humble.

Here’s to the start of the second decade of the 21st century. Man, even that seems weird.