I'm Not Giving up on Kirk Cousins...yet.

If you're a Washington Redskins fan quarterback controversies are par for the course around these parts. Four seasons ago, to a person, the city believed Robert Griffin III was the savior of the franchise. It was blasphemy to believe otherwise. President Obama may have been in charge of the Executive Branch, but RGIII ran Washington D.C. Since Griffin's rookie campaign a combination of ill-timed injuries, coaching changes, and toxic management have landed him on the Redskins bench and in the national sports media's doghouse. Who would have thunk it a few seasons ago. 

When it comes to the Redskins organization past is always prologue. The team has started 16 different quarterbacks over the past 16 years. Yet it speaks volumes about how the organization has been managed, particularly at the quarterback position. It's been a carousel marked by bad off-season signings, mediocre talent during the Steve Spurrier era (remember the old ball coach?), injuries, down to Donovan McNabb whose time had passed him by. If you go back even further, the numbers get worse. You don't have to be a General Manager to figure out, with a few exceptions, the cornerstone of any successful NFL team is the quarterback position. Over the years, say back to 2001, the franchises that have experienced enduring success have had the same quarterback for multiple seasons. The Steelers, Patriots, Packers, and Giants have won multiple Super Bowl championships. There are other factors that play a role in teams winning championships year after year, but the common thread -- indeed the cornerstone - is stability at the quarterback position. 

I started the 2015 NFL season riding the Kirk Cousins bandwagon. I liked his poise in the pocket. He had decent footwork. By all accounts he had committed to improving his mechanics during the off-season. When Cousins faltered my primary defense was that I needed a larger sample size by which to judge his performance. Not emotionalism. And while I still prefer a larger body of work by which to judge Cousins, the numbers, thus far, are trending in the wrong direction:

2014: 6 games 1710 yds, 10 TDs  9 ints  86 QB rating

2015: 6 games 1420 yds,  6  TDs  8 ints  77 QB rating

Those stats give me pause. The players seems to really believe in Cousins, both as a leader and as a quarterback. I can almost hear legendary coach Joe Gibbs heaping praise upon Cousins as a true Redskin. But he has a penchant for throwing interceptions at the most inopportune moments during the game. He's wildly inaccurate at times. The ball is either too high or behind the receiver. He doesn't appear to have the arm to make throws outside the numbers either. In back-to-back games Cousins has thrown an errant pass that was intercepted. Over time such bad decisions add up and can break the morale of any locker room. I've heard theories and excuses for the last two games. The ball simply didn't get there. I'm not sure where the Redskins should go from here. Colt McCoy's numbers are pedestrian at best. Robert Griffin III possesses a uniquely different skill set that presents a different host of issues, in my view. 

I'll continue to hold onto hope and believe that Cousins has some upside. That he's under performing and these mistakes are correctable. That all sounds crazy. By definition that's what being a fan is. You're irrational. Fanatical. If I based my love for the Redskins on facts and results, I would have left them long ago. I'm not giving up on Kirk Cousins just yet, but the clock is ticking. 

Hillary Hit It Out of The Park

There's a hotly debated topic bouncing around Democratic circles since last night's presidential debate. Which candidate won: Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton? Bernie Sanders supporters declare their guy was victorious. Hillary Clinton's avid supporters say she won hands down. Over the course of the primary season I'll use this space to opine, critique, and flesh out my thoughts as they relate to the state of the 2016 presidential race. Let me say up front that I'm an unabashed Hillary Clinton supporter. Yes, I'm in the tank. I'm biased. Team Hillary! Hand me the pom-poms...no, wait. Not just yet. Surely you get the point. In my not so humble opinion, Hillary Clinton is the most qualified presidential candidate to lead the country for the next eight years.

Unless Joe Biden decides to get into the race in the very near future, the 2016 Democratic presidential field is set and taking shape. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, Lincoln Chaffee, and Jim Webb are running to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.

Whether you're rooting for Sanders or Clinton, one thing all debate watchers can agree on, Hillary Clinton cleared a big hurdle by turning in a very solid debate performance. Quite frankly, she hit it out of the park. After a brutal summer of endless headlines about the email "scandal" that threatened to derail her bid for president, Clinton snapped back like a prizefighter and brought her A game. Her responses were crisp, confident -- and she looked like she was having fun. More importantly, you got the impression that Hillary Clinton wants to be president. Badly.(As opposed to a certain other legacy candidate.).

Anderson Cooper, CNN's feisty debate moderator, who at times appeared to be interrogating Clinton, asked pointed questions and follow-up questions about her flip-flop on TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) her vote to invade Iraq, and how she would govern differently from the current occupant of the White House. Throughout the evening Clinton advocated for paid family leave and offered a staunch defense of Planned Parenthood and women's reproductive rights. She also displayed a command of foreign policy that none of the candidates on stage demonstrated including a no-fly zone in Syria, a policy that President Obama currently opposes.

The most memorable moment of the evening, however, came when Anderson Cooper asked former Secretary Clinton about her handling of the email issue during her tenure at the State Department. After pressing Clinton for a few moments, Cooper pivoted to Bernie Sanders allowing him to weigh in on the email controversy, leaving the door wide open for an attack on Clinton. We're sick and tired of 'hearing about your damn emails', Sanders said to a standing ovation in the room. At the moment my mind temporarily wandered to Hillary Clinton's Brooklyn headquarters, where I imagined a handful of campaign staffers and interns
high-fiving over a few empty beer bottles. I don't think Bernie's comment was a game changer for Clinton by any means, but it did temporarily cauterize the self-inflicted wound caused by her handling of the controversy and left 15.3 million viewers with the impression that this is a trivial Beltway story that doesn't concern most Americans.
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In my view, the Democratic nomination is a two person race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Neither Lincoln Chaffee nor Jim Webb will sniff the nomination. Martin O'Malley is a solid progressive on the issues but the most recent poll has the former Maryland governor at fourth in his home state. It would take a combination of events out of Mr.O'Malley's control for him to breakout and be considered a contender. So it'll come down to Hillary and Bernie. Still, there are no guarantees. There will be no coronations. This could be a dog fight to the end. Presidential campaigns are full of surprises, false starts, mental lapses and gaffes. Running for president is grueling work.

For now Hillary Clinton has a small gust of wind at her back. I hope she enjoys it while it lasts. The race is only beginning.

Remember the war in Afghanistan?

If you asked the average Joe walking down the street to name the longest U.S. foreign war, the answers would probably vary from the Vietnam war to the Iraq war to some war their great grandfather fought in way back when. When it comes to war and the public perception, there's a tendency on our part to be more influenced by the number of movies we've seen on the subject matter, rather than the number of books we've read. Personally I can't tell you off the top of my head how many American casualties we had in Vietnam or World War II, but I can provide you with details about Bradley Cooper's character in American Sniper. The stunning visual effects from the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, a war drama drama based on the invasion of Normandy, still gives me goosebumps. Hurt Locker sticks out in my mind because, well, not only was it a great film set in Iraq, but it was the first time a woman won an Oscar for Best Director. I don't know if that's an indictment of American culture, or my own shallowness, but it's certainly revealing of the times in which we live. Point being, Hollywood filmmakers have had a tremendous effect on shaping our attitudes towards fighting wars, accounting for historical inaccuracies, and re-igniting national dialogue.

The war in Afghanistan lasted for thirteen years. That's three years longer than the Vietnam war and just shy of five years longer than the Iraq war. Think about that. The two wars in recent memory that continue to stir the most heated public debate are Iraq and Vietnam. In part, I feel,  because we're more visually connected to those two wars in particular. No politician has ever been pummeled by his opponents for authorizing the invasion of Afghanistan, yet it remains the longest U.S. foreign war in history. And now that the civil war in Syria is dominating international headlines, Afghanistan is pushed even further off our collective radars.

This is probably a good place to remind you that I have no intention of running for Secretary of Defense nor do I want to re-litigate the wisdom of invading Afghanistan. The truth is the country wanted vengeance following the attacks of 9/11, and President Bush was more than happy to oblige. So we are where we are. However the recent bombing of MSF Hospital  by the United States, which killed 22 people in Kunduz province, raises new questions about the future of Afghanistan and our policy for the region. For the first time since the invasion began in 2001, a major Afghan province has fallen into the hands of the Taliban. That's a major development. Not to mention that international watchdog groups are now calling this a war crime perpetrated by the United States. President Obama has since offered an apology, plans to compensate the victims -- and get this -- the White House is now rethinking it's withdrawal plans for the remaining 10,000 non-combat troops. It's unfathomable to think U.S. occupation of Afghanistan could extend well beyond Obama's presidency.

Maybe, instead of consulting with Pentagon officials and Congress about the future of Afghanistan the president should secretly commission a film directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Maybe we've exhausted all diplomatic and military options to stabilize the country. Maybe it's time to pull the plug on the whole damn thing and bring our boys and gals home.

Faith, the Pope, and Politics

I wasn’t raised in a particularly religious environment. My mother was a good woman who attended church on a regular basis.  Occasionally she’d drag me to service against my will. As I sat in the pew, the sermons oftentimes seemed like a blur. My mind would wander back to Second Street. Who was outside tossing around the football?  Which of my buddies were getting into shit? Or the score of the Cowboys-Redskins game. All pressing issues, I know. And though you felt uplifted after church, everything about the experience seemed perfunctory. You were just going through the motions. Sing a few hymns. Put a dollar or two in the offering plate. Shake Deacon Galloway’s hand at the end of service. That’s it. I dare say, for most of us, that captures our religious experience growing up. There was never a reckoning with one’s faith on a deeply personal level. It wasn’t until I was well into my twenties that I really considered myself a Christian. You know the born-again Holy Ghost type. For the first time in my life I felt like this was between me and God. But now instead of stale religion, questions would abound. Internal ones. How did my faith inform and influence my world view? Could I sort this out by simply attending church? What is my relationship and my responsibility to the church? Quite frankly, I still don’t know all the answers. However, I have learned that asking questions can help one find his or her spiritual bearings.

Truth is most days I feel like the Prodigal Son trying to find his way back more than someone who was once enlightened by the gospel. The inertia of faith is a funny thing. When you’re in motion, everything’s clicking. There’s momentum. But once you stop or slow down, it feels like God has abandoned you. Can I get an Amen!

This brings me to Pope Francis’s recent visit to the United States. Now let me say up front that I have issues with some of the teachings of the Catholic Church. Specifically the polytheist aspects of her doctrine.  Theological differences aside, Pope Francis swept America off her feet and me right along with it.  At a time when we’re having a national discussion about mass incarceration and Black lives, the images of Pope Francis embracing incarcerated men were moving.  The clip of the Pope blessing the young DREAMER who broke through security to hand him a prayer request.  It was a moment of compassion that transcended the politics of our broken immigration system.  And who can forget his address before Congress on the moral imperative of acting on climate change. We were witnessing faith in motion. What struck me– as I reflect in the moment – was what Pope Francis wasn’t doing. He wasn’t proselytizing. He wasn’t on a PR tour for the Church. His was a message of simplicity: make the world better. Make people around you better. Instead of rebuke and condemnation, Pope Francis chose the message of redemption. In an age of self-improvement gurus, TED Talks, and countless volumes on how to market yourself, it was refreshing to see a man of Francis’s stature get us to focus outwardly. He masterfully threaded the needle of faith and politics. Many may disagree with the Pope's politics but he humanized Faith, his faith, in a way that drew me in. 

While I don’t expect the debate over hot button issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and climate change to subside anytime soon, Pope Francis created space for me to see others beyond divisive policy debates and theological differences. He presented a model of engagement. One that I can hopefully emulate. History tends to reduce public figures over time to a simplified version of themselves. Pope John Paul II took many moral stands, including opposing the death penalty, apartheid in South Africa, and artificial forms of birth control. Today he is mostly remembered as being the leading spiritual opponent of the Soviet Union and communism. The legacy of Pope Francis is unfolding. It will be fascinating to witness.