President Bush, perhaps one of the most unpopular presidents in American history, was on hand in Washington, DC to throw out the first pitch to start the Washington Nationals’ baseball season and inaugurate the Nationals’ new stadium. The President throwing out the first pitch” ceremony dates back to the days of William H. Taft who threw out the first pitch for Opening Day in 1910. While the ceremony was not suprising, what was suprising was the crowd’s reaction to Bush as he was introduced and walked out to the pitcher’s mound. Bush was greeted by a sea of boo’s and jeers and the entire stadium’s mood seemed to shift from nervous excitement to unprecedented disapproval.

Bush tossed the pitch high and away and walked off the field as the crowd contiuned making cat calls at him as he left. Maybe it’s the fact he was wearing a Nationals jersey when Bush is known to be a fan and former co-owner of the Texas Rangers ? Maybe the Nationals fans feel they’ve already had enough bad luck and were worried President Bush is going to jinx their new baseball stadium?

Update(s):
1.) The Nationals won the ball game (3-2) against the Atlanta Braves. Nat’s fans were in a joyous celebration realizing this victory over the Braves would be one of the few reasons Nat’s fans would have to celebrate this season.
2.) President Bush, despite all the pressure on him, did deliver a pretty decent pitch for an old guy. Maybe he should have considered a career in Major League Baseball.
3.) A video has been made available here: Bush Opening Day

Take me out to the ballgame !!!

Only in this country can somebody who has been convicted of fraud on a multi-million dollar level, spent the majority of their adult life in prison, found Jesus and turned jailhouse preacher, get released and wind up on Fox News chatting with Neil Cavuto as if they were old college fraternity buddies.

While it’s highly unlikely that Cavuto would welcome an African American with the same background, it didn’t stop Cavuto from pandering to the nefarious Barry Minkow (of Jewish background, now born again Christian) who is today’s “American Liar” and is an auspicious figure in the world of fraud.

From the Wikipedia entry on Minkow:

As a young teenager Minkow was a fraudulent entrepreneur who managed to present the front of a successful businessman for a number of years during the 1980s. His company, ZZZZ Best (pronounced “Zee Best”) appeared to be an immensely successful carpet-cleaning company. The company’s 1987 collapse cost investors an estimated $100 million. He was convicted of fraud and several other offenses and sentenced to 25 years in prison, but served only seven years. During his time in prison, Minkow became involved in Christian ministry, which continued after his probationary release from prison in April 1995. Today he is senior pastor of the Community Bible Church in San Diego, California, having renounced his felonious acts. Minkow is recognized as an expert on fraud, and speaks on the subject to university students and the business community in an effort to prevent fraud. …more here….

Minkow was on Cavuto today talking about Phishing schemes regarding IRS tax return scams. I thought people who committed crimes in this country were forbidden from making a living from their crimes? Wasn’t there an issue with John Wayne Gacy selling his infamous clown paintings he did while in prison? Wasn’t Kevin Mitnick forbidden to be in posession of a computer after his arrest for hacking?

Barry Minkow is and always will be a convicted felon, his Fraud Discovery Institute is a slap in the face of the American public who shelled out the tax dollars to convict and send this habitual criminal to prison the first time around. Not only is Minkow profiting from his former crimes, citing himself as an “expert” in matters of fraud, he’s left his natural born Jewish faith behind to become a born-again Christian. The more you read about Barry Minkow, the more his current profile he is building reeks of an elaborate con job, especially this part tacked onto the end of his biography, “Minkow and his wife Lisa live with two adopted Guatemalan children in north San Diego County, California.”

The most dispicable part of Neil Cavuto’s segment today was the part when Cavuto was pandering to Minkow and said Minkow, the scammer turned scambuster, has more than “done his pennance” and that Minkow might be in the running for a new television series related to consumer fraud.

Wonderful message this sends to the children of this country. Commit multi-million dollar white collar fraud. Get sentenced to prison for your crimes and when you get out you’re an expert on the type of crimes you commit and you’ll get to appear on Fox news and get a television series of your own. Don’t forget to find Jesus in your jail cell, and adopt a couple of third world country kids.

In 2004, while he was the Attorney General for New York, current Governor Eliot Spitzer oversaw the prosecution of a 16-person prostitution ring based on Staten Island. A 45-year-old Staten Island man was sentenced to two to six years in jail for the ring which Spitzer said ran from 1997 to 2004 and brought in millions of dollars. Now it appears the first-term Democrat who pledged to bring ethics reform and end the often seamy ways of Alban has been caught with his pants down in a prostitution scandal of his own. Spitzer is married with three children.

The New Your Times is naming Governor Spitzer as “client #9″ Emperor’s Club VIP and According to the report by the Times, Spitzer cancelled all public events today after a meeting with his top aides early this afternoon. Spitzer is scheduled to make an announcement Monday afternoon. Spitzer officials wouldn’t immediately comment on the story.