Thoughts while wondering if the new tiki torches soon to be deployed in the backyard along with the new lighting is a bit too exotic and whimsical…

Tracey’s not upset at the news Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon has signed with the Phillies (she thought he had become a total egomaniac with that stare into home plate followed by that long, deep breath) but I’ll miss him. Great closers are hard to find, and he’s one of the game’s elites. And he was a character, something the Red Sox desperately need on a team with too many lard-asses. Of course, that’s a lot of money to blow on a role that a lot of teams have come to regret dolling big dollars out for in recent years.

This Red Sox departure does upset me, however. Although I was sad to see her predecessor Tina Cervasio go, Heidi grew on me during her tenure. Will never forget that skin-tight white tanktop with the short polka-dot skirt she wore two years ago while the team was playing in Texas. She looked absolutely breathtaking – were I the father of teen boys I would have sent them to their rooms for the night, she looked that dangerous. And ummm… that girl could wear a scarf, a quality in women I deeply respect. Best of luck to you, Heidi.

Going into the 2012 election year, Jay Cost of the Weekly Standard is must reading. Democrat and Republican campaigns alike would do well to add him to their favorites. Consider his latest column with these important lessons for both parties to keep in mind:

As mentioned above, the Democratic leaders and liberal opinion makers forgot these rules in 2009-2010. Too many of them believed that the 60-year political dynamic had suddenly been displaced, that a new age of Democratic dominance was at hand, and that the party should go about achieving its long-standing ideological goals. Democrats passed an inefficient stimulus that favored party clients too heavily, then spent more than a year working on health care and cap and trade while real incomes declined and unemployment continued to soar. The public made them pay for their neglectfulness in the 2010 midterm.

Republicans cannot make the same mistake as the Democrats in 2012. What this means in practice is not that the party must forsake its conservative values, but rather it must find a nominee who can relate them to the practical worries of these non-partisan, non-ideological voters in the center, and make those voters believe that he will be the best choice for the future. Put another way, he must be a great salesman of conservatism to non-conservatives. And then in office, he must govern always with an eye to holding them in his voting coalition.

Read the whole thing.

Here’s another reason where and why I choose to separate myself from Roman Catholic teaching on the death penalty. As I’ve written before, human life is a sacred gift from God, but when you trash that sacredness by committing a heinous act such as this, you forfeit that sacredness. There’s nothing sacred about this monster’s life; if Jerry Sandusky is found guilty of what he’s been accused of the same goes for him. I wouldn’t waste valuable taxpayer money keeping people like these incarcerated for the rest of their lives. (Hat tip: Free Republic)

I doubt Maxine Waters would feel this way had what’s been an increasing problem at numerous “Occupy Wall Street” protests happened just once at a Tea Party rally. She’s an idiot.

And for your feel good story of the day: Congratulations, America, you did it! And ahead of schedule, thanks to Barack Obama, the Pelosi-led House, and the Harry Reid-led Senate. Well done.