Hall of Fame with a Bullet

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that "Bullet" Bob Hayes made the 2009 Hall of Fame class.  Hayes revolutionized the game of football by introducing the concept of downfield speed into the game.  Offenses began to use speed to move the ball quickly down the field, especially using the long pass, and defenses began to use speed to bottle up offenses.  During his career, Hayes scored 71 touchdowns, accumulated over 7,000 yards receiving, and made 3 pro-bowls.

Besides playing football, Hayes was a 2 two-time gold medal winner at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and set the world record in the 100 meters.  He is the only person to win a gold medal and play for a Super Bowl winner.

Hayes is a native of Jacksonville and played his final season for the San Francisco 49ers and for these reasons The Backbencher celebrates Hayes' election to the Hall of Fame. 

Jessica Alba, Historian

Bill O'Reilly called Jessica Alba a "pinhead" because she suggested that Sweden was neutral during World War 2.  It turns out that Sweden was indeed neutral throughout the Second World War.  Alba was disappointed rather than angry and said, "it is so sad to me that you think the only neutral country during WWII was Switzerland."

The number of Americans now verified to be smarter than Bill O'Reilly stands at 300,000,001

Getting Over It

Andrew Manis was one of my seminary professors, is an award winning writer, and is a person I greatly admire.  He wrote this op-ed on whether Obama's election really marks the end of racism.  Andy wrote an award winning biography of Birmingham's Fred Shuttleworth, and racism and civil rights are his areas of expertise.  You can order the the Shuttlesworth biography here.

Biblical Marriage

It's stuff like this that makes me feel that it is time to declare once and for all what really is the Biblical definition of marriage.  Fortunately, the Backbencher is graduate of a theological seminary and an ordained minister.

The Biblical definition of marriage is one man and as many Jewish women as he can support. Concubines, however, can belong to any faith.  

I am happy to have cleared this up.

Classic Backbencher

John McDonnell is the Labour MP representing the constituency of Hayes and Harlington, which includes Heathrow Airport.  Many of Mr McDonnell's constituents will be displaced or otherwise inconvenienced by the government's plan to add a third runway.  During a debate on the proposal, Mr. McDonnell grew so incensed that in an act defiance he grabbed the ceremonial mace and placed it on an empty bench.  This little act of rebellion caused Mr. McDonnell to be suspended from the House of Commons for 5 days. 

Perhaps this was a futile gesture but it was one that we can all admire.

Backbencher of the Week

This week the Backbencher of the Week recognizes a local.  The winner is Rep. Bruce Braley(D-IA-1).  In 2006, Braley won a seat that Republicans held for 30 years.  During his first term, Rep. Braley did a good job on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and was one of the most effective questioners on the committee.  Just recently, Rep. Braley became a vice-chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee(DCCC) and head of the DCCC's Red to Blue program.  In this position, Braley will be responsible to overseeing campaigns in districts the GOP currently holds.  For doing such a good job in such quick fashion, we award Rep. Bruce Braley this week's Backbencher of the Week. 

I Went to a Hockey Game...

and a tennis match broke out.