The Ledecky Slam; Schumer Slams Obama -- Augsut 6, 2015

The Katie Ledecky Page

From Reach For The Wall:

The international swimming community, gathered here for the FINA World Championships, got a one-day respite from the tasks of recalibrating its record book and getting its collective head around the phenomenon in its midst.

Katie Ledecky swam again Thursday, for the fifth day in a row, but this time was all giggles and hugs and goofy smiles as she and three teammates swam off with the gold medal in the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay, Ledecky’s fourth of this meet.

“We had a blast out there,” said Ledecky, the 18-year-old from Bethesda. “It was so much fun being in the ready room with those girls, just so relaxed.”

On Friday, the pursuit of history begins again, with the preliminary heats of the women’s 800-meter freestyle, one of three events in which Ledecky holds the world record. The finals are Saturday, and if she wins – and no one in the world is within 10 seconds of her this year – she will complete an unprecedented sweep of the 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyles at a single world championship.

It is a feat that has no official name, but one that may henceforth be known as the Ledecky Slam.

1500 Meter Women's Freestyle World Record, 2015

*********************************

Speaking Of Slams

Schumer won't support Obama on Iran. At least that's what the New York Times is reporting. Schumer still has a political future left. In New York. The state with the highest percentage of Jews in the United States. The state with the largest number of Jews in the United States -- and by a wide, wide margin. President Obama is a lame duck. He has no political future but worse than that, he has thrown his turban in with the enemies of Israel. From The Times:

As if on cue, Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who was widely expected to oppose the deal, announced his opposition Thursday night.

Mr. Schumer’s announcement comes as Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, labors to build a firewall in the House in support of the deal, which has been denounced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. At six meetings in recent weeks, Ms. Pelosi has assembled an informal team of Democrats determined to win over the 146 House Democrats needed to uphold a veto.

But Ms. Pelosi’s team had had its eye on Mr. Schumer, conceded Representative Jan Schakowsky, Democrat of Illinois and one of Ms. Pelosi’s deputies on the Iran deal.

Ms. Schakowsky said that Democratic leaders had never put Mr. Schumer “in the ‘yes’ column,” but that “the calculation still is we’ll have the votes” even without him.

So far, 12 Senate Democrats and one Democratic-leaning independent, Senator Angus King of Maine, have announced their support for the deal. Two others, Senator Bernie Sanders, a liberal independent from Vermont, and Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, have all but announced their support.

That's 15.

************************

Flashback

Speaking of Schumer, does anyone remember this post? My, how times have changed.