America's Dumbest Is A Democrat

Josh has the latest fropm the Democrats' weird one.

Of Barack Obama, Biden says: "you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

And here are a couple of his past hits.

At a speech in South Carolina, he said Delaware was "slave state that fought beside the North. That's only because we couldn't figure out how to get to the South. There were a couple of states in the way."

And this: "You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent."

Jeebus! We found one dumber'n Bush and he's in our midst.

UPDATE: The Observer - the media outlet that reported the first Biden quote up above - has apparemntly transcribed the statement in a way to make it worse than it was. This is from Josh's latest update:

TPM Reader TC checks in from Texas ... "The debate shouldn't be comma or no comma. There's clearly a period after "African-American." In fact, the interviewer interjects his own "yeah" during the pause after "African-American," which is followed by another pause, after which Biden continues with "Who's bright . . . ." I don't like Biden much (I can't think of anyone who loves to hear himself talk quite as much as Biden), but there's no "gotcha" here at all."

UPDATE NO. 2: Kevin Drum gives us an accurate transcription from the audio:

Biden: I mean, you got the first, sorta, mainstream African-American.
Horowitz: Yeah.
Biden: Who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man.

Not as bad but still stupid.

Obama gives a good response:

"I didn't take Senator Biden's comments personally, but obviously they are historically inaccurate. After all, we've had presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Mosely Braun and Al Sharpton. They gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns and no one would call them inarticulate."

Atrios gets it right in pointing out that Biden's view of what is "mainstream" really consists of being approved of by DC insiders like Biden. Atrios says:

No one should ever be surprised that outsider candidates of any kind are treated with disdain by Washington power brokers and High Pundits, but the fact that Washington insiders didn't want to have much to do with Jesse Jackson has little bearing on the fact that the guy had fairly broad appeal and managed to attract a hell of a lot of votes, quite possibly many more votes than Obama will eventually receive (this is not judgment or prediction, just highlighting the fact that no one's, you know, cast a vote for the guy yet). He certainly had, by the only measure which is really important, a hell of a lot more broad mainstream support than did the very serious mainstream Joe Lieberman.

Hiding The Wounded

Check this out from the NYT:

For the last few months, anyone who consulted the Veterans Affairs Department’s Web site to learn how many American troops had been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan would have found this number: 50,508.

But on Jan. 10, without explanation, the figure plummeted to 21,649.

Which number is correct? The answer depends on a larger question, the definition of wounded. If the term includes combat or “hostile” injuries inflicted by the enemy, the definition the Pentagon uses, the smaller number would be right.

But if it also applies to injuries from accidents like vehicle crashes and to mental and physical illnesses that developed in the war zone, the meaning that veterans’ groups favor, 50,508 would be accurate.

Ari vs. Dickerson

Ari Fleischer put another nail in Libby's coffin with testimony that Libby told him about Plame during a July 7th lunch.

But ... uh oh ... it appears Ari's testimony as to his role an unwitting source of the leak is being challenged by John Dickerson, formerly of Time now of Slate.

Here's the paraphrase of Ari's leak testimony:

I recall I said to these reporters, If you want to know who sent Amb Wilson to Niger, it was his wife, she works there. Tamara Lippert Newsweek, David Gregory and John Dickerson, Time Magazine.

But Dickerson was at the trial and found himself in an alternate reality. He says:

My recollection is that during a presidential trip to Africa in July 2003, Ari and another senior administration official had given me only hints. They told me to go inquire about who sent Wilson to Niger. As far as I can remember—and I am pretty sure I would remember it—neither of them ever told me that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA. In a piece I wrote about a year ago, I figured that the very reason I'd never been subpoenaed in the case or questioned by any lawyers was that I'd been given only vague guidance and not the good stuff.

And this:

I had talked to Ari on July 11 and remember him telling me to investigate who sent Wilson. When I landed in Nigeria late that night, I found a few e-mails from Cooper. He was trying to get me to call him and wouldn't tell me why. I was a little irritated. I hadn't eaten, didn't trust the Nigerian food, and was filing to the Web site and closing three stories, including a long piece for the European edition that would run on the cover in Africa. But then, when I talked to Cooper, I learned why he wanted to get me on the phone. He had talked to Karl Rove, and Rove had told him about Wilson's wife. (Cooper would talk to Libby the next day.) When I realized that, a light bulb went off in my head. I realized that was what Ari had been trying to point me toward in our earlier conversation. It made perfect sense: It immediately undermined Wilson's report by making his errand look at best like nepotism and at worst like busy work from a CIA spouse who needed to find errands for her househusband. If Ari had told me that Wilson's wife had sent him, Matt's news wouldn't have been new to me.

Dickerson's version implies that Ari did know the confidential nature of Plame's identity and was being cute in his effort to get the info out.

A Day In The Life

Damien Cave of the New York Times provides a must-read report from a day spent with American troops in the battle for Haifa Street.

Sadly, there is a bullet that strkes an American soldier and causes his death.

There is also the Iraqi Shiite family in the apartment next door huddled together around a single heater and below the window sills. The best the Americans can offer, under the circumstances and before they leave, is that the family members keep their mouths open when the airstrikes hit the next building over so as to avoid blowing their eardrums.

Piling On Scooter

Just a brief tidbit on the Scooter Libby trial.

So far there have been four Bush administration officials who have testified that Scooter played a big role in the administration's pushback effort to Joe Wilson's New York Times editorial and who discussed Valerie Wilson with him. The fifth - Ari Fleischer - will testify today.

Critically, all these conversations were prior to his conversation with Tim Russert; the conversation about which Libby says he mistakenly believed he first heard of Valerie Plame.

It appears that all the witnesses have some baggage with inconsistent statements. Indeed, if it were just one or two of these witnesses, it would be difficult to establish Scooter's guilt. But the fact that there are so many of them that have pinned Scooter with knowledge of Plame and the importance of the issue to Scooter seems like overwhelming proof that Scooter lied to the FBI and Grand Jury about his Plame knowledge.

A couple of other observations - it is really striking how all these Bush administration people were so cavalier with being fully honest with the FBI during the investigation. I'm also surprised as to how cavalier they were with handling Valerie Plame's identity.

CBS Report on Battle of Haifa Street

Lara Logan goes outside the Green Zone and gets this stunning video report on the raging battle for Haifa Street, a location about a mile and a half from the Green Zone. WARNING: The report contains some gruesome footage and you have to wait through a 30 second ad before you get to the report.

Apparently, CBS won't show this report on its nightly news, but its important to see it to gain some insight on the ferocity of the battle taking place even at the doorstep of the Green Zone.

Bush On Immigration: No Animosity But No Amnesty

Huh?

Latina Lista has a good takedown of this nonsense.

Let me add to it.

I, like every other American, am an economic beneficiary of the hard work of the Latino immigrants who have come to America in the last two decades. I'm fortunate to have seen hard and caring work performed by immigrants first hand, to have faces to associate with those who have helped make my life better --- as opposed to many who only and unwittingly reap the benefits through lower prices, etc. I've also experienced the cultural enrichment the Latino immigration has brought to America.

Yes, there are some costs associated with any immigration. The benefits far outweigh the costs. Our limits on Latino immigration have been overly restrictive --- preventing enough willing workers from legally connecting with willing employers. The limits, I believe, have been driven, in part, by racism. It is disrespectful - indeed, insulting - to lump the vast majority of Latino immigrants together with evil-doing criminals. They, instead, deserve recogignition for their contributions to this great country. Broad amnesty and a larger guest work program with a real path toward citizenship are the humane ways to go.

The "WTF" Story of the Day

FDL posted a piece that raises questions regarding the creation of a super bacteria that exists in the medical evacuation chain from Iraq to America.

This is some scary shit that requires a full and immediate investigation.

Break On Through ...

28%

Super Bowl XVIIIMXVV: "God's Team" Vs. Da Bears

If you heard the post game interviews with Colts' Owner Irsay and their coach Tony Dungy, you would understand that it was the Lord (that's jus another word for God, for you non-church going heathens) who was instrumental in the Colts win over the Patriots.

So while some are picking the Bears to win the Super Bowl, they are erring in analyzing the game as an 11-on-11 affair. In fact, the Colts have an awesome 12th man.

UPDATE: ESPN has more on the "Divine Intervention" drive that has landed the Colts in the Super Bowl:

So how did Manning begin the game-winning drive in the Colts' improbable 38-34 win over the New England Patriots here on Sunday night?

By seeking help from above.

"I said a little prayer there on that last drive," Manning acknowledged of a possession that culminated in the winning 3-yard touchdown run by rookie tailback Joseph Addai with just one minute remaining. "I don't know if you're supposed to pray or not in those kinds of situations, but I did."

Prayer answered, right? Well, kind of.

Divine intervention manifests itself in many ways. On the do-or-die drive, in an instant-classic AFC Championship Game that featured two touchdowns by offensive linemen on fumble recoveries and a touchdown catch by a defensive tackle, it came for Manning and the Colts from an unlikely source in backup tight end Bryan Fletcher.

That's so cool! God - ever the trickster - manifested himself as a back-up tight end to ensure the Colts' victory.

The Opportunity Costs of the Iraq War

David Leonhardt writes an excellent piece in the New York Times which compares the costs of the Iraq War with other items we might have purchased. He writes:

Whatever number you use for the war’s total cost, it will tower over costs that normally seem prohibitive. Right now, including everything, the war is costing about $200 billion a year.

Treating heart disease and diabetes, by contrast, would probably cost about $50 billion a year. The remaining 9/11 Commission recommendations — held up in Congress partly because of their cost — might cost somewhat less. Universal preschool would be $35 billion. In Afghanistan, $10 billion could make a real difference. At the National Cancer Institute, annual budget is about $6 billion.

Hell, we could have universal health care for $100 billion a year. Think of how many lives could be saved as opposed to all the death and carnage that has been wrought by the horrible decision to engage in this war.

Turning Justice Into A Worldwide Joke

Read this and boot.

Here's the gist of it:

The Pentagon has drafted a manual for upcoming detainee trials that would allow suspected terrorists to be convicted on hearsay evidence and coerced testimony and imprisoned or put to death.

Damn, It's Good To Be A Gangsta!

TBogg has an inside look at the wingnut welfare system. He finds this graph from the San Diego Reader regarding righty wingnut D'nish D'souza:

Since Dartmouth, the conservative fray has been quite remunerative for D'Souza. Six years ago, he and his wife bought their home in Fairbanks Ranch [exclusive community in San Diego]. The nearly 8000-square-foot house has six bedrooms, seven and a half baths, and a four-car garage, where they keep their maroon 1992 Jaguar XJS. A circular drive fronts the French country stone house. The cathedral-like front room, with its full-length mirrors and tapestries, has an 18th-century French decor of (veneered) golden maple burl furniture. The slick floors echo like a museum as one walks through. In his office, there's wall-to-wall leopard-print carpet; floor-to-ceiling bookcases are stocked with titles in history, politics, and philosophy. The view out back features a bright blue pool and the arboretum-like landscape.

And all this for finding creative ways to say it's always the liberals' fault.

TBogg adds: "A leopard-print carpet? That is what a friend of mine calls "the triumph of money over taste"."

Maliki: Condi's Supporting the Terrorists

The Washington Post has an article up in which Iraqi PM Nouri Al Maliki takes Georgie and Condi to task over some of their recent criticisms of his administration.

Check out this back and forth:

[Maliki] took exception to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Senate testimony last week that Maliki's administration was on "borrowed time."

The prime minister said statements such as Rice's "give morale boosts for the terrorists and push them toward making an extra effort and making them believe they have defeated the American administration," Maliki said. "But I can tell you that they have not defeated the Iraqi government."

Ouch! That rhetoric comes right out of the Bush administration playbook. It must be a bitch to have your own twisted logic spit back in your face.

And there's much more. Kevin Drum looks at another passage and concludes: "Shorter Nouri al-Maliki: Just give us all your guns and then get out. We'll take care of the rest." I would take it further and say Maliki and the Shiites, by actions and words, are really saying: "Give us your guns and we'll take care of the ethnic cleansing."

Senate Republicans Block Ethics Reform

The big news today is the so-far successful effort of the Senate Republicans - led by Mitch McConnell - to block ethics reform.

Zach Roth thankfully uses this moment to remind us how establishment pundit David Broder lapped up McConnell's bipartisan spin not too long ago. Broder's always been one to judge Republicans on their beautiful spin as opposed to their destructive actions. To do otherwise would be uncivil and beneath the great establishmentarian.

But notice also how the traditional media is hiding the Republican's responsibility for blocking ethics reform - the AP's piece (buried on CNN's site) is titled: Ethics legislation derailed in partisan dispute. Fair and balanced to the point of being deceptive.

The Great Sacrifice

Kevin Drum has a great catch on this quote from Bush during his interview by Jim "Softball" Lehrer:

LEHRER: Let me ask you a bottom-line question, Mr. President. If it is as important as you've just said -- and you've said it many times -- as all of this is, particularly the struggle in Iraq, if it's that important to all of us and to the future of our country, if not the world, why have you not, as president of the United States, asked more Americans and more American interests to sacrifice something?....

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, you know, I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night.

Damn, it's good to be a ... Chickenhawk.

Snow Days at Macswainville

Fire Cully Stimson

The Washington Post has an editorial decrying the barely veiled threat Cully Stimson, a Deputy Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, made against law firms with lawyers defending detainees.

The editorial states:

"Actually you know I think the news story that you're really going to start seeing in the next couple of weeks is this: As a result of a FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] request through a major news organization, somebody asked, 'Who are the lawyers around this country representing detainees down there,' and you know what, it's shocking," he said.

Mr. Stimson proceeded to reel off the names of these firms, adding, "I think, quite honestly, when corporate CEOs see that those firms are representing the very terrorists who hit their bottom line back in 2001, those CEOs are going to make those law firms choose between representing terrorists or representing reputable firms, and I think that is going to have major play in the next few weeks. And we want to watch that play out."

Asked who was paying the firms, Mr. Stimson hinted of dark doings. "It's not clear, is it?" he said. "Some will maintain that they are doing it out of the goodness of their heart, that they're doing it pro bono, and I suspect they are; others are receiving monies from who knows where, and I'd be curious to have them explain that."

This is a call for economic retaliation against those who merely provide detainees with a defense. It is unAmerican and despicable. Cully Stimson has no place in our government.

Some Deal

Check out the lede in this NYT report on Somalia:

Somalia's warlords met with the president Friday and promised to enlist their militiamen into the army, a major step toward bringing calm to this city after years of chaos. But outside the peace talks, a clan fight over parking left at least six people dead.

There's beenn no effective central government in Somalia for a decade and a half and these guys - united only by their opposition to the Islamic fundamentalists - can't even agree over parking spots. I imagine the over/under on how long this deal will last may be in minutes or hours.

Bush's Crap Bet

Michael Gordon in the New York Times writes:

With his new plan to secure Iraq, President Bush is in effect betting that Iraqi leaders are committed to building a multisectarian state, and his strategy will stand or fall on that assumption.

* * * * *

“Everybody raises a question about the intentions and capability of this government,” a senior American official said, referring to the Iraqi government. “Is this a government that really is a unity government or is it in fact pursuing, either explicitly or implicitly, a Shia hegemony agenda?”

Have they not been paying attention? Maliki rode to power on the support of Muqtada Al Sadr and has done as little as possible to stop what even Centcom refers to as the "ethnic cleansing" efforts of the Shia militias and the Shias who have infiltrated the Iraqi Security Forces. Shit, didn't they notice that the guys Maliki handed Saddam over to for a lynchin' were chanting "Muqtada."

John Dickerson in Slate adds:

Bush's plan takes as a matter of faith that Maliki can deal with Muqtada Sadr and his militia—to which the Iraqi prime minister is politically beholden. It assumes that ragtag Iraqi troops will shortly be trained, equipped, and capable. Bush was admirably blunt this time about his past mistakes and the slog ahead. But the confidence he expressed in the Iraqi government—without caveats, doubts, or warnings—seemed utterly fantastical.

I'll go further --- the Shiite political leaders in Iraq will ride out the American troop presence so long as we keep assisting them in their war against the Sunnis. If we make any real effort to force them to accept Sunnis fully into a reconciliation or unity government, their public faces will politely ask us to leave while their millitias wil increase their attacks on American troops.

Good News from Israel

From The Guardian: "Amir Peretz, the Israeli defence minister and leader of the Labour party, today appointed Israel's first Arab cabinet minister ...."

Things don't change until people learn to live and work together. With Arabs making up 20% of the Israeli population, this is a good step.

Kindasleazy Goes Before Congress

It'll be interesting to see if they can get a single direct and nonevasive out of her. My bet is her standard - lengthy nonresponsive speeches designed to run out the clock. In short, she'll filibuster. She always does and the media looks away and whistles a pretty tune.

Here We Go Again

The AP reports:

None of the top three suspected terrorists in Somalia were killed in a U.S. airstrike this week, but Somalis with close ties to al Qaeda were killed, a senior U.S. official in the region said Thursday.

This, of course, after days of headline stories about how we nailed one of the terrorists responsible for the 1998 bombings of the African embassies. Color me skeptical about the killing of "Somalis with close ties to al Qaeda." I wonder if we'll ever learn if innocent civilians were killed or not.

Bad Apples

The AP has this post informing us that Private Steven Green was found to have "homicidal ideations" some three months before he with the assistance of four other soldiers killed a family of four that include a father, mother, a 14 year old daughter and 7 year old daughter. The 14 year old - Abeer Qassim al-Janabi - was raped and her body set afire.

Certainly this vicious behavior is highly exceptional. Nonetheless, the damage caused by acts like this is immense and raises the threat of retributive violence to the good soldiers in Iraq.

Clearly the system failed to vet Private Green. This leads me to a concern. With recruiting standards being dropped significantly to meet recruiting goals in 2006, aren't we running an increased risk of more bad apples instead of learning the lessons of the deletrious effects of an Abu Graib, the murder of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania, the Haditha killings, and the Green rape and murders.

And to come up with another 20,000 troops, isn't it likely that few more bad apples are likely to get through the vetting process?

UPDATE: John Cole at Balloon Juice posts an anecdote about a friend who was vetted from the front lines in Iraq because of a past DWI conviction. From these two anecdotes, my guess is that the vetting process is a mixed bag --- sometimes overly restrictive, other times unduly permissive. But I still wonder whether, with the reduced standards used to meet recruiting goals in 2006 and the need to now come up with another slate of 22,000 troops, there is an increasing likelihood that a few more bad apples will slip through.

Memories

Remember the White House's position ... there are no "records" of Bush meeting Abramoff.

Backwards: Purge & Surge - Afghanistan & Iraq

Where are the troops for the Bush Surge/Escalation in Iraq to come from?

Well, FDL catches a couple of nuggets in a piece from the Boston Globe that suggests some of the troops will come from Afghanistan.

Here are the key portions from the Globe:

A US Army battalion fighting in a critical area of eastern Afghanistan is due to be withdrawn within weeks to deploy to Iraq.

* * * * *

Conway said US commanders understand that the Afghan war is an "economy of force" operation, a military term for a mission that is given minimal resources because it is a secondary priority, in this case behind Iraq.

Afghanistan - the plausible nation building project - will get worse so that Bush can take a flyer at his vanity project.

Big Game Pick - Take Gators & The Points

On paper, Ohio State has more talent. Troy Smith is a better quarterback than Chris Leak. Ted Ginn is a better big play guy than anyone on Florida.

But the Gators have an intangible ... they know how to win in tough games even when overmatched. In the SEC Championship, Arkansas had more talent but Florida played smarter. The Gators have a coach - Urban Meyer - who excels at team preparation and who will undoubtedly have a few tricks up his sleeve.

Ohio State appears to tighten up in the big games. They played poorly down the strectch when they hung on to beat Michigan. In what should have been an easy game against Illinois, they played a nervous fourth quarter.

The spread favors the Buckeyes by seven - I say take the points and the Gators.

The People's House ... Not

Remember during the Clinton years how all the indignant righties referred to the White House as the People's House. As with nearly all things, the right's belief only applies to Democrats and not Republicans.

An observant reader left a link in the comments that takes us to this story on MSNBC. Here's the lede:

The White House and the Secret Service quietly signed an agreement last spring in the midst of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal declaring that records identifying visitors to the White House are not open to the public.

Transparency is one of the hallmarks of American government. Yet, at ever turn, we find an administrtion that has thrown out American values in order to hide from the public its practices of patronage.

Drill the Whistleblower

The rightwing's fevered dreams that the AP posted a story about atrocities in Iraq using a non-existent witness - one Jamil Hussein - have gone up in smoke. As the AP reports, the Interior Ministry has recanted its earlier misstatements and has admitted that the witness is , in fact, real.

But catch these two notes in the story:

Hussein was not the original source of the disputed report of the attack; the account was first told on Al-Arabiya satellite television by a Sunni elder, Imad al-Hashimi, who retracted it after members of the Defense Ministry paid him a visit. Several neighborhood residents subsequently gave the AP independent accounts of the Shiite militia attack on a mosque in which six people were set on fire and killed.

[The Ministry spokesman] told the AP that an arrest warrant had been issued for the captain for having contacts with the media in violation of the ministry's regulations.

So, while you are sure to see a huge effort at ass covering by the righty wingnuts who ran with this foolish story; you're not likely to hear one condemning the retaliatory activities being taken by the new Iraqi government against witnesses who describe human rights abuses.

The right must be so proud of their new Saddams.

College Football Playoff

Given the impressive wins posted by USC and LSU ... and given Boise State's great victory and undefeated season ... the only way to truly the NCAA football champ is through an eight team playoff.

Meet the New Saddams

Will Buch has a piece up with some background on Mowaffak Al-Rubaie - Iraq's National Security Advisor and the man suspected as being behind the Saddam cellphone snuff film.

A Politician's Personal Past Is Relevant Again

After years of ignoring George Bush's past personal history as well as his failure to fulfill his military obligation during the Vietnam era, The Washington Post decides that it's "game on" for a piece about Obama's past personal history highlighting in a sub-headline, Obama's decade old admission to having used cocaine in his youth.


The Post disingenuously raises the question: "Blueprint for attacks?"

Nixon & Ford: Best Friends Forever

"Anytime you want me to do anything, under any circumstances, you give me a call, Mr. President," [Ford] told Nixon during that May 1, 1973, conversation. "We'll stand by you morning, noon and night."

Via the Washington Post.

Bush Makes A Funny

CNN reports:

President Bush on Wednesday asked the Democrat-controlled Congress to give the White House line-item veto power to control spending.

As he prepares to deal with an opposition Congress for the first time, Bush is also asking lawmakers to extend tax cuts.

"We've got to make sure we spend the people's money wisely," the president said in a Rose Garden statement.

Ha ha ha ... Hee hee hee. Like what ... committing us to a trillion more to the worst war idea in America's history. How about more corporate giveaways.

No, what he's really after is to stop Democrats from spending in ways that actually might help average and poor Americans.

Did the Oil Companies Drop Prices to Influence Elections for Repugs?

I though I noticed a drop in gas prices around the November elections. Clem at DK gives us more with evidence from a report on NPR's Marketplace.

Citing Department of Energy data, the Marketplace report notes:

Oil companies simply took less profit from their refineries for a short period of time. Could it have been to influence a political outcome?

Well, right after election day, the price of gas suddenly rose after two months of sharp decline. Post-election, refineries have slowed down, inventories are shrinking, and gas prices are climbing.

Then there is this:

In the run-up to the election, oil companies cut gasoline prices 500 percent more than their raw material cost fell.

New Year's Day Picks

Family has taken priority over blogging during the holidays. But as I've been getting a slew of refresh traffic from Vegas, I figured I better get some picks up.

In the Citrus Bowl, Arkansas is a 2 point favorite against Wisconsin. Take the Razorbacks and give up the points.

In the Rose Bowl, Michigan is favored by 1 1/2 over USC. Take the Trojans and the points. The over/under is at 46; as a bonus pick, I say bet the over.

My heart is with Boise State as 6 1/2 point underdogs against Oklahoma in the Fiesata Bowl. But my head says the Sooners will win by a touchdown. Root for the Broncos, but bet the Sooners.


In the toughest game to pick of the day, we have West Virginia's explosive offense facing off against Georgia Tech's stifiling defense (the other side of the coin is a weak Mountaineer defense versus an anemic Yellowjacket offense). West Virginia is favored by a whopping 10 points. They'll win by 13, so bet the Mountaineers.