Author: thependulumswings staff

Time (Magazine) Passages

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The news broke yesterday that Time Magazine named Volodymyr Zolensky (three y’s, three o’s, one v, and one z) as its Person of the Year 2022.

We find this news amazing on two fronts.  One, why was he even in consideration?  Two, did you know that Time Magazine still exists?

He was in consideration for the reason we asked question number two.  The magazine has to break through the voluminous daily instantaneous information streams to somehow remain relevant.

It attempts just that by being edgy/controversial every year around this time.  The nominees were Liz Cheney, Elon Musk, and the winner Volo Zole (we decided to shorten the short man’s name to save virtual trees).

Is naming Volo Zole the Person of the Year a bit of misinformation(it is hard to describe how much disdain we have for that word)?

BBR contacted Karine Jean-Pierre Claude Van Damme de Toulouse-Lautrec, the self-described first black female lesbian White House Press Secretary for comment.  We’ve gotten no call back at press time from Madame Presser.

However, she did take the time yesterday to admonish the House of Representatives and particularly the Republicans who rescinded the vaccine mandate for our nation’s military.  She almost made eye contact when she said, “Republicans in Congress have decided that they’d rather fight against the health and wellbeing of our troops than protecting them.”

Maybe, only runner-up (or third-place finisher) Elon Musk really knows if that, too, is misinformation.

The case for Volo Zole is strong in some respects though.  How he has fleeced America out of 68 billion with a proposal for 38 more billion on the table is, well, even more sleight of hand than FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried pulled off in a crypto-cryptic kind of way.

While the Republicans were ruining the military men and women, other Congressional leaders were busy doing the people’s business yesterday.  This Congress is no lame duck.

House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine(rhymes with vaccine) Waters informed a group of Democrats that she doesn’t plan to subpoena former Sam Bankman-Fried while judiciously investigating the crypto company’s collapse.  She’s hoping he’ll walk straight in and help.  Makes sense and cents as good old Sam is thought to have helped the DNC to the tune of upwards of $100 million in DNC campaign contributions in the last election cycle.

And, Dems on the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted against auditing the money we have sent to Ukraine.  They prefer blank checks as opposed to checks and balances.  And, aren’t paper checks as relevant as magazines these days?

Volo Zole has also managed to stay alive for about a year now in this intense war-no small fete even if you’re but five foot seven inches.  How?  He even poses for pictures with US congressional leaders who visit the war-torn region.  Why?  He’s also shut down dissidents(that thing that Elon calls freedom of speech) to the war in his country.  Why?

Notice that we haven’t mentioned Liz Cheney again in this busy news cycle?  Why?

She’s old news to us just like the Biden Administration thinks the Hunter Laptop info is an old news story to them.

Do you see how this misinformation thing works yet?

You’d better.  You’re running out of time much like Time Magazine.

 

Ten(12) Piece Nuggets-College Football

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s time to go football bowling.  We roll a perfect game with ten twelve strikes below.

  1.  It says here that the playoff committee got it exactly right and in the right order.  If Tennessee’s Hooker was healthy maybe they flip with Bama at five, but the point is moot for two reasons.  One, he isn’t.  Two, teams five and six aren’t in the top four regardless.
  2. Nick Saban’s campaign to enter the top four as the weekend’s bowling pins were falling his way was 1) his job, and 2) borderline groveling.  Comparing losses and near misses to another team’s “weaker wins” isn’t too becoming.  When Nick speaks, the media fawns.
  3. Another thing that isn’t becoming is Nick’s hair.  It’s dyed a near crimson tide red and fewer and fewer sit daily on his head.  Maybe old St Nick can gift Nick some plugs for his head similar in size to the ones he was making for his team.
  4. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney runs rapidly down the hill when his team enters the home field. It might be symbolic of the team’s direction. They lost two this year and could have easily lost two more. Former five-star Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei entered the transfer portal yesterday after an up-and-down two seasons as the starter.  Promising freshman Cade Klubnik takes over.
  5. Clemson squares off in the Orange Bowl against Tennessee which is missing its aforementioned former starter as well.  It’s one orange-clad team vs another orange-clad team in the aptly named Orange Bowl.
  6. USC went from a top-four playoff-bound team to a team bound for the day after New Year’s Cotton Bowl against upstart Tulane in a mere 48 hours. The one PM Monday kickoff in Arlington Texas, where it’s usually around 31 degrees and sleeting that time of the year is sure to attract dozens of USC So Cal-based fans.  Lincoln Riley will need to care about defense for USC to ascend higher.
  7. Meanwhile, it is refreshing to hear Willie Fritz, HC of Tulane, say out loud that he is staying put.  Tulane hasn’t been relevant in decades and if he bolted for greener money pastures the Green Wave could return to irrelevancy for decades to come.
  8. Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener anyway.  Scott Frost found that out after leaving a similar upstart in UCF for Nebraska.  Billy Napier was the hot name a year ago from ULL.  He hasn’t gained too many fans after a year in Gainsville.
  9. It’s amusing to hear the “experts” tell us that a certain conference is down this year or that year.  This always happens when traditionally strong teams lose more games than the “experts” thought they would.  For example, the Big 12 is down a bit this year.  It is?  TCU is in the final four dance.  Oklahoma and Texas failed to live up to what the “experts” thought they would do.  Perception and perspective.
  10. The PAC 12 failed to secure a playoff berth.  Again.  Its been six long years since 2016 when the left coast last participated.  Washington lost in the semis that year to Bama 24-7.
  11. It’s Army v. Navy this Saturday.  It doesn’t get better than that.
  12. The futures lines are out.  Georgia is -185, Michigan +220, THE Ohio St +310, and TCU +1300 to win it all.  The value looks to be in Michigan and TCU as one of them will get to the final game.

It’ll be a December to remember.  Don’t believe us?  Ask Lexus.

And with the transitory inflation, if you need a loan to purchase one we’re betting Capital One will advertise a time or two that they’re here to help.

What’s in your wallet?

Hopefully, it’s a ticket on Michigan to win it all.

 

What’s in a Word?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Way back when way down yonder in New Orleans a weekly football rag was devoured by rabid NFL/Saints fans.  It was called Gridweek.

Its tagline was “Gridweek tells it like it is.”  And for a fledgling football franchise that was run as poorly off of the field as it ran on the field “like it is” was straight pain with no Novocaine.

Gridweek delivered the news with no spoon full of sugar to make the medicine go down, the medicine go down.  Of course, that was when we didn’t sugarcoat matters at hand.

And, it was before we knew how bad sugar was for you.  So, many healthy folks switched to salads and the like.  And, now we get our info/news/talking points delivered to our internet-connected devices as a word salad.

George Carlin saw this coming long ago.  He detailed the obvious in a humorous way better than anyone.  And, this two-minute must-see video takes us through wars that caused “shellshock” to “post-traumatic stress disorder” with steps along the way.

He said Americans don’t like reality and have trouble handling the truth.  Isn’t that the truth?

Sweeping the out-of-control national debt under the rug yearly as it grows nearly geometrically is but one example.

How about when abortion was an abortion?  Then it became pro-choice.  A few years passed and it was women’s rights, then women’s wellness, then women’s healthcare, and today it’s women’s reproductive rights.

It’s so much softer as George said.  And, to boot, you can have Planned Parenthood helping you along the way.  None of the above sounds like you end up being a parent, but we digress.

A fib, a falsehood, and a “big fat lie” became “a little fib” or ” a little white lie.”  Is a “white lie” racist?   We digress again.  Now it’s “misinformation.”  “Misinformation” has morphed into actually anything that anyone says that you disagree with.

This misinformation caused such harm ten years back that we created “safe spaces.”  Safe spaces are more word salad. I don’t like what you’re saying, go away.

Have you ever seen a safe space?  Been to one?  Created one?  Apparently, they are quite mobile, too.

You don’t die anymore either.  You “pass away.”  Father Time remains undefeated though.  Everyone (except maybe one) and everything that has walked on terra firma has died or will die.

Sins were once venial and mortal.  Of course, that was when the Catholics thought God could park the people he was undecided about in purgatory.  That’s the one and the only thing that the Vatican has done right in the last 25 years.  It dumped purgatory.   Now it’s either the stairway to heaven or the steps down to hell.

Everyone sitting in limbo, get out!  That bum rush for the door must have looked like our southern border does today.

Speaking of “bums” or “hobos,” well you can’t speak of them anymore. Red Skelton would be out of a job.  They’re homeless now, or underserved, or have food insecurities.

If you had food insecurity you used to be able to get “food stamps.”  No more.  The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal nutrition assistance program going.  Notice it’s nutrition now, not food.   You can get fed in a “SNAP.”

You can put lipstick on a pig too, but it’s still a pig.

You can pour so much window dressing on a word salad that it makes the lettuce float.

But, it’s still a word salad world and we’re all just living in it.

 

Questions as Answers

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

You’ve got questions.  You’re not supposed to answer a question with a question.  We did anyway.

Q.  Does it seem like Elon Musk is three steps ahead of everyone else?

A.  Does it seem like Elon Musk is four steps ahead of everyone else?

Q.  Is this the loudest fight for free speech in your lifetime?

A.  Do you need to reread the answer to question no. 1 above?

Q.  Haven’t the conspiracy theorists been leery of having a chip implanted in their bodies so that others can control how we think and who we are?

A.  Is (as Musk says it is) Neuralink, launched in 2016 with the goal of developing a chip that would allow the brain to control complex electronic devices and eventually allow people with paralysis to regain motor function, ready to begin testing in humans?

Q.  Why did Elon call out Tim Cook publicly on Twitter for pulling 17 million in advertising?

A.  Do you, once again, need to reread the answer to question no. 1 above?

Q.  Does Apple have, as Ricky Riccardo would say to Lucy, some esplaining to do for aiding China by turning off the airdrop feature in this lockdown?

A.  Does Apple’s Cook deliver the iPhone 14 on time and in the quantity desired because of the terrible mess over there, or is his goose cooked?

Q. Does telling people that you are glad that you have tested positive but have mild symptoms because you are vaxxed and boosted make you feel better about your decision?

A.  Does telling people you’re glad you wore a condom even though your significant other is pregnant make you feel better?

Q.  Did Joe Biden walk off of the stage yesterday with the microphone in hand still in the ready-to-talk position?

A.  Did someone forget to type “put down microphone after speech” on his note cards?

Q.  Did Canadian PM Trudeau say “Everyone in China should be allowed to protest?  We will continue to ensure that China knows we stand for human rights?”

A.  Didn’t Trudeau send out his police to arrest truckers protesting in Canada last year?

Q.  Is Mitch McConnell really all in on giving more money to Ukraine?

A.  Is there even a war being fought in Ukraine, or is this the biggest money laundering scheme since, well, ever?  How much money are all of the EU nations combined giving?

Q.  Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?

A.  Why are we having this debate anyway?

You want answers?  We have questions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Did you stress when you had to pay more for less at the grocery store?  That said, should you have eaten less this past holiday weekend?  If that, more or less, is correct we have help on the way below.  It’s ten complimentary fat-free nuggets.

  1. The U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman plan to unveil the latest stealth aircraft called the B-21 Raider at the company’s facility in Palmdale, California, this Friday.  The estimated cost to develop, purchase and operate 100 aircraft is estimated at $203 billion, or about $2 billion per plane.  That’s a lot for something that you can’t even see.
  2. Maybe they could nickname the B-21 Raider after the latest COVID variant which is also stealth.   You can’t see it.  With no symptoms, you don’t know it hit you either.   You test negative.  And, the government is spending billions fighting it.
  3. CNN dusted off Dr. Anthony Fauci this past weekend for some air time.  Fauci, amongst other comments, highly recommended that we all test for covid before going to our family gatherings and went on to say that we are still right in the middle of this pandemic.  He must not be listening to the ultimate voice on this health crisis- Joe Biden.   Biden declared the pandemic over two months ago.
  4. We’re disappointed that CNN didn’t ask if the good doctor thought that the World Cup matches, unlike the 2020 mostly peaceful protests, might be a super spreader event.
  5. China’s showing the matches but blurring the stands to prevent its citizens from seeing that 100k fans from all over the world in four venues a day are yelling, hugging, and shouting in close contact all the while maskless.  No deception there.  As Lebron taught us we should be sensitive to other cultures that we know little about.
  6. Dr. Fauci(81), Speaker Nancy(82), and Prez Joe(80) are a combined 243 years old.  America is 246 years old.  That’s some wealth of experience leading this country.
  7. Turning to crime in Gotham City, there is a NYC bill being seriously considered by city lawmakers that would strip landlords of the ability to perform criminal background checks on prospective tenants.  The legislation is known as the “Fair Chance Housing Act.”  Mayor Eric Adams supports the bill saying no one should be denied housing because they were once engaged in the criminal justice system.  Even Batman is moving to Florida.
  8. Did you know that there is a position in your govt called the deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the U.S. Department of Energy?  Did you know that MIT grad and “openly genderfluid” Sam Brinton holds down the post?  Did you know that 34-year-old Sam was charged with a felony last month for allegedly stealing a woman’s luggage?  At least he/she has good taste. The navy blue Vera Bradley roller bag is valued at $2400.
  9. If you wondered, gender fluidity describes the experience of changing gender identity over time. They can fluctuate between any gender at any time, such as feeling more feminine or masculine, bi-gender or agender, maverique or neutrois, and demi-gender or polygender.  Full disclosure- we took this definition directly from Wikipedia, so the information like the gender of a gender-fluid person may change at any time.
  10.  And from Cali, the WSJ  noted that under Gavin Newsom, the state saw a roughly 15 percent increase in the homeless population since 2019, despite having the most significant funding increase to fight the problem.  Throwing money to homeless people or throwing money at the homeless population isn’t the answer.  Identify and attack the root problems.

 

 

 

 

There Is No Equal Reaction

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Should anyone dare to question Sir Issac Newton?  Newton’s third Law of Motion is “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

One has to wonder, as we tear down statues, erase history from books, and peacefully protest if this third law holds up in today’s world known as The Great Reset.

For example, Donald Trump says he only counterpunches.  That would hold up as the equal and opposite reaction to a punch.  But, alas, Trump threw two haymakers at Ron DeSantis last week with no previous provocation.  “DeSantctimonious, he said.  The few listening groaned, “here we go again.”

Yesterday Senator Fossil McConnell, as he will henceforth be known here, said that he is honored that his Republican colleagues have reelected him to lead the Senate minority.  “Our united team is full of energy and ideas.  We are going to fight Democrats’ recklessness.”

United?  Hardly.  More would vote against him if they weren’t afraid of having his PAC cut off all monies to their future campaigns.  Ask Rick Scott about united as Fossil removed him from all leadership after his challenge to be the leader.

Full of energy?  Hardly.  McConnell’s only energy is static.

Ideas?  Name one.  Just one.  They won’t pass regardless.

NPR wrote this lede for a story yesterday.   “Donald Trump, who tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 election and inspired a deadly riot at the Capitol in a desperate attempt to keep himself in power, has filed to run for president in 2024.”   NPR is taxpayer funded.  Does any of the above sound evenhanded?  There are no counterpunches or opposite reactions as the press as we once knew it is gone.

How gone?  They loved Twitter until Elon Musk took it over and promised free speech.  Now they hate Twitter, hate Tesla, and hate Elon.  You can expect a Senate-led investigation soon in an attempt to marginalize him.  For what?  Good question.  But, rest assured it is on its way.

Chuck Schumer was marginalized yesterday as the House was called in favor of the elephants.  He took that moment to spew, “We have a population that is not reproducing at the same level that it used to.  The only way we’re going to have a great future is if we welcome immigrants.. get a path to citizenship for all 11 million (illegal immigrants).

In hockey, you get checked.  In politics, people stand behind you when announcing and will clap for anything.  Anything.

Would the same or fewer people in the 50 states harm us in any way?  Don’t we whine incessantly about clean air, clean water, food insecurity(that used to be known as shortages), and increasing homelessness(that used to be known as hobos)?  Want more problems?

Does abortion(now known as women’s reproductive rights) have anything to do with our reproductive levels?  We are asking for a friend.

The White House asked for another 38 billion or so(who’s counting) for Ukraine’s defense last night. If approved that will bring the total to over $100 billion since the war that either is or isn’t a war started.  Can you turn the $38 billion into bullets, guns, and tanks immediately we ask?  The opposite reaction is likely, “of course.”  Is there a bullet, guns, and tanks superstore somewhere that we aren’t aware of?

This is right on the heels of a crypto scandal that might will need to be investigated for possible money laundering from you the taxpayer to Ukraine to FTX to the U.S. Democratic Party, but we digress.

And, lastly, San Francisco’s mayor proudly announced a new program, Guaranteed Income for Transgender People (G.I.F.T.) will provide “economically marginalized transgender people with unrestricted, monthly guaranteed income as a way to combat poverty.”

The program will prioritize for enrollment of “transgender, non-binary, gender nonconforming, and intersex people who are also Black, indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC), experiencing homelessness, living with disability and chronic illnesses, and youth and elders.”

That sounds very inclusive and all-encompassing to us.  The program provides $1200 a month for up to 18 months and will be availed to 55 people at the outset or about $1.2 million.

Have we gone a bit too far down the proverbial rabbit hole?   Where did voices of reason in leadership positions go?

The next thing you know the rabbit will qualify for homeless aid.

And to think Newton started all of this by watching an apple fall from a tree.

 

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We all need to avoid any winter weight gain.  But, never at the expense of a serving of Ten Piece Nuggets.  Digestion begins below.

  1. We aren’t here to suggest that Kari Lake’s opponent cheated.  We have zero evidence of that at this point.  We are here to suggest that Arizona just promoted incompetence to a higher level in its government. Katie Hobbs’s department counted the votes.  And, it took seven days to count votes in the year 2022.
  2. If you want to get rid of election deniers, get an election process that works in a timely or even semi-timely manner.
  3. A close friend of BBR asked, “Why are all of the counties or states that take forever to count always won by Democrats?”  One answer to that comes in the form of a question.  Why are all of the highest crime-ridden cities and counties run by Democrats?  Some might call it incompetence and indifference that creates dependence and further bloats the government.
  4. One bit of good news is that the feared invasion of those pesky Russian bots interfering in the elections must not have occurred.  Our democracy was at stake we were told.  Or, at least using that as an excuse for losing some races wasn’t needed/used in 2022 after preelection concerns were raised.
  5. An estimated 27% of eligible voters aged 18-29 turned out to vote, compared to roughly 20% of young voters who typically participated in elections in the 1990s.  Not only did Gen Z show up in force, they overwhelmingly picked Democrats, by a 28-point margin.  And this was in a midterm, not a presidential ballot election.  Why so heavy a turnout?  Our guess is that they liked the free money handout promise of student loan debt relief and didn’t like the abortion ruling that returned the decision to the state level.  Note to Republican leadership, assuming that they have any leaders, find a way to appeal to the youngsters.
  6. That public health emergency that was set to expire in January of 2023 called Covid-19 must be still with us.  President Biden declared on 60 Minutes that “the pandemic is over” nearly two months ago.  But, Friday the President extended the emergency status through at least April 2023.  Once again the winter of death for the unvaxxed must be upon us.  Follow the science we were once or twice told.
  7.  The Biden/Fetterman 2024 ticket is trending on Twitter.  What is the duo’s early working tagline, you ask?  “It’s a no-brainer!”  Too soon?
  8.  The “I told you so’s” are out and loud railing on the cryptocurrency world.  A few years back some asked, ” why would I invest in something that doesn’t exist?”  “Ponzi scheme!” was another retort.  Who knows where this journey ends, or if it does?  But, one lesson is always worth repeating.  Don’t invest in something that you know nothing about.
  9.  Turning to sports, the Washington Commanders defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 32-21 on MNF last evening.  Hail to the Redskins Commanders! The Eagles’ loss ensures that for at least one more year no team will run through their entire schedule undefeated since the only team that ever did so in 1972-the Miami Dolphins.   Hail to the Dolphins!
  10. The latest FBS Playoff standings will be released tonight.  And the “what if” crowd will grow louder.  What if the LSU Tigers run the table?  What if THE Ohio St. Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines play a very close, hard-fought game and each has only one loss?  Will the committee put three SEC teams in?  As Aaron Rodgers once scolded us.  R-E-L-A-X.  These things always work their way out.  Always.

Push your chair all the way in and put your plate in the dishwasher.

 

 

Abby’s Picks

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Happy Friday.

Thanks to all who wrote to us concerned about Abby’s absence the last two Fridays.

She is fine.

However, we made a tough decision last week to send her down to the minors to work on her mound presence like some of her friends(pictured).  They’re tipping their pitches showing the ball way too early.

Her picks have made some of our readers poorer in a year that government recklessness has cut their 401k into a 201k.

She’s working on regaining that which she lost off of her fastball as well.

We wish her well in her future endeavors.

That’s it.  That’s the entire Friday post.

Except, Geaux Tigers!

Sailor’s Warning

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

That red wave promised yesterday morning should have been a Republican sailor’s warning.  And, while the Democrats can’t sing “blue skies, nothing but blue skies, over me” just yet, they can certainly see a silver lining in the dark clouds.

What exactly just happened?  Or, what continues to happen today as those who can’t count continue to count?

What happened was America voted.  And, despite what many polls identified as major flaws in how they were running the country, they voted for a lot of the same as what they voted for two years ago.

Does that make sense?  Of course, it doesn’t.

If you were shocked that Trump came from no political background to win it all in 2020, you had to be shocked about last night into this morning.

Here’s what we know happened, and a few guesses on why it happened.

There is no red wave.  Yes, the odds favor the House turning red by a slim margin.  And the Senate could as well by the ever so slimmest of margins.  Or, it might stay purple.  Or it might turn blue.   That is not a red wave.

Ron DeSantis sailed far and away as the biggest winner on the Republican side.  He won four years ago by the slimmest of margins for his first term as governor.  It was a blitzkrieg this time.  He motored through Miami-Dade county, a 12-point Biden win county, in the most impressive of fashions.  He has to be considered the Republican frontrunner for 2024.

Has the population growth in Florida, mostly from the northeast and accelerated by covid hysteria, come in as transplanted conservatives?

Pennsylvania can’t count.  Also, they elected John Fetterman.  Sometimes if you have nothing nice to say you should say nothing at all.

Will Beto O’Rourke and Stacey Abrams finally go away?

Beto got a veto in Texas.  He’s ‘oh for” in his last three election at-bats.  In Texas, you don’t say out loud that you’re coming for the guns.

Abrams said last night that she’ll continue to do everything she can to right all of the wrongs in Georgia.  Sounds good until the DNC money goes elsewhere.

Arizona can’t count either.  And, they have broken machines in Maricopa County supposedly.  Does anyone think to give them a test run a few months back?  No.

And, if they don’t elect Kari Lake it will be the second biggest surprise of November.  She trails 51-49 with nearly 2/3rds counted this AM.

Republican leadership, we say again, is nonexistent, old, tired, white, and selfish.  Young adults aren’t buying what they are selling.

Mitch McConnell and his PAC cronies had a game plan.  Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get hit.  McConnell and the RNC got pummeled.

The polls got it all wrong again.  Like the Republican leadership, it’s past time for them to look at their flawed ways.  They didn’t get to Trump voters in 2016.  And, they likely whiffed on Gen Z in 2022.  Calling landline numbers might be past its prime.  Get a TikTok account already.

Could control of the Senate come down to Georgia again in a Senate runoff?  Herschel Walker was once a hell of a running back.  There are holes in his candidacy as big as the ones his Bulldogs used to create for him to run through though.

So where does all of this leave one Donald J. Trump?  Today it is Mar-a-Lago.  Tomorrow it’s likely in some court.  By 2024, it’s likely on stage gunning for the White House.  The Dems can’t wait.

One thing about the weather “they” say.  It’s always changing.

The forecast from here till 2024 looks tough to call.   Red wave?  Blue Sky?  One fish, two fish.

Blame it on climate change if you wish.

 

 

 

Frick and Frack

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

They were out in all of their glory doing what they think they do best last evening for their respective parties.  Trump and Biden.  Biden and Trump.

Donald Trump was in Ohio at a rally of his own, promising a major announcement on November 15th.  He even spent some time attacking Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan and boosting his GOP opponent JD Vance.

Meanwhile a few states over in Maryland, Biden headlined a last-minute get-out-the-vote rally at Bowie State University, stumping for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore.

Trump didn’t call anybody in his party a bad nickname.  Biden forgot the want to be governor’s name.

On his best behavior, as he went through poll numbers at the rally, Trump did not call Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious” as he did at a recent rally.

“And, of course, you got that next governor. What’s his name? Wes… Wes…,” Biden said, turning to the audience as they held up “Wes Moore” signs.  “Wes Moore!” Biden said after reading a sign. “The guy’s the real deal, man.”

So on midterm election eve with a possible red wave on the horizon, you had an orange face stumping for himself and an ashen face who might be singing the blues hours from now just plain stumped.

The questions are “why now” for Trump and “why” period for Biden.  Haven’t we reached a point where we can agree on one thing?  That thing is one past president and a past prime current president are both more harmful than good for their sides’ cause.

It may have been fun to label Marco Rubio “Lil Marco” six years ago. How about “low energy Jeb?” Some smart money is now on DeSantis and calling him “DeSanctimonious” doesn’t draw the laughs these days.

It may have been fun for 81 million people to bounce Trump in favor of Biden two years ago.  Today that choice will cost the left the House for sure and the Senate is at best a toss-up.

Things are bad around these 50 states, or 54 if you ask Joe.  Only an ostrich can’t see that.  DeSantis and Newsom can.

The for-sure Republican that will get a Democrat elected to the White House in 2024 is Trump.  The for-sure Democrat that insures a Republican will move in is Biden.  Kamala is a very close second, but we digress.

The RNC and the DNC have quite a job on their hands.  The former needs to convince an egomaniac that it’s in the party’s best interest that he should have no interest in running.  The latter needs to finesse a sitting president and vice president straight to the curb.

That fact will never become clear enough in Trump’s cranium for him to see it.  That fact should become clear to Biden around 10 pm tonight assuming he’s awake and cognitive enough to see it.

Americans coast to coast can see it.  Especially the smart ones.

Toward the beginning of his speech last night, Biden reminded some just how smart they were.  He told the mostly Black audience at the historically Black university that – despite them not having the endowments other schools have – they were “just as smart” and “just as bright.”  Pandering much?

See.