Author: thependulumswings staff

Does Lindsey Play For the Other Team?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The old adage that a tie is like kissing your sister rings true in politics this AM.

Heretofore, this site has long held the belief that the best thing going for the Democrats in DC is the lead Senate Republican in DC, one Mitch McConnell.

He looks old, he sounds old, he is old(80), and he sells out always willing to send two bucks the Democrats’ way if he can send one home to Kentucky.  He inspires few.

But, yesterday, another RINO pulled into a first-place tie with old Mitch.  That senator’s name is Lindsey Graham.

In basketball, you feed the shooter.  In other words, you pass the ball to the man, or woman, who has the hot hand and can score.

Old Lindsey(67) fed the hot hand yesterday.  Except he threw the ball to the other team.

Graham announced yesterday a bill to ban abortion after 15 weeks as debate rages over the issue after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year.  President Biden jumped all over that ruling in the early summer saying Roe v. Wade was on the ballot come this November.

And, it is.

And fan-boy Graham just fanned the flames.

Titled the “Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act,” (word salad that would make VP Kamala proud) the legislation comes as Democrats hammer the GOP on the campaign trail over state laws restricting abortions.  Apparently, allowing the states to make their own laws wasn’t enough for him.

Graham said Tuesday morning that his bill is similar to laws in other developed countries and could actually help Republicans running in the midterms.  Seven weeks out from election day and he pokes the bear.

You cannot be this stupid naive, can you?

“I don’t know what Democratic candidates in these contested states will say about a bill such as mine,” Graham said.  Our guess is plenty, loud, and often.

Polls show that the Democrats have made up solid ground in house races since the ruling that effectively overturned Roe v. Wade this summer.  In fact, over 60% of all Americans favor abortion.  That number reaches 73% when it’s women only polled.

The Republican’s playbook is paper thin compared to Democratic strategists.

Lindsey just added a page to it.  The play is called “throw the ball right to them.”

And, make no mistake, they know how to shoot it.

We can’t help but ask, “does Lindsey like kissing his sister?”

 

The War on Democracy

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If you think that the Capitol Building on 1/6/2021 was half full of citizens trying to overthrow the government, you point to one phrase in particular as you argue that Trump incited those present to march down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol.

“We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said.

If you think that the Capitol Building was half empty of citizens not trying to overthrow the government, you point to a different passage, in which Trump said, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

So, what is the simplest definition of insurrection?  It’s a violent uprising against an authority or government.

Was the 1/6 in the Capitol Building event violent, then?  Or, was it mostly peaceful and patriotic?  That it was dumb is not in question.

It comes down to how you see it, doesn’t it?

Think back to all of the riots in the streets the world over when George Floyd’s arresting police officer was accused of and convicted of killing him.  Many in the media labeled the looting, burning, and killings in the streets as mostly peaceful and necessary.  The local governments even told us that masks and social distancing could be and would be suspended so that America could have its say.

To shop owners and business owners, it didn’t seem peaceful.  To policemen and citizens killed in them, it didn’t seem too patriotic.  To all of them, it seemed more like a violent uprising against authority.

 

And, now one impeachment trial later, after President Trump left office, we sit 18 months removed from 1/6/21.  How far forward have we moved?

Well, according to some the war on our very democracy is very alive, not well, and on the ballot in the fast-approaching midterms this November.

An issue isn’t an issue until it’s an issue we presume.

Isn’t the very right to vote, count votes, protest illegal ballot harvesting, support voter ID laws, and demand a recount when our elections laws deem it reasonable at the very heart of democracy?

Did, as Trump claimed after he offered, Nancy Pelosi ignore his offer to station the National Guard around the Capitol Building?  If so, did she aid in a violent (or mostly peaceful) uprising?

Did the FBI infiltrate the MAGA men and women to further the chaos?  They redact every memo ever written under the guise of the nation’s security, so we may never know.

Did city officials from Portland to Oakland to Minnesota, to DC ensure that police stood down as the city burned down?  You know they did.  They told you so.

So, where does this leave us in this “war on our democracy?”

It leaves us at the ballot box to determine the winners and losers in this war.

Isn’t that where it all started?

It’s the same place in 2000 where Al Gore took time off from inventing the internet to insist that we count hanging chads, where Hillary had trouble accepting defeat in 2016, where Stacey Abrams did the same in 2018, and where Trump threw a temper tantrum in 2020.

It is where it all started, and it’s about to start all over again.

Now if we could just get the media slants and big techs to stay away.

Let’s hope this war on democracy, or just plain old democracy never ends.

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s been a while and you’ve likely got a hankering.  Ten Piece Nuggets are served below for the same low low pre-Putin Biden inflation prices.  As a bonus, we’re going to take it easy (somewhat) on Cali today.

  1.  One of our favorite government workers, Rep Eric Swalwell tweeted prior to a possible Texas rolling brownout on July 10th, “Texas.  Where Republicans provide plenty of energy to control your body, but no energy to control your thermostat.”  Yesterday he tweeted, “It’s time to rally, Cali.  We all need to do our part to help avoid power outages this week.  Before 4 pm pre-cool your home, after avoid using major appliances and turn your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher.”  Perhaps his own energy is misguided.
  2.  Two weeks after Liz Cheney took a victory tour on several networks after getting slaughtered by a 2-1 margin in the Wyoming primary she has vaporized into the background.  What do she and Swalwell have in common?  Too much.
  3.  After getting panned coast to coast for two weeks for the student loan forgiveness trillion dollar bailout, Biden went on offense. And, as Carrie Bradshaw would say, “just like that,” the narrative was changed.  “All Republicans are a serious threat to our democracy.”  “MAGA Republicans are a threat to our democracy.”  Some Republicans are a threat to our democracy.”  Well, at least all of them or either fascists or semi-fascists.
  4. Do Americans even know what fascism means?  It means “a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.”
  5. Did America get that vibe from Biden himself, all clench-fisted, podium pounding, and draped in red and Marines last week?  If we weren’t so dumb we might be insulted.  Maybe a poll can enlighten us.
  6. Meanwhile, a Rasmussen Poll released yesterday shows us that 60% of Americans feel like Joe Biden and his family have peddled influence and greatly profited by his positions over time in government.  Maybe it finally dawned on us after Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook restricting a story about Joe Biden’s son during the 2020 election was based on FBI misinformation warnings.
  7. How strong is it when 60% of America agrees on something?  In the most lopsided election victory since 1936, Ronald Reagan was re-elected to the presidency with 59% of the popular vote versus Walter Mondale in 1984. Reagan carried every state except Mondale’s home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.  That’s how strong it is.
  8. Nine illegal immigrants drowned in separate incidents over the Labor Day weekend in south Texas.  Chicago was worse.  Fifty-five people were shot and 11 killed in the three-day span.  Thankfully, none were shot with one of those terrible assault rifles in the city in the state of Illinois that has strict gun control laws.
  9. As Covid seems to be fading into the backdrop like Liz Cheney, the White House senses that America is vaccine weary.  So the Biden Administration put forth a new selling point Tuesday.  “View it as a first annual shot, akin to the annual flu shot,” they said.  It just took us two years to admit it.
  10. That record warmth in the Gulf of Mexico might yet get climate change advocates in their La-Z-Boy’s to remotely change channels to Jim Cacciatore and the Weather Channel before the season tuckers out.  Earl became just the second named hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic season late Tuesday.  It won’t swim in the gulf though.  A gradual turn to the northeast is predicted for Thursday sending the weak system to a tragic overwater death in the northern Atlantic.  Tic toc goes the no American landfall 2022 hurricane clock.

It’s already Hump Day.  Back to the salt mines.

Y’all Come Back Now

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

A lot has changed since 1962, and nowhere more so than in California.

Back then the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family from the hills of the Ozarks, moved to posh Beverly Hills, California, after striking oil on their land.  They struck it rich when ole Jed, who could barely keep his family fed, was shooting at some food.

And, wouldn’t you know it, up from the ground came a bubbling crude.  Black gold, Texas tea they called it.

His kinfolks told patriarch Jed that California was the place to be.  So he packed up his 1921 Oldsmobile Model 46 truck, powered by a four-cylinder, V8, 43 hp motor, and headed to Beverly.

Non-U.S. migrants are still very welcome there, but migration within the United States has reversed course.  Many more American citizens are headed out of California than in.  They may not like Texas tea, but they like Texas.

Would Jed, Granny, Elly May, and Jethro still be welcomed there?  Possibly so, but they’d need to make a few changes to be accepted.

For starters, Jed would need to leave his gun behind in Missouri.  Gun-free zones are all the rage now, plus assault rifles are greatly frowned upon.

Also, shooting at a critter to eat would greatly upset the PETA folks.  And, nowadays there is such a thing as a free lunch, especially if you look as ragtag as they did.

But most importantly that 1921 combustion engine, fossil fuel burning truck must go.  Acting progressively California lawmakers last week moved to require all new vehicles in the state to run on electricity by 2035.

But, it will come in handy for a while prior, especially for the next week.  Likely due to climate change, most of Cali is enduring a heat wave that will greatly tax the electrical power grid.

The good Gov. Gavin Newsom took time away from planning for his 2024 Democratic Presidental nominee run on Wednesday to sign an executive order that will allow the state to try to ramp up electricity supply.

The California Independent System Operator(CISO) has warned that stress on the energy grid could lead to blackouts and called for consumer conservation for the next several days.  CISO is asking consumers to avoid using major appliances and charging electric vehicles between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.

To summarize (see what we did there?) Cali doesn’t have enough electricity during the heat wave to service electric-powered needs that will be legally required to reverse global warming by forcing electricity upon its faithful.

The Clampetts need not worry about running the washing machine for clean clothes though.  Granny uses a good old washboard.

And, they have that old cement pond out back to keep cool in.

The last one leaving California, please turn out the lights.  Of course, if it’s between 4-9 PM they might not be on.

Y’all come back now, ya hear?

 

 

Special Teams

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

You’ve heard the old adage many times before, “defense wins championships!”   Maybe it does.

Try telling that to Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, or Matthew Stafford.  Heck, try telling that to the Old Gipper, Ronald Reagan, or even the want-to-be Gipper, Donald Trump.  They think the best defense is a good offense.

And, even before the leaves change, two different seasons are starting.  One is the battle for supremacy in the NFL, and the other is the battle for control of the two chambers of the Capitol Building.

You might say there is defense, offense, and offensive.  Sometimes the lines between the three blur.

Donald Trump won the Oval Office with an offense in 2016 that changed the old guard’s game.  On his way to victory, Democrats threw every name at the book at him.  He was a bigot, a misogynist, a homophobe, a womanizer, a Russian colluder, and a Putin lover amongst other atrocities they asserted.

They tried to make him play defense by labeling him offensive.  When it failed they impeached him a time or two while in office to force him to play defense.

They reached deep into their playbook.  And, Nancy even tore up Trump’s playbook on live TV once.

Enter Joe Biden.  After a decent start, Joe got picked off by Afghanistan. The constant Covid handouts and his stubbornness against drilling led to inflation.  And, quickly team Dem was defending.

Ah, but the Dems, too, think the best defense is a good offense.  And, they are quite accomplished on that side of the ball.

They started throwing money around like a well-oiled (or battery-charged) machine.

More covid relief, free shots, more covid relief, free testing, an infrastructure bill (meaning green for green new deals), another green new deal called the Inflation Reduction Act (it should be called the Manchin double reverse), and now some college debt relief has the base offense back in place.

Uvalde put gun control squarely back on the ticket.

They caught a Hail Mary when the Supreme Court ruled in one case that set aside Roe v. Wade after 50 years of women’s reproductive rights/wellness.  Make no mistake, they hate the ruling but love what it does for their November midterm playoff/run-off hopes.

And, now Biden, who ran on becoming the great unifier is taking a lap to drive the messages home. He’ll soon be tripping down the stairs of Air Force One in a blue suit in a blue state near you to hold pep rallies.  And, while gas is still expensive, the flight is a buck cheaper a gallon now than it was eight weeks ago.

The Great Unifier even called MAGA Republicans semi-fascists this past weekend.  And the Republicans deemed that offensive and want an apology.  They will need to wait for that as long as they have waited for the border mess to be addressed.

It’s time to rally the troops and get them to vote.  Maybe you’ll vote because you feel oppressed like multi-millionaire, MTV VMA winner, acclaimed singer, and eclair lover Lizzo does. She pleaded with fans to vote and “make changes to laws that are oppressing us.” “It means everything to make a change in this country,” she said.

Out of bounds is not out of bounds anymore.  You can be on offense, defense, offended, defended, offensive, and defensive simultaneously these days.  That is unless you are oppressed.

The (de)fenced-in Capitol Building awaits the winner.

 

The Great American Giveaway

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Several years ago Oprah gave away a car to everyone who attended her show.  Nice, but it wasn’t necessary to fill up the studio viewing seats.  People would climb over a  wall to get to see one of America’s great icons.

Several years later people are climbing over a wall, walking around a fence, and swimming across the Rio Grande to get into America in record numbers.

And, why not?  Like Oprah, the great American giveaway is full throttle.  It isn’t necessary to fill up the country.  But it does buy votes.

Just two weeks after the green new deal lite (aka the Inflation Reduction Act) lined donor pockets, Biden is closing in on a $329 billion dollar giveaway over the next ten years.  This audience is the college graduate/attendee who borrowed to attend and whose household income is below $125k.

Biden will sign off on a $10k loan forgiveness per person plan.  Then he can check the box on another campaign promise kept.  Forget if it’s good for the country, it’s good for voters that lean left.

Who pays for this handout now that the original signer of the agreement isn’t held to their promise?  You do, the American taxpayer.

If you went to college and paid off your debt, you now get to pay your classmate’s debt too.  If your parents saved for 18 years to get you to and through college they get to pay for any parents who did not.  Native American Elizabeth Warren chuckled about this very inequitable reality yesterday.

If you learned a valuable trade and are now welding, plumbing, pipe fitting, etc. you’re about to learn that you can take a blow torch to an additional $2k that you take home to cover the lackeys.

But not even 87,000 new IRS agents can find enough money hiding between the 1040 lines to keep up with America’s spending appetite.  The reality is we spend WAY more every year than we send to Uncle Sam.  This loan forgiveness will just get added to the mile-high mountain of debt.

What lesson does this teach our young?  It teaches the opposite of doing the right thing.  Why bother paying for your car loan?  House loan?

Diversity, inclusion, and equality(DIE for short) are words thrown down like another round of drinks on Capital Hill.  Except, none of what this administration is doing approaches DIE.  It’s all divisive and unwise.

Give money to green, take it from oil and gas taxes.  Give big money to Ukraine almost daily to protect their border, but leave our southern border wide open.

Enter the country and get a free phone, free medical care, and a free plane ride to an American city.   No vax, no problem unless you want to remain in the military that will fight to protect those that just walked in illegally.

And now we give money to college kids who should be educated to a point to get a job, balance a checkbook, budget their take home, and pay their debt.

Biden says that inflation is zero.  He claims that there is no recession based on the new definition of recession.   He says that the economy is great.

And, in spite of all of that, college-educated young adults can’t be held to their promise to pay down their self-inflicted debt?  What would happen if the economy turned south?

A chicken in every pot gets votes.  But, it doesn’t pay for itself.

And the chickens are getting more expensive in spite of zero(so says the big guy) inflation.

Lefty and Shorty Talk Fauci

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Last evening Lefty and Shorty were all but ready to close the Gulf Station.   Rain was falling from the heavens at an accelerating pace, mosquitoes were rolling in and cars were not.  Shorty- Why do we stay open until midnight?  Lefty- So that you and I can discuss one of the most influential people of the 21st century, Dr. Anthony “Tony” Fauci, who announced that he was retiring before the November midterms.

Lefty sat to the left of Shorty.  Imagine that.  Shorty sat on the shorter of the two “halves” of the 55-gallon drum about six feet apart.  Imagine that.  Each was cut down to size and retrofitted with a soft cushion top.

Lefty-  Can you believe what world influence he wielded? Shorty-  Meh. He was a not-so-great actor on a big stage with a constantly changing script. Lefty- Umm.  An actor?  Shorty-  Yes, actor.  But, he was not close to the best “Tony” actor of the last 22 years.   Lefty- I can’t believe you think…  Shorty- The best “Tony” actor had the last name of Soprano, Tony Soprano.

Lefty- What in the world does Tony Soprano have to do with Fauci.?  Shorty- They were similar.  Lefty- Wow! Go on.  Shorty- Well, one was tall and fat, the other short and thin, but.. Lefty- But what?  Shorty- Tony hired men to take a shot at hundreds.  Fauci hired Pfizer to give a shot to millions.

Lefty- Please.  Shorty- Tony was a habtual liar.  Fauci was too.  Lefty- Come on.  Fauci was following the science.  Shorty-  No, Fauci was following the money, same as Tony.  Both had huge egos.  Fauci wanted you to follow the scientist, not the science.  His act is now all played out.

Lefty- I can’t believe…Shorty- There’s more.  Lefty- God forbid!  Shorty- They both had women costars that acted subserviently.  Tony had Carmela, and Fauci had Dr. Birx.  Lefty- This should be interesting.  Shorty- Camela lied for Tony.  Birx lied for Fauci.  Lefty- I see.  Shorty- And, they both liked scarves.  Birx wore one every day.  Lefty- I’ll bite, what about Carmela?  Shorty- Once Tony had to buy back her loyalty after another dalliance and got her a Hermes scarf. She showed it off to all of her friends mispronouncing it as “her me’s. Lefty- So?  Shorty-  Unknowingly, pronoun identity may have begun right then and there.

Lefty- One of us could use a mafia necktie right about now.  Shorty- Fauci said that he wasn’t retiring, he was just going to the next chapter of his life. Lefty- Here’s a softball.  What do you think that might be?  Shorty- The N95 Masked Singer, what else?  But, he might also get to work with Rand Paul soon.

Lefty- What else?  Fifteen minutes of my life, I’ll never get back.  Lock the place up, I’m out.  Shorty-  Well, at least we socially distanced tonight.

 

How Far?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

How far down the rabbit hole are you willing to go?

  1.   Spain’s government mandated a minimum 80-degree setting on all home air conditioning units as the transition to green power hasn’t kept up with demand.
  2.   Ukraine’s richer by $50 billion thanks to the generosity of America.  Zelenskyy is so appreciative of this gesture that he took time away from posing for the Vogue cover to reach out to China to have them bid on the rebuild after the war that is or isn’t a war.
  3. China is so concerned about the effect of burning fossil fuels that official plans call for boosting coal production capacity by 300 million tons this year. That is equal to 7% of last year’s output of 4.1 billion tons, which was an increase of 5.7% over 2020.  All of the windmills in the world matter not if China and India don’t comply.
  4.  It seems like they disagree with then-President Barack Obama who lectured us that “climate change was no longer a debate, it’s fact.”  He’s is right though.  The climate has been changing for hundreds of millions of years.
  5.  All of this paves the way for the Inflation Reduction Act, which gives away over a quarter of trillion dollars to green companies and green-leaning pet projects.  Never let capitalism get in the way of a government, er, political handout.
  6.  All of the green handouts, capitalism, and the Inflation Reduction Act collided yesterday.  The Inflation Reduction Act, the major climate bill, was signed this week, continuing the EV purchase $7500 tax credit but only those assembled in North America qualify.  Capitalism stepped in and GM and Ford raised the prices of certain electric models by $6,000 to $8,500, roughly matching the $7,500 tax credit introduced under the inflation bill.  We think that’s called a zero-sum game.
  7. Thirty-one models qualify, but the government’s process to qualify is tricky and the timing is trickier due to quotas.  The “must have” is that at a minimum “final assembly” must occur stateside.  Could this be as simple as screwing on the gas tank cap to qualify?  Wait.
  8. Actually the only thing this screws is the gas combustion car manufacturing business.  Oh, and the big, bad oil business as well.
  9. If you obsoleted much of the need for oil (good luck) you’d certainly harm the economy in Texas, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana, and Oklahoma to name a few.  What do all of these states have in common?  Hint- It’s not abortion rights, er, woman’s reproductive health.  Think red.
  10. Who wins when wind wins?  Hint-It’s not states that have or will abort abortions.  Think blue.
  11. At least we seem to be winning across the 50 united vs. that pesky pandemic.  Two vax’s and two boosters did the trick.  How?  We don’t need to revisit government political theater handouts and capitalism do we?
  12. Although the military is still requiring all of the jabs or you’re discharged from it for refusing.  Masking will be mandatory for Philadelphia students for the first 10 days of the upcoming school year that starts on Aug. 29, after which it will be “optional but strongly encouraged.”  We have to guess that the disease can only count to ten just like many students.  Make it make sense.
  13. Meanwhile, the CDC Director weighed in, “In our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations.” Dr. Rochelle Walensky said this and more in a statement to the media yesterday that goes on to recommend CDC changes.

We’re so far down the rabbit hole that Bugs Bunny just asked Dr. Rochelle, “ah, what’s up doc?”

 

Ten Piece Nuggets

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s been a week.  Here’s a fresh ten to chew on.

  1. The 2022 United States mid-term elections will be held on Tuesday, November 8.  And, it’s a big day.  All 435 House seats and 34 of the 100 Senate seats are on the ballot. Additionally, 36 out of 50 states will elect governors.
  2. That’s 84 days or 12 weeks from today.  America will decide if it likes the course it is on, or if it wants to turn back a tad or two to the red/right.  The Senate is stymied at 50/50 while the House is 220-211, with Democrats holding that slim majority.  Divided we stand.
  3. The Twitterverse is full of copycats, but kudos to whoever was the first one last week to post, “If we have zero inflation (as our president said), then why do we need the Inflation Reduction Act?”
  4.  Democrat Rep Jamie Raskin(Maryland’s 8th Congressional District) had no answer to the question.  He was asked yesterday, “What parts of the bill do you think will be put to work on lowering inflation specifically?” He hesitated, then uttered “Next question.”   Here’s a question.  Has anyone ever heard of Raskin outside of Maryland?
  5. Where’s Joe?  The “need to know basis” and “obligatory” press only understand that he is vacationing at an undisclosed location.  Not to worry, it’s well earned.  The President has had a tough run recently.  A bike fall started it.  Then he caught covid, recovered (or not), then caught covid again.  All of that is after four puncture wounds to the left arm (2 vax, 2 boosts) in the last year as well.
  6.  Former President Trump won’t be vacationing out of the country any time soon.  The FBI saw to that.  Trump said the FBI seized three of his passports during its raid on Mar-a-Lago last week, calling the unprecedented search an “assault.”  The FBI at first denied the transgression, then admitted it along with the DOJ last evening.
  7. Norah O’Donnell, host of “CBS Evening News,” suggested the Department of Justice did not have Trump’s passports, tweeting, “According to a DOJ official, the FBI is NOT in possession of former President Trump’s passports.”  It was a hot take until it wasn’t a hot take.  Double check your sources, and always have two a wise journalism professor once said.
  8.  The Dems have a few things working in their favor as 11/8 approaches.  They’ve handed out three trillion dollars in under 21 months to continue to create dependence.  They’ve put a lot of greenbacks in the green companies’ hands so that they can give that money back to them for campaigns.  They have an abortion, er, women’s reproductive rights hailstorm.  And, for the uneducated, they can claim credit for inflation reduction in an economy that isn’t in a recession as recessions are now redefined.
  9. They need a big trump card in their hand to play the once every two-year race card though.  Surely we’ll have one bad shooting amongst the thousands weekly between now and 11/8.  Then, the peaceful protests will start anew.
  10.  There’s a race card being played in Minnesota right now.  It won’t fit the narrative though.  An agreement between the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers union and the school district states that white teachers will be laid off before teachers of color, regardless of their seniority. “Students need educators who look like them and who they can relate to,” the document says.   Crayons aside, we thought we were teaching kids to not see color.

Get back to work now.

If You Think Bigger They Will Come

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

“If you build it, they will come!”  That is the way the actual line, “If you build it, he will come!” uttered by Kevin Costner to his character in the movie Field of Dreams is often misquoted.

But, we think “they will come” is apropos for Major League Baseball.  They’ve done a nice job turning an otherwise ho-hum mid-August evening into a spectacle. Fan attendance is sold out strong and the TV ratings, unknown at this point, will likely point to success in year two of this showcase.

It feels very baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet.  America needs way more red and white feelings to go along with the blue ones.  Thanks, MLB.

But, could you do so much more with the Field of Dreams?

How?  We’re glad you asked.

Did you know that an investment group bought the field (now two fields) and the surrounding acreage for $7 mil last year?  They plan on turning some of it into a training facility for youth baseball and girls’ softball.

That’s nice, but not groundbreaking when breaking the ground for that purpose.  And, the construction will scratch any MLB games there in 2023.

Maybe MLB should offer them $14 million and take ownership of it and even more land that surrounds it?  $21 million?  Why not?

How about playing the All Star Game there once?  Twice?  All-star games in the NFL (Pro Bowl), NBA, and MLB are stale.  Take the lead.

If you keep it as is, how about dumping the Geico and all other real and virtual ads in the stadium?

Sure, money talks.  But so does the sacred non-commercial look that the original field in the movie had.  Take us back to our past, please.

Augusta National limits ads to roughly 4 minutes an hour on The Masters broadcast.   And you won’t see a billboard/ad of any type on the hallowed grounds.

How about playing seven games in seven days with fourteen different teams?  Turn it into a bucket list item.  Make it a vacation destination for baseball purists in late summer.   A hotel off in the distance owned by MLB, maybe?  Augusta has bought any and all land adjacent to its property.  Big plans will be realized soon.

Sure scarcity creates demand.  But demand also creates demand.

It’s a venue and a mindset that is unique to America’s National Pastime.   And, it’s past time that they got out in front of the other sports marketing-wise just once.

Doesn’t everyone yearn for one more game of catch with their dad?

Build it and he and they will come.