Author: thependulumswings staff

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, and Friday

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

A funny thing happened on Election Day.  No one got elected.

And a presidential race precedent or two was set.  We take a stab at those and give other random observations below in our Lucky 13..

  1. Has there ever been a contest so hotly contested that five or six states are too close to call getting on to 12 hours after the polls have closed?
  2. Has there ever been more lax voting procedures and subsequent vote-counting in our country’s history?
  3. Allowing ballots to be postmarked by midnight of the election night and counted in the several days and even into the next week is a dumb idea.  We repeat it’s a dumb idea.  It’s the further softening of America unfortunately.  Take your time, we’ll wait.  Deadlines are so yesterday.
  4. A few states haven’t fully counted early balloting yet, hence the hesitancy of the networks to call the state for one or the other candidates.  Does it make sense to count early balloting earlier than late balloting?  Asking for a friend.
  5. One state (we cannot remember which as this writer fell asleep on the job) stopped counting at 10:30 last evening.  They’ll be back at it this morning.  Hopefully they took their union-mandated coffee breaks along the way yesterday.  Um, come to think of it, why drink coffee if you don’t want to work late?  Pennsylvannia said they’ll pick it back up on Friday.  Friday!  Punxsatawney Pete must have seen its shadow again.
  6. What happened in Arizona?  Long a red state bastion, it skipped over purple and used a dark blue crayon at the ballot box.  The Senate seat flipped too.  Cindy McCain didn’t help the Republicans cause dragging Trump through the desert.  Trump didn’t help himself dragging John McCain’s legacy down either.  Trivia question- How many Californian transplants can move one state due east in four years?  Plenty.
  7. It took almost thirty seconds after the polls closed in the Pacific Time Zone for every cable outlet to project California, Oregon, and Washington for Joe Biden.  What took them so long?  At least there’s no mystery of early votes, lost votes, or absentee votes on the left voting left coast.
  8.  The countrywide popular vote counted thus far is 6 million more than the final tally in 2016 and we’re still counting, and counting.  It looks like both parties got their vote out.
  9. It looks like the House of Representatives will see a few (maybe six) more Republicans but not near enough to take the majority.  Madame Speaker Pelosi can continue her magical broom ride.
  10. The Senate seems safe for the Republicans.  A few races are yet to be determined, but the Elephants lead in enough of them.  The seats were 53-47 going in and might be 52-48 coming out.
  11. Why did Wall St rally yesterday and why are the futures up today?  Did they smell a split government- Biden wins and the Senate stays red? Maybe.  Why did the social media, internet heavy NASDAQ futures head up last evening?  Does the smart money think that Biden and the Democrats give them cover to continue their unabated monopolistic and censorship ways?  Is a repeal of the China tariffs in the offing for the country that gave us the China virus?  Will you miss Trump saying “Chii nah” if the outcome boots him from the White House?
  12. As we go to Al Gore’s virtual digital press, Biden leads by the slightest of margins in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada. Let’s assume Trump wins Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania as he leads each by a bit.   It’s a fluid situation to say the least, but if that holds up Joe Biden is President of the United States.  Someone once told us to “expect the unexpected.”
  13. Will Donald J. Trump take his fight all the way to the Supreme Court citing voter fraud, irregularities, and the like if he is deemed the loser?  Yes, he will.  It’s his right.  Would we expect anything less in this unprecedented, new normal, Covid pandemic, year of the never-ending Zoom meeting?

Can anyone find a tent big enough to cover this circus?

 

Today

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Today either marks the end of the wildest and whackiest four years in Washington D.C. or it begins the second and final four years of likely the same.  We have a few observations and a few points to ponder.

  1.  No one outworks The Donald.  His campaign stops (rallies) in the last 10 days have been far, wide, and far too numerous to count.  At the age of 73, he ended his last one last evening in Grand Rapids, MI at about 11:45 pm.  After an Air Force One ride back to D.C. he tucked himself into bed at 4:00 AM.  He’s already yapping this AM on Fox and Friends.
  2. The Biden campaign, or more accurately the strategy to minimize it, is the oddest in this writer’s 60-year memory.  And, second place isn’t close.  Trump in 2016 was unconventional.  Biden in 2020 was unseen.  Having a few cars show up while you pontificate into a microphone on a stage is, well, weird.  When he asks them to blow their horns if they agree is, well, very weird.  Could the contrast between the Trump rallies and the Biden hornblowers be more overt?
  3. Crystal clearly the DNC’s strategy has been to minimize Biden’s gaffes/weaknesses all the while consistently pounding on Trump.  It was the plan since the day he took office.  It will be written about for years to come.  And, it may very well succeed.  Trump’s words, more than his actions, around the COVID pandemic played right into the DNC playbook.
  4. Do people really understand that if Biden is elected, Harris could be President in the very near future?  All jokes Biden jokes aside, it’s a very real possibility, isn’t it?  Maybe that’s ok with the “get Trump out at all costs,” or “anyone is better than what we have” crowd.
  5. Polls can tell you almost any story you want to hear if you dig deep enough into the numbers behind the numbers.  No matter the side you favor, the results will be fascinating.  How many of the “silent majority” chose only to be heard today?  How many first time voters were there?
  6. It would be a major surprise if Trump won the popular vote.  He lost it by 3 million four years ago.  But, elections are determined by electoral college votes.  And that sets up major announcements tonight as state by state results roll in.
  7. It seems that Pennsylvania is the lynchpin.  Both camps have spent a lot of time there recently.  The path or paths to victory are for either side tighten dramatically with a loss there.  It’s not for his health that Biden is stopping in Scranton and Philly today on Election Day.
  8. Put California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington in the Biden win column.  They are done deals and won’t be close.  That means Trump needs the obvious three of Texas, Florida, and Ohio.  If any of those three go blue Trump goes home to Mar-a-Lago, not Pennsylvania Ave.
  9.  Trump could win without Penn, but it’s very uphill.  He’d need the entire rust belt to fall his way.  And, Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina are toss ups to boot.
  10.  Businesses in many major cities are boarding up then closing up early today for fear of civil unrest (read that as peaceful protests) in the streets this evening.  The White House is getting a scale proof fence surrounding it finished up early this AM.  Is anyone concerned what the populous might do if Biden wins?  Of course not.  It’s all about the hate for Donald J. Trump.  It has been since day one.

Get your popcorn ready.

And, buckle up.  It’s going to be a wild ride.

2020.

Tomorrow

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Tomorrow is Election Day.  You already knew that though didn’t you?

Have you already voted?   Good for you if you did.   It seems like it’s more than your right.  It’s your civic duty.

It is estimated that over 80 million mostly U.S. citizens have voted early in these unprecedented, Covid 2020 times.  In 2016 rounded numbers, Hillary Clinton garnered 66 million of the popular votes while now President Trump got 63 million.  So, have 2/3rds of us already voted, or will the 2020 turnout smash 2016?

We’ll mostly know that answer late Tuesday night.  But first, long lines are expected from sea to shining sea tomorrow as well.  Add six feet between us in the lines and, well, pack a lunch.

Experts, pundits, pollsters, news anchors, hired guns, and hacks will tell us who and where voted for whom and why.   Will you, Lionel Ritchie, and your party of choice be able to party all night long?  

For the 50-60 million who haven’t yet voted, we have a dozen sincere questions.

  1.  Why haven’t you?  If you haven’t made up your mind we’re tempted to criticize.  Have we ever been this divided?  Maybe the choice isn’t so clear to you.  If so, we would like to know why.
  2.  Is it because you feel like you’re choosing between the lesser of two evils?  We’d understand that to some degree.
  3.  Four years ago, the ultimate outsider was chosen.  Four years later he’s running against the ultimate insider.  Forty-seven years in one elected office or another is a long time.  If America wanted to drain the swamp four years ago, does it, in a pendulum-like manner, want to fill it back up again?
  4. Can you judge Trump only on his accomplishments?  If you are objective the list is long and productive.  If you can’t look past the bombastic, sometimes crude, sometimes acerbic way of 45, then Biden is your man.
  5. Can you envision Kamala Harris as President?  If you vote Biden, and you live in the real world, you have to know that this is a real possibility.  And, it’s very possible sooner than later, isn’t it?  Is that the plan all along?  It’s a conspiracy theory as crazy as 2020, which means it’s possible.
  6. Biden himself said that the number one qualification he needed in a VP running mate was that she be ready day one to assume the highest office. Is the bait and switch set to roll in 2021?  Hillary once famously uttered about Slick Willie, “if you elect him, you get me!”  If America elects Biden do you get Kamala in the Oval Office?
  7. If you are considering Biden tomorrow, are you willing to put someone in the office who very, very clearly has diminished and further declining faculties?  Do you honestly think that he is fit mentally for the office?  “Neither is Trump!” you scream?  Trump is a lot of things, but you won’t outwork nor outthink him.  Four hours of sleep is his norm.
  8. Speaking of work, does the contrast of the last three weeks mean anything?  Trump’s rallies are far, wide, well attended, and frequent.  Biden’s are few, far in between, and actually have people honking horns in their cars.   How long do you want to feel like the world is ending?  Enough already?  Trump.   More time in the mental basement?  Biden.
  9.  What about Covid-19 and Trump’s mismanagement of it?  Do you honestly think Biden has a magic potion?  What about more lockdowns, even a national mandate you scream?  What about it?  What did the first wave of lockdowns do?  Germany was supposedly a model for how to work through this.  It’s November and their country is raging with new cases as is ours.   It’s a virus.  You can slow its roll, but you can’t stop it.  A vaccine can and Trump is pushing hard.  Too hard?   Cases should not be the barometer, should they?
  10. How was the economy before COVID?  The honest answer from any corner is that it was roaring.  Trump should get some of the credit for that, no?  What is Biden’s plan to maintain, if not grow it?  Raise marginal tax rates?  Raise the capital gains tax?  End fracking!  Transition (his words) out of the oil industry?  None of that sounds like growth. It sounds like government intervention into our lives and the regulation of industries.  Maybe that is a good thing?  Biden is your choice.
  11.  Little has been spoken about foreign policy this cycle.  You know why?  Because on balance, the world is a quiet place.  Nope, it’s not perfect.  It never is.  North Korea is quiet.  ISIS is neutered.  Russia, Russia, Russia you say?  BS, BS, BS Trump says.  China (spreading the China virus aside) is on notice on trade and behavior.  Do you find it odd that China would strongly prefer Biden over Trump?  Do you see any problem at all with Hunter, his dad, and a compromised situation when it comes to interacting with China?
  12. How about our troops?  More are home out of harm’s way, meaning fewer are abroad in harm’s way.  Trump saber rattles, but he doesn’t want war.  Veterans are thankful as well.  Trump’s mandate to his staff was to greatly improve post-service medical care.  It wasn’t good when he took office.  There is work to do, but the progress is real.

Every poll predicts an outcome that is different from the other.   Most have Biden ahead.  Almost all of the 2016 polls were way off.  Most had Hillary ahead.

If America doesn’t like the outcome (assuming we have one) hopefully the protests will be, ahem, peaceful.

Tomorrow will be fascinating.

We’d expect nothing less from the year 2020.

 

 

Abby Takes Down Vegas, Year Three, Week Six

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Abby provided another treat for our loyal subscribers last week. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?  It’s Halloween and she’s expecting more of the same- treats, not tricks that is.  Hopefully, those darn kids ringing the doorbell won’t disturb her too much while watching the games.

For the season the w/l record is 14-11 with one tie.  She suffered a half-point bad beat on a parlay, yet the bones are running at a fine 60% win rate, 24 up, 16 down.  The hunch got crunched falling to 1-3.

  1.  Coastal Carolina v Georgia St +3 – Quick, name one player on either team.  No worries, neither can Abby.  That said she loves her some home dogs and Georgia St. has its best team in many (howling at the) moons.  One bone.
  2. Texas + 3 1/2 at Oklahoma St. – The Cowboys control their Big 12 destiny and are home.  Texas has been wobbly from week one.   But the Longhorns aren’t ready to be roped in just yet.  Two bones.
  3. Georgia at Kentucky +17 1/2 –  Spot is a great dog name.  This spot is a great one for a home dog.  Kentucky fell flat on its jowls last week. Georgia wins, but the Wildcats scare them for three quarters.  One bone.
  4. Kansas St at West Va -3 1/2 – Every week there is a line or two that makes no doggone sense to Abby.  This is one.  She thinks the wrong team is favored here.  Does Vegas have a flashlight to see what others in the dark night cannot?  We think so, so we’ll zig when others zag.  Two bones.
  5. UCF at Houston +2 1/2 – Dana Holgerson, skeletons in the closet aside, gets his biggest win as the Cougar’s head coach.  Expect more than a point a minute in this ping pong match, but watch the Cougars get a stop late.  One bone.

The hunch bet needs to get out of the dungeon.  It’s not too early to throw a Hail Mary.  Take Virginia + 7 1/2 over North Carolina, Iowa – 2 1/2 over Northwestern, and TCU/Baylor over 48 in a three-team parlay for a one to win six return.

Abby has a question.   “If candy corn is so good, why is it only for Halloween?” she growls.

Woof!

 

Sir Charles for President

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday while channel surfing we stumbled across an NBA TV show celebrating Sir Charles Barkley’s 50th birthday.   Ernie Johnson sat down with Barkley and recounted his upbringing, his NBA highs and lows, his life post NBA, etc.  Nevermind that the show originally aired in 2013, it was quite good.

Why was it quite good?  Barkley was a breath of fresh air.  Barkley is always a breath of fresh air.  He’s such a well-rounded person (pun unintended) overall, and he has three key attributes that we relish.   He is authentic, honest, and funny.  Those are three characteristics that are far too often MIA.

In today’s world don’t you yearn for more, plenty more, of all of that?

For example, there was nothing funny about Tony Bobulinski’s interview last night.  Well, at least he sure seemed honest and authentic.  Did you not see it?  Understandable.  CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, and ABC so far have refused to run any of this, in their words, “unsubstantiated” story on the Biden family profiting from Hunter selling access to his father to foreign and sometimes communist countries.

Is there a shred of honesty in those outlets calling themselves news organizations any more?  And, make no mistake, while Fox ran with it on Tucker Carlson’s show, they aren’t a bastion of authenticity in the media any longer either.

And, what about the subjects themselves?  There’s nothing funny about Hunter’s documented troubled personal life.  And where is he?  Shouldn’t he be screaming from the mountain tops about the travesty of it all and how honest he and his father are?

Patriarch Joe has repeatedly denied knowing anything about the pay to play ruse that Hunter and his cohorts ran in multiple foreign lands.  Now last evening comes and goes and in written and audiotaped form comes undeniable proof that Joe knew even when he said he did not.  We’ll stop shy of saying that Joe directly profited from these arrangements, but authenticity of that sordid transaction is only a checking account statement away it seems.

Say it ain’t so Joe, again.  Or, admit that it is so.  Honesty is always the best policy we’ve been told.

An authentic and honest media of days gone by always fact-checked a dishonest politician.  The Watergate story was dug up by very hardworking journalists who would stop at nothing to uncover the truth.  Now, the only mudslinging is done by a compliant media to cover up the hole that the side that they have chosen has dug for themselves.

Charles Barkley has considered strongly, on multiple occasions, pursuing an elected political office.  We so wish he would.

There’s nothing funny about what we’re missing.  Honesty and authenticity used to go a long way.

Would the media even cover his campaign? Actually, now that we think about it, Sir Charles is in the media.

Perhaps he could cover his own campaign accurately.  It’s about the only way to get it done these days.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Football

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Tender and tasty mmm, mmm.

Fresh from the oven to your email inbox comes Ten delicious Nuggets.

  1. The BIG 10 returned to action on the NCAA football fields and made us all feel a tad more normal Saturday. Three of their top four teams made positive statements right from the word go.
  2.  Wisconsin kicked things off Friday night with a 45-7 mauling of the not so Fighting Illini.  Freshman QB Graham Mertz (not the great-grandson of Fred and Ethel Mertz) was bold and very good.  He completed 20 of 21 passes with five going for six.  Friday’s fun turned into Saturday’s misery though.  Mertz tested positive for you know what and by BIG10 protocol cannot return to the field for 21 days if a second test confirms the first. Ouch. Could it be a “Saban like” false positive?
  3. THE Ohio St. worked Nebraska 52-17.  Their talent and coaching puts them on a short, shortlist to challenge Alabama and Clemson come January.  Nebraska has a long way to go to join the best of the BIG 10.
  4. Jim Harbaugh shut up the hot seat talk for at least one week.  His Wolverines went into Minnesota and dispatched the Golden Gophers 49-24.  You can “Row the Boat” all you want PJ, but you need bigger and better paddles to compete with the BIG 10 big dogs on a consistent basis.
  5. Penn St. was the lone rust belt surprise falling to a better than most understand Indiana Hoosiers team in an overtime thriller 36-35.  And, while it has nothing to do with the BIG 10 you must watch the quadruple doink Rice field goal overtime thriller.  Did you already see it?  Watch it again.  Crazy.
  6. Does Notre Dame belong in the conversation with THE, Clemson, and Bama?  Pitt thinks so.  The Fighting Irish took the fight to the Panthers in Pitt and cruised to a 45-3 beatdown. We’ll find out soon enough as ND faces Clemson on 11/7.  Does the PAC 12 have any fight in the dog to get a dog in the fight?  We’ll find out soon enough as they FINALLY begin to play on 11/7 as well.
  7. And then there was only one who has won them all so far.  The NFL Pittsburgh team went to Nashville to face a well-coached and tough Tennessee Titan team yesterday.  They held on by a 27-24 score.   With Seattle’s overtime loss to the quietly good 5-2 Arizona Cardinals, Pitt stands as the lone undefeated NFL team after seven weeks of league play and six games for the Steelers.
  8.  You remember the talk about Tom Brady and Drew Brees losing a few MPH’s off of their fastballs? “Not so fast my friend,” Coach Corso would say.  Both play very well yesterday in big wins.  Brady’s team gets Antonio Brown next week while Brees’ team should get Michael Thomas back.  The Bucs and the Saints have distanced themselves from the other two teams in the NFC South.
  9. One of those two teams is the Atlanta Falcons.   They somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for the third time this season.  Matt Stafford and the Lions went 75 yards in the final 64 seconds, played pitch and catch on the game’s final play, and won by one.  Unbelievable.  Falcons owner Arthur Blank stood on the sidelines with a blank expression on his face once more.  He was looking around for someone to fire, but realized that he had fired everyone two weeks ago.
  10.  Point differential is a good indicator of a team’s real strength as a season progresses.  It is simply the total points scored minus points allowed.  It’s kind of a measure of when you win how big do you do so versus when you lose how close are you.  Who has the best differential through seven weeks in the NFL? Nope, it’s not the undefeated Steelers.  It’s the 5-2 TB Bucs with +80.  The Chiefs and Ravens are plus 75.  Pitt is plus 65.
  11. (Lagniappe) By this measure which division is best in all of the fruited plains? It’s by far the NFC West where all four teams are on the plus side.  Seattle (+38) leads the division followed by Arizona (+57).  The Rams and 49ers bring up the rear at still very strong plus 38 and plus 45 respectively.  Their combined differential is an excellent +178.  Their combined w/l record is a robust 18-8.  Conversely, the NFC East is a putrid minus 174 with a combined record of 7-20-1.  Can you spell P U?

It’s work time.

Abby Takes Down Vegas-Year Three, Week Five

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Abby felt a bit hungover Sunday.  After a four week run, her picks last week tasted as fine as warm Mad Dog 20/20 wine.

The week brought reality back into the season-long results.  Wins are 11 v losses at nine.  One tie.  The most important bones wagered are 17 up v 13 down.  The hunch is 1-2 after a rare bye week last week.

A little hair of the dog to cure what ails you is below.

  1. Notre Dame at Pittsburgh +9 1/2 – Notre Dame enters week 5 undefeated and with high hopes.  Notre Dame is good, not great.  Pitt is not great but good enough.  It’s a simple home dog who gets up for the big game. ND wins, but it’s close.  Two bones.
  2. South Carolina @ LSU -6 –  This line opened at 6 and went quickly to 7 and 1/2.  It’s back to 6 as LSU will start a true freshman in place of the injured Myles Brennan.  LSU also self-imposed penalties for football recruiting violations this week.  At least a hurricane didn’t hit town this week.  Zig bet.  Three bones.
  3. Baylor +9 at Texas and under 61 – Parlays aren’t for everyone.  Dave Aranda’s D isn’t for everyone.  But, it’ll slow the high scoring Longhorns just enough to cover the points and the under.  One bone to win three bones.
  4. Oklahoma -6 and 1/2 at TCU-  This is a good spot for TCU.  But we think the next great NFL coach (ahem) builds on the quadruple OT win in the Red River Shootout somehow with a late cover.  One bone.
  5. Kentucky at Missouri +5 and 1/2 and Florida St. at Louisville – 4 and 1/2– What’s up with two parlays in one week?  It’s go time to gather some bones.  Kentucky travels back to back weeks and comes off of a big win at Tennessee.  Is Florida St capable of two big efforts in a row?  Nah.  One bone to win three bones.

The Big Ten opens for business finally in 2020.  Betting week one is dangerous.  Spotting 20 in week one is even more dangerous.  Badger happy hours for Friday games start about right now and are most dangerous.  On a hunch take Illinois plus 20 at Wisconsin.

Party on!

Woof!

Lefty and Shorty Tackle the World’s Issues

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If Lefty and Shorty were still with us last evening might have unfolded like this.

Lefty and Shorty sat quietly in the cool but nice fall air.  It was 10:30 PM, and cars were nowhere to be found.  Lefty- Why do we even stay open this late?  Shorty- I guess so that we can discuss this crazy world that we live in today.

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

Lefty- What about Iran?  Shorty- How far?  Lefty- Iran, the country.  Shorty- I knew you were quite the runner in high school, but cross country at your age?  Lefty- Stay with me.  Iran, the country, was identified by the FBI as interfering in our election.  They sent threatening emails to Democratic-leaning voters saying they would be harmed if they didn’t vote for Trump.  Shorty-  Good idea, wrong candidate if you ask me.  Iran must lean to the left, Lefty.  Lefty- Russia is at it again, too, they said.  Shorty- Seems like they get blamed for everything.

Lefty decided a long pause might reset the dialogue.

Lefty- At least China isn’t accused.  Shorty- They already did more than Iran and Russia combined.  Lefty- How so?  Shorty-  They gave us the China virus.  That’s the most divisive topic across our country today. Lefty- The China virus?  Shorty- That’s what Trump calls it.

Lefty- Let’s change gears shall we?  Shorty-  It’s too late.  That car can wait till the morning.  Lefty-Ummmm.  I meant let’s talk about something else.  Shorty- Ok.

Lefty- What do you think about Hunter?  Shorty- As long as people eat what they kill I think it’s fine.  Lefty- Don’t put ideas in my head.  Shorty- Huh?  Lefty-  I’M TALKING ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN.  Shorty-  Ah, I guess China gave us the virus and gave Hunter 10 million or so.   Bad for our country, but good for him.   Lefty- Where’s the proof of that?  Shorty- In a big safe in daddy Joe Biden’s basement I’d guess.  Why else would he spend so much time down there?

Lefty- Amy Coney Barrett is going to get voted through to the full Senate today.  Shorty- To replace Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  Lefty- Yes.  Shorty- Why do all Supreme Court justices always get referred to by their full names?

Lefty took the deepest of deep breaths.

Lefty- Are you going to watch the debate tomorrow night?  Shorty- No, I won’t.

Lefty- I’m going to refill the soft drink machine.  Shorty- I’ll help.  Lefty- No, you won’t.

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday’s rant about Hunter Biden and all that is wrong with that story left you hungry.  We understand.  Politics is getting harder on the stomach by the day.

We have your nuggets.  They’re a day late and were nearly a few nuggets short.  Deadlines are troublesome when your staff shows up late.

As usual, they’re randomly presented, but cooked just right.

  1.  Did you see what Tennessee Head Coach Mike Vrabel did late in the game v the Houston Texans Sunday?  He purposely sent a 12th man onto the field while on defense to draw a penalty.  It was 2nd and 1 and the clock had reached 3:30 left in the fourth quarter.  The high probability that the Texans, leading 30-29, would get a first down on that or the 3rd down play meant the clock or his timeouts could be drawn down significantly.  He conceded the first down, saved a timeout or two, and saved 45 or more seconds.  Scroll to the bottom of this article to see it unfold.
  2. The Texans went on to score but left the Titans enough time and timeouts to tie the game in regulation with a very late touchdown.  In overtime the Titans won the coin toss, drove the length of the field, and won the game.  It’s a Bill Belichick type of move from a Bill Belichick disciple.  Expect the ever-active NFL rules committee to take action this offseason somehow to prevent this in the future.  It’s called the NFL.  It’s called the No Fun League, where creative thinking is discouraged at times.
  3. The Dak-less Dallas Cowboys looked below average with backup Andy Dalton leading them last MNF evening.  It might be a long road ahead for a team that was picked to win the NFC East by most.  They fell to 2-4.  The East is bad.  Correction, the East is very bad.  The Cowboys remain on top of the division at 2-4.  That’s no typo.  The Washington Football Team, the Philadelphia Phootball Eagles, and the New York Football Giants each have one win to show in six tries.
  4.  Who’s undefeated after six weeks?  Seattle, Tennessee, and Pittsburgh are.  Front runners in the NFL rarely fade.  It’ll be interesting in late December if these three are still on a shortlist vying for home-field advantage throughout.  It says here that they will be.  Baltimore and Kansas City might have a bit to say about that in the AFC, and Green Bay might as well in the NFC.  Sorry Chicago fans, they won’t but will contend for a nice seed at this pace.  The Bear D is good.  The Bear O is bad.  Did somebody just ask, “what about Tom Brady and Tampa?”  Nah.
  5. The Big 10 rolls out the pigskin this weekend.  Welcome back.  They’ve been missed.  More football is better than less.  And, Clemson and Alabama need someone to keep them company at the top.  It’s lonely up there.  It’s very lonely up there.  Sure, Notre Dame is undefeated.  Does anyone really think that they are on the aforementioned two teams’ level?  THE Ohio St might well be.  When the PAC 12 resumes, which we presume will be before 2024, maybe even Oregon can join a conversation.
  6. When Oklahoma St and Texas A&M are ranked 6th and 7th respectively you can tell football isn’t playing with a full deck nor to a full house.  2020.
  7. The World Series starts tonight.  Will you be watching?  The matchup is very interesting.  Tampa is a small, small media market,  LA is the second largest.  Tampa Bay’s payroll is 28th out of 32 teams.  Los Angeles pays 2nd best trailing only the NY Yankees.  The Rays are +175, the Dodgers are -215.
  8. The Rays have four current or former All-Stars with five total appearances.  The Dodgers have 12 players combining to make 26 appearances.
  9. The Dodgers acquired Mookie Betts in the offseason and the list of better nonpitching players in the game is very short.  The Rays acquired Randy Arozarena.  He was an obscure rookie outfielder in the Cardinals organization.  In 2019 he spent 1/2 a year in AA and half a year in AAA.  Arozerena was the MVP of the ALCS.  He’s been a house on fire in the playoffs to date.
  10. Do you miss the NBA already?  LeBron got his damn respect winning the Finals just a week ago yesterday with the LA Lakers.  The season resumes on January 18th of 2021.  It’s only 12 weeks away.  You can make it.

Whew.  Deadlines.

How Deep is the Deep State?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We always try to give credit where credit is due.  Therefore, we often give credit to the Democratic Party for their aggressive and concerted messaging.  They assimilate a powerful script, dole out the talking points to the appropriate parties, and preach the point of view over and again.

They are masterful at making the Republican Party and the current president play defense again and again.  Trump is offensive, but it’s hard to be on offense when you are always playing defense.

The Russian collusion narrative played to an interested national audience for two years.  But, it’s ending disappointed many.  And now, suddenly, two weeks before the national elections it looks like the script may have flipped.

Lo and behold, it looks like the Hunter is now being hunted.  The Hunter is Hunter Biden.  And, the bombshell revelations being gleaned from his abandoned laptop hard drive is only act one.  Email after email being released, and many more are to come this week, seem to have untidily linked his Ukrainian Burisma Board of Directors lofty position as well as his position with the Chinese company as nothing more than a pay for government influence storefront.

One even alludes to holding 10% of the payment for “the big guy.”  The big guy is all but identified as one former VP of the US, Joe Biden.  “Biden” or “Buyden” some are asking on Twitter, but we digress.

Some that are also asking are John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence, Rudy Guliani, a Trump advisor and personal attorney, and this AM also Senator Ron Johnson.  Johnson is actually asking for the FBI to release the file on this that they supposedly have had and held on to quietly since November of 2019 a full two months prior to the House impeaching Trump on, of all things, collusion claims.  Ironic somewhat?

What does the Biden family have to say about this?  So far Joe Biden has 1) called it a smear campaign, then 2) walked off mid-question from the reporter last evening who attempted to ask about it.  Late last night he pulled the shade down on his campaign till Thursday calling a “lid” till then.   Hunter apparently is down in some basement, like father like son, somewhere we presume.  Wouldn’t he come forward and vigorously defend his father?  Shouldn’t he?

The Biden camp has said some of the emails and conversations held might be accurate.  They further hinted that Joe might have met in an informal manner with some foreign officials embroiled in this.   Where there is smoke there is at a minimum more smoke.  Fire?  Hmmm.

What did the New York Times say in its Sunday edition about the story that its rival the New York Post broke?  Ever the environmentally friendly organization, they spared the trees as not one syllable was typeset on any of its pages.

Facebook and Twitter have severely limited the story’s spread citing “hacked” information, or “unverified” political attacks as the reason.   Adam Schiff went on a Sunday talk show and said with a straight face, “this story is more evidence of the Russian influence in our election.”

Presumably, Biden is using the downtime rehearsing all of his lines and talking points for Thursday night’s final Presidential Debate.   He better have a few good ones for this exploding story.  Surely this will be front and center then?  Or does he need them?

Kristen Welker, the lone moderator for the debate has deep Democratic Party ties.  Welker comes from an established Democratic family who has poured cash into party coffers, and to Trump opponents, for years.  In March 2016 Welker was busted on live television tipping off Hillary Clinton’s Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri about at least one question she planned to ask her during a post-debate interview in Michigan.

Could the VP of the US have directly profited by his position as the liaison for China and Ukraine under Obama with a big assist from his son?

Do you believe that there was a second gunman behind the grassy knoll in Dealey Plaza when Kennedy was shot?

How smarmy is the swamp?

How deep is the deep state?