We’ll Know Soon Enough

Yesterday was historic for this fractured country.

The Big 10, founded in 1896, has never postponed or canceled an entire football season. Its schools have played through two world wars and the 1918 flu pandemic.  But, the Big 10 Conference won’t be kicking off this fall for the first time ever.

For the first time ever, a woman who identifies as African American (her father is Jamaican born and her mother is Indian born) accepted the offer to be the VP running mate for the presumptive Democrat candidate for President, Joe Biden.

Oh, and the PAC 12, with four of its teams from California, which is the home of Senator Kamala Harris, opted out as well.

What do these decisions have in common?  Maybe nothing.  Or, maybe they reflect the mood of the nation.  If so, Donald Trump’s future as our President is in trouble.  But, it seems, isn’t it always?

Biden said during the debates that if he were nominated he would select a woman as his VP choice.  He one-upped that along the way saying he would select a black woman.  Voila!

So Black Lives Matter to him.  Or, at the very least, black votes matter to him.  Or, the female vote matters to him.   Or, Ms. Harris is the best-qualified candidate to lead our nation should something happen to 76-year-old Sleepy Joe along the way.  Maybe it already has.

As for the Big 10 and PAC 12, young lives must matter to them.  Or, avoiding litigation matters to them.  What happened to “follow the science?”  It will tell you that student-athletes are safest while being isolated on campus and the practice field.

Biden delayed his decision time and again.  The conferences delayed their fall season, then yesterday postponed it until the spring.

Did they all make good decisions?  By November 3rd of 2020, the most challenging year of the 21st century, we’ll know.

If the SEC, Big 12, and ACC have successful seasons, measured by health, fan perception, and TV ratings, the Big 10 and PAC 12 will surely regret their choice.  For now, that choice is perceived by some as the right one and the safe one.

Is the choice of Harris, perceived by some as a safe one given the mood of the nation, the right one?

One dissenter voiced his opinion yesterday.

President Donald Trump’s campaign swiftly responded to Biden’s selection of Harris, branding the pair: “Slow Joe and Phony Kamala.”

“Kamala Harris ran for president by rushing to the radical left, embracing Bernie’s plan for socialized medicine, calling for trillions in new taxes, attacking Joe Biden for racist policies,” the Trump campaign said in a video tweeted by President Trump. “They smartly spotted a phony — but not Joe Biden. He’s not that smart,” the ad continues, before adding Biden “is handing over the reins to Kamala” if the two win in November.

A reduced number of teams NCAA football season kicks off next month.  We think.

The political football is always getting kicked around.  We know.

And we will know if the right decisions were made soon enough.

 

 

 

And the Winner Is?

We have interesting developments to share as the “peaceful” protesters continue defacing buildings, looting, committing bodily assaults, and toppling statues.  President Trump has sent in the “federal police.”  Except that isn’t the development of interest.

The Democrat mayors of 15 cities across the United States have signed a letter asking Attorney General William Barr and Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf to remove or not send federal law enforcement officers to their municipalities, calling the deployments an “abuse of power.”  Except that isn’t the interesting development either.  For now, the deployment is limited to the most unruly of all-Portland.

In the countdown of most interesting, the action of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot finishes a strong third.  “I’m calling on all Chicagoans that if you see something that doesn’t look right, please, don’t hesitate to report it,” Lightfoot said during a press conference. “We are going to remain diligent.”

Finally, she is urging residents to take action to take back their beloved city from its year’s long violent crime wave.  Isn’t she?  Nope.  She continued,  “if we see any steps out of line, particularly with DHS or Border Patrol, we are not going to hesitate to take the president to court and stop any unconstitutional actions.”  Let the crime wave roll all the way to Waveland Ave.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler joined a violent demonstration in his city Wednesday night at which “protesters” threw flaming bags of garbage at a federal courthouse.  He also was jeered by the crowd before being tear-gassed by federal officers.  How woke is Wheeler?  In one day’s time he marched with the offenders and got mocked by them.  Then he got gassed by the federal officers he had signed a letter against earlier in the day.  His wokeness finished a close second.

But the hands-down winner is Hiden Joe Biden’s hot take.  Wednesday during a remote union town hall meeting, the Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President called President Trump the country’s “first” racist president.  This should save the few statues that still stand that have George Washington or Thomas Jefferson atop the pedestal.  It seems like just days ago we were told they were racist.

All of the peaceful protesters are now free to go back home to mama’s basement, but we digress.

Long live Mt. Rushmore too?

 

It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over.

It’s over!

A Quinnipiac Poll released Wednesday showed Joe Biden leading President Trump nationally by double-digits, widening his lead over the last month.

The former vice president leads Trump 52 percent to 37 percent.  That’s up from the eight-point lead he saw in the June 18 poll.

And, it gets worse for Trump when you look at the underlying responses.  Biden even overtook Trump according to respondents as best to handle the economy 50-45%.  And, that’s the best of the worst.  For handling a crisis it’s Biden 57-38.  For COVID-19 it’s 59-35.

And, the worst of the worst is when it comes to addressing racial inequality.  Biden gets the nod by a whopping 62-30.  Of course, he does.  Trump is a racist.  Everyone has been telling us that for four years and counting.

But, is it over?  Is the poll as accurate as the August Quinnipiac 2016 poll that showed Clinton dominating Trump by double-digits as well?  Trump hopes so.

“We are starting to hear the faint rumblings of a Hillary Clinton landslide as her 10-point lead is further proof that Donald Trump is in a downward spiral as the clock ticks,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said at the time.

Malloy still has a job with Quinnipiac.

Yesterday he said that the survey provided a “very unpleasant real-time look at what the future could be for President Trump.  There is no upside, no silver lining, no encouraging trend hidden somewhere in this survey for the president.”

If you take a deeper dive it turns out that Quinnipiac surveyed 1,273 self-identified registered voters across the country.  Republicans only made up 24 percent of the respondents.  Democrats were 34%.

He pondered in the late summer of 2016, “wow, is there any light at the end of this dark and depressing chapter in American politics?”  Given where we are in 2020, he at least was prescient on that one.

It’s Biden’s election to lose.  We heard the same about Hillary.  There are conventions (maybe virtual), debates(maybe very bad for Biden), stump speeches (where Biden always stumps himself), and the sheer rigor (Biden would be older entering the presidency than any other predecessor when they left it) of conventional state to state campaigning left.

Singer, not pollster, Lenny Kravitz might have it right.  It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over.

Pollster, not singer, Tim Malloy might have it wrong.

Again.

 

Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

CNN’s Don Lemon called for former President Barrack Obama’s chiseled likeness to be added to Mount Rushmore last evening.  “I think, listen … if they are going to put someone on Mount Rushmore, considering the history of the country, the first black president should be front and center,”  he reasoned.

The anchor that he was handing off to, Chris Cuomo added,  “Add to Mount Rushmore. I think that’s first of all, it’s a more salable idea than the idea of taking away Founding Fathers.”

The exchange continued.   Lemon said, “So what’s wrong with all of us together thinking or reshaping our country so that more people rethink our country in the way we think and where priorities are so the country it belongs to everyone.”

Cuomo said, “Nothing is wrong with it.”

Except everything about the premise is wrong with it.  If statues of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln don’t deserve to be in town squares anymore, they why should they be on Mt. Rushmore?  If you can find a statue of Roosevelt let us know.  If Barrack Obama deserves to be on Mt Rushmore, start carving out the stone.

The conversations should be 100% independent of one another.

America strives for greatness.  America demands greatness.  America applauds greatness.  America builds libraries, museums, monuments, statues, and mountainside likenesses to honor distinguished men and women who helped America achieve its status as the envy (regardless of what some might want you to believe) of the world.  You might have heard that it is the “land of the free and the home of the brave.”

America got to where it is with little compromise. Why start now?

It’s easy to be average.  It’s hard to be excellent.

It’s great that America has now had a black president.  He was voted in as qualified by its citizens to lead us.   Soon enough it will likely have it’s first female president as well.  She will need to be deemed qualified to lead us as well.   May there be a day when these occurrences are commonplace.

But having a certain skin color or being a certain gender doesn’t make you great.  And being the first this or that doesn’t make you great either.  It just gets you noticed more than others.  Accomplishments and leadership of all of its people do.

So, did the four presidents accomplish enough for our country, in spite of any shortcomings, flaws, or mistakes along the way, to deserve to be forever admired in stone?  America said yes then.  Does it still say yes now?

Did Obama do the same?  America will, or will not, mull that over for years to come.

But don’t keep one(or four) up as a negotiation ploy to get another.

Can’t you just see Ronald Reagan shaking his head, coiffed hair and all?

The Silence Is Deafening

Monday afternoon’s BBR staff meeting provided a look back to give us a look at what might happen going forward.  One staff member told us his story about the 2012 and 2016 elections.

In early October 2012, he moved into his new (old) home.  Driving down the street in the UHaul he realized that 14 of 22 homes had Romney/Ryan yard signs.  One had an Obama sign.  It almost sounds like this neighborhood enjoys white privilege, but we digress.  Obama won.

In 2016 that same street had but one Trump/Pence sign.  Just one.  One neighbor had a Hillary/Kaine sign.  Just one.  Trump won.  Did the silent majority speak back then?  We don’t know because they are silent.  But we have a hunch.

And now 2020 arrives at the doorsteps of this very same street and streets all across this fruited plain.  The fruited part is being bolstered by the “guerilla gardening” inside of the compound formerly known as CHAZ, but we digress.

What do you have to say silent majority?  Oops.  We forgot.  The silent majority doesn’t speak.  It watches and listens.  And we have another hunch or five to share.

Putting Russian collusion, impeachment, Covid-19 handling, lockdowns, and other attacks (from the right’s point of view) or deep concerns (from the left) aside do they see a picture being painted along the road to November 3rd, election day?

We submit they do.  And we submit that they have been watching all along and were listening and open to meaningful reforms as well.  In order to listen you have to be silent.

And, now, we surmise that the silent ones have stopped listening because The Movement won’t stop screaming long enough to listen.  And, it was going so well at first.  But, burning down cities aside, it’s now gone too far.  Arson wasn’t enough.  Looting wasn’t.  Beating innocent people wasn’t either.  Making death threats against Drew Brees and his family wasn’t enough.  The hell with free speech.   Coast to coast cries of “defund the police” wasn’t enough.

Even actual murder and attempted murder on the police that started weeks ago isn’t.  And, now you’ve armed yourself and taken over six square blocks of Seattle in this Summer of Love.  Now you’re the police.  Good luck.

Don’t use excessive force or maybe the silent majority will come and riot in your new city(named CHOP as of this AM).  Actually, they won’t.  They’ll just watch it self implode.  And self implode it will.  It’s only a matter of when.  Then, they’ll vote.

CNN had a weekend poll that showed Joe Biden had a 14 point lead on Donald Trump.  Didn’t Trump trail Clinton by 11% per the polls in 2016?  How did that turnout after the voters turned out?  Polls, schmolls.

The silent majority doesn’t speak to pollsters either.

But they’ve listened, learned, and likely become disgusted.  They’ll hit the voting booth in record numbers.

The election could be held today.  Is anyone in America undecided?

Brees and Knees

Drew Brees exercised his right to freedom of speech yesterday.  And, immediate reactions and overreactions poured in from around the sports world.  Woke Nation told everyone who tags, follows, trends, hastags, Snaps, or Instagrams that Saints Nation was ablaze because of it.

The BBR staff sat around a Zoom happy hour last evening.  Dixie beers straight from NOLA were aplenty.  Rather than fret about the short term, we asked “what does this mean long term for Brees’ legacy in New Orleans?”

Our conclusion?  We think that Drew Brees will be the mayor of predominantly black New Orleans the very first time that he runs for the post.  And, we think that he should.  We’ve long thought that he would.  And, we think that eventually, he will.  He has always wanted to make a difference outside of the hash marks.

When you boil it down, Brees said that he stands with his teammates and many others seeking racial equality and justice, but that he would not kneel during the presentation of the flag during the National Anthem that honors many who protected us and fought for our freedom along the way.

Woke Nation was outraged because it’s always important to be immediately outraged.  You cannot break through the massive clutter of social media and stay there unless your take is edgy, passionate, immediate, and progressive.

Former ESPN talking head Jemele Hill tweeted, “Drew Brees is why people shouldn’t assume that just because someone white is around black people that they understand black issues.”  Jemele Hill is why people who have no idea what Brees does off of the field say that they understand Brees.  Do you know what Brees and his Brees Foundation did for many minority families and causes post-Katrina?  No, you don’t.  He wants it that way.  And, his list of charitable efforts and contributions is quite long.

LeBron James tweeted that Brees was still ignorant as to why Kaepernick took a knee and said it had zero to do with the flag.   Thankfully we’ve heard little from LeBron since he told Daryl Morey that he was ignorant about the Chinese (communist) culture and that his words could be so hurtful. That was just after they occupied Hong Kong, but before their China virus broke out, was covered up, was lied about, was contained but wasn’t, and interrupted his NBA season.   We wonder if LeBron is ignorant to the fact that Brees donated about $250k to build a state of the art special needs playground smack dab in the middle of a park in the city last year.

Aaron Rodgers stated, “It has NEVER been about an anthem or a flag. Not then. Not now. Listen with an open heart, let’s educate ourselves, and then turn word and thought into action.”  It sounds like good advice.  Maybe he should listen to what Brees is saying.  Per Packer sources, Rodgers has a difficult time listening with an open head, much less a heart, to his teammates and coaches.  The Green Bay brass like his leadership so much that they traded up, reached, and drafted what they hope will be his replacement with Rodgers still in his prime.

We could go on.  But, what does the three of Jemele, LeBron, and Aaron have in common?  They don’t know Brees.  His family, friends, business associates, teammates, civic leaders, and coaches do.  Ninety-nine percent of them hold him in the very highest regard on and off of the field.

Star receiver Michael Thomas tweeted, “He don’t know no better.”

The nation known as America protects free speech even when it contains double negatives.   It used to embrace it.  The nation known as Woke only embraces it when you speak their language.

Maybe they don’t know no better.

 

 

 

 

Peaceful

“Never underestimate the strength of an opponent.”  Clearly those are smart words of advice.  They come in handy in the boardroom, on the playground, at the office, onfield, in the gym, or in the court of public opinion.

Ask Hillary.  She found out the hard way about Donald Trump.  He outworked her.  She slept while he flew tirelessly to the Rust Belt again and again.  Dare we say that the result “shocked da world?”

It was an upset in more ways than one.  The Democratic Party and the DNC, its right arm, are master strategists.  One of their tried and true, bread and butter, plays is to constantly make the Republicans play defense.  It’s hard to score when you are always on defense.  Trump stole that page from their playbook and executed it masterfully.

Never again cried the Democrats.  They’ve been on offense the last three-plus years.  You know, racism, Russian Collusion, racism, Quid Pro Quo, racism, Impeachment, racism, and Coronavirus mismanagement come to mind.   America was just starting to get healthy.  And now, tragically George Floyd has fallen and look what has fallen into their laps.

We have to stand together for social justice.  We need to end racism.  It’s time for real change.  We doubt many disagree with any of that at all.  One cop should spend the rest of his life in jail it seems.  Three others should pack a toothbrush for a while too.

But, a funny thing happened over the weekend.  The party that turned “abortion” into “women’s wellness” went on the offense.  You watched America burn, get looted, get knocked unconscious, and get rocks thrown at it over the weekend.    CNN was comparing the “violent” protests a week ago (that violated social distancing and were sans masks) aimed at governors and asked to end the lockdown to go back to work to the “peaceful” ones that spread across America mourning the loss of George Floyd.

The playbook said to say “peaceful.”  And CNN did.  MSNBC did as well.  Half of America laughed at the mischaracterization and cried watching flat-screen TVs being stolen live on their flat-screen TVs.

When will Pelosi and Schumer and company come out and denounce the “peaceful” violent protests and the thugs that continue to commit breaking and entering, theft, assault and battery, and attempted murder crimes?

They showed up yesterday.  But, surprise, they caught the pass from the media and ran further down the field.  In a joint statement Pelosi and Schumer stated, “At this challenging time, our nation needs real leadership. The President’s continued fanning of the flames of discord, bigotry and violence is cowardly, weak, and dangerous.”  Jim Acosta(CNN) asked Trump if this is still a democracy.

And so did Hollywood.   Samual Jackson, “Did we just get Martial Lawed??! So, he just Declared War on The Public??!! It’s not 1807 this is not Rebellion!!”  Ice Cube, “Will Trump be the first President to nuke a U.S. city? Stay tuned.”  Stephen King, “Trump is politicizing the protests. ANTIFA? Give me a break. Those look like apolitical hooligans and smash-and-grab artists to me.”  He does write great fiction.

See how easy that was?  What you’re seeing on TV are peaceful protests.  Don’t worry about what you think you see, listen to what is being said.

Last night a rioter in Vegas peacefully shot a cop in the back of the head.  He’s in critical condition.  In St. Louis four policemen were shot peacefully.

Violence is the new peaceful.  Tranquil and calm are soon to follow.   Voila!

 

Science and Data Borders on Nonsense

To quote Mark Twain, “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”

Perhaps you felt that way when the Democrat-led House finally found what they needed to press on to impeachment of Donald Trump.  It was a “quid pro quo.”  Did you know what that was?  Or, did it send you to the Google search bar?  Worry not, it did for many of us.

Actually it did for too many of us.  That’s why suddenly in all of the interviews of Democratic House Intelligence members and all talking heads on MSNBC stopped using the phrase.  They started using the word “bribery” instead.  Why?  It’s because the Democrats polled the public and quickly realized it was more understandable, hence an easier sell.

The Democrats always poll the public.  It’s why they are so much better at controlling the narrative of the country than the Republicans.  The old, stodgy, white, know-it-all Republicans tell you what they think.  The Democrats tell you what you think.

Which brings us to COVID-19.  There isn’t a leader of a state that is slower to open than some of the rest that doesn’t begin his or her press conference with “we are following the science and the data.”  Clearly “science” and “data” are two words that resonate with America. They asked.  They know.  It sounds so logical why wouldn’t we follow?

Except there may be one little problem.  The White House Coronavirus Task Force response administrator, Dr. Debora Birx had a direct comment or two for Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Apparently, in a two weeks ago task force meeting, Birx and others were frustrated with the CDC’s antiquated system for tracking virus data, which they worried was inflating some statistics — such as mortality rate and case count — by as much as 25 percent, according to four people present for the discussion or later briefed on it.

“There is nothing from the CDC that I can trust,” Birx reportedly said, according to two of the people present.

But that didn’t stop Dr. Birx in the last few days of separate interviews.  In the first she said that an earlier lockdown would not have helped to prevent the spread of the virus.  In a subsequent one she expressed concern that the weeks’ old lockdown was not having a positive effect in Washinton, DC., Chicago, or Los Angeles.

How about a little deductive reasoning?  If an earlier lockdown would not have helped and the current one isn’t, then why did we lockdown?  It must have been because of the science and the data?  The longer you “serve” as a government employee, especially if you have a white coat with your name embroidered on it, the more this makes sense we assume.  Having a scarf must help, too.

Finally, Birx worried aloud that “the fall could possibly bring the virus back as strong as ever.”  Coincidentally, last week, the Director of the National Hurricane Center said “this season’s storms could possibly be more numerous than last year.”  “Could possibly?”  That’s going out on a limb.

Georgia looked at the science and the data.  They said, “enough already.”  So far, so good.  Why?  No one is sure, but the answer must lie in the science and the data.

Meanwhile Trump has had it with the great state of North Carolina’s slow reopening.  In less than 100 days there is this little Republican National Convention of some interest scheduled in Charlotte.  On Monday, Governor Roy Cooper responded to Trump’s tweet, saying, “State health officials are working with the RNC and will review its plan as they make decisions about how to hold the convention in Charlotte. North Carolina is relying on data and science to protect our state’s public health and safety.”

Cooper got it backward.  He said “data and science.”  It’s “science and data.”  Maybe that’s why they are slower to open in NC than in Georgia.

The two states share a little border.  There must be some strong antiviral “stuff” on the Georgia side of that ever so thin state line.

We should ask Birx and the CDC to see what the science and the data tell us about it.

 

 

Your Body is a Temple

As America reopens we don’t seem so open with what we are willing to put into our bodies.

Is a vaccine around the corner?  Probably not, but a recent survey of Americans stated almost 50% would not want it injected into their bodies for fear of side effects.   Another reason cited was the concern that our government would be injecting a microchip along with the antibodies.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters at the White House, President Trump revealed that he’s been taking a hydroxychloroquine pill daily for a week and a half, along with a dose of zinc. Shortly after the announcement, The Your World with Neil Cavuto anchor called the president’s remarks “stunning” and warned that the drug could kill certain individuals who consume it.

The "Great" Roger Ailes
The “Great” Roger Ailes

Trump objected to the rant and tweeted “@FoxNews is no longer the same. We miss the great Roger Ailes.  Looking for a new outlet!”  The great Roger Ailes’ body of work included a few workplace sexual harassment charges.   We digress.

Nancy Pelosi, head of one body of Congress weighed in as well.  CNN host Anderson Cooper asked, “Madam Speaker, what is your reaction to the president saying he is now taking hydroxychloroquine? Are you concerned?”  She tore up the president like an old speech.  “I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group — morbidly obese they say.”

Pelosi knows a thing or two about putting drugs into one’s body.  It must be clear to her that botox is way safer than hydroxychloroquine.  It’s written all over her face.

In her home state, six of seven convicted sex offenders freed in Orange County, California, last month due to fears of the Chinese coronavirus crisis spreading in local jails have since been rearrested for violating their terms of release.  Most of them were taken back in for ridding their bodies of that pesky GPS tracking device.  You have to wonder if they would line up to get the vaccine.  The bright side is virus immunity.  The downside might be a tracking device.

Planned Parenthood leadership is screaming for more money during these #alonetogether times.  Seems like we may have been together during our alone time.  Maybe we are more open to what we put in our bodies?

And this morning Walmart reported first-quarter earnings.  They were impressive.  With revenue over $32 billion, they beat the Wall St estimates by over $1 billion in top-line sales.  Same-store sales were up by 10% percent.  Strong.  A Walmart spokesperson cited “considerable strength in food sales.”

At least we haven’t lost our appetite though it all.

 

A Nightmare Prop Bet

Yesterday we offered a couple of proposition bets on the NCAA playing or not this fall.  Today we offer a prop bet on the 11/3/20 election.

As #hidenbiden trends on Twitter, we have “Sleepy Joe” at plus $180 to actually NOT be the Democratic Pary’s nominee for President.  You bet $100 to win $180 that Biden goes home in August with his MyPillow.com pillow in hand.    The DNC has to fear, we repeat, has to fear that the sunset is near.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has delayed its convention a month, yet still plans to do it virtually.  Safety is the key they say.  Or, is it?  Why delay it a month if you aren’t physically attending to begin with?

There might have even been a glimpse into that thinking yesterday.  “First of all, our convention has to happen, because we are not officially nominating Joe Biden in order to take Donald Trump,” Xochitl Hinojosa, communications director for the DNC replied during an interview.  “So our convention is happening. There is business that has to happen.”

Or could her combo of words be a gaffe?  Hinojosa has yet to clarify her remarks.  It would be befitting of the party whose presumptive nominee spits out more gaffes daily than the Feds print money.

Take yesterday for example.   Please.  In just one video conference from Biden’s basement, he won the rare Triple Crown.  First, he needed off-camera prompting that he was on the air.  Two, he told the country that in this pandemic we have lost 85k jobs and millions of people.  “Millions of people,” he repeated.  “Millions of jobs,” he finished.  Finally, stammering, to complete the trifecta he forgot the name of one of his top medical advisers.  All three dreadful videos are captured in this article.

Just before Biden went into hiding all of his Democratic challengers obediently folded like some fine sheets made from Giza region cotton.  Crazy Bernie was the lone holdout.  But, he virtually conceded the race when he virtually conceded the race.  Sanders didn’t want to be President anyway.  He just likes to be Bernie for a while every four years.

Honestly, it was funny at the outset.  Now, it’s just said frankly.

He needs the best night’s sleep in the whole, wide world because a nightmare named Trump awaits.

Who will be the nominee if Biden is a no show? That’s a bet for another day to handicap.

For now, take “no Joe” for $100 to win $180.