Biden

No Gas, No Meat, No Problem.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Surely you’ve heard of the expression “never two without three?”

First, it was the Colonial Pipeline Company that was struck May 11th by a ransomware attack.  This is where a bad actor puts malicious software, or “malware,” onto their network, that encrypts drives and software to the point that they couldn’t run the business.  For the better part of a week the east coast either had or created a gas shortage by hoarding the commodity.  And, it was just when you were getting ready to drive to your favorite Memorial Day BBQ.

Then yesterday, a day after you grilled out, the world’s largest meat processing company was targeted by a sophisticated cyber-attack.  Computer networks at JBS were hacked, temporarily shutting down some operations in Australia, Canada, and the US, with thousands of workers affected. The attack could lead to shortages of meat or raise prices for consumers.

Russian hackers are believed to be behind both attacks.  Did the cold war turn virtual a half-century later?   Are these two cyberattacks just warm-up bands?

It’s never two without three. So, what’s next?

“White supremacy,” Joe Biden said yesterday.   Wait, what?

“According to the intelligence community, terrorism from white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today,” Biden said. “Not ISIS. Not Al Qaeda.  White supremacists.”

This is actually comforting to know though.  Prelection and continuing into his first 150 days we were told that climate change was the greatest existential threat to our country and planet.  Some running against Joe actually told us it was too late to save us from us already.

No oxygen, no land to stand on, no petroleum, no meat, no worries.  White people-worry.

And, then there is, or was this little pandemic problem.

Never mind!

Biden revisited the massacre yesterday of the black community in Tulsa 100 years ago.  And, there is certainly nothing wrong with doing that.  Then he attempted to show the long history of white supremacists in the country comparing it to the clash between the protesters in Charlottesville.

“What happened in Greenwood was an act of hate and domestic terrorism, with a through-line that exists (existential maybe?) today,” he said. “Just close your eyes and remember what you saw in Charlottesville four years ago on television.”

You should remember and will repeatedly be reminded about what happened in the prior four years that culminated in an insurrection (if you think it rose to that level).  There were dog whistles everywhere hinting at it we were told and told.

When Joe asks you to close your eyes at least he is being overt about his path.

After all, it’s but one step from pulling the wool over them.

 

 

 

Help Is On the Way

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday’s consumer price index(CPI) bolted across 4%. The stock market didn’t like that one little bit.   It’s due in part to surging gasoline prices.  The national average for a gallon crossed $3.00 this week.

Of course, this isn’t the real news on either coast.

On the east coast, there is a shortage. Colonial Pipeline was the target of a ransomware attack that forced it to shut down operations.  Long lines are the norm and will be for a few more days.

On the west coast, the average price already surpassed $4.00/gallon.  Fuel transportation costs, taxes, and more taxes always hit Cali and other left-leaning left coast states.

On the first day of Biden’s presidency, he issued an executive order canceling the Keystone XL pipeline making good on his promise to the climate activists who helped get him elected.

So, seemingly on our way to energy independence a few months back, America now waits in line (assuming the station has it) and pays the highest prices at the pump since 2014.

So what to do, what to do?  Let’s ask our government leaders for help.

At a Tuesday press conference, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm was asked by a reporter about the “feasibility of using rail cars” to transport fuel across the country as the nation faces a gas shortage from a Russian cyber attack.  Her response was that they were looking into it, “but it’s – the pipe is the best way to go.”

Hmmm.  So why cancel the Keystone XL?  As stated above-politics.

Speaking of politics, remember when ole Mayor Pete Buttigieg suddenly folded in his quest to be the next President of the United States?  His newfound support of Joe Biden, and by extension the support of his supporters helped usher in the Biden presidency.

So what did the Mayor Of South Bend get out of it?  Voila, he’s your Transportation Secretary folks.

And he’s making a difference.  Just a few months back Pete was captured on camera hopping out of a government SUV caravan, putting on a bike helmet, and riding the last mile or so to the White House for a photo-op, oops, we meant an important meeting.  How environmentally friendly of him.

What’s he peddling now?  He’s speaking to the press about the $3 gas.

When asked directly by a reporter about his message to Americans who were facing the high cost of gasoline yesterday, Buttigieg replied, “My message is that we understand these concerns that we’ve seen in a lot of the impacted geographies, that this is a real issue.”

Anyone can tell you that step one of any good 12 step program is recognizing that you have a problem.

He also urged Americans not to hoard gasoline and to wait for future announcements from the federal government.  “I will say that this is a time to be sensible and to be safe,” Buttigieg said.

There you have it,  Be sensible, be safe, and wait for future announcements from your government.

The opposite of independence is, of course, dependence.

This situation is enough to make your hair stand up.

“Only in America,” Don King was known to say.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random Leftovers

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Does it frighten you to look into the back of your refrigerator from time to time and grimace at a plastic container of leftovers that you had no idea were still north of the disposal?  We understand.  Sometimes one of our staffers has the same problem with some very random nuggets rolling around in the back of his cranium.  Time to clean it out.

  1.  Next Saturday features “the fastest two minutes in sports.”  It will be Kentucky Derby day.  Can you name today just one horse entered for the prestigious Run for the Roses next Saturday?  No?  Understood.
  2. But isn’t it funny how you will wind up yelling at a flat-screen TV for a jockey and a horse that you won’t remember the name of by water cooler Monday?  Heck, you might even place a bet on the said horse.   Why not?  You still have a few bucks left from your stimulus check, don’t you?
  3. King James stepped in it again yesterday.  In a quickly deleted tweet he called out the police for killing the teen who had the knife in hand in Columbus.  He also decided #ACCOUNTABILITY was a good way to give a bad idea some social media air.  We’re still waiting on accountability from China on many fronts, but we digress.
  4. And, while we are picking on the King, shouldn’t he drop the nickname “King?”  First, it’s gender-specific unless we missed the discussion that now recognizes females as kings as well.  Second, it’s someone who takes from his minions to enhance his lifestyle.
  5. His President, Joe Biden, thinks just the opposite way though.  Biden’s proposed a possible 43.4 percent capital gains tax for wealthy Americans yesterday.  What did Wall Street think?  The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 400 points on Thursday afternoon after Bloomberg reported the details of the plan.  “His view, and the view of our economic team, is that won’t have a negative impact,” said his press secretary Jen Psaki.   Hmm.
  6. And much like the King should reconsider “King,” shouldn’t Biden eliminate the word “secretary” from any and all of the government positions that carry that title?  It seems like a layup and then a victory lap (or nap for him) waiting to happen.
  7. The controversial activist group Black Lives Matter criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday after the speaker thanked George Floyd for “sacrificing” his life for justice, calling her remarks “so damn disrespectful.”  The party from the left was in such lockstep with BLM prior to the election.  Pelosi is political Teflon though.  She’ll be back on Capitol Hill doing the people’s business on Monday thank goodness.
  8. The hype for the NFL Draft next week is in full swing.  Will you watch some of the three-day extravaganza?  No sports organization markets itself like the NFL.  No one.  Punch “NFL Draft” into Google. It’s pretty astonishing that a single event generates 243 million results in 0.22 seconds.
  9. Who’s your team taking in the latest mock draft?  If you don’t like the predicted choice, fret not.  “Experts” as ESPN labels them usually get only about 25% of the first round correct.  If you like the choice you might start fretting, however.  NFL teams’ success rate (offering their choice a second contract after the first has run its course) is only about 53%.
  10. Last year the NFC East Division didn’t have a team with a winning record as the season ended.  Awful.  Worst ever.  Is MLB’s East Divison in the NL going to follow up that ineptness with its own?  Three weeks into the season the Mets, Phillies, Nationals, Marlins, and Braves are a combined five games under .500 and none have a winning record.  Surely the Braves have too much talent to stay below .500.  And, how much longer can they keep the name Braves, as we digress for the last time this week. #stoppedthechop

Happy Weekend.

Just Checking

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s fact-check time.  It’s truth serum time.  It’s an attempt at sanity in these insane times.  And, it starts now.

Are you for or against packing the U.S. Supreme Court?  Currently, nine justices preside.  The Democratic majority in the House of Representatives is champing at the bit to pack the court with four new appointees bringing the lucky number of black (can we still say that?) robes to 13.

If you are for it, would you also be for, say, four more to get to 17 if the Republicans retook control of both houses?  And, if that answer is a “yes,” which we doubt, how many would be too many in this race to stupidity?  What’s a good number to call it quits?  21?  27?  35?  51? 101? 1001?

Were you vehemently opposed to the cruel treatment of being placed in “temporary holding facilities,” aka “cages” that illegal minor immigrants that crossed our southern border were subjected to under the Trump Administration?

If you were, are you equally as outraged that the Biden Administration has not only carried on with that practice but seems to be putting more humans in even more cramped quarters?  Are you also disappointed that the temporary housing need has now invaded hotel chains in Texas at a cost to the US taxpayer of nearing a billion dollars and counting?

And, we presume that you are/were aware that the “cages” were built and first used under the Obama Administration.

And, what about that terrible, insensitive, prejudicial wall that Trump was building? Isn’t it great that Biden halted the construction?

If that is indeed a great dose of sanity and humanity we wonder if you were for or against any of the following?

  1.  The first barrier built by the U.S. was between 1909-1911; the first barrier built by Mexico was likely in 1918, and barriers were extended in the 1920s and 1930s.
  2.  President Bill Clinton approved the initial 14 miles of fencing along the San Diego–Tijuana border.   Construction began on this section in early 1993 and was completed by the end of the year.    Further barriers were built from 1994 under the presidency of Bill Clinton as part of three larger operations while he was president.
  3. The Real ID Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush on May 11, 2005, brought the total man-made built miles to 75.
  4. The Secure Fence Act of 2006, signed into law on October 26, 2006, by President George W. Bush authorized and partially funded the potential construction of 700 miles of physical fence/barriers along the Mexican border. The bill passed with supermajorities in both chambers.
  5. Construction continued and in May 2011, President Barack Obama stated that the wall was “basically complete”, with 649 miles of barrier constructed. Of this, vehicle barriers comprised 299 miles and pedestrian fence 350 miles. Obama stated, “We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement.”
  6. And, finally, in 2017, post the Trump win came funding for a wider, taller, and more structurally sound wall.  Trump would say, “a very beautiful wall.”

Joe Biden was in a political office for all of the above, repeat all of the above, except border wall point number one and six.

Would you support the idea of the District of Columbia (Washington, DC) being granted statehood?

If so, would you also support US Territories, such as Puerto Rico coming on board?

Would it be ok if Texas split into five states?  Its state constitution had provisions written in it to facilitate such a move when the Republic thereof was admitted to statehood.  It should be noted that federal law may supersede that one though.  But, stranger things have happened deep in the heart of Texas.

Fifty existing plus DC plus PR plus five in Texas would equal 57 states.  Coincidentally that is the exact same number Obama said he visited during the 2008 election.   What a visionary he was/is.

Did you get a vaccine?  Are you still wearing a mask afterward?  What good is the vaccine if there is any fear that you can still a) catch the damn thing, or, b) spread the damn thing?  Was the mask worthwhile, then, in the first place?  Variants, you say?  Two masks?

Should Americans be forced into showing a vaccine ID card?  Would it suffice at polling places for those damn conservatives that still think you should need a valid ID to vote?

Maybe every time we vote we should get vaccinated for or against what we put in office.

Just checking.

 

Dinner Is Served

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Guess who’s coming to dinner? Well, the answer depends if you are talking about short-term or long-term.

In the short run, it should be your family and close friends.

In the long run, it could be your new neighbors.

Should be, we said, family and friends in the short term.  But, the honorable Dr. Fauci weighed in on Sunday.  “It’s still not OK” to gather indoors. He cited the “level of infection” as “still really disturbingly high.”

“So, if you’re not vaccinated, please get vaccinated as soon as vaccine becomes available to you, and if you are vaccinated, please remember that you still have to be careful and not get involved in crowded situations, particularly indoors where people are not wearing masks,” he stated.

“And for the time being, until we show definitively that a person who’s vaccinated does not get this subclinical infection and can spread to others, you should also continue to wear a mask.”

Who knew?  Now the vaccinations might not work.  All of this free government advice (coercion) comes from a man who just over a year ago said wearing a mask was not necessary.

But if you can wait for the $2.5 trillion infrastructure bill, which has little to do with infrastructure, to pass you could invite your new neighbors over for some indoor mask-wearing chow time.   Neatly tucked inside of the bloated bill is a measly $20 billion designed to turn current single-family dwelling neighborhoods upside down.

You’ve heard of Section 8 housing, haven’t you?  Stated simply, if you don’t have enough income to afford a certain home or apartment for rent, the government will provide the difference based on income or lack thereof qualifications.  The new bill would take that concept into a neighborhood near you.

The infrastructure bill, also known as the American Jobs Act, would remove the zoning that exists for single-family homes across the nation and allow tear-downs of them to build multi-unit apartments next to them or to convert existing single-family homes into multi-family dwellings.  Anywhere, anytime.

What a concept it is.  The government hands out money.  Jobs are created in the construction industry.  Landlords get paid.  Renters get better housing in any neighborhood of their choosing.  Corporations get taxed at a higher rate to pay for some of this plan.    Consumers pay more for what corporations make. Debt continues its climb.  And, you get new neighbors and plenty of them.

Viola!  Easy peasy.  No wonder it’s called the American Jobs Act.

And, now you can have all of the new neighbors that you want, or don’t want, over for dinner.  Hell, throw a block party.

The fact that we don’t choose our neighbors (and now not our neighborhood either) doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be good neighbors.

Invite Dr. Fauci too.  But, insist that he wear a mask, dammit.

 

Make A Run

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Taco Bell ran with a campaign for years back in the late ’80s that had the tagline “make a run for the border.”

We doubt that such a campaign would be considered in the overtly sensitive times that we live in today.

Although, Joe Biden seems tone-deaf enough to consider it.

The Democrats took every political bite that they could out of a Trump border policy.  Build a wall-how wrong and exclusionary!  House migrant children in cages- how horrific!  Deny entry to the poor, the tired, the sick- how downright unAmerican!

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez went for a first-hand look early on in the Trump presidency.  She stalked the area like a skilled coyote herself seeing how dutifully the press followed behind her every step.  She even stopped to yell through the fence to ask for humanity to be restored.

But now? Now?  Now Biden has a major mess on his hands and as a result of course, so does the U.S.  The party that starts with the letter D sent signals throughout the campaign to defeat Trump that tomorrow would be a good day if you wanted in.  And, those looking for a new start started marching towards the border when an election determined that Trump was now exiting the office in numbers not seen since way before Trump took office

In fact, Biden and his border chief Alejandro Mayorkas, have already dropped nearly all of Trump’s anti-migration policies. Those policies allowed officials to quickly fly nearly all migrants back to their home countries.

Under Mayorkas, officials have quickly reduced the share of family migrants who are rejected under the Title 42 anti-coronavirus measure to under one-in-six per day. Trump’s appointees used the Title 42 rule to block nearly all migrants.

The Department of Homeland Security expects roughly 500,000 to 800,000 migrants to arrive as part of a family group during the 2021 fiscal year that ends in September- a record.

But these record numbers may wildly underestimate the number of foreigners who push their way through Biden’s and Mayorkas’ half-open doors.

Roughly 42 million people south of Texas want to migrate into the United States, said a March 24 warning from Jim Clifton, the CEO of the Gallup polling company.

The result is not a strained but a broken border.  Egads, there are more children in those “cages” than ever.  And there are plenty more coming, COVID-19 or not.

Biden appropriated via executive order a few weeks back $86 million to “temporarily” house migrants in Dallas hotels.  That’s a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to the health care money that the US (read as you) will spend to care for the inflow.

So what is Biden’s midterm solution?  He put VP Kamala Harris in charge of managing the morass.

On March 24, Biden directed Harris to get the Mexican and Central American governments to forcibly block migrants moving towards the United States. Biden said: “The Vice President agreed to lead our diplomatic effort and work with those nations to accept returnees and enhance migration enforcement at their borders — at their borders.”

On Friday, Symone Sanders, Harris’s press secretary, redefined the request.

“The president asked the vice president to take on the diplomatic effort, with Mexico and countries in the northern triangle to address the root causes of migration,” she said. “There are many reasons that move these folks to make this dangerous journey.”

It took all of 48 hours for the enormous task to be redefined.

Is Biden a puppet?

Quote machine Senator John Kennedy(R-LA) answers that burning question.  “Either President Biden believes in open borders, or the people that he has put in charge of his immigration policy may be smart, but they don’t have any sense. They don’t have the sense that God gave a goose. I mean, reality calls, and they hang up.”

“And now President Biden has put Vice President Harris in charge of fixing it. I know the vice president. She’s a lovely person. I sat on Judiciary with her. But that’s like — that’s like putting a Lance Armstrong in charge — as drug czar, in charge of our drug programs.”

So far, the Biden admin has prevented US Congressmen/women and the press from seeing the mess.  So much for that much-promised transparency.

As a result, the diligent press is on the job like a lap dog on a bone as you can see from this exchange last evening.

The exchange between Biden and the unidentified reporter below as he was boarding AF1 for a short flight back to DC:

Q: Mr. President, what have you given up for Lent?

THE PRESIDENT: I gave up all sweets for Lent. You have no idea how hard it is for me.

Q: What’s the first sweet you’re looking forward to having when it’s over?

THE PRESIDENT: Ice cream.

There you have it.

Maybe Taco Bell should serve ice cream.  This just in, they once did but it was short-lived.

And, we once had a short-lived border policy that made sense.

No wonder everyone is making a run for the border.

 

 

 

 

Old Dogs, New Tricks

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Just two months after the “aggressive behavior,” or “insurrection” if you prefer, at the Capitol Building the U.S. government faced yet another major uprising last week, this time in the White House.

According to a report, President Joe Biden’s German Shepherd named “Major” had a serious “biting incident” with White House security late last week.  As a result, Biden’s dogs were returned to Delaware after Major’s “aggressive behavior” incident, said the CNN report.

 This photo didn’t age well. None of it.

It’s usually only news these days when man bites dog, but CNN always takes you the extra mile.

Time heals all wounds, doesn’t it?

Maybe it doesn’t, at least not yet in the fractured, cracked, divided, tumultuous, unsettled Republican Party.

Donald Trump doesn’t like having his name thrown around by the RNC these days.

In a Monday letter to Trump attorney Alex Cannon, RNC chief counsel J. Justin Riemer said the committee while fundraising  “has every right to refer to public figures as it engages in core, First Amendment-protected political speech.”

He maintained that Trump had also “reaffirmed” to the chair of the RNC, Ronna McDaniel, over the weekend “that he approves of the RNC’s current use of his name in fundraising and other materials.”

Trump responded to the letter with a statement that put that agreement in doubt. “No more money for RINOS,” or Republican in name only, he stated. “They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting base.  They will never lead us to greatness.”   He’s nothing if not “like a dog on a bone.”

Hmm.  One of the two sounds like a head fake.

The RNC wants to use Trump’s name for the good that he brings to the party-aka money and loyalty from his base.  Conversely,  Trump’s instinct must be to control the use of his name and image to position himself as the undisputed leader of the GOP.

Further, he wants to raise his own money to, amongst other initiatives, exact revenge by backing challengers to Republican incumbents who crossed him by voting to impeach him for inciting the Capitol riot.  Trump has the shock collar out.

All of this divisiveness in the RNC when the Great Unifier just took over the Oval Office seems tawdry at best.

But, Trump is Trump.  Remember, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

And, in the White House or in pursuit of the same, it’s a major mistake to bite the hand that feeds you.

 

 

No Doubt, Game On

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Ten days into month two of year 21 of century 21 you have two serious doubts.

One is, you doubt that you’ll ever watch a movie on one of the super big screens inside of an American Multi-Cinema (AMC) Theatre again.  Two is, you doubt that you’ll ever watch another hour of the American political theatre again.

AMC theatres are closed.  It’s a virus thing you know.  Political theatres never close.  It feels like a virus thing as well.

AMC has no choice right now.  Politics chose basically to rerun the Trump Impeachment.

It’s a slightly different plot but all of your favorite characters are there.  It’s got a catchy name too- The Second Impeachment of Donald Trump.

They had a choice.  They could choose to let the darkest days of his Presidency stay that way.  Or they could choose to “buy” airtime on all of your favorite channels like MSNBC, CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS, or NBC to shine more light on the darkness.

So while America watched one Super Bowl commercial after another that spoke to unity and coming together, the newly sworn-in Congress decided to further unify us by making their first order of biz in the new year with a new prez a docudrama about the old prez.

How many times can you watch Jason hack someone up in Friday the 13th?

Super Bowl parties can leave you hungover.  American politics can as well.

But you wonder if the sequel has and the prequel had ulterior motives.  Did the prequel have everything to do with getting 45 out of office and 46 in?  Does the sequel have everything to do with the 2022 midterms?

You see to “unify” you can always divide to conquer.  And, forcing a Republican to vote for or against Trump being impeached and/or convicted gets him/her on the record.

Vote to acquit him and the Dems will run against you on that very point.  Vote to convict and you risk alienating the very people that may have put you in office last time or for the first time.  It’s a win/win or a lose/lose depending on the color of your uniform.

We highly doubt that America is watching this anymore closely than they were watching the last five minutes of the Super Bowl.  The outcome at the game’s end was no longer in doubt, only the final score was.  And, breaking news, Trump isn’t going to get convicted either.

Meanwhile, for AMC, it’s at least the two-minute warning.

But in American politics running up the score never ends.

And make no mistake about it, the game never ends either.

 

 

Serious Problem Solved

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Four days into the Joe Biden presidency and we can already feel what true leadership looks and feels like.  Gone are the petty arguments this same time four years ago that were being played out by the Trump team v. the media over how many people attended his Inauguration Parade.

“We’ve got serious problems, and we need serious people,” said President Andrew Shepard in the movie The American President.  He went on castigating his reelection opponent Bob Rumson, “This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up.”  There.

So some serious people have been weighing in on a serious problem in the last few days.  The serious problem is Covid-19.

It got serious in March of 2020.  By mid-October of 2020, Biden had seen enough.  He tweeted, “We’re eight months into this pandemic and Donald Trump still doesn’t have a plan to get this virus under control.  I do.”

Amongst other jewels on his platform, he promised 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office!  Bold goal aiming for 1 million injections a day don’t you say?

His advisers advised the press that this would be a tall hill to climb but they would do everything they could to make it happen.  How tall?  His senior advisor Cedric Richmond spoke to CNN’s Pamela Brown on air about the Covid vaccine distribution.  “The sad part is the last administration didn’t leave anything.  They didn’t leave a plan.”

The funny or not so funny thing about that is America has been averaging almost that for the last 15 or so days before Biden took his oath under heavy security.  It might be over a million a day if California, ranked dead last in the US in percent of vaccines administered versus shipped, could roll up more sleeves.

Now, this conflicts with another Biden tweet this past week.  @JoeBiden: “There is nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months.”  Say it ain’t so, Joe?  What happened to your plan?

But for some, if you follow the science, apparently the situation is getting better after nearly ten months of stay at home orders.

One believer is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer(D).  She announced that her state would allow restaurants and bars to reopen for indoor service at 25% capacity starting early next week.  She stated, “The science around this is settled, and if we all wear masks and wash our hands while social distancing, we will be in a strong position in a few weeks.  And then we’ll even be able to do more.”  Groundbreaking really.

Did she learn this while attending Biden’s inauguration while not socially distancing?  Sounds like her husband can go clean his boat safely now, too.

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser(D) found the science news refreshing as well.  She announced an identical plan to Whitmer’s on the same day.  The mad scientist, she is.

Both are timely, though both are a full week behind New York(D) Governor Andrew Cuomo’s pronouncement a week ago.  He brilliantly blabbed that New York can’t go on like this any longer.  “We must reopen,” he said.  The plan floated there is to use rapid testing administered at hundreds of government locations. Of course, it is.  Rapid testing has been available for about six months.  Let the government help you.

So, either we have a plan or don’t.  Either we reopen or not.  And, we need more vaccines that we don’t administer.  And then, there is our new leader who said there’s nothing we can do about the trajectory.

No wonder we need the government’s help to solve this.   Surely they’ll follow the science to get us there.  And, just in time we might add.

 

PA, QB’s, KXLPP, and Phil

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The state of Pennsylvania has produced more great quarterbacks than any other.   Namath, Unitis, Kelly, Marino, and Montana hail from all over the Keystone State as it is known.

And, as of today, it will have produced yet another.  This one is tasked with leading the most important team of all, the United States.  His name is Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. and he was born in Scranton, PA way back in 1942. 

If you listen to those who voted for him, Joe’s facing fourth and long given the job done by his predecessor, outgoing QB Donald J. Trump.

But, undaunted, the Scrapper from Scranton has promised much to many.  His game plan is aggressive on day one and even more so in the first 100 days.

One of the first plays he is expected to call is a halt to the Keystone XL Pipeline Project (KXLPP).

If you’re not familiar with the project here’s where the bouncing ball stands after three phases were completed.  The pipeline became well known when a planned fourth phase, Keystone XL, attracted opposition from environmentalists, becoming a symbol of the battle over climate change and fossil fuels. In 2015 Keystone XL was temporarily delayed by then-President Barack Obama. On January 24, 2017, President Donald Trump took action intended to permit the pipeline’s completion. On January 17, 2021, it was announced that President-elect Joe Biden planned to cancel the Keystone XL project during his first days in office.

You’d think that it’s the first of its kind as opposed to likely the safest of its kind.

Opponents cheered.  If you’re in the stands waving pompoms for the Green New Deal, it’s a touchdown.  Proponents jeered.  If you’re a member of one of the four national unions that have nearly 7000 of their teammates working on it, or if you prefer North American oil refined in North America, you booed lustily.

So the Keystone State commander in chief will punt the political football known as the Keystone Project down the field.

And, that’s how it goes these days.  Every four years we spend a lot of time, energy (not the dreaded fossil fuel type), and money undoing what we’ve been doing.  Next up immigration laws, then the dreaded wall, then corporate taxes.  Then?  Well, how about the inheritance tax?  How dare you die and leave your hard-earned money to your family!

It’s hard to win the office and keep the office when 50% of the stands are filled with the opposition to your game plan.  It’s harder still when you make choices like stopping the KXLPP.  The union vote of confidence is waining and you just kicked off.  Fifty percent of 50% of 50% of 50% is, well you understand, not enough after four years in the biggest league of them all.

And, speaking of kicking off, this QB is a mere 78 years old as he takes office, but we digress.  Former Oakland Raider QB George Blanda grew up in Pennsylvania as well.  Blanda retired from pro football in August 1976 as the oldest player to ever play at the age of 48.  Maybe 78 is the new 48?

Blanda played in four different decades.  Biden has been in political offices of one kind or another for at least that many.

With that type of longevity, you must be pretty good at knowing when to run v. when to pass.

Good luck Mr. QB President-elect Biden.

Puxatawny Phil will be watching.  He too is from PA.  Will he see his shadow, take his ball, and go home?  Or does hope eternally spring early this spring?