joebiden

Soon Enough, Hopefully.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

When can’t get here soon enough.  Can it?

When will Joe Biden realize it’s 2022 and not 2020?  Will it be in 2024?

When will the Democratic Party begin the “thanks Joe for saving us from Trump, you were the right man at the right time to bring class and respect back to the Oval Office, and it’s, unfortunately, your choice to move on, but we respect your decision” campaign?  Will it be right after the 2022 midterms that he thinks are the 2020 midterms?

When will the press stop calling Joe’s incoherent thoughts, mumbles, memory loss, misstatements, and outright lies what they are, and not “gaffes?”  Will it be right after said midterms?

When will that same party realize that Kamala Harris is utterly unelectable on the national stage?   Will it be yesterday or sooner?

When will Team Hillary announce that she’s retained advisors looking into the feasibility of another run at the big job?  Will anyone care?

When will Team Michelle Obama announce that she has retained advisors to look into the feasibility for a first run at the big job?

When will the Republicans realize that Donald Trump is no longer electable on the big stage as well?

When will the RNC realize that the independent voters currently running/sprinting from Biden and his party will make a u-turn if Trump gets the nomination?

When will Nancy Pelosi retire?  Will it be after the 2022 midterms that Joe still thinks will take place in 2020?

When will CNN pivot back to the middle?  Will they realize the space is wide open?

When did Biden’s team decide to parade him out yesterday and call this the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” when Omicron is smashing right through the fully vaccinated and boosted as well?  Did the phrase poll well?

When will actually start following the science?

When will Fauci, the NIH, the CDC, and the WHO actually address treatments vs. harumphing the jab every damn day?

When will America collectively stop wearing worthless cloth masks on their face?

When will parents start influencing how schools are run vs. school officials dictating to America how they will be run?

When will America collectively stop yelling about who Twitter censures? When will they understand that Twitter is a public company that can do what it wants with content as long as the content isn’t technically theirs?

When will Elon Musk say enough and buy Twitter and Facebook, sorry Metaverse, with the loose change that he has under his sofa cushions?

When will NY say “enough already” and stop electing officials like newly-installed Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg who will not seek pre-trial detention or prison sentences for crimes other than homicide, public corruption, and a few other exceptional cases?

When will NY realize they hired a woman named AOC who actually has exhibited the brain capacity of a 13-year-old teenager from time to time?

When will this bowl season of 6-6 teams end?  Was it last night?

When will Nick Saban stop focusing on the process and retire?  Will it be a week after never?

When will this writer know when to say when?  Will it be right now, or should it have been a few sentences back?

 

 

Here to Help

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In June of 1971, shortly after a publication of a special message to the Congress on drug abuse, prevention, and control, the American media popularized the term “The War on Drugs.”  Richard Milhouse Nixon declared the problem, as he put it, “public enemy number one.”

By 1973 our government was in such agreement with Nixon on the dire situation of the matter it created the Drug Enforcement Administration(DEA) to fight this war on any and all fronts.

A decade later cocaine had become so prevalent stateside that Nancy Reagan took the lead of the “Just Say No” initiative.

For crooks in the drug trade during the Reagan years and beyond, prison penalties skyrocketed.  Incarcerations for nonviolent drug offenses increased from 50k to over 400k from 1980 to 1987.

A half of a century ago Richard “I am not a crook” Nixon declared war on drugs.  And drugs are as easy to get a hold of today and in many more dangerous and advanced synthetic forms than ever before.  And, the DEA manpower and budget are bigger than ever.

Now we want an early release for nonviolent offenders.

Has our government failed us?  When you throw a lot of money at a big problem and that problem is still staring you in the face today, the obvious answer is yes.

Twenty years ago this 9/11 America was attacked by Al-Qaeda, a broad-based militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in the 1980s.

Twenty years ago this October America invaded Afghanistan.  Call it the War on Terror if you wish.

Meanwhile, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, passed by the 107th Congress and signed on November 19, 2001, established Transportation Security Administration(TSA).

We spent the first ten years in Afghanistan looking under rocks for a devil named Osama Bin Laden.  Supposedly.  We spent the last ten nation-building and getting our soldier’s lives and limbs blown away by roadside bombs knows as improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

And, now we’ve come home.  Enough of this never-ending war Joe Biden said.  And, America agrees.

We got “90 percent” of the Americans out that wanted out, he said.   We also left untold numbers of Afghan friendlies to us (interpreters, snitches, and the like.  We left behind helicopters, planes, tanks, humvees, weapons, and ammo that are now in the hand of the very same people we attempted to beat back out of the bushes for two decades.  America disagrees with how we exited, not why.

The Taliban, and its numerous factions of terrorist groups, are in exactly the same spot where we found them.

Two decades and two trillion dollars later we’re in the same spot as well except we got one guy who was so good at hide and seek it took ten years to find him. When you throw a lot of money at a big problem and that problem is still staring you in the face today, the obvious answer is still yes.

How’s the TSA doing you ask?  Its budget is over six times larger than when it was first instituted.  Self-imposed tests by the TSA show a greater than 90% failure rate at stopping dangerous weapons from getting past them.   And, don’t forget to take your shoes off when going through.

At least we’re soon to put some money that we don’t have to good use here at home.  We can fix the nation’s decaying infrastructure for a measly one trillion dollars we are told and sold.

Surely you’ll only see orange cones littering your favorite routes for a short period of time.

The War on Roads and Bridges easily will be completed in a decade or two.

You can see the roadside sign in your head right now, “Your Tax Dollars at Work!”

Can’t you?

 

 

Just Say No to Guns

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

When President Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, he vowed to crack down on substance abuse and reprioritize the War on Drugs, which was originally initiated by President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s.

President Reagan’s wife, Nancy Reagan, launched the “Just Say No” campaign as a part of the war, which encouraged children to reject experimenting with or using drugs by simply saying the word “no.”

In 1985, the percentage of Americans who saw drug abuse as the nation’s “number one problem,” was six percent. In 1989, that number jumped to 64 percent.

Now that we were all aware of it, how well have we succeeded in our efforts?  The word “poorly” is being kind.

Drugs today are as readily available, used, and abused as they were in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, ’00s, and ’10s.  If you want to get high you simply make the buy.

On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C. as he was returning to his limousine.  He also severely wounded White House Press Secretary James Brady.

Rather than a Just Say No to Guns campaign, The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act was enacted on November 30, 1993.  Often referred to as the Brady Bill, it is an act of the US Congress that mandated federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States.  It imposed a five-day waiting period on purchases, until the National Instant Criminal Background Check System was implemented in 1998.

The bill was introduced by none other than Representative Charles E. “Chuck” Schumer back then.  He’s still doing the people’s business and carrying Nancy’s (Pelosi, not Reagan) water 28 years later.

And then there was the terrible Boulder, CO mass shooting that left ten dead Monday.  It’s the lastest of notoriety in a long line of gun killings before, during, and after the Brady Bill and other gun control “measures” taken to control the violence.

President Joe Biden is urging the Senate to take action on H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446, the former of which would create universal background checks and the latter of which would expand the length of time a background check can last.  Sound similar to the Brady Bill?   Also, Colorado adopted universal background checks in 2013.  Hmmm.

Biden also called for an “assault weapons” ban following Monday’s shooting attack at the Boulder, Colorado grocery store.

“I don’t need to wait another minute to take common-sense steps that will save lives in the future and urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act. We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again.”

“I got that done when I was a senator. It passed. It was the law for the longest time. And it brought down these mass killings. We should do it again,” Biden remarked.  The Department of Justice released a report following the 1994-2004 “assault weapons” ban and noted that no real reduction in crime could be credited to the ban.  So maybe we should “Just Do It” again.  It sure sounds good.  It always does.

Ban everything new if you want to deny the Second Amendment Right and you would still have 375 million on the streets.

Guns today are as readily available, used, and abused as they were in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, ’00s, and ’10s.  If you can’t get want one through conventional means you simply make the buy in the streets.

Or, we could just point fingers, not guns.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) pointed one Tuesday on CNN saying Republican lawmakers were “complicit” in all the mass shootings that take place in the United States, given their opposition to gun legislation.  Old Blumey must feel like people don’t kill people, guns kill people.

In turn, Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) pointed another and questioned the wisdom of a push by congressional Democrats to enact legislation in the immediate aftermath.

“Look, these killings were terrible,” he said. But.  “We’re free, and one of the prices we pay for that freedom is that you’re always going to have some people who abuse it.  Freedom is a risk.  You’re not going to stop the killings until you stop the killers.  “In my judgment, we do not need more gun control,” Kennedy continued. “We need more idiot control.”  Old Johnny must feel like guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

“We regulate gun ownership in America. If you are convicted of certain crimes, if you have a tendency to violence, if you are mentally ill, and you want to buy a gun, your name has to run through a database. The problem is that the database has huge holes in it.”

“Republican Senators Grassley and Cruz had a bill to strengthen our national database.”  “Do you know why the bill didn’t pass?” he added. “Many of my Democratic colleagues filibustered it.”

Sounds like the Democrats just say no to what the Republicans say, and the Republicans just say no to what the Democrats say.

Meanwhile, relative to so many other enormously funded initiatives, this country still fails to vigorously tackle mental health issues. Ever talk to a homeless person?

It’s almost as taboo of a subject today as being openly gay was just a decade or two ago.  While we’re printing money maybe we could toss some at the need to control the “idiots” as Kennedy directly called them.

Or, we could once more Just Say No.

How’s that working out so far?

 

 

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Life

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We debated.

Usually, Mondays in the fall are dedicated to a rundown of the top 25 in NCAA football.  But, only half of the country is playing football right now.

And during our debate, we wondered how we could ignore the fact that the most anticipated debate, you know the one, is but 36 hours away.  So, the crossover between sports and politics these days has us doing the same.   While unfortunate, it’s reality.   Therefore, we chose to bring you a serving of Ten Piece Nuggets randomly chosen from all that is fit to virtually print.

  1.  One of the two BCS Playoff semifinal games in 2019 pitted LSU v. Oklahoma.  Before we hit October both teams are all but eliminated from the 2020 playoff conversation.  LSU debuted a new QB, Myles Brennan.  It mostly looked like his first game.  But he did manage to throw for 345 yards.  DC Bo Pelini’s new, more aggressive defense debuted as well.  It has miles to go.  Miss St. shredded the overmatched secondary for an SEC record 623 passing yards.
  2. Oklahoma managed to lose from ahead.  Leading 17-7 after one quarter, they trailed 24-23 by halftime.  Then their defense, which has always had miles to go, slept through quarter no. 3 and for a minute in the fourth as well.  Unranked Kansas St roared to a 48-23 insurmountable advantage and held on at the end for a 48-41 victory in Norman, OK.  Everything on defense is not OK in OK nor BR.
  3. What’s the main reason that we opted out (that’s a popular phrase these days) of a top 25 rundown? The Big 10 and PAC 12 will not kick off until late October at the earliest, but the AP decided all FBS teams planning to play in the fall would be eligible for inclusion (that’s a popular word these days) in the Top 25.  Most voters put the most highly regarded teams from those late-arriving conferences back into their rankings, but not all did.   That’s so 2020.
  4. Is there any truth to the rumor that if you Google search “PAC 12 football” the word “follower” pops up?
  5. On the football COVID front,  Georgia State didn’t need to postpone its game on Saturday at Charlotte after all.  On Sunday, the school announced that the postponement was the result of COVID-19 tests that were read incorrectly.  The incorrect results showed four positive individuals and contact tracing identified 17 others, including one coach, who would require quarantining.  According to Georgia State AD Charlie Cobb, those in question were retested on Friday, and that night all their results came back negative. Thursday’s swabs were retested and came back negative as well.
  6. We ask out of ignorance, “how do you get four tests of four different individuals all wrong all at the same time all independent of one another?  We ask out of further ignorance, “how do you retest the same four and get four negatives the next day?  People stand in line to get a Q Tip roto rootered three-quarters of the way to their cranium for this?

  7. Illinois State offensive coordinator Kurt Beathard quit his job Wednesday, over his apparent dislike for the Black Lives Matter movement’s intrusion into the locker room.  On his way out, Beathard admittedly left a note on his office door reading “All Lives Matter to Our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.”  From his comments, it seems that Beathard, the son of four-time Super Bowl Champion Bobby Beathard, may have become a suspect for tearing down a BLM sign in the locker room.  “That locker room crap is wrong. I took the sign down somebody put on my door,” Beathard told the paper. “I didn’t take anything off that wasn’t put on my door.”  Cancel culture works in mysterious ways.  He walked before it worked on him, we speculate.

  8. The New York Times published details Sunday of what it claimed were President Donald Trump’s tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), going back more than two decades, showing “chronic losses and years of tax avoidance,” it said.  And?  We ask a simple question.  Did he and his cadre of CPA’s do anything illegal?  And, the paper added that no evidence of any Russian collusion was uncovered.  Shocker.

  9. “Donald J. Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House, he paid another $750,” the story continues.  And, Hollywood roared at the reveal.  Bette Midler was succinct, “that son of a bitch!”   Jane Lynch, whoever she is tweeted, “a clown living on credit.”  And Rob Reiner had the hottest take, “President Donald Capone.”  We ask again. Did he or his cadre of CPA’s do anything illegal?  Does anyone in Hollywood purposely pay more in taxes than they owe?

  10.  Mybookie.ag has the very latest presidential odds.  Joe Biden is favored.  He’s a $13 to win $10 bet.  President Trump is even money.  You bet $10 to win $10.  Want a long shot?  Kamala (remember pronounced “comma la”)  Harris returns $500 on a $10 plunk down.  Has anyone seen her since she was nominated for VP?  She’s been a scarce as Joe.  Does it matter?

That’s all folks!

Ten Piece Nuggets-Life as We Know It

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Our summer of discontent rolls along as the year 2020 continues to disappoint.  We’ve got some nuggets to get you through the start of the workweek.

  1.  Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is a little red in the face.  A few days after announcing that the Redskins nickname and logo were gone, he announced that three of his close inner circle coworkers were as well.  A third party investigation confirmed 15 claims of sexual harassment within.  Snyder wasn’t directly implicated, but his leadership, or lack thereof, was.
  2.  In his statement, Snyder condemned that behavior, and said he wants to set “a new culture and standard for our team.”  Snyder has owned the team for 21 years.  All claims occurred under his reign.  Sometimes it just takes time.  Would he have relented on the Skins name if he didn’t know ahead of time that he was going to get taken to task for this mess as well?  Better to keep the team and say mea culpa than to stand on heretofore principle, eh?
  3.  Speaking of people who had heretofore principle,  Drew Brees thought it wise to tweet out his concerns for the NFL’s lack of concern for the players this coming season.  He’s worried that the league isn’t doing enough to combat/minimize/eliminate that pesky virus that you can’t see that hits you like a blindside linebacker.  Sounds like more Brownie points with his teammates to us.  Perhaps tomorrow he’ll tweet out how unjust the virus is to those facing systemic racism.  Oh, say can you see (see what we did there?) Brees kneeling for the first game’s national anthem?  His two WWII grandfather vets would be so proud of his leadership recently.
  4. A local Arizona TV station scored a rare TV interview with Joe Biden.  News anchor Mark Curtis said, “Arizona is very much in play in 2020, so we appreciate you taking some time and talk to the people of our state.”  “Oh, you’re an important city.  You guys are going through hell right now, are ya?” Biden responded.  Like Phoenix, Biden has risen from the ashes.  Well, sorta.
  5. Speaking of TV, CNN reported “breaking news” yesterday.  Eighty-five infants under the age of 12 months have tested positive in one Texas county they tweeted.  The Nueces County health examiner took to the podium after hysteria broke out and clarified that these have been recorded cumulatively since mid-March.  One is too many, but is 85 too many?  No context was given relative to any other county or age group.  No infants died directly due to the virus, though one died of as of yet undetermined causes.
  6.  Down in Florida, an incredible story is developing.  Nearly 150,000 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported.  The change in the number of hospitalizations or ICU beds needed is negligible.  Are the elderly staying inside?  Is the medicine used in combinations improving outcomes?  Is it a somehow weaker strain?  Maybe CNN can enlighten us on what should be a real story of great interest.
  7.  The peaceful protesters in Seattle decided to spray paint and break the front windows of a downtown Amazon Go storefront yesterday.  Amazon put the “Black Lives Matter” statement front and center on its web page and contributed over $10 million to the cause weeks back.  For the Antifa militants and the other rioters that apparently wasn’t enough.  Is it ever?
  8. Police in Seattle were nowhere to be found as this went down.  Are they ever when it comes to this?  Wait until they get defunded.  Would three out of ten rioters even be able to tell you why they targeted Amazon?  Could it be that over 1,000 police departments across the U.S. have partnerships with Ring, the smart doorbell security owned by Amazon? Additionally, human rights groups have called for the ban of Amazon’s facial recognition technology, Rekogntion, which they argue poses a threat to immigrants and religious minorities.   Why identify criminals in this woke world?
  9. Kamala Harris is the likely VP candidate and running mate for Joe Biden, don’t you think?  Biden has delayed the announcement twice.  He didn’t delay while she recovered from plastic surgery, did he?  Botox?  She got her money’s worth on the high and tight part.  We aren’t judging.
  10. Or did he delay due to warring factions within the party?  A group of “progressives” representing a large proportion of delegates won by Sen. Bernie Sanders in California has signed a letter to Biden urging that he pick a running mate from a shortlist of candidates that does not include local Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA).  She has long had trouble consolidating support from the left because of her record as a prosecutor in San Francisco and California.  Like Amazon, she should not identify nor punish criminals in this woke world.

If the NCAA announces a postponement or cancellation of the upcoming fall season this week, you should pray for one BBR staff member.

 

 

 

The NYT Said So.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

You’ve heard of Tara Reade by now, haven’t you?  Reade has leveled serious sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden.  She was a former Congressional staff member of his and claims that he assaulted her back in 1993.

In recent weeks her willingness to amplify the claim has gained some steam as a video of her mother calling into the CNN Larry King show back then with a veiled accusation that fits the allegation and timing has surfaced.  Additionally, a couple of her friends have spoken on the record saying that Reade extemporaneously confided in them about the incident back then.  She has even asked Biden to release all of his files from that time period.

The Trump labeled “failing” New York Times investigated and wrote an extensive piece on it.  Their conclusion?  They found no evidence that Biden had done any such thing.  Wonders never cease.

And, now it just got more serious.  The Trump labeled “fake news” CNN devoted a total of 14 minutes and 54 seconds of air time to the developing story so far.  That’s 15 minutes and 54 seconds more air time than ABC and NBC combined have spent on it.  And, it’s 13 minutes and 51 seconds more than CBS has spent on it as well.  But, it’s gaining oxygen.

The DNC circulated talking points on the accusation to operatives weeks ago.

Stacey Abrams, who lost a race for Governor of Georgia, used them by the book last evening.  On CNN’s Don Lemon show she said that every woman needs to be heard.  She said every allegation needs to be investigated, and that the NYT did so, and that they found nothing.  She said that she believes in Joe Biden.  She said, she said, she said.  She didn’t say that she is or wants to be on a shortlist for his VP nominee.  But, she either is or wants to be.

Hillary Clinton, no stranger to knowing people who have been accused of unwanted advances outside of marriage, endorsed “maybe not so sleepy back then” Joe Biden just yesterday.  She believes women should be heard and should come forward.  Jennifer Flowers, who she labeled as a “bimbo,” would be one exception.  It seems like Ms. Reade is at least the second one.

#metoo is #mia.

Does the DNC care?  Sure it does.  It went all-in on Joe Biden as the most likely candidate to defeat Trump.  That is the entire objective regardless of who gets to call the White House home.  Don’t believe that?  Ask Bernie and a host of minions that fell in line behind Joe as the nomination process’ orchestrated collapse went down with an assist from the enemy that no one can see.

Congress cannot investigate Biden on this as he isn’t in public office.   But the police can.  Reade filed a report last week in DC about the 1993 alleged incident.

If Congress could, would it be as diligent as they were for Judge Kavanaugh?  Christine Blasey Ford had to be believed a host of Democrats said.    Blasey Ford was labeled as courageous.  As of now, no one from the left has come out in support of Reade’s bravery.  Reade hasn’t been labeled yet, but we trust one is in the works.  The war on women works in mysterious ways.

Assuming Biden soldiers on, his VP choice, given his age and declining cognitive ability, is an important one.

Is it a bit odd that months ago he announced that if he got the nomination his VP choice would be a female?  Pandering much?

A few months back Biden apologized for all of his actions saying “personal space is important, and I get it.”

Case closed?  Not yet.  It actually was just opened.

 

 

Laughter, the Best Medicine.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

A quick Google search for Reader’s Digest showed that a) yes the now 10x a year magazine is still published, and b) the circulation is over 3 million.

Long ago one of their monthly features was a compilation of musings of American life titled Laughter, It’s the Best Medicine.  It was (and maybe it still is) so well appreciated that they compiled the best and made them into paperbacks unto themselves.

We looked it up since we find the laughter part in understandably short supply these last several days.  Maybe it is the best medicine right now since the health and economy of the world is a bad joke being repeated in many languages.  Hopefully below makes light of a bit of it all.

At the local overrun grocery store Saturday at 8 AM we turned down one aisle to see a shopper with a buggy that looked like it could hold no more in it nor below.  The stack-up was monumentally well done.  “Crazy times,” she said.  “Crazy times,” I said.  One more glance at the pile and you could see four very large bottles of ketchup.  Four.  FOUR.   I had to.  “Hey, I’m just curious.  Why so much ketchup?”  “My husband loves it.  The last thing he told me before I left was to make sure he didn’t run out.”  Mission accomplished we presume.

Two aisles later were paper products.  An employee was stationed at the toilet paper run as a shopper put the third package of Charmin in her cart.  “Ma’am, as you can see from the limit sign, just two please.”  No response.  “MA’AM, its a limit of two, please.” As she pushed on, over her departing shoulder she said, “Oh, this one is for a friend of mine.” So thoughtful.

Over in dairy yet another employee was staged to help manage the mayhem.  By now, absolutely amazed at waiting in line 45 minutes to shop and witness it all, it was time to lighten things up a bit.  “Excuse me.  Do you know when the hurricane is supposed to make landfall?”  He looked unamused.  “Too soon?”  He nodded affirmatively.   The strong silent type he is apparently.

Meanwhile, Sunday night two nearly octagenarians battled it out appropriately six feet apart in a near-empty CNN studio.  The Democratic Nomination is still there for the taking Bernie believes.  Does he really?  Crazy Bernie screamed “Medicare for All” repeatedly for 90 minutes.  Crazy times.

Joe Biden confused Ebola with the Swine Flu with the Coronavirus with H1N1 with N1H15 with R2D2 and with CP30 at one point.  Of course, this was after he began the debate with a strong cough right into his fist when he was asked what he would do to combat the rapidly spreading virus.  You cannot make this stuff up.

Fox News resident rabble-rouser, Greg Gutfeld, tweeted during the debate “two cranky old farts arguing over who didn’t do what or did do that.  It’s like a Florida condo meeting over who keeps parking too close to the boat dock.”

Maybe the joke is on us.  Trump’s press conferences in the last week needed a standing eight count at times.  One of these two (very very likely Biden) will have a chance to knock him out of the office.   That chance (like it or not) improves by the day as our chance to escape a major disruption to our medical and economic well being is gone.

Maybe, just maybe, laughter is the best medicine.  And, you don’t need to wait for a test that we don’t have to get a prescription for it.  Laughter for All!

Pass the ketchup, please.

 

 

 

 

Perception May Not Be Reality

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday we labeled “Tough Monday.”  One week ago most everyone agreed was “Super Tuesday.”   Joe Biden was at first the lone dissenter to that mantra, but after the results came in from about 15 states he quickly changed his mind about the public perception of him.  What will today bring us?

There is perception and there is reality.  When the perception becomes so strong that it changes behavior, a new day has dawned.

Once upon a time it was considered in style, even sexy, to smoke cigarettes.  The surgeon general told us enough times that smoking will kill you.  Our perception of smoking changed to the point where we frown upon anyone who smokes.

Stated plainly, if everyone thinks the COVID-19, aka the Coronavirus, will do them great harm or even kill them, then human behavior is dramatically changed.  If you don’t believe BBR, then head to your local food or drug store.  Try buying hand soap, cough or cold medicines, or egads, toilet paper.  When is the last time you shook hands with anyone?  Check your 401k lately?

Human behavior has dramatically changed until our perception changes.  We cast no judgment.  It’s better to be safe than sorry we heard.

However, we cannot help but wonder if this has reached the point of being a bit overblown at least in the U.S.  We highly recommend that you take three minutes and read this link.  We’ve found it to be the most unemotional, fact-based, and intuitive piece on the virus that we have read.

In the meantime, we cannot help but wonder as well that people would actually (on TV and Twitter yesterday) find the time to debate the “insensitivity” of calling COVID-19 the Wuhan Virus.  Chris Hayes, MSNBC’s resident word policeman, called it a social injustice.

Good Lord people, get over yourself.  What about Peking Duck?  If you don’t want the blame for the virus, you don’t get credit for the duck anymore either.

Was your perception of that insensitive?  We hope it wasn’t.  But, if it was, so be it.  It’s our perception.

Please wash your hands to help keep the virus away.  And, please wash them again of this overblown politically correct BS.

 

One Year

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

My how things can change.  A lot can happen in a year.   And, a lot did.  Take a gander at some twists and turns below.

One year ago Alex Cora was getting ready to go to spring training as the manager of the 2018 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.  A year later he is out of his coveted job due to his orchestration of an electronic sign stealing scheme as batting coach of the 2017 World Series Champion Houston Astros.

One year ago said Astros were unveiling a 2019 marketing campaign called “Take It Back!” After losing to the Washington Nationals in an underwhelming World Series in game seven, the Astros are indeed taking it back.  They are taking back control of their once proud franchise by dumping GM Jeff Luhnow and Manager A.J. Hinch.  Owner Jim Crane said ” they didn’t start the scandal, but didn’t stop it after they learned of it.”

Four years ago, with a year to go before the 2016 election, outsider Donald J. Trump took the Republican Party by storm and flipped it on it’s head.  Joe Biden was finishing up a heady eight year run as VP.

Four years later, with a year to go before the 2020 election, no one in the Democratic Party is doing any such water acrobatics.  “Low Energy” (per David Axelrod last evening) candidate Joe Biden leads but can only muster about 20% of the Party’s support.

One year ago, after dismantling Alabama, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was hoisting the trophy after the National Championship Game.

One year later, after extending their unbeaten streak to 29-0, Clemson stood nearby as LSU’s Ed Orgeron hoisted the trophy after the National Championship Game.

One year ago no one had ever heard of newly signed LSU Passing Game Coordinator Joe Brady.  One year later, after a bevy of offensive NCAA records fell, Joe Brady is onward and upward.  He’s headed to Carolina to be the new OC for the Panthers.  Sean Payton “taught him all he knows.”  Going forward, twice a year,  Brady will attempt to teach Payton a thing or two when the Saints and the division rival Panthers meet.

One year ago the Dow Jones Industrial average stood at 23,909 on 1/15/19.  One year later the average stands at 28,939.  That’s a 5000 point move in one year That’s so good that it’s crazy.  That’s so crazy that it’s that good.

It’s fascinating to look back.  How about looking forward?  In one year could a mayor from South Bend, IN be your president?  Could the Oregon Ducks be hoisting a trophy?  Could the Tampa Bay Rays be the World Series Champs getting ready to go to spring training?  Dow 30,000 anyone?

BBR will keep an electronic eye on it all.  We know where to get some cheap used cameras that used to hang in center field.

Another Different Disappointment From Coast to Coast.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

On January 19 of this year Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California joined the 2020 presidential contest with her goal to win the Democratic Party nomination.

“The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values,” she said in the video. “That’s why I’m running for president of the United States.”

She announced on 1/19 as it was also the day our nation honored the late Dr. Martin Luther King, a timing that she said was “very important” to her.  Amid that context, however, Harris played down the role of race.  “When people wake up in the middle of the night, whether it be a mom in Compton or a mom in Kentucky, she’s waking up having the same concerns,” Harris said.

So with that Harris set up shop on the corner of First and Main St.  She brought her chair, table, and game to attract Americans far and wide and hold their interest.  A high single digit percentage stopped by as she broke out the shells and arranged them just so.

Debate one in June almost came and went quietly until Harris pounced on a “sleepy” Joe Biden late in the evening.   Harris, a black former prosecutor, leaped into the cross-talk with a request to speak “on the issue of race.” She then trained her attention on Mr. Biden, and after making clear that she did not believe he was a racist, proceeded to sharply criticize him for having made “very hurtful” comments about having worked with two segregationist senators.  Harris then also recalled Mr. Biden’s opposition to school busing in the 1970’s and opened up about her own history. “There was a little girl in California who was a part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day,” she said. “And that little girl was me.”  Her desire to downplay the role of race pivoted.

And after that more folks, reaching into the mid teens percentage wise, showed up as she moved the shells randomly to stump the crowd and stump on the campaign trail.  Attention heightened.

Debate two brought Tulsi Gabbard’s attack of Harris’ record as DA of California. Gabbard singled out Harris’ stance on the death penalty, accusing her of keeping “innocent people” on death row and saying she “blocked evidence” that could have helped them. The tense exchange illuminated a complicated piece of Harris’s record as a prosecutor that has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle, with some targeting her refusal to seek the death penalty in the killing of a police officer, and others attacking her decision to defend California’s death penalty from a statewide legal challenge.

And after that less folks, now slumping back into the mid single digits, showed up as she begged folks to keep their eye on the most important shell-the only one with anything hidden underneath.

In an effort to remain viable in the race Harris pivoted again.   She re re reformed her Medicare for all stance a third time.  She promised teacher pay raises.  She promised a middle class tax cut.  She even offered to kiss all of the babies, that’s assuming they made it through the “women’s wellness” needs.  And, she put all of this under one shell, or so she said.

But, her presence sunk further.  Fewer and fewer were interested in the shell game.  Her poll numbers sunk to less than 3% of likely Democratic voters.  So, Harris spoke to what she viewed as her main electability problem last week.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris described electability as the “elephant in the room” of her campaign and wondered aloud whether America is ready for a woman of color to be commander in chief.  “Essentially, is America ready for a woman and a woman of color to be president of the United States?” Harris said in an interview with Axios on HBO. “There is a lack of ability or a difficulty in imagining that someone whom we have never seen can do a job that has been done 45 times by someone who is not that person.”

So, Harris perhaps forgot about one Barrack Obama.  She accused her own party of racism.  That’s what “lack of ability or a difficulty in imagining” means.  This is the same party that successfully saw Barrack Obama ascend from virtually nowhere to serve two terms as President #44.  This is the same party that saw approximately 94% of all African Americans vote for Obama in 2008 and again in 2012. This is the same party that shows Joe Biden polling far, far better with African Americans in absolute numbers and percentages than Harris or Cory Booker in 2019.  Was this party not racist when Harris was polling into the mid teens and running third or fourth, but is now?

Hmm.  Her January downplay of race as relevant in this nomination process now seems so long ago and so hollow.

So, yesterday Kamala Harris did the wise thing.  She announced that her run for 2020 was over.

She folded her chair, folded her table, and packed away her shells.  It turns out that once America focused on that elusive, ever moving, one shell of three, all that was under it was a card.  A race card.  She played it.  Then she folded.