A Rock Fight

In politics, 2024 is just around the corner.  But for aspiring, thought to be front-running politicians it’s light-years away.

After all, who thought an ACORN employee turned Illinois Congressman would walk in the room and crack the glass ceiling when Hillary Clinton was attempting to hammer it herself in 2008?

And, who thought a gritty NY businessman turned reality show star would walk in the room and crack eggs over the head of Jeb Bush in 2016?

And, finally, who thought a 77-year-old man four years removed from the lifelong political game could hide in his basement and garner the most votes ever cast in a presidential election?

If you type “politicians make” in the Google search bar in no time you get “make me sick,” “make strange bedfellows,” “make false promises,” and “make too much money” in short order.

Long Ago and Way Happier Times

So, while we agree on what they do, who in 2024 will turn our collective stomachs?  As of today, would you say it’s former President Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton?

Several corners on Las Vegas Boulevard do. So is the race to the bottom on?

Time will tell. But what good poker players know as a tell is the not too distant rumblings of the respective parties.

If people judged Donald Trump by what he accomplishes, not what he says or, most of all, how he says it, he would be a worthy candidate all over again.  But, too many people have had it with him and his ego, and that was prior to that January 6, 2021 dustup at the Capital Building now labeled as “Insurrection Day” by the left and their media shrills.

If he polls at 30% and the balance of the Republican field scatters the other 70% does that make him the front runner?  Yes.  But it also makes 70% of the likely Republican voters prefer someone else.

Hillary cannot help herself.  Every time she opens her yapper she proves it to the general public.  Also, she’s physically not up to the task.  She wasn’t well at the wire in 2016, how could she be in 2024?  She’s got more than just carry-on baggage.  Her email server has been on the fritz for years.

And, now she may have far bigger problems.  Special Counsel John Durham looked into Russia’s supposed ties to Trump.  And, in quite the plot twist he has tied Hillary’s campaign team to instigating, paying, and then spying on team Trump per his blockbuster report released Friday.

How bad is it?   The bombastic former President weighed in yesterday.  “​This is a scandal far greater in scope and magnitude than Watergate and those who were involved in and knew about this spying operation should be subject to criminal prosecution,” said Trump.  “In a stronger period of time in our country, this crime would have been punishable by death,” he said.

Death?  Maybe.  But, it is a good transitional word.  Maybe both of these candidates are dead to us as Tony Soprano might say.  Or, maybe they should be.

The only way the Democrats can get back in this race (and we know it is early) is if the Republicans let them back in.  And, if they nominate Trump it will be game on. They’ve taken getting their base riled up to a higher art form when they bellow about that Trump fellow.

For the Dems, Biden is 79 and doesn’t know if he’s President of the US or El Salvador.  There is no way he’s running again unless it’s to the nearest men’s room.  Hillary is 74 and has been shown the door one too many times.

Both parties can do better, can’t they?

Will they?  2024 in one sense is near, but perhaps there is still plenty of time for two fresh faces to appear.

America deserves better than a rock fight.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random

There’s some good news and bad news in our world as we know it on 1/19/22.    And today you’ll need to take the good with the bad.  And in a marked departure from our inflationary times, you’ll get 12 for the price of 10.   Yum.

  1.  Good news-  Pfizer said its Covid-19 pill approved by the FDA, Paxlovid, was effective against the Omicron virus in three early but promising tests.
  2.  Bad news-  The treatment will not be available till June when the next variant, if there is one, will be prevalent and Omicron will be long gone.
  3.  Good news-   At least the pill will be free.  Your US Government has already cornered the market, as it purchased 20 million courses of treatment.
  4.  Bad news-  The pill will be free to you, but not our government.  That really means that the pill won’t be free to you any more than all of these other handouts that aren’t free.
  5.  Good news-  Bill de Blasio announced that he would put every fiber of his being into fighting inequality in the state of New York, but would not be running for governor.
  6.  Bad news-  Real estate prices in Florida just took a 5% haircut.
  7.  Good news-  CNN is going to create a “team dedicated to covering misinformation.”  Will episode one cover the Chris Cuomo coverup?
  8.  Bad news-  No new hiring or flights are needed to cover it and bolster our economy as all of the misinformation is already in-house.
  9.  Good news-  In 2021 the stock market fared quite well in spite of supply chain, inflation, Afghanistan, Covid-19, and southern border problems.
  10.  Bad news-  It’s 2022, and the stock market taketh what the stock market giveth.
  11.  Good news-  President Biden will hold a rare press conference today surely giving us hope for tomorrow, one day short of the first anniversary of him taking office.
  12.  Bad news-   Three years to go.  Does he know?

We hope you enjoyed the nuggets-  short and sweet.

 

 

The Friendly Skies

United Airlines marketed the jingle “fly the friendly skies.”   And, one pilot of United’s very worthy adversary, Southwest Airlines, should have taken note, perhaps.

We write “perhaps” because, in spite of AP reporter Collen Long’s outrage expressed on her Twitter account, there is no clear-cut audio or video of the reported SWA pilot uttering “Let’s Go Brandon” as passengers were about to deplane in Alberquerque this past weekend.  Not yet.

Predictably both sides of the divided country quickly stepped up to either defend the yet unnamed pilot or want to have him fired by sundown in New Mexico.

Fox News had their roundtable of five on the Outnumbered show yesterday take turns citing examples of either Alec Baldwin or Robert DeNiro screaming “F Trump” into microphones, or even that has been redheaded comedienne (her name escapes us) that faux beheaded Trump as justification for the pilot’s behavior.

There are few more staunch supporters of the freedom of speech than BBR.

But, the above examples are individuals acting as individuals.  You don’t have to like what they said or did any more than watching the American flag being set ablaze. You just have to respect their right to do so.

So, simply stated he had a right to say what he said.  And, because of that, the airline has a right to take whatever disciplinary action it deems appropriate against the pilot.  He was on their time earning his dime.

The SWA pilot was representing SWA.  And a company spokesperson released the following statement yesterday.  “Southwest Team takes pride in providing a welcoming, comfortable, and respectful environment for the millions of customers who fly with the airline each year, and behavior from any individual that is divisive or offensive is not condoned.”

A wise owl once said, “you can say anything you want on your last day.”

Whether the purported incident did or did not happen is still for debate. What is not debatable is that a corporate line is a corporate line.

And, now a pilot, vaccinated or not, might have to join the unemployment line. His freedom of speech wasn’t free.

At a minimum he’ll get his wings clipped a bit.

Meanwhile, “Let’s Go Brandon” seems to have a lot of air under its wings.