Decision time

My third notice came in the mail just the other day.

Traditionally, I don't let my magazine subscriptions run out. Whenever I get a notice, I almost always renew the subscription immediately. I did this for Time magazine. I did it for Civil War Times. I still do it for Monitor, another Civil War publication.

I like getting magazines in the mail. It's like getting a little Christmas present whenever they arrive.

But I may not do it this time. So I'm in a quandary.

I mean, it is Sports Illustrated, after all.

The fact that I'm considering not renewing my subscription to SI is shocking, even to me. I've been a loyal subscriber to the magazine ever since I was a junior in high school. We're talking 1968 here. That's 55 years of uninterrupted loyalty.

Sports Illustrated was the first magazine I ever subscribed to. I'd get my latest copy, take it to school and read it cover to cover in study hall when I should have been, well, studying. Every week, I'd grab my latest SI and read the editorial, the table of contents, Faces in the Crowd, even the publication statement on the contents page. My subscription even had my name on the cover's address stamp. It was mine.

I read about baseball, football, golf and basketball, but also about sports I didn't really care about. Hockey. Soccer. Auto racing. Horse racing. I felt I was becoming well rounded, if not actually aware.

Because I was subscribing to SI in my formative years, I acquired an appreciation for scintillating, incisive and perceptive sports writing. I didn't know back in high school that I would end up a sports writer myself, but maybe, just maybe, I absorbed a little bit of style and panache from the likes of Frank Deford or Dan Jenkins or Curry Kirkpatrick or Robert Creamer or George Plimpton or Tom Verducci. Maybe it was osmosis. Or maybe it was a dream.

But somehow, I became a sports writer, covering not only baseball, football, golf and basketball, but also soccer, volleyball, bass fishing, Hawg Runs and auto racing. Maybe SI helped prepare me for this. 

In the last five years, though, SI has gone through a significant change. Like most print publications, it finds itself dealing with the Internet, as well as all the other information platforms, that have virtually erased print media from our very eyes. The once weekly magazine now shows up in my mailbox once a month. That's 12 issues per year.

My subscription doesn't even include the swimsuit issue any more. I don't know how that happened.

But I understand. Even I am distracted by other news sources to where SI is now mostly out of sight, out of mind. I hardly even read my SI anymore when it does arrive, and certainly not cover to cover.

So now my 55-year-old subscription hangs in the balance. I'm doing a lot of downsizing these days in an effort to whittle away of some of the clutter in my life, and Sports Illustrated might be a victim of that downsizing.

I'm wondering if I'll get a fourth notice?

But the times are always changing, and this might be one of those times.

Blown away in Blowing Rock

For one three-day weekend every year, Kim and I head up to Blowing Rock for a quiet little getaway in the mountains.

We do this either in August or September, mostly to escape the heat of summer for a bit. The weekend we choose is the one Saturday of the month in which they offer Art in the Park, where craftsmen and artists offer their talents for sale and appreciation. It's literally cool stuff.

This year offered us something different.

The mom-and-pop motel we were staying at featured a large gazebo that offered a gas fire pit and so, even though we were a little worn out from the day of travel and shopping, we decided to join the two other couples and a single who were sitting there.

I like doing stuff like this. You're going to meet people you'll probably never see again. What could possibly go wrong?

It was actually pleasant for a while. When the conversation stalled, Kim suggested we go around the circle and tell each other where we're from and our ages, because, you know, we're nosy.

Amazingly, that went well. We all started feeling a little more comfortable with ourselves and less like strangers.

But then something happened. To this moment, I'm not sure exactly what. I mean, I wasn't expecting a U turn. But the single guy quickly went political, especially with the older couple opposite him. Suddenly, the conversation became about transgenders, and particularly, transgender children. A culture war issue.

There was a back and forth between them, growing more and more heated. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The couple directly opposite us tried to play peacemaker, but the temperature at the fire pit was rising incrementally. Suddenly, the wife of the targeted husband – who said she was 70 years old – blurted out to the single guy, "You're an asshole." She said this several times.

My brain stopped processing. I wanted to leave. But I couldn't because I was watching a car wreck and car wrecks usually have witnesses.

"Oh, really," said the single guy. "I was just trying to learn how you think, but all you give me is deflections. You're unteachable."

Kim and I remained mute, trying to become invisible. I was thinking of what my father told me some 50 odd years ago that you never talk politics or religion with strangers, and now I saw why.

"C'mon guys," pleaded the peacemaker. "We're supposed to be on vacation. Let's be civil. Chill."

The older couple, frustrated, got up and left. Shortly after that, after additional comings and goings within the group, we took our leave.

Back in our room, I had to think about what just happened. The 70 year-old-wife should never have resorted to base name calling, but why did the other guy think he was a teacher in this episode? Teaching what? His view?

But even on a deeper level, I was floored. Within 20 minutes, complete and total strangers were at each other's throats. How did this happen?

I'm trying not to turn this into a metaphor for where we are in this country, but it seems rather obvious what's happening. We've pretty much lost our civility. One of my friends suggested that confrontational reality TV has helped usher us to this point. So has unrestricted social media. I happen to think a poisoned political atmosphere has given us license to be unthinkingly rude to each other.

We've seemingly lost some of the values taught to us by our parents, by our teachers, by our churches. Heck, even our churches have become politicized despite the Founders' vision of separation of church and state.

And I don't know what the answer is. Well, for me, it's to keep my mouth shut in socially inflamed situations, especially when I'm bumping my aura with somebody else's.

No name calling, for sure.

Be kind.

All you need is love.

 

 

Fact checking

Well, here we go again.

Apparently, my last two blogs – one dealing with the 14th Amendment as a legitimate Constitutional remedy to prevent Mafia Don from seeking the United States presidency for a second time, and the other for exploring the miasma that is suffocating the Republican candidates running for the presidency (six candidates astoundingly indicated they still would vote for Trump for president even if he was convicted of criminal charges and serving time in jail.) – ruffled some Trumpian feathers.

Now, I know full well that my blogs aren't going to change any Trumpy minds, even though I still hold out hope that my perspective at least solicits an, "Oh, OK. Maybe. I didn't realize that." 

I write my blog in the spirit of traditional American political debate. That really used to be a thing, you know, going all the way back to the founding of the nation.

Instead, as it sometimes happens, I got thrown some shade, misinformation and what I consider to be conspiracy theories from the Trumpers. Rest assured, you are not going to change my mind, either. I'm sometimes labeled as a desperate hater who is suffering from Trump derangement syndrome and should stick to sports writing because clearly there's no place for such a biased and uninformed fellow like me to comment on politics. 

Hmm. So much for honest political debate. I'm still going to write my blog the way I see fit, armed with facts from the mainstream media as well as what I absorb with my own eyes and ears. If that bothers you, then don't read it. If you want to offer your view, at least respond with true facts. It's that simple.

I'm going to take a look at some of the Trump-supporting responses my last two blogs generated, and I will attempt to defend my views with links, where appropriate, to support my opinions. This could take some time.

Economy: This link is very inclusive and lengthy. It shows the economy was a mixed bag during the Trump years, but not nearly as great as Trumpers remember, either. This will take some time to read. Take note of the sources at the end. (See here).

"Biden crime family": There is no Biden crime family. The investigation into son Hunter Biden and the alleged bribes he took from China and Ukraine, along with his father, is in its fifth year with still no evidence that Joe Biden accepted bribes. There are no charges, either. So far, it's all been a Republican wet dream. (See here).

Fabricated charges: This one makes me chuckle. Some Trumpers think the current 91 charges against Mafia Don, as well as those charges against numerous Jan. 6 defendants, are phony, false and made up because Democrats/liberals are desperate to imprison Trump (the word "Desperate" comes up often). Here's a quick civics lesson: charges are not made up. Most potential charges, supported by evidence, go through grand juries first and are voted on prior to becoming indictments. It's the American system and it's worked pretty well for over 200 years. (See here).

Jan. 6: Some Trumpers still insist that the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol was staged by the FBI, CIA, Capitol police and BLM, posing as MAGA Trump supporters. I'm pretty sure if that premise were true, recently convicted Oath Keepers, Three Percenters and Proud Boys now serving time for decades are wondering why the redeeming evidence (for example, a supposedly exculpatory video by John Sullivan) hasn't been floated on their behalf. The premise is so preposterous that I don't need a link for this one. Just common sense. Oh, and because these guys have been convicted, its OK to call them insurrectionists.

The Deep State: There is no deep state, but it makes a good excuse to serve as cover when all logic fails.

The Big Lie: This is why Trumpy is in legal trouble in the first place. He refuses to believe that he lost the 2020 election, claiming that it was rigged. He was claiming the election was rigged even before the election. It makes sense that The Big Lie is built on Trump's foundation of 30,000 little lies. (See here).

Secret documents: Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden (and Mike Pence) were found to be in possession of sensitive and/or secret government documents. But there is a difference in how they were handled. Biden immediately notified the National Archives and Records Administration, as well as the Department of Justice the day they were discovered on his property. Subsequent documents were found on later dates, Biden complied with consensual searches and the documents, on each occasion, were returned. Trump, meanwhile, maintains the documents are his personal materials (by law they are not), so he is looking at several charges, including violation of the Espionage Act. It all seems so unnecessary. All he had to do was return them to NARA. It's a false equivalency to compare Trump's outrageous handling of documents with Biden. (See here).

Ageism: Joe Biden is 80 years old. Trump is 77. But Biden is the one who attracts criticism for his stumbles, mumbles and implied mental decline, while Trump appears to be, um, normal. Or not. Time for a Trevor Noah humor break. (See here).

Covid-19 response: Depending on the matrix you use to measure these things, the U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic was pretty shaky for a highly developed industrialized nation. But Republicans, with their stubborn anti-science, anti-vaccine and anti-masking philosophy, almost single-handedly contributed to the nation's excess death rate, dying almost twice as much as Democrats from the virus. This is Republicans at their dumbest, willing to die for Trump. Are you surprised? (see here).

Hate: What I really hate is what Trump has done to the country that I love. I can't abide by a person who is serving in the most revered political office in the world who celebrates grabbing women by the genitals, being held liable for sexual assault, paying off porn stars, lying to the people on a clearly pathological level, separating nursing children from their mothers' breasts as national policy, stealing national secrets, intimidating poll workers, displaying deadly incompetence in the face of a pandemic ("Maybe you could use bleach. And lights."), and consoling hurricane victims with rolls of paper towels among a litany of other indignities and illegalities. Hate? Not really. Don't confuse hate with our desire for accountability.

Love: Under Biden, the rate of inflation fell from a national high of 9 percent last June to 3.3 percent today. He created 13.8 million jobs during his administration. But if he didn't accomplish anything else, his Inflation Reduction Act that allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices to provide lower costs for consumers is a game changer. What's not to love?

 

 

Stunner times two

There was one moment during the first Republican presidential debate on Wednesday that absolutely took my breath away:

When asked by the moderator if Mafia Don were to be convicted in a court of law (and thus imprisoned), would they still vote for him to be President?

Six of the eight candidates raised their hands. Yes, they would support him.

Wait. Candidates running for the office of the President of the United States would vote for a criminal to be president if he was their party's nominee? Holy crap.

On the one hand, I think I know what's happening here. Given the choice, those voting for a criminal would rather do that than see a Democrat in office.

On the other hand, that's still pretty weak sauce. It shows a clear lack of respect for the presidency and it makes me wonder why they're running for the office in the first place if they hold it in such low regard. What a bunch of shallow, heartless, unpatriotic ignoramuses. How does putting a convicted criminal in the presidency serve the people of the United States? I'm pretty sure this unholy concept didn't figure into the thinking of the Founding Fathers as they crafted the Constitution.

Then, about 48 hours later, came the second stunner: Mafia Don received his new identity number as Inmate PO1135809 at the Fulton County Prison for alleged crimes (election interference) committed in Georgia during the 2020 election. You know, where he begs to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger in what is a now a famously infamous phone recording, "I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break."

Give me a break. That's all you need to overthrow the will of the people. That's all you need to topple democracy. Give me a break. In government, these are the words of an unctuous autocratic demagogue.

Of all the 91 charges against him in four different venues, in my mind this recorded conversation stands as the most outstanding piece of evidence against him. Stop the steal, indeed.

Trump's mugshot, to my thinking, is almost comical. He's glowering. He's leering. He looks like a predatory insect out of a Marvel movie adventure searching for the Infinity Stones. You just know he rehearsed the pose over and over in advance, liking what he saw in the mirror. He might have have the shot taken over and over in the booking office until the cameraman got it right.

And now the T-shirt with the mugshot can be yours for a mere $34.

I don't know. I guess my vision of American government is more idealistic, and certainly less cynical, than what Mafia Don has to offer. I envision politicians who actually work for the people to try and make the lives of their constituents better; I envision politicians who actually abide by their oaths of office. 

It shouldn't be that difficult.

Let's try the 14th Amendment

Well, this is interesting:

"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector or President and Vice-President or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House remove such disability."

That's Section 3 of the 14th Amendment (1868) to the Constitution. It's not a particularly easy read, say, like a James Patterson novel or your everyday sports page, but there it is – a pathway to keep Mafia Don from running for president again.

Well, at least in theory.

It was originally designed to keep former Confederates from entering Federal government after the Civil War. That's logical enough if you consider the Confederacy to be an immoral (a slave state) and treasonous (anti-Constitutional) conspiracy.

Our Constitution is genius. It anticipated the arrival of Mafia Don.

The clause, however, known as the "disqualification clause," has never been tested.

Since we've never had a president question the outcome of a free and fair election before, and we've never had a president incite an insurrection before (or had a president liable for sexual assault, or impeached twice or indicted four times for a total of 91 crimes – including racketeering), we're treading upon previously untreaded ground here.

The clause, as it reads, gives Congress the power to disqualify someone who has already held a public office from holding "any office" if they participate in an "insurrection or rebellion" against the United States. 

While the clause applies to current or former federal officials, there is a question as to whether or not it applies to the presidency.

I suspect that if the clause is ever invoked, it ultimately will be headed to the Supreme Court. You know, the Supreme Court that is currently dealing with its own issues of lapses in ethics and morals. Supreme, indeed.

I don't know if invoking the 14th Amendment will actually succeed, but as 2024 approaches with more and more speed, and as the indictments weigh more heavily upon Mafia Don's shoulders, I bet you'll hear more and more about it. It would certainly be interesting to see the 14th Amendment play out against a fascist former president who actually called for the suspension of the Constitution (see here.)

Very interesting, indeed.

 

Here we go

When District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a protective order on Friday toward criminal defendant (and former President of the United States) Donald Trump, indicted for alleged crimes during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, it was to prevent him from disseminating material obtained from the government during the discovery phase of the trial.

In other words, to keep his mouth shut. No more "If you come after me, I'm coming after you" stuff and thus effectively tainting the jury pool. Jury tampering, if you will.

Well, here it is Sunday morning, and as far as I know, Trump has remained relatively silent. It might be a personal record for silence, I don't know. Part of me is pretty sure that Chutkan will throw Trump in jail for any violation of the order, and part of me thinks that Trump is arrogant enough to force the issue, reasoning that 24 hours or so in the hoosegow is exactly what he wants to further inflame his base of whiny and aggrieved supporters.

This, Trump's third indictment with a fourth one expected from Georgia later this week, illustrates the sad state of affairs No. 45 has brought on this country: conspiracy, fraud, conspiracy to defraud, obvious lies stated as his perceived notion of fact, liable for sexual assault, apartheid, subversion of democracy, voter suppression, misogamy, delusion of reality, unconstitutionality and simple meaness.

In my mind, he might be the most un-American president in our history.

•  •  •

I guess it's no surprise that in the Trump era – whether he's president or not – we have a conservative Supreme Court that reflects Trump's arrogance.

I'm thinking of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, who is busy accepting 38 vacations in the past 30 years – some apparently unreported – from billionaire donors like Harlan Crow and others. Man, if there's one way to corrupt the judicial system, money would be it. 

So how can we be sure Thomas' decisions on the court are not being influenced by his donor friends? Why isn't Chief Justice John Roberts laying down an ethics rule book?

Is the title "Justice" even appropriate for members of this court?

•  •  •

Republican Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville (who might not actually be from Alabama) is single-handedly withholding 301 promotions in all five branches of the military because of the military's policy on abortion. Tuberville, who says he is a pro-lifer, objects to the military's paid leave and reimbursed travel expenses for personnel seeking abortions in states that have not banned or restricted the procedure.

Because of Tuberville, both the Army and the Marine Corps are waiting for commandants to be promoted into their positions of leadership. Because of Tuberville's idiocy, the military – and thus the nation's security – is at a greater risk. Culture war versus security. Imagine that. Meanwhile, Tuberville insists he's on a righteous crusade.

I'd ask why anybody would support a clown like this. Then I remember when Trump said that military personnel who died in the line of duty were suckers...that coming from Private Bone Spurs himself. And look at the support he continues to receive.

All of this stuff is why many folks find themselves worrying for the democracy of this country as the 2024 general elections draw closer and closer.

It's time to think hard about what we want for this country. There are no protective orders in an autocracy.

Unpresidential

 "If you go after me, I'm coming after you."

          - Donald Trump, August 4, 2023

The above quote sounds a whole lot like something a Mafia Don would say.

Instead, this was posted on former president Donald Trump's oxymoronic Truth Social platform. It sounds like a threat. I think it was meant to be a threat. I think the clearly unhinged ex-POTUS was aiming this threat at potential jurors, prosecutors, judges, potential witnesses, bailiffs, court stenographers, court custodians and anyone else connected to any of his three – and no doubt soon to be four – indictments that so far are totaling more than 70 charges of illegalities against him.

You know, things like obstruction, conspiracy to fraud, battery, defamation, violation of the Espionage Act and making false statements. Among others.

Just what you want from a president.

"If you go after me, I'm coming after you."

There has been a plethora of inspiring moments from other presidents worthy of our consideration: 

• "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." – John F. Kennedy

• "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right..." – Abraham Lincoln

• "A house divided against itself cannot stand." – Abraham Lincoln

• "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." – Franklin Delano Roosevelt 

•  "Believe you can and you're halfway there." – Theodore Roosevelt

• "Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care." – Theodore Roosevelt

• "It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one." – George Washington

• "Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light." – George Washington

Those are just a few incredible presidential moments designed, in part, to help unite the country in its times of travail. It's what presidents do. It's in their job description, especially the part that says "... will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

And then we have this:

"If you go after me, I'm coming after you."

Sweet Jesus, how did this man ever get to the presidential podium? He reeks of privilege, of arrogance, of malignant malevolence, of insipid ignorance, of consciousness of guilt, of cognitive dissonance, of anything but the humane American character found in the shared DNA of our national history (both good and bad) and experience.

And now he's running for a second term, determined to complete the damage he's already inflicted upon us, determined to replace our democracy with autocracy, to divide us further with his hypocrisy and lies.

Mafia Don's first term as president was an American anomaly. A second term would be suicide. This cannot happen to us again. It cannot.