Musings:
The Republican Party continues to fall to pieces. A number of moderates in both the House of Representatives and the Senate have announced that they will not seek re-election come November. (Even that old mossback, Mitch McConnell is calling it quits. That should give you an idea of the disarray.) They cite the chaos fomented by the MAGA/Freedom Caucus faction for their decisions; they say it is impossible to deal with ideological, demagogic, obstructionist MC’s whose only raison d’etre is to wait until Donald J. Trump is re-elected as president of the United States and then to give him their all.
On the one hand, this disarray could be a boon to the Democratic Party. They could pick up a number of seats in the House and become the majority party again and pick up seats in the Senate to expand their majority there. On the other hand, of course, the Trumpites will be eyeing those seats as well, hoping to become the permanent majority party in the lower chamber.
*And speaking of T. Rump, his delusions of grandeur continue to grow. He issues “white papers” almost on a daily basis, delineating what he will do once he’s in the Oval Office again. As far as his legal troubles are concerned, he relies on delaying tactics in order to push any trials until after the election. And, once he is re-elected, he will pardon himself of any wrong doing. He will then order his Department of Justice to investigate, indict, prosecute, and convict all those judges, prosecutors, and witnesses who dared to speak against him, to send him to prison, and to levy huge fines upon him.
And, speaking of huge fines, T. Rump’s campaign donations are being used to pay off his legal bills instead of paying his campaign expenses. Donors are advised to take note of that and act accordingly.
The chaos which occurred at the Daytona 500 event should alarm every racing fan. Happily, no one was killed or seriously injured, but there have been deaths and injuries in previous events, both to the racers and to the fans in the stands. Up to now, NASCAR, the governing organization, has done very little governing; to them, it’s simply que sera que sera and frequent trips to the bank. Perhaps it will do some governing now, but don’t hold your breath, sports fans.
Personally, I see little value in auto racing. You have a bunch of macho men – and a few macho women – running at full speed in a circle, burning up gasoline, and polluting the air – not to mention risking their lives and the lives of the fans in the stands. And for what? Glory? Swarms of fans? Trophies? Prize money? Don’t they have anything better to do with their time and energy?
I liken auto racing to the gladiatorial events in ancient Rome. The gladiators are there for the glory. The “fans” are there for the blood. Seeing blood shed is a form of catharsis; no one has to think about his/her humdrum life and the meaningless of it all.
And don’t get me started on boxing and wrestling!
On the local scene, Wayne Johnson and I must check the “facts” propagated by the Bela Lugosi wannabe, because he doesn’t know a real fact if it bit him on his backside. He hears something that sounds pleasing to him and passes it along as established fact. I have likened him as a parrot, repeating what other people say without verifying the same with an independent source.
And yes, he has a big beak.
Just a thought.