It is a Sunday in the Realm, I’ve just come back from my office nestled between two stadiums, to my Hunker Bunker overlooking the Puget Sound in Seattle. It’s a rather blasé kind of day, neither too hot nor too cold, not sure if it is going to rain … or not.

I wasn’t going to post anything today, but then Ron DeSantis had to back down off of his campaign today, and I couldn’t NOT post something stupid.  I mean, it’s ME, after all…

A one and a two and a …

Headlines That Caught My Eye This Morning Afternoon

Item 1:  DeSantis exits presidential race

“Never back down” until you realize that you are losing big time.  This guy has been getting high on his own farts for a few years now, thinking he could out-MAGA Trump.  He didn’t realize that you never go with the cheap imitation,  when the real deal is right there.

He was on his way to coming in at a distant last in New Hampshire, and recent polling within his home state of Floriduh had him losing to Trump and Haley.

Item 2:  DeSantis offered to ‘Make America Floriduh.’ Not even Floriduh wanted that

This diminutive Disney-like character thought he could out-Trump Trump.  From the very moment he became governor of Floriduh, he had his beady little eyes on the White House.  He tried to make his ‘vision’ a reality in Floriduh, as an example of what he wanted to impose on the rest of the country — and nobody wanted it.  Least of all, Floriduh.

Item 3:  ‘Not to be taken lightly’: Lawyer who ditched Trump says ex-president could be convicted

“You have a jury of 12 who is ultimately going to decide this. Jack Smith is a federal prosecutor who I knew from his days in Brooklyn. That’s a serious prosecutor. These are federal cases, and you have a jury.”

There are two types of criminal defense attorneys.  Those that practice in state court, and those who practice in federal court.  Most of Trump’s attorneys are civil lawyers who have barely worked on criminal cases in state courts.  Only a couple of them are seasoned federal litigators — and it shows.

Trump doesn’t have any real understanding what he’s facing.  His Georgia case is a bit more freewheeling.  But his federal cases?  It’s an entirely different ball game.  The rules of evidence are stricter.  Hell, just the Rules of the Court are a lot stricter.  The government had better have a case with a 95% of winning going in, or they won’t bring it.

Item 4:   House GOP already considering a future without Johnson

Just another sign that the GOP cannot govern themselves, let alone the government.  This is why you should never hire people who claim that government doesn’t work.  They will go to Washington and prove it to you.

Item 5:   Could a Baseball Star Really Flip Dianne Feinstein’s Seat?

Great.  Replace a 95-year-old geriatric with a 75-year-old geriatric looking to keep his name in the lights.

Item 6:   A Pay-Per-View Super Bowl? It May Happen Sooner Than You Think OP-ED

I am actually surprised that it hasn’t been a pay-per-view event already.  They would still have the million dollar commercials, the half-time events, and sixty minutes of football, but could charge the rubes $100 and up to watch it.  It’s the wave of the future, and the future is upon us.

Item 7:   Investigators are looking into Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s lucrative side jobs

By “jobs”, I am assuming ‘side hustles’, or self-dealing.  Always be wary of the politician with several irons in the fire in addition to his main job.

Item 8:   Hamas Toll Thus Far Falls Short of Israel’s War Aims, U.S. Says

Israel is forced to fight a conventional war against guerilla fighters embedded into the fabric of the society.  Whether the Palestinians approve of Hamas or not, disapproving could get them killed.  Conversely, you would be hard-pressed to find any Palestinian in Gaza who would approve of Israel’s actions at the moment.

The relationship between most Palestinians and Hamas “is complicated”.  Out of some 2.1 million Palestinian souls in Gaza, roughly 40 thousand of them are members of Hamas.  Those 40 thousand have relatives and/or friends that make up the remaining 2.060 million Palestinians.  Just like you have Republicans and Democrats in your family and as friends, that’s the same situation in Gaza.  Everyone knows someone in Hamas.  That doesn’t make them Hamas.  Hamas-adjacent, maybe.

Contrary to all the breathless media reports about the Palestinian death toll,  Israel is not deliberately targeting civilians for the purpose of wiping them out.  It happens in  guerilla warfare where the embedded enemy’s goal is to kill as many of its own civilians as a means to garner outside sympathy and global pressure.

Item 9:   Cancer vaccine with minimal side effects nearing Phase 3 clinical trials

If this works, it could be a game changer for those of us who believe in science and vaccines.

Item 10: Does GOP really want to solve the border crisis? OP-ED

The short answer?  No, of course not.  it has been in their best interest to have something to grieve about.  The Grievance Party needs something to campaign on.  Abortion worked for them for a generation — they could have outlawed it completely in Congress decades ago, but that would have taken away a major issue.  It was always the gift that kept on giving.  Until it stopped.

Immigration has been another gripe of Republicans.  It’s not like they haven’t had multiple opportunities over the years to get something done for this generation, they have.  They’ve just chosen to kick the can down the road so they can still retain something to grieve about.  The House Republicans don’t like any proposal that doesn’t originate from them and goes through a Republican-majority Senate and gets signed into law by a Republican President.  The last time they had such a situation was in 2017, and they chose to spend it trying to do away with ObamaCare.

They could have legislated in Trump’s “Muslim ban”.  They had a super-majority in the Senate, held the House, and Trump was POTUS.  They chose not to.  They needed to preserve the gripe for future grievance.

So the answer is “NO”.

Memes From the Meme Box

I receive dozens of memes in my Meme Box on a daily basis from people all over the landscape.  Some are political, some topical, but most are just everyday events with a little fun inserted.  My absolute favorite are just photos that will speak those thousand words clearly.

I was going to post the video of this second photo where she is not allowing him in the car.
There is a serious problem in that relationship.

“I love what you’ve done with the place”

I’m sure he was TRYING to say something here, but it all got mixed up in the blender.
Too much bronzer.  It’s keeping his skin from breathing and is literally killing him.

Think you can do better?  Well, hit me up, buttercup.