I received Labor Day greetings from President Trump. Someone has to tell this man that he is no longer President. I would really like to see the other living Former Presidents make some kind of public objection to Trump’s still holding himself out as President. Maybe they should each do the same thing as Trump. What Trump is doing is just plain wrong and offensive although it is hard to argue he is doing any harm except to himself.
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Judge Cannon granted Trump’s Motion for a Special Master. It is a horrible decision on multiple levels. Clearly, the Judge bent over backwards, maybe forward as well, in order to reach the decision she wanted.
In the long run, I do not think her decision will alter the outcome of the case. Were I the D.O.J., I would appeal although that option as most is a two edged sword.
The identity of the Special Master will also be interesting. Unless the Master announces in advance he/she is bought and paid for by Trump, he will be non committal about any appointment so he can scream “the fix was in” if the result is unfavorable to him. We know Trump always will win if everything is on the up and up, and can only lose if it is not. Losing on the merits is not a concept Trump understands.
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I have lost some friends over the last few years that I really miss. I lost them over the vast difference in our politics. I would like to think that these friends, smart, some brilliant in other walks of life, were just not capable of thinking far enough ahead to realize the traps they would get caught in.
I am not talking about trickle down economics or how we treat China. I am talking about basic individual rights such as allowing a woman to make decisions about her own body or an individual to love anyone he or she wants I hope these friends just did not see it coming. They did not think their leader would steal documents, encourage resurrection and do things that would put our democracy in real jeopardy.
If they did, then good riddance. I made the right decision when I concluded that I could not be friends with people, such as people with gay relatives who embrace a party which is anti-gay . However, if these people are willing to admit that the Republican Party of today embraces ideas that the Republican Party they embraced no longer exists, I hope they'll let me know.
In other words, I am announcing a moratorium. You have until the mid term election to write me, call me, text, messenger (no flowers, please), and say, in substance or in form, “Okay Jim, I will vote Democratic, at least until the Republicans abandon what the Republicans now stand for”. We can then renew our friendship.
Barbara says she can forgive but she cannot forget what she forgave. I can. No names are necessary. The people to whom this is addressed know who they are.
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Really nice lunch yesterday with Bobby and Elaine at Boatyard. They had already done 300 lunches by the time we left at about 3:30 Good place to eat but prices high. $4 and $5 each for east and west coast oysters respectively. Remember the joke with the punchline "Some places get you by the rooms”?
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I am really rooting for Albert Pujols. I like the way that, as great as he has been, he basically has gone about his business and not minded others.
What triggered that last comment? I read some brand new starting quarterback did not like how management handled his backup. What business does an athlete, particularly one essentially a rookie, have telling his employers paying him some ungodly large amount, how to run the franchise? Play ball and leave it alone. When you are LeBron or some superstar, maybe then. In the meantime, learn how to be a professional quarterback.
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A Black Lives Matter executive has been accused of embezzling/syphoning off some $10 million of the organization’s funds. What was your first thought when your read this?
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Labor Day has now come and gone. We have two months, really less, to energize Americans, particularly women and men who care about women, to register and vote out of office every single Republican possible. Never forget, the entire Party has pledged to eliminate abortion. Then comes same-sex marriage. Then comes the banning of contraceptives. Forget all the other issues. This one is enough and all the rest is, comparatively, bullshit.
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More and more restaurants are charging a fee for use of a credit card and more and more customers are getting pissed off about it. Why not raise the prices by the cost of the use of a credit card and then offer a discount for cash?
In Italy, particularly in the small, family-owned trattorias, I always pay cash and almost always receive a substantial discount far more than the cost of the credit card use.
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Good luck, Walter.
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Good luck, Blake.
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Finally, I realize that I do not need any anger management. I just need people to stop pissing me off.
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Go Ukraine and vote as if your life depended upon it.