A Few Random Thoughts...
23 Short Thoughts About The Current State of Affairs While I Am Out.
Yes, still on a break. I’ll be back writing regularly in April. But from the feedback I’ve received and many of your encouraging messages, I am still going to pop in from time to time with a story or two. I have to admit, deep down inside I miss you guys.
I’m toying with PurpleAmerica merchandise so you too can show your PurpleAmerica colors! Right now, I’m thinking either T-Shirts or Coffee Mugs, both with the logo and text appearing above and below. Before I order and throw this out to the teeming thousands, I’d like your take on it. Please place in the comments if you would be interested in some PurpleAmerica gear and if you would prefer a T-Shirt or a Coffee Mug. If there is a strong enough demand for either or both, I’ll start printing them up.
Today though, I just want to post a few random thoughts on recent events and whatnot.
Kudos for Caitlyn Clark for becoming the all-time NCAA scoring leader in basketball, for both Men’s and Women’s. Its a huge achievement. When she was growing up her father couldn’t find a girl’s team to put her on, so he had her play with the boys. They won the AAU state championship.
The player she passed, “Pistol” Pete Maravich is still one of the greatest shooters of all time. In fact, 1) He set the NCAA record without a 3 point shot1 and 2) did in only 3 years, as freshmen weren’t allowed to play at the time.
Before I get a lot of messages saying I’m diminishing Clark’s achievement “only because she’s a woman” let me be the first to say that’s not true. This is the same argument I made when Lebron passed Kareem for the all time scoring record in the NBA. Kareem hit a total of two 3-pointers in his career, as there wasn’t a 3 pt shot for most of it, and he worked more under the bucket. If anything, Clark’s and Lebron’s records demonstrate how much the game of Basketball has changed over 50 years, particularly since the introduction of the 3-pointer.
Congratulations Mitch McConnell on your long and storied career and your planned retirement. The depths you sold your soul to get the Supreme Court and Judiciary you always dreamed of is single handedly resulting in it’s growing illegitimacy as an institution and fueling Democratic grassroots activists not seen since the ‘60s. And the manner in which you refuse to publicly push back at Trump demonstrates the cowardliness expected of today’s top Republican. Your legacy is forever cemented, and it doesn’t look good.
If you think the next person in that job will be better, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
Watched “Dune 2” over the weekend. You know, I always thought of Timothee Chalomet as a bit of a dandy but he’s pretty badass in this. He’s never stood out to me on screen in any other movie, but here, he completely commands it, especially in a scene where he berates the Emperor. Amazing.
Rebecca Ferguson and Javier Bardem are stellar in it as well.
Things I really look forward to in March: Shamrock Shakes, Girl Scout Cookies and March Madness.
The Supreme Court’s Unanimous Opinion on the Trump Insurrection on the Ballot case was promising, but in truth, it wasn’t actually unanimous. The five men on the Court closed off any avenue of contesting Trump at the Federal level absent an act of Congress (which isn’t going to happen between now and the election), while the women on the Court accurately said that that was outside of the scope of the question asked and the case at hand.
It never ceases to amaze me how much the news misportrays important distinctions like the above.
There is nothing more pointless or a waste of time than NFL “Mock Drafts.” I realize this is a dull period covering the NFL, but I assure you that not one of these “experts” will predict the first 10 picks correctly, much less the first round. I find it laughable some go as far as the third round or all seven(!). Not to mention, the first time a team trades picks, everything that follows goes out the window. So please, don’t waste your time on them, and don’t bother me with who you have going to the Green Bay Packers at pick #28.
The same is true for “Bracketologists.” What a genuine waste of time.
Oppenheimer will win Best Picture and Christopher Nolan Best Director. As for the acting awards, Cillian Murphy, Lily Gladstone, Robert Downey Jr and Da’Vine Joy Randolph are practically locks.
Watched “American Fiction” again a few days ago. What an outstanding movie. Jeffrey Wright is superb; and it completely nails the privileged white progressive mentality perfectly.
March weather is extremely schizophrenic.
There is nothing ever “Super” about “Super Tuesday.”
I’ve been disappointed in the Bulwark’s “Morning Shots” newsletter ever since Charlie Sykes left and Bill Kristol took it over. There’s just nothing but pot shots about Biden and the pat “I’m only asking questions” about Democrats. It’s essentially turned into The Weekly Standard circa 2004, which makes sense since that’s Bill Kristol.2 There is a reason the Weekly Standard imploded— nobody on either side wants to read that shit anymore. It’s one thing to ask questions, it’s another to subtly be helping the Trump campaign by continuously making their case, and sadly, that’s what it feels like more and more.
In Wisconsin, Democratic Presidential Electors sued the Republican Electors in civil court and the matter was settled. But what’s great about it is that the texts, emails and documents provided in discovery are now essentially public, and there are some DOOZIES in here. Pay attention to this as more information is revealed.
MSNBC has become unwatchable.
So are CNN Election Night panels. Note to CNN, you don’t need two separate panels comprising a total of a dozen people kvetching about what it all means. Instead, get 3 or 4 magic walls, each covering a different state or two, and just go from one to the next describing the votes as they come in. If you have a panel, keep it small and objective. There really is no point to having Bakari Sellers or Scott Jennings on promoting and grandstanding sides.
Ukraine is slowly dying without our help. That Republicans are siding with Putin and letting it happen is against everything America stands for. It offends me as an American to see this. Every President from FDR to GHW Bush3 are rolling in their graves.
Hot Take: Joe Biden has proven a more consequential and better President than Barack Obama. He’s accomplished more in four years than Obama did in eight. While I always liked Obama the person, he never seemed to grasp the levers of control or use the bully pupit in the same way that a seasoned legislator could (Obama had been in the Senate only 4 years when he was elected). Imagine the world we would live in had Joe Biden been President from 2009-2016, and Obama was the President now.
I’m enjoying my time away and as it is the period Spring Break usually occurs, I suggest you take some time and unplug too. Relax, enjoy the spring weather and go do something fun!
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Facts of the Day
The fear of long words is called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. The 36-letter word was first used by the Roman poet Horace in the first century BCE to criticise those writers with an unreasonable penchant for long words. It was American poet Aimee Nezheukumatathil who coined the term how we know it today.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word
Damn these girl scout cookies are good.
Footnotes and Fun Stuff
His coach at LSU went back and watched every recorded game Maravich played in, and estimated that if there was a 3 point shot in the NCAA at the time, Pete would have added about another 1000-1200 pts to his record.
And also many Bulwarkers were Weekly Standard orphans once the magazine died.
With the exception of Jimmy Carter, who remarkably is still alive and nearing 100.
1. When you say "The Supreme Court’s Unanimous Opinion on the Trump Immunity case" do you mean the case about kicking him off the ballot? I'm not seeing anything about the immunity case.
2. There are many sites that will do print-and-ship-on-demand where you don't have to do any of the work or pay anything for swag. I used printful.com and it worked pretty well.
3. You need a custom domain!
Nothing is more annoying than all of the speculation preceding a sporting event. It turns out that (1) scoring more points is important and (2) the team that scores the most wins. Also, sometimes the team that is expected to score the most points won’t.