Weekly Comments Archive
Archived Issue
Sunday, July 8, 2018
ISSUE #938
Soccer, Supreme Court and a new Lariat (truck )

While our politicians, and all of us interested in politics, are focused on the next pick for the Supreme Court, the world (including us) is praying for those soccer boys in a flooded cave in Thailand. If they all get out in the next few days [they did!!], the world can get back to focusing on the World Cup, especially Europe.

The United States does not care much about soccer, and it’s not because we aren’t any good at it. We don’t like to watch a 1 to 1 game, with both goals scored on fluke plays, then to break the tie (after kicking the ball back and forth for two or three hours) they shoot free throws. No, sorry, free kicks. (Can you imagine basketball ties being decided on free throws?) My solution, supported by two-thirds of Americans who rarely watch pro soccer, is to double the width of the goal. That may not eliminate all ties, but it’ll be a lot more fun to watch a game that ends 22 to 18.

The Supreme Court nominee may be known by the time you get around to reading this. The Democrats don’t care who President Trump picks, they’re agin’ him. Or her. You’ve got to give Democrats credit; they are unanimous, 100 percent against any Justice not selected personally by Hillary Clinton. Now, I hope both sides can settle down a bit, especially Democrats. They need to save back a few slings and arrows in case Justice Ginsburg decides to retire while Trump is President. Of course, she might serve another ten years, but in case she doesn’t, that new Justice might slant the Court even farther toward honoring the Constitution as written, not as he or she wants it to be.

Let’s get off this serious talk… I got a new truck, called a Lariat (seems appropriate, don’t it?). Actually a Ford F-150 Lariat. There was no special consideration for me; not like Will had when Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, personally delivered the first Model A Ford in California. No, I saved for seven years to replace my reliable Ranger.

This pickup is quite a step up. My Ranger had one interior light, and it didn’t work for the last year or so. Pull in the garage at night, turn off the engine and open the door to total darkness. This new truck, when you open the door at night, the truck is lit by 18 lights! Inside and out. Thomas Edison must be celebrating. It has more computers than a Gemini spacecraft. Each seat has its own air conditioner. Press a button and read the pressure in all four tires. No guessing how far you can drive when the gas gauge nears Empty; it tells you down to the last mile. The owner’s manual is 627 pages; may take me 7 years to get through it.

Oh, my talk to those Mensa folks Thursday was fun. You may think they are “eggheads”, but they are common sense folks just like the rest of us, only smarter. Young and old, they all dressed casual. They have a great “Annual Gathering”, about a hundred speakers, and probably two hundred volunteers helping. The conversations before and after my speech were enlightening. I probably learned more than they did.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

          “Of course (Republicans) say, ‘We got where we are as a great nation by this set of laws that we’re living under, so why change them! Let the Constitution alone.’ And that’s mighty good logic. But here’s something they forgot. You or I can rightfully say we got where we are by these laws, but there’s a lot of folks that haven’t got anywhere under ‘em. So they might not be averse to some small change in the Constitution. They might say, ‘Yes, give us what you’ve got, and we’ll say it’s a perfect Constitution, too.’ So it all gets back to just how good has the Constitution been to you.” Radio, June 9, 1935

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