#TrumpShutdown

#TrumpShutdown

"Your leader in the clubhouse..."  Indeed.  Sad.

So why would Trump get the blame for this historic shutdown?  Well, because back in 2013 it was made clear that whenever there’s a shutdown of the government, the person at the top is ultimately responsible.  Listen to these words:

"I mean you just have a President that is not leading and not getting people into a room and not shouting, and cajoling, and laughing, and having a good time, and having a terrible time…But, you know, all of these different emotions are things you have to do but you have to get people in a room and you have to just make deals for the good of the country."

“I mean, problems start from the top and they have to get solved from the top and the president’s the leader.  And he’s got to get everybody in a room and he’s got to lead…when they talk about the government shutdown, they’re going to be talking about the President of the United States, who the President was at that time.  They’re not going to be talking about who was the head of the House, the head the Senate, who’s running things in Washington.  So I really think the pressure is on the President.” 

Certainly one could use these very same words today to describe the absolute chaos in DC.  In search of leadership…someone to lead, to get things done, to solve problems, to get “people in a room” and “make deals.”  However, it’s doubtful that the same person who spoke those words back in 2013 would utter them…because the speaker back then was Donald Trump.

He said the same thing during the 2011 shutdown, too:

“I actually think the President would be blamed. If there is a shutdown, and it’s not going to be a horrible shutdown because, as you know, things will sort of keep going…If there is a shutdown I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the President of the United States. He’s the one that has to get people together.

But let’s be fair.  It’s not just Trump.  It’s the Republicans, too.  In fact, they may shoulder even more of the blame because shutdowns are their way of doing business.

Seriously, when was the last time a Republican Congress passed a bill that was “just this one bill?”  OK, the gawd-awful Tax Deform bill of 2017 was one, but it barely squeaked by and they had to bribe convince several of their own to vote for this dreadful pile of garbage designed to float even more money to the richest 1% (and themselves).  Usually their M.O. is to combine awful legislation with token support for stuff regular Americans want (DACA, CHIP, real tax reform, infrastructure support, higher wages, improved foreign relations, etc.).  Or, they’ll sneak in stuff to must-pass legislation or omnibus bills because their crap can’t stand on its own merit.  My poker buddies know that’s how RAWA was “passed” back in 2006, essentially killing the online poker boom at that time. 

It’s how they operate.  The GOP is a party that believes government should have a very, very, very small role in people’s lives…and they want to be the ones controlling that role.  State’s rights are fine for their platforms, but marijuana sales, abortion rights, sanctuary cities?  Nope, gotta have Federal control there, because…uh, something something yargle bargle blah.  Why elect people who don’t believe in government to RUN the government?  Remember the old saying about shrinking the government down to the size where it could be drowned in a bathtub?

On this, the one-year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration, the government has come to a screeching halt.  It sits in the tub, waiting for someone’s small and stubby hands.  It’s the GOP’s fault and his.  Because, after all…

A shutdown falls on the President's lack of leadership. He can't even control his party and get people together in a room. A shutdown means the President is weak.

--- Donald Trump, 2013

This is why we march. 

Not because “we lost” but because we’re all losing.

Playoff Sanity, Part Deux

Don't pout, Nicky - they'll let you into the playoffs no matter what.

Well, that’s inconvenient.  I wish Alabama had lost yesterday.  No, I am not a graduate of Auburn, I am not a Nick Saban hater, and I do not pronounce his last name “Satan,” nor do I think this is further justification for allowing a pedophile to win the Alabama Republican nomination for Senate last year.  It just that it would have made writing this post that much easier.

For the thrust of the post is to proclaim the need for the NCAA and the College Bowl Playoff Committee (or whatever-the-hell-it’s-called group of smug pretentious college cucks who think they understand football) to get their collective shit together and come up with a real, legit, eight or sixteen team college football playoff.  One that awards competitive spots to teams that are, y’know, actual CHAMPIONS of their leagues.

Last year I chucked (OK, guffawed) when Ohio State got blown out in the first round, courtesy of the same Clemson Tigers who ‘Bama beat.  (Full disclosure – I was born in Michigan, and ANYTIME the Buckeyes take a pounding is a good day).  OSU didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs last year for the same reason Alabama didn’t this year – they didn’t win their conference playoff.  They didn’t even PLAY in their conference playoff.  Why the hell reward mediocrity?

Oh, yeah.  Money.  Tradition.  Stupidity.

Bowl games used to be something special before there were 40 of them.  Top teams travelled to somewhere warm to put the best against the best; a reward for a great season.  Now, mediocre teams that win as many times as they lose get to go to exotic December locales like Annapolis, Detroit (inside, thankfully), New York (not inside), and…Boise?  Yeah, Boise.  I doubt Central Michigan alums made the trip to the Famous Potato Bowl this year, even though the temperature was a balmy 37°.  That’s 20 degrees warmer than last year, but I doubt many would have done this if the game was played in August.

Every other college sport has a National Championship where the winner comes from an actual tournament of participants that are not “hand-picked” by a so-called group of experts (with the help of a computer, for what that’s worth).  If you win, it’s because you beat ‘em all.  Upsets happen.  But somehow the committee feels that they only need to invite teams they feel like inviting, and they can say all they want about only taking conference champions, and then THROW THAT OUT THE WINDOW TWO YEARS IN A ROW.

I wrote about this last year when they picked Ohio State over Penn State (reminder – OSU lost the Big Ten Championship to…wait for it…Penn State).  Hell, at least then OSU played in the conference championship.  Alabama suffered a last-game defeat in the Iron Bowl to Auburn, and got bumped from the SEC Championship.  Of course, then Auburn was defeated in that championship by Georgia, a team they crushed earlier in the year 40-17.  So Georgia went on to the playoffs, and…so did the team that lost to the team they beat.  Say what?

I know Alabama has been in the last four playoffs, and they are a perennial winner.  They’ve been rewarded for those winning years by being in the playoff.  Now they’re being rewarded for when they don’t win.  Sure, they won last night because they are a quality team.  So is Ohio State.  And Penn State.  And Wisconsin.  And UCF, too.  Especially the undefeated UCF.  Let them ALL slug it out.

And the committee wonders why we complain.

When you win your conference championship, that’s supposed to be the summation of “why you play.”  When you make it “hey, win your conference, or, at least win most of your games until the end and then we’ll sneak you in because yargle bargle blah,” that just defeats the whole purpose, doesn’t it?

Make it eight teams.  Make it 16.  Make it a real tournament.  It’s not like you haven’t changed crap around before.  Besides, there’s more money to be made.  You’d think that was incentive enough…