5.17.2017

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • "A state court has publicly reprimanded a Tarrant County judge for engaging in sexual conduct with his chief clerk, according to court documents." It's a J.P.  For some reason, that makes the story less exciting. 
  • Motorcycle death in Wise County. (And I'll say it for the millionth time: Requiring a J.P. to go to the scene of an accident to pronounce someone dead is an archaic law.)
  • Trump. Oh, Trump. Now the New York Times is reporting (and confirmed by other organizations) that FBI Director Comey, whom he later fired, documented in a memo that Trump said, “I hope you can let this go.” Trump was referring to the investigation by the FBI of former NSA Director Michael Flynn who Trump had just fired for his ties to Russia which he hadn't disclosed.  My head is spinning. Worst case: Obstruction of Justice. What Will Happen: The statement is vague enough that the story will die.
  • Is Trump some calculating mastermind? Not a chance. He's simply oblivious as a child. The following is from 2014.  We are living in the strange days.
  • Comey documented everything -- that is,  every conversation that was related to his job. I do the same thing immediately after every work related meeting whether formal or casual. I don't do it for sinister reasons, I do it because I don't trust my memory. I can't tell you the number of times I've had to pull the notes up at the courthouse and say, "I wrote [this] on [this date]."
  • Richard Nixon's letter to Trump is now borderline creepy. Nixon thinks he would be a winner. So much winning. 
  • What are the Las Vegas odds on these four: (1) Trump is impeached, (2) Trump resigns, (3) Trump completes the four year term and doesn't run for re-election, or (4) He serves two terms. The resignation option is intriguing to me. 
  • The firing of 10 shots into an Uber driver's car by an Army vet in Dallas to "defend" a shirtless (but tie wearing) passenger who was showing off his gun is the kind of a criminal case that prosecutors and defense lawyers and jurors will all say, "This is really weird." (That was one hard sentence to write.) Both the passenger and the outside shooter had concealed handgun licenses. More guns!
  • There is no way they convict that Fort Worth officer on trial for Agg Assault. That prosecution, like I said yesterday, makes no sense. He's going to be found not guilty.
  • And news organizations drive me nuts reporting stories like that because they always end, with a serious look at the camera (i.e. Steve Eagar married to the teleprompter), with the phrase, "He faces [x years] in prison." He also faces probation. 
  • KXAS Channel 5 News this morning had a story about a grandmother being scammed by a caller who said her grandson was in jail. I wrote about how this scam almost hit my family a couple of years ago. 
  • Heard from a Wise County Courthouse employee yesterday: "I had an orbital fracture when I was younger so I can no longer roll my eyes." 
  • The "American Sniper" widow doing commercials for a DFW Ford dealership as an on-screen graphic references her dead husband says a lot about her. 
  • I've got a dog problem again. I woke up in the middle of the night and realized that I had left Gatorade in the car that Mrs. LL needed since she's having minor health issues. I walked out into the driveway during a break in the rain and was met by a beautiful, huge, fat, and soaking wet Lab who was panting and shaking. I told him, "No! No! No! Go away!" and then 30 seconds later I had submitted to my instincts and had him in the garage. He's as big as I am which I learned when he jumped up on me to say, "Thank you." He has a collar but no tags. Please! Please! Have a chip.
  • I was really surprised by the Folsom Prison comments yesterday. Who knew that Fictional Criminal Jurisdiction Lyrics would be so popular?