12.16.2020

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

 
  • Texas hospitalizations: +168. We've had an increase, albeit small ones, on 9 out of the last 10 days. 

  • Breaking this morning: Congress is on the verge of a new Stimulus Package. It's $900 billion but (1) your individual check will be "far less" than $1,200, (2) there will be no liability shield for businesses and (3) there will be "no funding for state and local governments."  I'm not exactly sure where all the money is going. 
  • As a guy who has made multiple bullet points over the years about the now defunct Silk Road web site on the "deep web", this news story got my attention yesterday. 

    My bullet point during my D.C. trip last December. It
    was in the Newseum. 

  • Buyers and sellers on Silk Road used Bitcoin -- something I hadn't thought about in a couple of years. So I looked it up. Oh, my. That's an all time high. 

  • The death of Judge Cude has created potential chaos in the courthouse. We already know that the regardless of appointments, that Judge Cude's seat and the District Judge's position will be on the ballot in the primary in the Spring of 2022. (That's right around the corner.)  And depending on upcoming appointment(s), and I'm making no predictions here, we could also see the D.A.'s job and the County Attorney's job thrown off their normal election cycle and be on that same ballot as well. We've never seen all four positions on the same ballot at the same time. 
    • But I don't understand the Sheriff being part of the group of three to make a recommendation to County Commissioner's to fill Judge Cude's seat.  What am I supposed to tell a client in a simple weed case who got illegally stopped and searched by a deputy after a bogus traffic stop while he just happened to be on the poor side of town? "Oh, don't worry about the fairness of the judge. The Sheriff helped pick him!" 
    • And, yes, I know who they are going to be pick, and I'm not worried about him, but it is still a bad look. 
  • We've got a triple murder in metroplex with very few details. One body was found at a used car dealership off 377 in Benbrook and two more bodies were found in Parker County. Other than someone being arrested, we know nothing. 
  • Mitch McConnell finally had to face the obvious yesterday by congratulating Joe Biden as President-Elect.

  • This photo of Art Briles on the sideline of Mount Vernon High School was floating around yesterday. Oh, that hair. Someone said it had a little Tiger King vibe to it. 

  • I'm seeing this headline everywhere, and it is a little nutty. If you want to take a deep dive, here's a link which contained the detailed probable cause affidavit (and it's a good lesson on what a PC affidavit should look like.)  The former cop had been watching the guy for days and was convinced he had 750,000 fraudulent ballots in his truck. He turned out to be an a/c repair guy. 

  • I noticed in the Update that Willard Howell passed away. It failed to note he was a former Wise County Judge back in the day.
  • Messenger: Above the fold