Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

Man, I had some hot opinions back then. And that's just the first half of the list.

 I'll post the remainder tomorrow. (But what did I have against Lane Kiffin?)

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• The Colorado Supreme Court has knocked Trump off the ballot in that state for insurrection under section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Quick thoughts on the practical implications . . .
  
  
  
• If the ruling stands, it doesn't mean much in the electoral count because Trump was never going to win Colorado.
• The decision will probably have the effect of ramping up the MAGA Trump Extremists more than anything else.
• There is a 100% chance the Supreme Court will have to decide this case now, and that's fascinating. Edit: I've got a big backtrack on this tomorrow based upon the decision.
• I think the Supreme Court will almost certainly overturn it, but the "state's rights" court is in a heck of a bind on just exactly how they do it.
• As someone smarter than me has pointed out, the Supreme Court could actually save the Republican Party by letting the ruling stand. With other states then following suit, the Republicans could rid themselves of Trump and his nutcase disciples who are only dragging the party down. It would then open up a path for Haley or DeSantis who might actually win. Seriously, the normal Republicans should embrace this path and start getting the message out to the partisan court that letting the ruling stand is OK. 
  

• We now have the face of the victim in the Man-Through-The-Windshield case. 
  
  
  
• Something interesting happened in the civil case against Fed Ex in the Athena Strand civil case filed in Wise County:  The lawyers dismissed it. However, they turned around and refiled it in Dallas County. I'm not sure about the reasoning behind that. Anyway, now Fed Ex and the other defendants have filed motions to get it transferred back to Wise County. 
  
  
  
• I-35 in Lewisville looked a little problematic this morning. 
  
  
  
• As predicted, the attack wasted no time. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Did you know there is a resort "town" being developed inside Runaway Bay which is quite elaborate and with a most unusual name? Website here.
  
  
  
• Ken Paxton is after a trial judge in Tarrant County who ruled against him one time.  Fascism is everywhere. 
  
  
  
• Let's check in on Fox News coverage of Justice Sandra Day O'Conner lying in a state of repose at the Supreme Court. No, she wasn't the Attorney General in Texas -- she was an assistant Attorney General in Arizona. 
  
  
  
• Not sure why Junior's girlfriend posted this of her in the sheer outfit with Trump in golf attire. It looks photoshopped. 
  
  
  
• Right before this denial last night, Trump said, "It’s true, they’re destroying the blood of our country. . . . . They don’t like it when I said that." And, interestingly, he pronounced Mein Kampf absolutely correctly. 
  
  
  
• Random screenshot from a random play during the Cowboy game. See anyone open? And that's with two safeties not even having to do a thing. 
  
  
  
• Israel's carpet bombing of Gaza will create generations of terrorists against them who otherwise wouldn't have been. And they will come from the families of the innocent dead. This will not ultimately end like Israel thinks it will.  

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

Background on the "Death at Six Flags" story is here.

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• Greg Abbott has signed the most obvious unconstitutional law passed in decades. There is a lot of time wasting and expense, both past and future, that goes into a political stunt. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We've got some clearer pictures of the pedestrian-through-the-windshield incident. Incredible.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Random weather thought: I don't remember a milder November and December in my lifetime. The Liberally Lean First Alert Weather Team™ is bored. 
  
  
  
• The prosecution of Netflix, brought on by crazy Texas DA Lucas Babin who indicted Netflix on criminal child porn charges because of a French drama film, has officially been killed by the Fifth Circuit. Yesterday, the court upheld a lower federal district court judge who said the prosecution was brought in bad faith and couldn't possibly succeed.  It never had a chance, so Netflix had gone to a federal court to stop it. 
  
  
  
  
  
   
• And I still can't get over who the DA is in that case. 
  
   
  
  
  
• Insurrectionist gathering.
  
  
  
• One of life's great mysteries is how Wise County is not the home of a single indicted Insurrectionist. But there's still time, two more people were charged yesterday.
  
  
  
• Legal silliness: This verdict came down yesterday. "The [seven] former students and parents said that they had become sick from chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, that had leaked from light fixtures at the school."  But I'm a bit confused because later in the story it said light fixtures containing PCBs haven't been manufactured since 1979. Regardless, I seriously question causation in any case like this.
  
  
  
• Very random Texas election nugget: From my review, there were two individuals who tried to get on the ballot to run for a judgeship in the Texas primary next March but who were rejected by their political party of choice. Both were Democrats and one of them was an incumbent in Houston. I want to know more. 
  
  
  
• The North Dallas Tollway is soon going to be one county away from Oklahoma.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Mark Cuban selling his beloved Mavericks and still not holding a press conference or giving an interview is beyond weird. Something is fishy. Is he in some kind of money trouble? Crypto related? Just scatter-shooting here. 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

I had forgotten about that fun little controversy.

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• We've got a weird and wacky case from over the weekend. On Saturday night, a 911 caller contacted White Settlement PD to tell them of a car in a parking lot of a Jack In The Box looked like it had been in a wreck and the driver was slumped over the steering wheel. Cops will find and determine:
  
  
  
• There was a body in the passenger seat which had gone through the windshield. (That is one heck of a dent on the hood.)
  
  
  
• The car had been sitting in that parking lot for just over three hours -- that's with the dead body in the passenger seat and  the driver beside him. 
• The car had been in Arlington around 6:00 p.m. but evidence shows that he struck a person near Dallas at I-30 and Cockrell Hill road (40 miles from the Jack in the Box.)
• The driver was "detained". 
  
  
  
• We don't know the name of the deceased. 
• If all of this sounds familiar, a similar case happened in Fort Worth in 2001.
• The crazy lies surrounding the election have cost people and companies so much money (not to mention criminal convictions.) First, Fox News had to pay $787 million, and now Rudy is on the hook for $148 million. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I was hoping this is Rudy's lawyer, but it's actually just some "associate." However, I cannot stop looking at this.
  
  
  
• Two fires on Friday with dramatic pictures:
• An apartment complex under construction in Rowlett
  
  
  
  
  
  
• A home in Lucas (which is in Collin County.)
  
  
  
• Trump went full Hitler again this weekend. He's not even hiding it any longer since this line was from the teleprompter.  You have been warned. 
  
  
  
• But he went further. 
  
  
  
• Related: Roseanne Barr and The QAnon Shaman hung out an an Extremist MAGA rally on Saturday.
  
  
  
• I had seen headlines about Prestonwood's Baptist Church's Christmas show, but didn't think much about it. Then I saw this one minute quick video compilation of everything that went on in it. Oh, my. 
  
  
  
• Tone deaf, or just deaf, politicians over the weekend:
• The Tarrant County DA praised freedom of speech on Friday and then he blocked the comments on his governmental account. 
  
  
  
• Greg Abbott hasn't bought gas lately.
  
  
  
• The Business Second™: Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan are smiling from their graves this morning. 
  
  
  
• The high school football finals at Jerry World were all blowouts, but we did get this (real) image from the last game. DeSoto won 74-14.
  
  
  
• I finally finished Mad Men. Verdict: Two huge thumbs up. One of my all-time favorite series.