Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

 

• Texas hospitalizations: Slight daily downtick. 
  
  
  
• A faithful reader sends along this shot of a car on fire this morning along highway 287 just south of Rhome.
  
  
  
• There have now been four impeachments in the history of the United States. Trump now owns half of them. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ten Republicans voted to Impeach. But even hard line conservatives in the House who voted not to do so have made it clear they blame Trump for the Storming of the Capitol.  But insurrection was still not enough to overcome theirs fears of the political consequence of a "yea" vote.  What exactly would it take? 
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Impeachment now moves to the Senate. There are currently six Republican Senators who have said they will vote to convict. Trump will probably escape this, but there is no guarantee.
  
  
  
• He's about to pardon himself, right? 
• Trump is refusing to pay the dumbest lawyer in America or even take his calls.  They deserve each other so much. 
  
  
  
• This is pretty amazing: That plaque on the right commemorates the troops that were quartered in the US Capitol during the Civil War.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Our crooked Texas AG Ken Paxton continues to be embarrass Texas by being one of only four state attorneys general to not sign a letter condemning last week's "lawless violence" at the Capitol. It wasn't political and didn't even mention Trump, but he still wouldn't sign it. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• That Frisco realtor which may or may not have entered into the Capitol gave an interview to WFAA. She needs a lawyer, or even a friend, who will tell her to shut up.  It's really worth a watch. At least pick it up at around the 3:30 mark. Side note: Being married to her would make me stick my head in an oven. 
  
  
  
• Cornyn is a moron. That's simply not true, and it doesn't take a law degree to know that. 
  
  
  
• Trump's first famous doctor, Harold Bornstein, has died. He issued a report in 2015 that said Trump's "laboratory results are astonishingly excellent" and that Trump "will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." He always looked like a character right out of MAD Magazine to me. 
  
  
  
• A journalism technique which drives me insane: News stories which begin with an anecdote before they get to the story. This article, which I was interested in, goes six paragraphs before even sniffing the reason behind the headline.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I'm reconstructing my Liberally Lean Weather Center. I'm issuing a wind advisory today with the absolute worst of it being between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. 
• I'm finally going through all of House of Cards. It is so good. (And knowing what we know about Kevin Spacey oddly makes it more interesting. Reports are that some people on the set complained about his advances. Knowing that , it gives rise to quite a few "oh, my" scenes.) 

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

 

• Texas hospitalizations: Back to setting new records. (And, by all accounts, our neighbor Tarrant County is getting crushed.)
  
  
  
• Here is a new video with the best angle of the shooting of the lady in the Capitol while trying to make her way to a chamber of Congress. (Graphic.) They finally bashed that window out on the right and, the second she tried to go through it, they dropped her. 
  
  
  
• Mitch McConnell is no longer on the Trump Train. This doesn't mean at all that the Senate will vote to impeach, but this is the official notification that the Republican Party wants nothing to do with the Donald Trump.  It's over. Or they split the Republican Party. Those are now the choices.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Republican Liz Chaney in the House, joined by a few other Republicans, minced no words as she announced she will vote to impeach. 
  
  
  
• I think this is right:
  
  
  
• The halls of the nation's Capitol this morning - the National Guard sleeping in the hallways and awakening in the adjacent underground visitors center:
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Metal detectors were installed at the Capitol yesterday preventing law makers from carrying guns into the Chambers -- a Congressional rule. Republicans revolted.  The problem is that there are now admitted QAnon supporters serving in Congress that this country was dumb enough to elect -- they are capable of anything. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Compare and contrast: Concealed license holders can even open carry in the Texas Capitol.  (Heck, anyone might be able to carry a long rifle in there just like you can walk down the street with one. I'm not sure if they've prohibited that. I should know, but I don't.)
• Speaking of the Texas Capitol, here is Texas Republican Chairman Allen West posing with wannabe militia members yesterday.  And DPS Troopers brought a show of force. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Add Walmart to the list of corporations (Marriott, Citibank, AT&T, Dow) now halting political donations to Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying the election results.
  
  
  
• Did you know that similar charges ("DEER FAIL TO KEEP IN EDIBLE CONDITION") are pending against someone in Wise County and that person is represented by the former leader and lawyer of the Proud Boys?  Twenty-two cases were filed on December 28, 2020 in Justice of the Peace #2. Just an observation. 
  
  
  
• I'm no college football expert (well, I kind of am), but I'm not sure if I'd be firing off this edict on the first day on the job without talking to my players first -- players which have already proven they don't want to sing the song. 
  
  
  
• \Messenger: Above the Fold 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

 

• Texas hospitalizations: An uptick from yesterday. 
  
  
  
• Covid and Alabama. I wasn't sure this was real when I saw the crowd online, but then CBS posted it.  (There's a video in the link - the crowd is much larger.)
  
  
  
• Regarding the end of college football season, AP voters had to send in their final ballots after last night's game. Nathan Baird of Cleveland.com accidentally voted for Texas Tech at #5 instead of the Aggies.  It apparently got fixed a couple of hours later. 
  
  
  
• Yesterday, in the same day, Wise County got a new County Court at Law Judge and a new District Attorney. These are positions which change maybe once every couple of decades. Now you know why I did that multi-bullet point on Friday talking about a "24 hour window" just as a mental exercise? There was a lot going on behind the scenes. 
• An amazing opening to this story: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Boardroom backlash:  Many major corporations have announced they will no longer donate to the campaigns of those Republican Congressman who voted for treason by objecting to accepting the votes of electoral college after the MAGA mob tried to overthrow the government.
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Example of a DFW Congressman running scared. You own it, buddy. Why are you deleting it?
  
  
  
• For Wise County record-keeping: Kay Granger did not vote to overturn the election. (She literally did not cast a vote because of COVID issues.) Ronny Jackson, a Trump lap dog, voted for sedition.  But someone explain to me the vote of Texas freshman right-winger Beth Van Dunne out of Irving. She voted no on one objection but yes on the other -- the only person to split her votes. From listening to her in general, she might not be smart enough to understand that a "nay" vote meant she was voting against the objection. Maybe someone explained it to her before the second vote.
  
  
  
• In case last Wednesday's riot wasn't telegraphed enough beforehand, the terrorists are at it again. I presume bringing your own zip ties is optional. 

  

  Source: Parler

  
  
• I pointed out the guy with the "Sheriff" jacket yesterday, and now the feds are specifically looking for him. 
  
  
  
• Oh, good lord. 
  
  
  
• Let's lighten up the room a bit: Random car driving through wet cement in Southlake on Friday night. 
  
  
  
• Random impressive snowman out of Stephenville from Sunday night. Seriously, that's top notch:
  
  
  
• Ok, back to business: First the PGA cancels its Championship at Trump's Bedminster golf course,  Deutsche Bank announces it won't work with Trump in the future, Bill Belichick refuses to accept the Medal of Freedom from him, and now this news comes this morning.

  

  
  
• There was big legal news which occurred under the radar on Friday. The Supreme Court agreed to hear one of the greatest Free Speech case of all time: Whether schools can punish a cheerleader for her F-Bombs on social media directed at the school but spoken outside of school hours and outside of school property. It seems to me that it is a no-brainer that the school can't, but I'm just a simple country lawyer.