Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

 

• Good news?/Bad news?: I'm giving serious consideration to retiring the daily Random Thought Girl. I don't know how long I've been doing that bit, but it might be over a decade. And it started out as simply that -- a bit. You know, a "they'll come for the girl and might stick around to read" kind of thing.   Well, the readers came and they've stuck around. But times have changed in the last 10 years. Sensibilities have changed. My sensibilities have changed. I've found myself growing increasingly uncomfortable with it.  And with yesterday's events,  it felt, at least for the moment, like it was a new day. And maybe it should be a new day for Liberally Lean. This might have been the tipping point last Friday: 
  
  
  
• Texas hospitalizations: -58.  I'm cautiously optimistic that we may have reached the apex.  This last week has been flat. That's not to minimize the current state of affairs -- the virus is as bad as it has ever been. 
  
  
  
• Yesterday was just so normal.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Michelle Obama looked like some kind of super hero out of Marvel Comics or a character from Watchmen. 
  
  
  
• That dress and golden microphone might end up in Smithsonian National Museum of American History. I'm serious. That's exactly the kind of stuff that is on display there. 
  
  
  
• I honestly didn't know much about this gal, but that was a top notch performance last night.
  
  
  
• I know this gal, and I like her. 
  
  
  
  
• The masks aren't necessary between a husband and wife, but it is setting an example. Messaging is important.   The last time we saw someone on that balcony -- a person who had just been diagnosed with COVID no less -- took off his mask and turned around and walked in among his staff.
  
  
  
• I'd like to talk to the person in charge of lighting. 
  
  
  
• Can we please do something with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton?  Good lord, man, President Biden hadn't even finished saying the oath yet before this came out. 
  
  
  
• It now has to be mentioned in an Inauguration Address in 2021: "And now a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.” He's right. 
  
  
  
• The emergency that never was is over.
  
  
  
• And, if not, "Trial by combat!"
  
  
  
•  "Let's do this again tomorrow!" -- new White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki yesterday.
  
  
  
• Heck of a wardrobe change on the way to Florida yesterday.
  
  
  
• Kind of funny.
  
  
  
• Shout-out to Germania Insurance for the way they handled a run of the mill property claim. No hassle. No fight. Prompt response. Courteous adjuster. It doesn't have to be hard, does it?
• Something you might have missed:
  
  
  
• What happened here? Ed Young is the pastor of megachurch Fellowship Church Grapevine.
  
  
  
• I can't believe Trump went so quietly into the night (over the last week.)  That Storming of the Capitol, once he figured out how awful it was, must have really rocked him.  Or, more likely, he was rocked by his approval ratings dropping to record lows in the days that followed. That's something he cares about above all else. And in the end, it was all he cared about. 

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

 

• That's a special Random Thought Girl. (And, yes, for those who are unaware, that's the First Lady -- for 3.5 more hours.) 
• Texas hospitalizations: +70.
  
  
  
• Last night: Normalcy is at the gate.
  
  
  
• 6:35 CST. Good morning. 
  
  
  
• 6:58 CST:
  
  
  
• 7:14 CST:
  
  
  
• 7:15 CST:
  
  
  
  
• 7:18 CST:
  
  
  
• A few remarks at Andrews Air Force base (where he mentioned "Space Force" and then walked to Air Force One with "Macho Man" playing -- really.) He ended it with "Have a good life. We will see you soon."
  
  
  
• Junior looking on:
  
  
  
• 7:47 CST (I highly suggest watching this clip from CNN as the plane took off with the loudspeakers blaring "I Did It My Way."  It's gold.) 
  
  
  
• One last split screen:
  
  
  
• It's over. 
• Yesterday, the Republicans continued to turn on Trump with Mitch McConnell taking the lead on the Senate floor: "This mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the President and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like."
• That made Sean mad.
  
  
  
• Remember on Monday when I posed the hypothetical about a third party led by Trump and how that could throw Wise County local elections into chaos? The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday he even has a name for it: The Patriot Party. 
  
  
  
• This was the most notable pardon late last night. A pardon for the man who defrauded Trump's most loyal followers. 
  
  
  
• No pardon for Joe Exotic. None for Ken Paxton. 
• In the middle of the night:
  
  
  
• This poor guy has not cut his hair since Trump took office, and he has posted a photo every day. This was yesterday:
  
  
  
• FiveThirtyEight.com will no longer be updating this composite poll of Trump's disapproval (top) and approval (bottom) ratings.
  
  
  
• At least one Wise County resident who attended the Trump "rally" in D.C. on January 6th and posted his picture while there has now completed deleted his Facebook account. 
• Messenger: Above the Fold

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

 

• Texas Hospitalizations: +130. That ends the streak of declining days. 
  
  
  
• It's Pardon and Clemency Day. 
• Reporter from ABC's affiliate station KOCO in Oklahoma City: 
  
  
  
• Tomorrow morning, Trump and Ms. Be Best will not stick around to greet the Bidens as they arrive at the White House.  
  
  
  
• When it is all said and done, Dominion might own MyPillow. Those boys aren't messing around in these defamation suits.  But he might be out of business before then: Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl's, Wayfair, and HEB have dropped the product. 
  
  
  
• A couple of MyPillow Guy screenshots from yesterday:
  

  
  
  
• Compare and contrast these headlines:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• There were a ton of racists celebrating MLK Day yesterday. You don't get to come out one day a year and throw some hollow words at a cause you don't believe in. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Remember when Trump threatened to unleash "vicious dogs" on protestors last summer if they got close to the White House? At the time, I didn't know about this art work at the Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
  
  
  
• "But what I would submit to you what happened on January 6th [the Capitol riots] was not done at the hands of Trump supporters. I don't know who they were. Antifa? Black Lives Matter? Any random anarchist group for hire out there? Who knows." -- Rick Roberts, host on WBAP, yesterday afternoon at 3:35 p.m.  This is the type of crap being spewed by right wing radio every day. (And this guy ain't far behind Alex Jones, but for some reason WBAP thinks his is worthy of being on the air.) 
  
  
  
• I have no idea if this video of people running through what looks like a Cabela's is real. The caption reads "Every morning when you work for a store that sells ammo." I can see it happening, though. 
  
  
  
• Want to see a criminal defense lawyer who shouldn't be a criminal defense lawyer? She wanted her client/inmate to take a plea deal, he didn't want to do it, and she wants to withdraw because she "has been to the jail five times." The end is quite the shocker. 
  
  
  
• For the first time in my life, I visited something on Saturday which has been in my back yard the entire time: Fort Richardson State Park.  Verdict: Pretty cool if you have an understanding of the Comanches around and after the Civil War time period. Side note: Jacksboro seems to be doing a lot better than it used to.  Second side note: I don't think David Spiller needs to necessarily blanket his home town in campaign signs for his Texas legislative bid. Good lord, sir. They are everywhere.