by John Walters
Starting Five
Pop Goes Off On The Weasel
Asked on Monday afternoon why he had not commented on the four Green Beret troops who were killed in an ambush in Niger nearly two weeks ago, President Trump evaded the question and then said he had written personal letters to the families. But he could not stop there.
““If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls,” Trump said during a news conference in the Rose Garden. “A lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate.”
Of course, that assertion is just plain fake news. Blatantly false. And it drew the fury of San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate. Popovich phoned Dave Zirin of The Nation and vented:
This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling others. This has of course been a common practice of his, but to do it in this manner — and to lie about how previous presidents responded to the deaths of soldiers — is as low as it gets. We have a pathological liar in the White House: unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office and the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day. The people who work with this President should be ashamed because they know it better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame most of all.
The Spurs host the Timberwolves on Wednesday night in their NBA season opener. Curious to see if Trump calls the 5-time NBA champion head coach a “loser” or if he recommends people stop attending NBA games.
What a loser.
2. Yankees Strike Back
A two-out, three-run home run by Todd Frazier in the 2nd inning and a two-out, three-run home run by Aaron Judge in the 4th helped stake the Yankees to an 8-0 lead and they held on to win on a crisp night in the Bronx. Game 4 tomorrow afternoon at 5 p.m. and the Yankees now trail 2-1.
3. Domo Arigoto, Mr. Roboto?
😍 🔥 https://t.co/lKQNPuLR61 pic.twitter.com/3YHxGVmI0E
— Michael Nuñez (@MichaelFNunez) October 16, 2017
Okay, we loved this cover of The New Yorker, but we’re sharing this profile of Vice President Mike Pence, the departer-in-chief. You may have heard that Trump was quoted to have said of Pence’s stance on homosexuals, “He wants to hang them all.”
4. Mogadishu
It happened over the weekend. A truck is stopped at a checkpoint. It accelerates, crashes through a barrier and, carrying several hundred kilograms of military-grade explosives, explodes. The explosions ignites a fuel tanker nearby, sending up a massive fireball.
More than 300 innocent people perish in the capital city of Somalia. An Islamist extremist group. al-Shabaab, is believed to have been behind it.
5. MH Domin-Eight!
So whom do we like now that Clemson, Washington and Washington State have fallen? We really like Ohio State who, despite their one loss, have outscored their last five opponents 266-56. But we’ll respect decorum and wait to elevate the Buckeyes to the top four; they’ll have their shot against Penn State on the 28th.
- Alabama 7-0 No one else is close to the Tide (Rat Poison Alert)
- Georgia 7-0 Dawgs are No. 3 in Total Defense
- Penn State 6-0 Nittany Lions are No. 1 in Scoring Defense, will meet Michigan, who are No. 1 in Total Defense
- Wisconsin (6-0) Freshman Jonathan Taylor is nation’s third-leading rusher
- TCU (6-0) Frogs have a better road win than Wiscy
- Ohio State (6-1) Buckeyes anxious to welcome Nittanies to Columbus
- Oklahoma (6-1) One bad quarter may cost the Sooners a shot at the playoff, but Baker Mayfield is the nation’s top-rated passer
- Clemson (6-1) Don’t visit the Carrier Dome on a Friday night
Reserves
Enjoy your new partners, ESPN…
Music 101
Oh Yeah (On The Radio)
Somewhat under appreciated for his brilliance is Bryan Ferry, but trust me, your girlfriend knows his music. This Roxy Music tune was released in 1980, and it has such a wonderful, can’t-be-classified feel to it.
Remote Patrol
MLB Doubleheader
Game 4: Astros at Yankees
FS1 5 p.m.
Game 3: Dodgers at Cubs
TBS 8 p.m.
Don’t you just love October?
Er, TODAY is 10/17/17. Were you up all night drinking? Working? Or merely celebrating that your MH 2017 Stock Pick NVDA might possibly be a DOUBLE for you by the end of the year? 🙂 NVDA is now a 15-bagger for me & besides yourself, the only other person in my life who would have appreciated this was my Dad, whose birthday would have been yesterday.
My dad died 10/5, one day after my birthday & 11 before his own. His health took a sudden turn this past summer but I still thought he’d rally; I’d always thought he’d live to 100 & used to tell him so whenever his knees or back would creak when getting up from a chair & he’d exclaim he was getting old. “OLD! Aw Dad, you’re going to live to 100!” The past 12 days have been a bit of a blur for me, especially the 1st week. Numbness was eventually joined by insomnia & periodic crying jags. I’m now up to sleeping about 4-5 hours/night but I’m having odd dreams. All par for the course I guess. As mentioned here a time or two, my dad was a farmer, which meant he was an agriculturist, a businessman, a vet, a mechanic, a blacksmith, an “animal whisperer” & an amateur ‘weather man’. He was also a stock investor & from whom my own interest was 1st sparked. He was a combination of John Wayne, Paul Newman & Dean Martin, the latter because of his almost black hair & that he could sing. In fact, he sang every Sunday in the church choir for over 60 years. My father was also a champion – a 4 time state champion to be exact, in Jousting. MD’s state sport! 🙂 When we were kids, my sisters & I would sit on the 4 ft fence & clap while my Dad “practiced” (wasn’t called ‘training’ in those days), cantering up our straight line practice course on horse Maggie, spearing the rings. “Go Daddy Go!” In jousting, each competitor competes under an assigned title name (men & women compete together but back in my dad’s day, only one woman competed & she was good!). My Dad’s competition name was Knight of Blue Ribbon & when I was very young, I didn’t quite understand that it wasn’t truly part of his “real name”. In fact, when I started kindergarten (age 3 years 11 months) & I got a blue ribbon sticker on a drawing or something, I thought the teacher was merely acknowledging “MY” 2nd name. 😉
My dad’s politics shifted to the right over the past 2 decades (much to my shock & horror) but I straightened him out about The Sociopath before the election & I think he and Pop would have gotten along famously. However, instead of “soulless coward”, my Dad would have called Trump a “sack of shit”. He was a farmer, after all. 🙂
Susie B.
My sincerest condolences. Truly. Your dad sounded like an incredible giant of a human being and I’m not even going to call bullsh*t on people seriously jousting in the 20th century. If it helps you at all, yesterday (10/16) was Phyllis’ birthday (she turned 42 again) and I sent her flowers and phoned her and then tried to talk her into a Soul Cycle 20-pack but she was having none of it. I’m extremely grateful that Phyllis is still around and that she still sounds funny and engaged and full of life. She probably spent part of her birthday cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry because what would make her happier?
Also yesterday I watched The Glass Castle, and if you’ve seen the film, hopefully the positive traits of Rex Walls resonated with you. I watched because this morning I had a 45-minute sit-down with Woody Harrelson, which came one day after being a guest on Stewart Mandel’s & Bruce Feldman’s podcast, which came one day after a day spent waiting tables. It’s an interesting life.
I’m deeply sorry for your loss and it sounds as if Papa B. lived a long and full life, and I’m sure he was happy to have you. Feel free to send a photo of him in a jousting action shot. We’ll talk to the staff here and try to persuade them to run it.
Susie B., I send heartfelt condolences your way on the loss of your Dad. I lost my Dad last December, after giving him the green light on at least three excruciating occasions in the ER to let go. A heaven-sent group embraced me through the bereavement process, which never really ends. Dad will always be there–he still pops up in the most unique ways and moments. He devoted the last half of his life to improving agricultural conditions in Third World countries, but was never a jouster. 🙂 Peace be with you and belated Happy Birthday.