by John Walters

Plead The 5th Avenue

After a year or so of strategic obfuscation and baseless appeals designed to muck up the system and delay the game (“run out the clock” is the modus operandi of his legal dealings), Donald Trump finally appeared for a deposition in front of the New York Attorney General (Trump and business and fraudulent practices yada yada yada). And here, the former president, who six years ago, less than six weeks before the election, had pilloried anyone who ever pleaded the Fifth (“If you’re innocent, why you taking the Fifth Amendment?”), himself took advantage of his constitutional right 440 times. That’s almost as many times as he golfed while president.

Of course, it’s Trump’s right to do so. But it’s always been, for Trump and his supporters, his entitlement to be a hypocrite without consequence.

Last night on the TV a former Republican strategist, Stuart Stevens, appeared, and summed up the current state of the GOP, whose leaders long ago bent the knee to Trump: “I don’t think Donald Trump changed the party. He revealed the party. I used to think it was about ‘character is destiny.’ But all they care about is power.”

Yup.

That’s So Raven

Tonight the Baltimore Ravens host the Tennessee Titans in an NFL preseason game and zzzzzzz…..

But wait! There may be a reason to, if not watch, then to at least pay attention (and it’s not just for Raven rookie Kyle Hamilton… smart pick, Coach Harbaugh). It’s because the Ravens are the owners of one of the most dubious streaks in sports in the present era. Baltimore, inscrutably, has won 20 consecutive preseason games. Now, during this period the Ravens have not advanced to the Super Bowl, but they are the kings of August. And those who choose to wager on them are able to do so.

PP, Phone Home (Or Third)

This is a first… Rodolfo Castro's phone fell out of his pocket in the middle of the game 😅 pic.twitter.com/qaPd34qroF

— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) August 10, 2022

You’ve probably seen this video already, but in case you haven’t. Who will be the first MLBer to tweet from the diamond while the game is live?

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner

Confession: We’ve never seen Scent Of A Woman. We know. No excuse. But over the years we have watched clips from the 1992 film on YouTube and pretty much pieced together the story, which really revolves more around the relationship between Al Pacino’s character (Lt. Col. Frank Slade) and Chris O’Donnell’s (Charlie). Anyway, there are at least three scenes that prove beyond a doubt that Pacino deserved to win the Best Actor Oscar, which he did (and which he should have at least twice before this film), but the one we’ve included above may be our favorite. Sure, his monologue at Baird, the film’s climactic moment, is gold. But this scene is incredible, as he goes from deliberately provocative to the one provoked. And notice the subtlety, as the “hoo ah’s” change in volume and inflection. All the while, you believe Pacino really is blind. He’s simply incredible here. And to think Randy (Bradley Whitford) would go from here to hosting young black men at his home for dinner and then exchanging their brains with those of rich elderly white men. What a transformation. Then again, not so much of a stretch.

If you’ve never seen this, enjoy….