Monthly Archives: December 2024

political news

Trump can govern without a majority

I am going to do something on this blog I once deemed impossible: give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt as he prepares to take office as president of the United States.

Trump will be able to govern without winning an absolute majority of the ballots cast in the 2024 presidential election. His ability to govern doesn’t depend only on his winning percentage, though. It will depend on whether he is able to dispense with the rubbish that flows frequently from his mouth.

Eight times dating back to 1948, presidents have won election without earning a majority of the ballots cast. Trump has done so twice; so did Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996; Richard Nixon squeaked into office in 1968; John Kennedy did so in 1960; Harry Truman, who everyone in the country thought would lose the 1948 contest, managed to win election.

The most controversial election, of course, occurred in 2000 when George W. Bush waited for a U.S. Supreme Court decision on the recounting of ballots in Florida. The court ruled 5-4 to stop the recount … with Bush holding a 500-vote lead in Florida. He won the state and then the presidency.

Trump and his MAGA team, however, are overstating the “mandate” they say he won. He doesn’t have a mandate. He will need to tread carefully as he assembles his executive team and as he prepares to enact policies he has pledged to do.

The question we all must ask is this: Is Trump capable of adjusting his “I am your retribution” posture to being the leader of a team upon which he will need to enact a legislative agenda? I am a strong critic of this individual, so I am inclined to believe he cannot pivot from being a top-tier asshole to becoming a statesman.

However, there always is a glimmer of hope that he can figure it out.

I intend to hope for the best.

Sports news

Game takes on mercenary look

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Those of you who follow High Plains Blogger might know already that I oppose paying college students for playing high-dollar sports such as football and basketball.

I mean, these young people already are getting a free college education because the school where they are enrolled provides them with “full-ride scholarships.” I believe those scholarships are payment enough for these students.

I watched the football game Saturday between the Oregon Ducks and the Penn State Nittany Lions and was struck as I watched every snap of the game how much the announcers referred to players who had entered that “transfer portal” to enable them to play another year or two of football. So many of the higher-profile players have no particular allegiance to the school but are playing for them because the school threw enough money at them to lure them onto their campus.

It’s all about the money … you know?

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel enrolled initially at Central Florida, then transferred to Oklahoma, then transferred again to Oregon. Am I the only sports fan who doesn’t feel as though the game has taken on a mercenary quality.

I still love college football. I prefer it over the pros, a game that is played by multi-millionaires with oversized egos to match their oversized wallets.

However, the college game is beginning to look more like the professional version and it’s a trend I find distressing.

environmental news

Rain forecasted differently

When you come of age in an environment known for its incessant rainfall, you kinda/sorta learn to chuckle at various perspectives related to weather forecasting.

I just came home from a trip back to where Mom and Dad welcomed me to this world: Portland … the one in Oregon. It rains a lot there. I have joked over the years that the relentless light drizzle has to soak everything for three or four days before you even notice it.

Then my family and I moved to Texas in 1984, where it also can rain a lot. The volume of rain here is vastly different than what usually soaks the Pacific Northwest. Here it often comes all at once in huge quantities; there, it’s a little at a time.

Here is what made me chuckle. The weather forecaster for KATU Channel 2 lamented that the city had gone “nine whole days without rain.” Wow, man. Stop the presses. She was hoping for more. Today, the forecasted weather system delivered the goods in fine fashion. I managed to fly out of Portland on time.

But wait! Our plane got diverted and delayed about a half hour because of rain at D/FW airport. We landed. I got my truck out of parking and then drove through a downpour to my home in Collin County.

I don’t believe any of the weathermen and women here were disappointed at the rainfall. Why? Because nine-day dry spells are more like the norm than the exception around here.

They got the rain they expected to get in Portland. Let’s hope it stays wet there … per normal.

crime news

Patel to weaponize FBI

Let me see if I have this straight: Donald J. Trump has accused the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the Justice Department to go after Trumpkins and other MAGA goons, yet the new president has selected a guy, Kash Patel, to run the FBI with the expressed purpose of finding political foes and prosecuting them for unknown reasons.

Talk about weaponization!

Patel, of course, has no business running the nation’s top police force. He is a Trump loyalist and so far has spoken the words the boss wants to hear. I use the term “boss” with caution, because in reality you and I are the bosses. Patel doesn’t see it that way. He sees the president as the boss, is answerable only to him and therefore must be held accountable only by the nimrod sitting behind the Resolute Desk.

Not true, not by a long shot.

Patel is likely to get picked apart by Senate Judiciary Committee members, maybe even some of his fellow Republicans.

I’m tellin’ ya, Donald Trump’s next term as president is going to be one for the books … likely the comic books.

crime news

Portland, still alive and vital

PORTLAND — I am happy and proud to report that my hometown’s demise as an urban center full of joy and laughter has been greatly exaggerated.

I took a spin through the city’s downtown district and noticed a couple of things I didn’t quite expect to see. One was that the widespread damage caused by the “Black Lives Matter” riots of 2020 doesn’t exist. The other is a noticeable disappearance of homeless havens scattered throughout the city of my birth.

The MAGA goon squad wanted to infuse the nation with the idea that this urban paradise had gone straight to hell with riots in reaction to George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. I didn’t see any evidence today of Hell on Earth making an appearance in one of the country’s most beautiful cities.

Also missing were the clusters of tents occupied by homeless families along Interstate 5 that I saw the previous time I visited Portland, which was not long after the Minneapolis cop choked the life out of George Floyd. I don’t know what specific action Portland took, but whatever it was it seems to have had a positive impact on the city.

Portland appears to have survived the worst of the reactions that ignited in cities across the land. I drove quickly past Powell’s used book store — the renowned readers paradise along West Burnside; the place was buzzing. I saw plenty of activity along Broadway. Downtown Portland, in a word, was a happening place.

This makes me feel good about the city where I came of age.

military news

Chinks in MAGA armor?

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There appears to be some chinks appearing in the armor shield that has surrounded Donald J. Trump.

A second key Cabinet selection now appears headed for the crapper with more revelations about sexual misconduct involving Defense secretary designate Pete Hegseth.

Dude is not qualified to lead the world’s most powerful military establishment, given his lack of administrative experience. Now we hear from credible sources that Hegseth drinks too much and accosts women too readily.

The always reliable Wall Street Journal reports that Trump is considering some candidates to replace Hegseth, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

What does this mean in the MAGA world of blindly loyal Trumpkins? It suggests to me that the MAGA shield is showing faults and cracks.

local news

Mission: to see downtown for myself

PORTLAND, Ore. — I came here to visit a family member, to see some dear friends … and to take a gander for myself at the condition of the resurgent downtown district in the city of birth.

I keep hearing from visitors and even from those who’ve never been to Portland that downtown has become ravaged by the homeless crisis and by the riots that ensued after George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police.

Businesses are fleeing downtown Portland, the chatter has revealed. The once vibrant downtown entertainment district is a mere imitation of what it used to embody, many have told me. Indeed, Portland has become a model for urban renewal and revitalization.

I tend to withhold judgment on these matters until I can lay own set of eyes on them. I am staying with my sis in La Center, about 12 miles north of Vancouver, Wash. I am hoping to venture downtown to take a peek at what is happening there. I’ll report back on what I see … if I am able to see it.

My hope is that the reports are overcooked. My fear is that they might be selling it all far too short.

I’ll get back to you.

local news

Pet relief centers?

PORTLAND, Ore — I need to get out more, but I have known that for a long time as it is.

I arrived this afternoon at Portland International Airport, a newly redesigned, expanded and vastly improved airport, I should add.

On my way from the jetliner to where I would pick up my rental car, I noticed signs I hadn’t seen before. They pointed passengers to “pet relief stations.”

I have been noticing more air travelers boarding jetliners with dogs and cats. Mostly dogs, however. What I had never seen before today were these stations where Fido can “relieve himself or herself” after spending hours on a jetliner.

Wow! Have we come a long way in this country to elevating the status of our pets … or what?

Hey, I am totally OK with it … given that I consider my new puppy, Sabol, to be part of my family.

crime news

Biden guilty of loving his son

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Joe Biden should plead guilty only to a single “charge,” which would be that he loves his son so much that he is willing to take flak for issuing a pardon to possibly keep him out of federal prison.

President Biden this weekend issued a broad pardon for his son, Hunter, who was convicted by a federal jury of purchasing a handgun illegally and for some assorted tax charges.

Hunter Biden faced the possibility of prison time. I doubt he would have gotten it. Then again, I am a terrible predictor of such things.

The president had declared he would let the system do its job and he wouldn’t pardon his son. Then he changed his mind.

Here is what is most maddening about the criticism that has erupted. The MAGA crowd is attaching some false equivalency to what Hunter Biden and the actions of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol Building aiming to overturn the2020 election results. To equate Hunter Biden’s lying about drug use with the machinations of the traitorous mob is ridiculous on its face.

Donald Trump might pardon some of the mobsters when he takes office and the MAGA goons will applaud him for it.

Joe Biden’s pardoning of Hunter Biden is a demonstration only of a father’s love of his son. This story will disappear once Donald Trump takes office… and you can take that to the bank.

crime news

Biden pardons son … yawn!

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Joe Biden said he wouldn’t pardon his son Hunter on a federal conviction related to an illegal purchase of a firearm.

Then the president had second thoughts and issued the pardon. I know what some of you must be thinking. How dare the president renege on his promise. The son needs to do time!

My thought? So … what!

Hunter Biden likely wouldn’t go to the slammer for a piss ante conviction that was brought for political reasons in the first place. He lied about his drug addiction when purchasing a gun; it’s a crime and a jury convicted him of it.

His father vowed he wouldn’t issue a pardon for his son. Then a lot of things changed for Daddy Biden. He dropped out of the 2024 presidential campaign, making him a lame duck the moment he pulled out. Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss on Nov. 5 sealed the end of Joe Biden’s influence on national policy.

So, he pardoned his son. Big fu***** deal, man!

The pardon will give conservative talking heads some chatter grist for a while, then it will fade away … just like Joe Biden and his family.

The president served the nation with distinction for more than 50 years. This act of compassion for a son he loves beyond measure speaks only to his devotion as a father and family man.