Stalin said that it didn’t matter how many votes you got but who gets to count them. Or something like that. Trump’s paraphrase would be, “It doesn’t matter if you get indicted, only what judge you have to oversee the trial.” The only slam dunk case against Trump is the classified documents case, and Judge Cannon is doing her best to put her thumb on the scale in favor of Trump.

I was surprised to learn that not only have the MLB playoffs begun, but that some teams have already been eliminated. Yawn. Maybe it was because I wasn’t paying attention, with so many other things on my mind. Like making sure my trash can was at the curb on the right day.

Yup, Idaho Republicans show themselves to be the Pro Birth Party, rather than Pro Life. https://apple.news/AZ1N2WF_JQzmdp2B8mBtA3w

Financial disclosures should include, like tax returns, that the material presented is true to the best of the submitter’s knowledge and be signed. So of course such a declaimed would be rejected.

Trump said yesterday that he can’t be accused of fraud because in all his financial statements there is a buyer beware clause - a disclaimer that warns the reader that they should not believe anything in them!

If speeding up the trial date is Judge Chutkan’s only practical means of stifling Trump’s continuing assault on the justice system, why is she taking so long to rule on Jack Smith’s gag order motion?

Is anyone who watched Real Time With Bill Maher that aired last Friday (available on Max) still a fan of his after that show?

Oh goodie! The shutdown has been averted - for a month and a half. Then it starts again.

Why is it that whenever a government shutdown looms, closing national parks is one of the awful things that is always mentioned? Like having to forego a vacation trip to Yellowstone is up there with not getting a paycheck?

#RyderCup The reason we keep losing to the Europeans in this biannual golf tournament: they make putts and we don’t. I don’t know why that is, but it’s obvious.

What rationale can there be for paying the members of Congress their salaries when the government shuts down? Congress, at least the House, is responsible for the shutdown. And Congress can’t work during the shutdown because, well, everything will be shut down, including their staffs’ salaries. Congress barely works as it is, but now they’ll get paid for doing absolutely nothing!

Yup.

Pro-life. Gotta hand it to Republicans. They sure can come up with catchy terms perfect for bumper stickers. Pro-life sounds good, right? Who can be against life? But actually, those Republicans are just Pro-Birth. After the delivery, they’re not interested in protecting the life or welfare of the baby or the mother. And they’re Pro-Death Penalty. Wait, how is that Pro-Life? And they’re Anti-Vaccination. But vaccinations save lives, right? Oh, those Republicans, bless their hearts.

When will the media stop saying “X, formerly know as Twitter” instead of X? Do they say Meta now instead of Facebook?

#politics When Trump enthusiasts were asked why they were going to vote for him in 2016 despite all the things he’d said that would have derailed a candidate in pre-Trump times, they would often say, “Because he’s a great businessman, and we need someone like that to run the country.”

But if the lying and cheating is what all crafty businessmen do and is the excuse now, there’s one problem. A truly successful businessman doesn’t get caught doing it!

“No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” (H.L. Mencken) This seems to be the Republicans’ credo. Concerned about government spending only when there’s a Democrat in the White House, thinking the public won’t remember the debt incurred under Republican administrations. And thinking they can blame Democrats when they shut down the government. And guess what? They’re probably right!

#football Will the Dallas Cowboys overtake the Boston Red Sox as the most disappointing team with the largest fan base?

#football If you’re like me, you turn on the TV or switch channels to get the NFL game and, no surprise, you get a commercial. That goes on and on and on … Well, the reason for this is simple math. NFL games last, on average, 210 minutes. But the actual game time is only 60 minutes. So you have less than a one in four chance of actually tuning into a game in progress.

College basketball is a bit better. You have a one in three chance of getting the game when you tune in.

Looks like they got Menendez this time.That, and the never-ending Hunter Biden story will be distractions giving Trump some cover. Jeez.