Booing

We are out of Afghanistan, but we really are not.  I am sure we will be sending drones and missiles to root out terrorists over the next few months and years. We still must get out the remaining U.S. citizens and allies.   

The GOP would sure like to make the pullout of Afghanistan an issue in 2022. Have at it.  I really don’t think voters will have Afghanistan on their minds in 2022. 

Commentary has made a couple of major appliance purchases this past month.  One of the items was not properly installed. There was a new part that needed to be replaced.  After it was finally replaced and reinstalled, the installer said he was not authorized to take the replaced part back to the store.  The reinstallation was also kind of messy.   

I was called by the store to see how the reinstallation went.  I told him it was sloppy.  Someone else from the store called later and asked me to take the replaced part back to the store. Nope. I told them they were a multi-billion-dollar corporation, and they had the resources to send someone over to pick it up. Sigh. 

Some Mets fans started booing the poor play of the Mets players this summer.  Some Mets players started giving the thumbs down to Mets fans when they got base hits and dingers.  MLB’S Alyson Footer tweeted out that this would not end well. 

Mets management were not happy with the Mets players and apologized to the fans. Management said Mets fans had every right to boo.  Dumbarse Mets players. Just play better. 

I can’t remember if Astros fans have ever booed their own team players. I never have. In 2004, at the MLB All Star Game at The Yard, Astro’s skipper Jimy Williams was part of the NL All Star team coaching staff. When he was introduced during the pre-game introductions, he was loudly booed. He was fired the next day. 

We have a six-game lead with 31 games left to play. 

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The CNN Boys

We lost actor Ed Asner yesterday. He was a great actor and a great activist.   

I was watching Fox 26’s “What’s Your Point” yesterday and host Greg Groogan referred to the Chron as “friendly” toward Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. Ok, Greg.  If you want to go there, then let’s say Fox 26 News is unfriendly toward Judge Hidalgo. Fair is fair. 

Here is the headline from today’s Chron E-Board take: 

Abbott fails us again 

Here is from the take: 

Those complicit in this cowardly betrayal of fellow citizens include Gov. Greg Abbott. He cannot claim ignorance, or brainwashing by Fox News, or trouble comprehending scientific studies. He is a bright man with an advanced degree. He knows vaccines and masks save lives. 

Yet, he has chosen to grovel to the right wing of his party to shore up his primary election. He has chosen politics over protecting human life. 

When he saw the delta variant coming, he refused to help hospitals pleading for nurses. When he saw the surging cases and deaths, he did very little to raise Texas’ lagging vaccination rate and continued to parade around at campaign events without a mask until he caught COVID-19 himself. When he heard experts warning the delta variant was more contagious among children than the original, he refused to protect kids by requiring masks in schools. Then he blocked responsible school leaders from doing so. 

Last week, when the blessed news of Pfizer’s full FDA vaccine approval was being celebrated, and officials at public schools and agencies were preparing to mandate a vaccine officially proven safe, Abbott blocked them as well. Where his previous ban on vaccine mandates applied only to those with emergency FDA approval, Abbott extended the prohibition to vaccines with full approval. 

And ended with this: 

With hospitals overflowing, all of us could be one heart issue or necessary medical procedure away from mortal danger. That, too, is a form of tyranny. 

It didn’t have to be this way. 

Texas’ seven-day death rate and hospitalization rates are spiking, according to CDC data, “competing” mainly with Florida and other southern states. Residents of states with high vaccination rates, quite simply, are faring better. 

This crisis, exacerbated by our governor’s actions, is costing lives. It’s also causing kids to miss school, parents to miss work, nurses and doctors to burn out and even leave the field of medicine. 

Many of us are asking if there’s any point at which the state’s top officials will treat this dire threat with the same urgency they have given, say, combating the phantom of widespread voter fraud. 

COVID-19 is no phantom. It is real. It is deadly. 

But Governor Abbott apparently has no interest in counting the corpses, which number 55,000 in Texas. He’s too busy counting votes. 

Abbott is a piece of sh_t for sure. 

I watch CNN. I don’t know why former CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin left back in April, but I can guess. During the pandemic, her show went from two hours to one. She was put off the air toward the end of the 2020 election and her slot was given to Jake Tapper.  During breaking major stories, they would replace her with Tapper, Anderson Cooper or Wolf Blitzer. I think Brooke Baldwin is very capable of handling anchor duties during the major stories. 

Saturday and yesterday, Fredericka Whitfield was replaced by Wolf Blitzer to anchor the coverage of the evacuation in Afghanistan and Hurricane Ida.  Whitfield is a seasoned anchor who could have handled things just fine.  CNN is already facing growing criticism for being too heavy on male anchors over female anchors, especially during prime time. They better watch out or they may lose a key demographic one day. 

I read where a bar set aside a table and put thirteen beers on it in honor of the thirteen service members who were killed in Afghanistan last Thursday.  Five of them were not old enough to legally drink. 

I stopped watching that Bill Maher fella a few years ago because I think he is full of sh_t. Some folks were putting out his seven-minute lecture this weekend.  He said people aren’t starving in the USA.  Huh? Why do we have food banks across the country?  Why do we have free school breakfast and lunch?  Why were those automobiles in lines that stretched for miles for free grub during the pandemic? 

It we want to claim to be the best, then we ought to expect the best. That’s not complaining. 

We have a 5 ½ game lead with 32 games left on the schedule.  

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Yuengling

This is a headline from an AP story today: 

100,000 more COVID deaths seen unless US changes ways 

Thank you Gov. Greg Abbott. 

Yesterday, the racist Texas House Speaker asked House members not to use the word racism during the debate of the racist voter suppression bill. What a fuc_ing punkarse racist moron. Dumbsh_t for sure. 

Last week the Chron had a story on Yuengling beer finally hitting the H-Town market. Yuengling is a PA based brew. Yesterday, I ran across it at a Kroger in Baytown, so I picked up a 12-pack. I tweeted out a pic of a can. I got a tweet message back with a link to a story about the owner of Yuengling Brewery being a Donald Trump supporter. Well, that’s the end of that. 

Yesterday, I took my Dad to see his pacemaker doctor who is located in Cypress.  My Dad has been dealing with a nagging infection around his ankles since May. He has been in the hospital and visited the ER. His pacemaker doctor looked at his ankles yesterday and told me to take him to the ER. Sigh. 

I decided to take him to the ER in Baytown. At the ER, they told me that I could not stay with him because of their strict COVID policy on visitors. Another sigh. 

I had to converse with the ER staff on my Dad’s condition via text and by cell.  They then told me he would have to stay overnight for observation.  Because of capacity issues, he had to wait until he finally got a room around 9 pm last night.  

The hospital only allows one “healthy” visitor a day. My sis Syl will go see him today. 

It is pretty frustrating that the doctors can’t get this infection under control. 

I am not going to comment on GOPers and Fox News having field days over getting out of Afghanistan, the evacuation, the suicide bombers and working with the Taliban. President Joe Biden did what no one else had the courage to do.   It is messy, ugly, painful and the right thing to do.  We never should have been there this long. W screwed this up way back. 

The Star Telegram has a piece on how the Big 12 can expand and survive. Here is a part: 

Here are the four additions (in order): BYU, Cincinnati, UCF, Houston. 

BYU seems to be the easiest addition of all for the Big 12. As one source said, “They would bring immediate value.” 

That’s what the Big 12 is looking for with its two flagships leaving for the SEC. Yes, BYU is viewed by some as toxic but it’s got a passionate national fan base, a strong football tradition and is in a top-35 TV market. 

The Cougars should be the Big 12’s first call. Plus, they are the most flexible addition given their independence in football. BYU could join in 2022, if needed. 

Cincinnati and UCF are attractive, too, considering how well both football programs have fared in recent years. Both are in solid markets as well. 

The fourth addition in this scenario goes to Houston over Boise State. The Cougars are slightly more attractive given they’re in Houston and it would allow the Big 12 to further its footprint in Texas with four schools across the state. 

Here is the entire piece: Breaking down the Big 12’s options as it enters expansion | Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 

We have a 5 1/2 game lead with 35 games left to play. We are in Arlington this weekend. 

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Abbott Going to Hell

This was tweeted by AP today: 

‘I’m starting to feel like how the Vietnam vets felt. There was no purpose to it whatsoever.” The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban has some US veterans questioning whether their mission was a failure. 

I get it. Let me also say that nobody was drafted to go to Afghanistan. 

Where in the fu_k does Gov. Greg Abbott get the mother fu_king authority to ban vaccine mandates by local governments and private businesses? Fu_k his weaselly arse.  Why doesn’t congress pass a bill ASAP to stop idiots like Abbott and eliminate this authority during a pandemic?  Why is he siding with COVID-19?

I went on the Texas Ethics Commission website to find out who is lobbying for COVID-19? I am thinking about filing a complaint against the Texas GOP for not registering as a COVID-19 lobbyist. 

Is Abbott pro-life? 

Nope. 

Pro-business? 

Nope. 

Pro COVID-19? 

Yep. 

He is a dangerous lunatic. 

He said Texas is open for business! 

The NRA just cancelled their national convention that was scheduled for H-Town. 

Pro healthy initiatives? 

Nope! 

Our ICUs have blown past capacity. 

Pro death? 

Yep. 

Abbott has punched his ticket to hell. 

The GOP is the party of death and murder. They have earned it. 

The MLB Playoff schedule was announced yesterday. If we hold on to win the AL West, our playoffs begin on Thursday, October 7.  If the playoffs started today, we would be hosting the White Sox. 

We have a five game lead.  We have today off and Alex Bregman was back in the lineup yesterday. 

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Matthew Dowd for …

Commentary said this last week: 

Commentary heard yesterday that a prominent political TV talking head is contemplating a race for a statewide office as a Democrat here in Texas.    I know the individual.  This person knows issues and knows what is involved in a statewide race. That’s all I will say on that. 

I was talking about Matthew Dowd, former ABC News talking head and a former Democrat turned GOPer now back to being a Democrat.   He is thinking about running for Lieutenant Governor as a Democrat.  Go to Texas Monthly online to read an interview he gave them. 

I worked with Matthew in the 1980s and 1990s when he was a Democrat. I have not talked to him since he went over and started to work for W’s campaign in 2000. I don’t have anything against him. 

He hasn’t talked to me about running in 2022. I will say this. Matthew will find out that Democratic Party activists of the lefty persuasion will give him a hard time and rough going over his work with W during a Democratic Primary race. Heck, we are still dealing with the effects of W taking his eyes off Afghanistan and going after WMDs in Iraq.  It would not be smooth sailing for Matthew during a Democratic Primary. 

Here is from the Chron on a contract that was approved yesterday at Harris County Commissioners Court: 

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Tuesday accused Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle of lying about an $11 million contract to conduct vaccine outreach, an accusation that spurred the ugliest public exchange since the pair began serving together and transformed a typically routine session into a forum for personal attacks. 

And this: 

The Houston firm is run by Felicity Pereyra, whom Cagle noted also ran the 2015 Houston mayoral campaign of Democrat Adrian Garcia, the current Precinct 2 commissioner. 

Here is the entire read: Hidalgo, Cagle spar over $11M million vaccine outreach contract as Commissioners Court exchange gets personal (houstonchronicle.com) 

Her running Adrian’s 2015 mayoral campaign into the ground ought to disqualify her. Just saying. They didn’t ask Commentary. 

Royko is running out of excuses for the GOP being ok with folks croaking because of the personal responsibility thing. Here is what he sent me yesterday: 

You have no credibility concerning the “Chicken Little” alarm over the Wuhan China virus cases being worse for children than the flu virus. 

The vast majority of those exposed do not need hospitalization, let alone die. 

The forced masks, if not proper N95 respirators along with proper cross-contamination prevention procedures, is a waste of time and precious taxpayer resources. 

This is all about the autocrats forcing everyone to submit to Maoist-like rule. 

Talk about bad Kool Aid, we have a record amount of COVID folks in hospital ICUs across the country. Thank you, GOP. 

We won last night and have a 4 ½ game lead over the A’s in the AL West. We wrap up the homie this afternoon against KC and the game can be seen on YouTube. Got it? 

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Perry Clown

Former Gov. Rick Perry joined the circus yesterday. Pitiful. He had what folks are calling an hour-long infomercial yesterday at the State Capitol on an air filtration system that will protect schools from COVID-19.  He also has an ownership interest in the company that makes the system. He wants the state to buy it. Sigh. 

COVID-19 and its variants continue to rage across the country because of the failed leadership of many GOP top dogs including Donald Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.  Now Rick Perry has joined the clown show. 

Speaking of, here is what Royko sent me yesterday:  

Going back a year and two, these (deleted racist term) virus cases may merely be replacing the flu virus cases. 

The media ignores the fact that there were an enormous number of adults and children also needing treatment and hospitalization from the flu in prior years. 

The hospitals have a financial incentive to drive up the number of reported cases. Wouldn’t surprise me if there was video of contractor vans, paid bounties, to round up kids possibly exposed, even though they likely could have fought off the virus, as part of the natural “herd immunity” process. 

Takes like Royko’s and the disastrous leadership of many GOP leaders across the country are killing us.  Think about. It seems like more GOP elected officials are getting infected than Democratic elected officials. 

The Harris County Elections Administrator’s Office had a zoom meeting last night with stakeholders to talk about the upcoming November election.  Some GOP consultant complained about the Administrator sending out mail ballot applications to registered voters 65 and older. F_cking moron.  Commentary will say it again.  Everybody in the county gets to vote on the eight constitutional amendments and some get to vote in ISD and community college trustee races and municipal elections.  In HISD and HCC, many 65 and older voters would be getting their mail ballot applications from mayoral candidates that have the funds. There is no mayoral election this year. How many 65 and older voters go online and fill out an application, print it, sign it, stick in an envelope, put a stamp on it and mail it?  

That is your voter suppressing GOP. 

We lost to KC last night. This time at The Yard. Oh, well. 

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Bye Bye Don and Tom T.

We lost Tom T. Hall over the weekend.  If you feel like singing one of his tunes, here are the lyrics to his “I Love”: 

I love little baby ducks, old pick-up trucks 
Slow movin’ trains and rain 
I love little country streams, sleep without dreams 
Sunday school in May and hay 

And I love you too 

I love leaves in the wind, pictures of my friends 
Birds of the world and squirrels 
I love coffee in a cup, little fuzzy pups 
Bourbon in a glass and grass 

And I love you too 

I love honest open smiles, kisses from a child 
Tomatoes on the vine and onions 
I love winners when they cry, losers when they try 
Music when it’s good and life 

And I love you too 

Don Everly also left us this weekend. The Everly Brothers were probably one of the first musical groups I remember with “Wake Up Little Susie.” Bye Bye Don. 

Commentary has been watching CNN’s “The History of the Sitcom.” It is very good, interesting, takes you back to the past and you learn some behind the scenes stuff.   

We had a small birthday celebration for my Dad’s 98th birthday on Saturday. Good grub, birthday cake, brewskies and a shot or two for some. My Dad also belted out a couple of tunes. My sister and her hubby came down from Austin to visit my Dad for a few. I didn’t get to see them though. Oh, well. 

HISD’s school year starts today in full masks. On a related note, the Chron says today that 18% of the new COVID-19 cases at the Texas Medical Center are children. Thank you, Gov. Greg Abbott. 

We should have won yesterday. I saw a tweet this morning that says the Astros haven’t played with their full line-up since June. The Royals are in for three starting this evening. 

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Happy Birthday, Dad!

Tomorrow is my Dad’s 98th birthday.  Process that, please.   

He can still get around his house with a walker. On occasion I’ll see him walk without it and I will rush it over to him. I do not want to take chances. 

He eats like you and me but not as much as you and me.  Eggs, beans, pancakes, syrup, butter, sausage, pan dulce, biscuits, and tortillas for breakfast. Burgers, barbeque sandwiches, baked potatoes, picadillo, roast beef, fish, beef and chicken fajitas, pasta, oysters, ceviche, enchiladas, hot sauce and veggies for lunch and dinner. Fruit and candy for snacks. 

He has a few beers a day. Bud Light, Bud, Miller Lite, Tecate, Tecate Light, Dos Equis, Modelo, Pacifico, some flavor infused brews and Coors Light to name a few. 

He sleeps in his recliner. A lot. He reads the hard copy of the Chron every morning or noonish if he sleeps late with a cup of coffee. 

He watches TV. CNN, MSNBC, movies, old reruns, and Spanish language flicks. 

He will watch the Astros and comments on the play of the Astros. Mostly when the Astros screw up. 

He plays solitaire. With real cards.  

He is not the type that needs to be out and about. Before the pandemic, he would go with me to the Kroger for beer and grub runs.  I don’t risk it anymore.  He moves slower than me so I would be taking an unnecessary risk.  He has not complained. 

When we must go to a medical appointment, he is ok masking up and going hand sanitizer. 

He is dinged up some. 

I don’t know what the plan is to celebrate his 98th birthday. I will find out today when I go to Baytown. 

Two more years and he will be on the Smucker’s jar.  

Happy Birthday to my nephew Dante today! I don’t think I have seen him since the pandemic started.

Here is my brief take on the Texas Democratic State House members who made quorum yesterday.  I know them. They are acquaintances. They are not my clients.  If they were my clients, I would have asked them one simple question. Do you really want to be number 99 and 100 to make quorum? 

Here is from the Trib today on their return to the House floor yeserday: 

But Democrats are not united in their return to the House. Many members are attempting to keep up the fight and have criticized their colleagues for defecting. 

“This is how Texas Democrats lose elections,” Rep. Michelle Beckley, D-Carrollton, tweeted in response to the announcement that Walle, Hernandez and Coleman were returning. 

And this: 

One of the remaining Democrat holdouts, Rep. Diego Bernal of San Antonio, criticized House leaders for declaring a quorum when lawmakers claiming to be present were notably absent. 

“The party arguing for ‘election integrity’ just established quorum by voting members present who weren’t on the floor,” he said on Twitter. 

If either Hernandez or Walle are named Chair of a committee by Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan in 2023, well, folks will wonder.  Hey, that’s politics. 

When it comes to the pandemic in Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is doing his best to outdo Gov. Greg Abbott as the biggest dumbsh_t.  Patrick blamed the current COVID-19 raging outbreak in Texas on African Americans.  What a racist turd for sure. 

Everyone in the universe knows it is the unvaccinated Trump base that is causing this fourth surge, fuc_ing moron. 

We got back on the winning track yesterday.  We host the Mariners this weekend. 

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Maybe Candidate

Commentary heard yesterday that a prominent political TV talking head is contemplating a race for a statewide office as a Democrat here in Texas.    I know the individual.  This person knows issues and knows what is involved in a statewide race. That’s all I will say on that. 

Here is from today’s online Chron headline:  

‘A recipe for disaster’: TMC president says 18% of new COVID cases are kids

TMC is Texas Medical Center.  

Here is from the Chron story:  

It’s largely a pandemic of the unwilling — people unwilling to be vaccinated. Now 44% of Houstonians are unvaccinated. Those are the vast majority of the people that are showing up in our emergency rooms and and in our ICUs. They’re very sick. 

It is great to see ISDs across the state give Gov. Greg Abbott the middle finger. Fu_k him. 

Commentary respects CNN national security analyst Phil Mudd.  Yesterday, he said folks need to slow down before piling on President Joe Biden on Afghanistan.  He said let’s wait to see how all this plays out over the next few days, weeks and months. I kind of agree.   

The team has lost four in a row.  The A’s also are on a losing streak.  We wrap up the roadie this afternoon in KC.  I won’t say anything about not winning games we are supposed to win.

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Super Spreader Greg

Think about this. Last year, the leader of the national GOP got infected by COVID-19.  Yesterday, the leader of the Texas GOP tested positive for COVID-19. You actually think they can keep us safe? 

It turns out Gov. Greg Abbott is a COVID-19 super spreader. Nice job, governor.  You are doing your part to fill up the ICUs in the state. Fuc_ing ignorant moron. 

Last year, I wasn’t surprised Donald Trump caught COVID-19 last year.  He wasn’t following the CDC guidelines.  Same for Gov. Abbott.  I am not surprised.  He doesn’t follow the CDC guidelines. Heck, he tells his fellow Texans not to follow the guidelines. That personal responsibility thing didn’t seem to work. 

We all saw the images last week of him fiddling around and not wearing a mask.  He was at an event a couple of days ago and he even tweeted out images flaunting the packed house. Guess what? I was only able to pick out one person at the event wearing a mask.  

The tweets that gave me chuckles yesterday after we found about Gov. Abbott were the ones where the tweeters hoped or prayed that he gets better then proceeded to remind folks that Abbott is wrong on mask mandates.  I don’t think most of those folks who tweeted really gave a rat’s arse about the governor’s health.  Besides, Gov. Abbott doesn’t give a rat’s arse about the health of a bunch of unvaccinated school kids. 

I wonder if there is someone out there who got the symptoms, maybe got tested positive, and is thinking, they were around Gov. Abbott, and both were not wearing masks.  I wonder if this person is thinking that they infected him. 

It is amazing that most – with a few honorable exceptions – GOP leaders are following this GOP fool governor blindly. GOP dumbsh_ts. 

Commentary will keep wearing a mask.  

This is from Chron business columnist Chris Tomlinson today:  

Gov. Greg Abbott’s aggressive assault on public health expertise means no public spaces are safe. He won’t let local officials require vaccines or masks. His minions at the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission are threatening to close restaurants or bars that require vaccines. 

This is how the Chron E-Board’s take starts today: 

Personal responsibility, apparently, is for the little people. 

The powerful have Regeneron cocktails at the ready. 

The powerful have good health insurance and doctors who make house calls. 

The powerful can quarantine in the comforts of a taxpayer-funded mansion in downtown Austin. 

That’s one takeaway from the announcement Tuesday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has COVID-19 — the very day after he tweeted about his appearance at “another standing room only event in Collin County” attended by an estimated 600 people. The tweet included photos of the event in which the maskless governor waves from a stage, facing a tight crowd of applauding supporters — nary a mask in sight. 

How can we trust the governor to protect Texas from this raging pandemic when he won’t even protect himself — or, for that matter, his supporters? 

We wish the governor a speedy recovery, which is highly likely given that he is fully vaccinated and was reportedly experiencing no symptoms — yet another reminder how even though breakthrough infections occur, they rarely involve severe illness, prolonged hospital stays or death. 

And ends with this: 

The governor is reportedly feeling fine, self-isolating and receiving the Regeneron treatment as a precaution. 

He seems to be in good hands. If only we could say the same for Texas. 

The old wish you a speedy recovery phony line. Yep. 

Happy Birthday today to Vicki Montgomery Knupple!

Thanks to Abbott and the GOP, we are still in the pandemic, so I am not going to sweat how the Astros are losing to the teams they should be beating. I must keep myself, Dad and family safe above everything else.  

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