Taking a break from the high octane world of politics, I turn today to the world of sports, specifically college football.   Today, as you may or may not know, is the opening weekend for football at bucolic campuses across the fruited plain.  But I prefer to honor this annual event as National Drubbing Day.  This is the day finely-honed athletes from Towson U., Florida A&M, Utah Tech, and Southwestern Maine State get to fly first class, and stay at first rate hotels in Gainesville, Austin, Columbus, South Bend and Athens.   Their purpose, to serve as opening day football fodder for the major collegiate football factories of our time.   Scores such as 73-3 and 65-2 are not uncommon.   It’s an ugly but necessary part of the business of college athletics.

I wish that I could sit in the back corner of the locker room just before kickoff to hear the coach’s pre-game pep talk.   It might go something like this :  “Guys, we’ve had a great and productive few weeks of pre-season practice, and I think we’re as ready and healthy as we can be going into our season.  With some good bounces and few injuries, we might even have what it takes to compete for our conference title, and take home the golden turkey bowl back to our trophy cabinet.   But not today, guys.  Today you are here for a higher purpose.  Our goals, in exchange for the $850,000 our hosts are paying our humble school, are to keep them below 70 points, keep the clock moving, and get the hell  out of here with as few broken bones as possible.  Let’s skip the showers by the way, after the game.  As you are being pummeled into the turf by the elite athletes on our opponents’ squad today, just remember how grateful our school’s soccer, volleyball, softball and crew players are that you were able to bring home the big payday to fund their sports.  For as you know, while our football stadium is always full with paid fans,  no paid supporters venture near the events of those other sports.   Oops, I forgot, the scholarship cheerleaders also owe you a debt of gratitude for the physical mauling you will endure today.  So guys, just suck it up, take it like a man, and run to the team busses as soon as the final whistle sounds.                                                            WHAT THE HECK !

Colin Kaepernick is the young wealthy (6 years – $128 million)  quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers who last week prior to a preseason game decided to sit down during the playing of the National Anthem, saying, ” I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”    Hmmmmm.   Guess he overlooked the fact that his bi-racial parents were unwilling to raise him, giving him up for adoption to a supportive white family.  Oops, and did I mention that he received a free college education in exchange for playing football ?

Well, Colin certainly does have first amendment rights, but aren’t there more constructive ways for an individual in the public eye to express opinions, or better yet, do something about the injustice he lazily comments on while he sits on his fanny ?   In Bill O’Reilly’s lingo, Colin clearly comes down as a pinhead and not a patriot.           WHAT THE HECK !

“George Bush doesn’t care about black people” was Kayne West’s unfiltered utterance following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.    Hmmmm, with our current emperor on uninterrupted vacation on Martha’s Vineyard while stormwaters envelop large swaths of land in south central Louisiana, just who really cares about whom.     And why doesn’t the press care ?                 WHAT THE HECK !

The ABC Network (All ‘Bout Clinton) fell over themselves today in adoration of the mass media’s anointed one.  Following Hillary’s shameless piggybacking onto this week’s USA Olympic successes, suggesting at a Detroit rally on Thursday, “if Team USA was as fearful as Trump, Michael Phelps and Simone Biles would be cowering in the locker room “,  ABC’s World News Tonight could not resist the temptation to pile on, touting Hillary’s “Olympic strategy” while displaying a “going for gold” visual behind the anchor.   Thank goodness for Fox News, where at least an attempt is made (not always successful) to remain even-handed in coverage.                                WHAT THE HECK !

This past week, with absolutely nothing for their newshounds to do during the long hot Summer months, the Associated Press decided to unleash the powerful forces of the American media on dental floss.    Yes I said dental floss !    Contending that twenty five years of medical study have shown no correlation between regular flossing and declines in decay, gum disease and plaque removal, these bold crusaders for the American public again stand up to protect us from ourselves.    I say to these energetic American patriots, “GO FLOSS YOUR TEETH TONIGHT AND NOTICE ALL THE GROSS PIECES OF LEFTOVER AND UNCHEWED FOOD THAT ARE DISLODGED “.     WHAT THE HECK   !  

When I was a kid, there were three video news outlets, and they all spouted pretty much the same old stuff, each packaged a bit differently and delivered by well-respected and overpaid talking heads.    There may have been an agenda, but I was probably too young and ignorant to notice.    But today, all we have is one-sided touts and totally blatant political agendas.  Fox comes the closest to “fair and balanced”, but I’m not so naïve to ignore that network’s tilt rightward.

Today at the gym I was given a startling one hour eye-opening reminder of the powerful forces aligned behind the ruling Proglibocrat movement that is destroying America.    I forced myself to watch 60 solid minutes of MSNBC, hoping to get a glimpse of the day’s leading news stories.  What I saw was a 60 minute, uninterrupted infomercial for Hillary Clinton and her evil Proglibocrat legislator consorts.   With nary a break, headlines scrolled across the bottom of the screen, highlighting in bold letters the “stories” the yet-to-shave male commentator/salesmen were touting.    Examples included things like “GOP Lawmakers Backing off Trump Bandwagon”, and “Trump Holds Maine Rally Amidst Campaign Turmoil”, and “Allegations Swirl Around Melania”, and “Hillary’s Work with Children Feted at PA event”, and “Clinton Offers Massacre Tribute and Sympathy’, and “Will Trump Fall on Campaign Sword”.

Now I do not wish to tout the Republican candidate here (or maybe ever), but my goodness, what’s happened to the press ?  If an innocent person just picked up information from CNN or MSNBC or the HuffingPuffing Post (on-line) or New York Times (print), what a lopsided and contorted view of the world of politics they would be indoctrinated to.    WHAT THE HECK !

During last week’s Democratic National Convention, two images stood out for me.  Bill Clinton’s speech underscored his image of his wife as a “change-maker”.   This was preceded by the gooey hug with President Obama the night before, where she clung to the status quo like flies on peanut butter.   You cannot have it both ways, embracing how wonderful the country is today under Proglibocrat leadership while touting yourself as the agent of change within a progressive agenda.   You cannot embrace Bernie Sander’s version of change and progress while raking in dollars from investment banks and hedge funds.  You cannot tout a highly flawed public service record while degrading your opponent’s lack of experience.  And please please do not shove another version of shovel-ready government -created infrastructure jobs on the American public, while at the same time pummeling your opponent’s business record.  For all his own flaws, your opponent has generated thousands of private sector jobs.   Just who are you, Hillary ?  WHAT THE HECK !

Just heard (fill in your own adjective) Hillary drone on about the minimum wage in a pre-primary speech in California.  To the glee of all the uneducated attendees, many of whom will lose their jobs under her proposed $15 an hour “living wage”, this political football just keeps getting passed up and down the field

On May 24, 1937, the FDR Congress enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act, which among other workplace regulations, mandated a 25 cent an hour minimum wage.   It has been used as a political wedge among the American people ever since.   Creatively, the Proglibocrats now claim that the minimum wage should be a “living wage”, one that could support a family of four.   Even a seriously deluded Franklin Roosevelt would scoff at such a suggestion.  Yet every election season, the two parties argue the same old argument  —  higher minimum wage versus loss of jobs.   You have be a village idiot not to notice the automation inroads being made in advance of the leftist view by large minimum wage employers like McDonalds and WalMart.  They see the writing on the wall.   Of course there is job loss when the minimum wage is hiked dramatically.

Frankly, I’m bored hearing about it.   Could the politicos please enact my simple solution.  Give the minimum wage of today a dollar bump, because it hasn’t been raised for a few years, then index the wage to some measure of inflation.   Thus, the minimum wage will forever buy a fixed amount of goods, and we won’t have to hear the politicians pontificate about the obvious any more.                               WHAT THE HECK !

Well, it’s time to break out and again watch my niece’s favorite movie, Idiocracy, the story of a world broken down by lack of education, dependence on government, lack of common sense. Today, the well-regarded Rasmussen poll found that 71% of Proglibocrats would still favor a Hillary run for POTUS even if she were indicted for any of a number of acts (emails, Benghazi, Clinton Foundation).    WHAT THE HECK !

One baseball game between the Cuban national baseball team and the Tampa Bay Rays, a gift of a few cigars from Raul to Barrack, and a lone cruise ship pulling into three seaside ports count not one little bit toward improving the lives of the embattled and oppressed Cuban people.   I just returned from Matanzas province where I spent a week with lots of regular people, unencumbered by the watchful eyes and tongues of the ever present civilian militia.   All express sincere hope that improved relations between our two countries will lead to a better life for everyone. But let’s not let our domestic press corps get ahead of reality.  Nothing, nothing will accrue to the Cuban people until three areas are addressed.

First, private property laws need to be cemented to allow foreign investment in capital goods to proceed.  The countryside is littered with abandoned American and Russian factories, all victim of the wonderful world of Communism.  With a central location to the Caribbean and Central/South/North America, and a dedicated, hard-working (but mostly unemployed) labor force, there is every reason why all sorts of goods should  be manufactured in Cuba.  However, the owners of those capital goods and factories must have assurance that their assets are secure from the hungry claws of Raul and Fidel.   On our way out of Havana, a member of our team bought some Havana Club rum to take home to friends.  I might have spoiled his joy when I reminded him that all of the administrative and productive assets of the company were nationalized  (stolen,for those of you from Birdsboro)  from a Spanish family soon after the Revolution in 1959.   It is estimated that the rights to several billion dollars of assets (many American) need to be reconciled before any foreign entity invests a dollar or a euro into Cuba.

Secondly, infrastructure needs are massive.   Roads have received little maintenance in 50 years.  The one-track railroad creeps across the country, now taking  26 hours to traverse the 650 miles from Guantanamo to Pinar Del Rio.   There are more ox and horse driven vehicles than there are motorized vehicles.  Tons of new tourists now descend on a beautiful but overwhelmed  Havana ( usually never venturing  outside  the city), with water, sewer, road and electrical systems dating back to the 1940s.  American tourists in particular are pretty picky when it comes to dependable showers and air conditioning.

None of these issues are solvable under the current repressive government.   When asked the population of Havana, most will say, “one million,  plus one million watching them “.  Political      detainment and  imprisonment is a way of life.    The average household income is below $25 per month, and for goodness sakes, the professional baseball stars suffice on only $50 per month.  We have befriended one of our regular translators who is very proud of his Canadian  energy  company job  paying $40,000 per annum.  After the funds flow through Havana, our friend receives $40 per month, and he is happy about it.   Internet usage is extremely limited.

So let’s give our Emperor some credit for at least “opening the door” for discussion.  But let’s not get all giddy that there might be a McDonalds in Matanzas City anytime soon.    My guess is that another generation will pass before any tangible benefits of improved US/Cuba relations positively impact the Cuban people. WHAT THE HECK !