Here’s your warning: Not much sports today. There isn’t a lot happening. Even if there were, to ignore what occurred at the Capitol yesterday would be like a meteorologist taking a day off during a Cat 5 hurricane.
I do a lot of stuff in This Space that has nothing to do with sports. Movies, TV, books, cars, imbibing, cigars, restaurants, travel, life experiences. My family, my friends. No one has ever said to me in exasperation, “Please stop writing about beer and TV!’’
It's a full-service blog. Always has been. The first TML ever, in February 2006, was about climbing to the top of Diamond Head on Oahu. I don’t apologize for not sticking to sports (very) occasionally. Such as today. I understand if you don’t like it, I ask you to come back tomorrow. That said. . .
On Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump encouraged American citizens to take up arms against America. He stayed silent through much of the afternoon as four people died and more than a dozen police were injured. He stood down as the capitol building was invaded by the rioters he inspired. Sedition is defined as “conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch.’’
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Trump said he “loved’’ the people who vandalized the symbol of our freedom. He loved the people who believed his lies about election fraud and staged an insurrection. He thought they were great. Fine people, in the post-Charlottesville vernacular.
Trump admired the banana republic-style riot from afar. He didn’t order the steps of the capitol be lined with police and soldiers in riot gear, the way he did during the Black Lives Matter protest. He relished the mayhem he provoked against his own country. He lorded with satisfaction over a dark day in our history. He’d rather tear apart our cherished institutions, if it means overturning a fair election he lost by 8 million votes. It’s hard to believe he wouldn’t do it again.
What kind of person behaves this way?
The common interest of the rioters was in raising mindless hell, not in heeding a patriotic call.
One rioter inside the building was wearing a set of antlers. Maybe he thought it was deer season.
Another rioter hung from a wall over a doorway, for some reason. Another walked around with a piece of furniture. A rioter sat in Nancy Pelosi’s office, feet up on her desk. Rioters smashed windows and bashed in doors. They milled about and took selfies, as if they’d just done something great.
Insurrectionists, seditionists, losers and fools. People crippled by a willful stupidity, gladly manipulated by Trump’s assembly line of lies. People whose values are so twisted, they see their actions as patriotic.
The law-and-order president loved it.
There is another side to this. It is about scared people, people long deserted by the American Dream. The sort of disillusioned folks Springsteen writes about. These are people who see progress as a threat to whatever they have left. They’ve lost good-paying jobs, they see a country that doesn’t listen to them or care about them. Some of those people were in DC Wednesday.
Their pain and their good points will never be heard. Change in our country rarely occurs at the end of a gun barrel.
One of Trump’s talents has been to find their wound and speak to it. Or, rather, pander to it and use it to his advantage. He doesn’t care about them, other than to exploit their concerns.
More than 60 courts have ruled against Donald Trump since Nov. 3. Not one has ruled in his favor over anything remotely substantive. His staunchest allies not named Giuliani have broken ranks. Barr, Graham, McConnell. Resignations have left his White House a shell.
Actions have consequences, even for this president who has run roughshod over our country and paid no price.
We have recourse. What happened Wednesday should be met with the harshest realities. Laws not men, right? If we let Trump get away with Wednesday, Wednesday will happen again.
Now, then. . .
STEVE KERR MAKES A GOOD POINT. . . Following a violent attack by supporters of President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had a message for Republican senators who stoked the election conspiracy theories that sparked Wednesday’s insurrection.
Speaking with media ahead of a game against the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday, Kerr suggested that Sens. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Josh Hawley do the same before meeting at the Capitol.
“I wish that people like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Josh Hawley had to do pregame media before they met in Congress,” Kerr said. “It would be great for them to answer the question: ‘Are you happy now? Do you keep moving the line back? Does this change anything? Are you going to continue to enable?’”
(Yahoo!)
It would be good if Congress people were even close to as accountable as pro and college coaches.
ZACJOHN TAYLOR-BRANNEN SPEAKS:
“I love this team. I love these guys. When you have character in your locker room, you don’t go anywhere. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to show up every single day and prepare us to be the best team we can possibly be. We just have to finish plays. And we’re not there yet.”
Actually, this was UC basketball coach John Brannen, after the L against Tulsa last week.
COVID UPDATE. . . Before I got it, I asked people I knew who had it what it was like. I assume some of youse have similar curiosity. So. . .
I’ve felt about the same all week. The plague has affected my sleep more than anything. There is no getting comfortable. I’ve never closed my eyes more and slept less. ZombieLand is a lonely place.
I bomb my headaches with Advil, but I haven’t been short of breath. Everything still tastes and smells. I’m thinking I have a week or so of this crapola to go. The only way to describe it is. . . uncomfortable.
AND NOW. . .
FunMaster Brien recommends a local artist:
The Cincinnati Art Museum has opened its new exhibit on Frank Duveneck. This is the first comprehensive exhibition of the artist in more than thirty years. “Frank Duveneck: American Master” features more than 125 works. This exhibit is open through the end of March.
However, there is a unique opportunity this Saturday to learn more about the revered artist. The art museum is doing a live art chat virtual event, on the topic of Duveneck during his time in Italy. This is an hour-long symposium that you can watch and interact with from the comfort of your home. It is free, and will be occurring this Saturday at eleven in the morning. This discussion will be lead by the assistant for the aforementioned exhibit, Liz Simmons.
Duveneck was born in Covington. His artistic endeavors brought him to Boston and Gloucester, Massachusetts, and later Florence (Italy, not Kentucky) where he lived with his wife until her death from pneumonia. He returned home to Covington for his remaining days. The German Catholic was considered an outsider in the Cincinnati area during his life, but there is now a statue of him at Pike and Washington in Covington.
Head over to https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/events-programs/events-list/ for more information.
Imbiber Dave is smokin’.
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