SYRACUSE BEATS #6 FLORIDA STATE

So many matters of importance occurred in the last 24 hours. Trump, immigration/refugee ban, draining the swamp, Peter, Paul and Mary, etc.

For me, the most important was Syracuse defeating Florida State 82-72. Florida State ranked #6, Syracuse unranked. A big victory. Students rushed the floor in excitement.

I was alone watching the game from the comfort of my easy chair. I shouted out a GREAT! at the end of the game. No one heard me. I was like the tree falling in the forest. No one hears it.

Worked on rewriting one chapter in Growing Up Italian. Sunday Dinner. A great family time!

The Sons and Daughters of Italy had a fund raiser yesterday. A bocce fundraiser. Excellent attendance. Many who had never played bocce. I served as teacher to two novice sisters from Little Torch Key.

Who would have thought bocce could serve as a fundraiser? Giorgio did. He is to be complimented.

Cold continues. Sixty three during the evening. The high today only 67. Rain big time off and on. Winds 20-30 mph. White caps visible in the ocean. A gray day expected.

Two Civil War events on tap this week. Described as Living History events.

One in the Palm Garden of the Key West Library. Thursday from 11-3. All kinds of information and artifacts re the Civil War.

The other at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. Friday and Saturday. Part of Civil War Heritage Days. A mid 1860s encampment.

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven was published this day in 1845.

Remember Goodnight Irene, If I Had a Hammer, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, and Blowin’ In the Wind?

Peter, Paul and Mary. Hits they sang.

Peter, Paul and Mary did not write the music they sang. They did make the tunes winners, however. Even Bob Dylan benefited. It is said the vocal group made Dylan’s revolution possible. Blowin’ In the Wind was one of them.

Andrew Jackson was our Nation’s first populist President. Trump is a populist President. Trump and many of his followers compare Trump to Jackson.

In 1834, there was a labor dispute. Workers on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. The workers were rebelling because of persistent poor working conditions and low pay. The workers consisted of Irish, German, Dutch and blacks.

Jackson sent in federal troops to quell the disturbance. It was the first time a President had ever done so.

Trump has not sent federal troops anywhere. Not yet. He could in the future. Recall this past week his observations re Chicago, carnage, murders, etc. He suggested the Federal government might have to go in if things did not get better. The National Guard?

Trump’s handling of the immigration/refugee situation yesterday reflects a Jackson type mentality. Overbearing, overwhelming.

A further comment re the immigration/refugee order. Seven countries were named. Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Not one terrorist from the seven named nations has ever performed a terrorist act in the United States.

Whereas, Saudi Arabia has. Seventeen or eighteen of the terrorists who perpetrated 9/11 were citizens of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia also gave us $4 a gallon gasoline.

Saudi Arabia not listed in the order. Oil, money the reasons? Whatever, the Saudi’s have had their heads up our asses for years. One arm around our shoulders, the other in our back pocket.

One more Trump issue.

He claimed during the campaign that he was going to drain the swamp. Get rid of lobbyists who come directly from government and end up working for lobbying groups that require government favors. A five year ban.

Trump’s order refers to administration officials. I do not know what administration officials refers to. Merely his immediate White House staff? Does it extend to Congress and the military?

I did a little digging. Could not come up with the answer.

Congressmen eat big when they move from the hallowed walls of government to working for lobbying groups. Recall Eric Cantor who was defeated in a Republican primary four years ago. He immediately was hired by a lobbying group. Starting salary $3.4 million a year. He did not even finish his term. He resigned his seat soon after the election and went to work in the private sector.

Our generals and admirals likewise benefit. Eisenhower warned us to beware of the military-industrial complex. They hire the retired military at huge dollars who then go back to their still in the service friends and work out contracts generous to the military manufacturer/producer.

Yes, the honeymoon is over. I gave Trump a week before criticizing him. I wanted to wait longer. He is our president. Give him a chance.

I figured three to six months. No way where Trump is concerned. He is a dynamo. He has already done more in his first week than any other President. More does not necessarily mean good, however.

He is not qualified for the position. He is a trouble maker.

I worry.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 comments on “SYRACUSE BEATS #6 FLORIDA STATE

  1. I agree with you that Trump is not qualified… not even close. However, it made me think; who was the last President that was qualified when he took office:

    Obama – No… he had very limited experience at the national level. Only 3 years as a Senator. He had to grow to it.

    George Bush (Bush 2) – No. Only his daddy got him to office. His only claim to fame is that he was a good skin presser… that’s what got him elected in Texas.

    Clinton – No… Governor of Arkansas doesn’t qualify you for anything. He grew well into it.

    Bush 1`- Eight years as VP qualified him.

    Ronald Reagan – Eight years as California Governor might have barely qualified him… but he had no international experience.

    Jimmy Carter – No way! He never grew to it. He is however our best “elder statesman.”

    Gerald Ford – Well qualified after 25 years in congress and a short stent as VP. As I go back this is the first guy that was really qualified… a poor president.

    Tricky Dick & LBJ – Both qualified, but neither did well.

    Kennedy – Well qualified, but we’ll never know how he would have ended up.

    Ike – Being a war hero doesn’t qualify you. I truly believe he could have prevented our massive involvement in Vietnam in 1954… he didn’t.

    Truman – Well qualified after 10 years in congress and short stint as VP. The best President we’ve had in my lifetime. Ok… I have no recollection of him, but I submit; any President that has his “Little Whitehouse” in Key West is a great president. Moreover, my army infantry dad who was slated to be part of the Japan invasion force would likely have been one of the projected 1 million Americans killed during such an invasion. Truman had the guts and wisdom to drop “the bomb” Otherwise I well may not have been born.

    Somehow we’ve managed to survive a succession of poorly qualified Presidents. However, perhaps it’s time for the Conch Republic to renew its succession.

    • I don;t know about the Conch Republics reality of secession but California is the sixth largest GDP (economy) in the world right after the UK. Geographically it is almost twice as big as the UK.

      California already has an independence state flag and they could go it alone. However, I would not put it past this current administration to threaten to nuke them.

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