Hindsight 2020: January 2020

As of December 2, 2019, 972 candidates have filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to run for president. Here is the complete list. This number includes 296 Democrats, 148 Republicans, 44 Libertarians, and 19 Green Party candidates. Very few of them are on any of our ballots. Filing with the FEC is the only step to get on our state ballots.  Each state has specific requirements. Not many people have the resources to get on the ballots in all 50 states and the territories. So when you are watching a debate and are a little ticked off that a few candidates are not allowed, there are a lot more than you think. Even some major candidate won't appear on our ballots. Michael Bennet, Cory Booker and John Delaney will not appear on my home state, Vermont's, primary ballot so if one of my neighbors is reading this and want to vote for one of them, be prepared to write in.

In most states, the top four candidates in polling are Biden, Warren, Buttigieg and Sanders, but the fifth spot is up for grabs in a lot of them.  I have seen Yang, Gabbard, Klobuchar and Bloomberg in some of them. Once voting starts, it will be very interesting.

Here is this month's debate that had only seven candidates:

Impeachment: You need only a majority to set the rules of the impeachment so the Republican moderates may control what the Senate trial looks like. Look to Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.

Dropping Out:
Joe Sestak

Our Field:
Julian Castro released his plan to end hunger in America.

Tulsi Gabbard released a resolution to withdraw troops from Syrian oil fields.She didn't vote for impeachment so she is dead to me.

Elizabeth Warren wrote an Op Ed about the AIDS crisis for CNN. New York Times "The Daily" podcast interviewed her. She released plans to protect the oceans and to fight global corruption.

Joe Biden wrote a piece on NATO for Medium. He also released his tax plan, his immigration plan and his gun safety plan.

Tom Steyer, a well-know Trump hater, used his millions to buy the domain KeepAmericaGreat.com to sell "TRUMP is a Fraud and a Failure" bumper stickers. He released a proposal to invest $125 billion in historically black colleges.

Mike Bloomberg released his plan for criminal justice and his gun violence platform.

Amy Klobuchar released her plan for national service.

Bernie Sanders released his plan to expand broadband access.

Pete Buttigieg released an education and childcare platform and an immigration platform.

Michael Bennet appeared on Boston's "Coffee with the Candidate". He proposed, along with Mitt Romney, a child tax credit.

Cory Booker talked about gun control on KUNR. He issued an education plan and proposed a bill for farm system reforms.

Andre Yang introduced a healthcare plan. He appeared on PBS News Hour.

Power Rankings:

I count 14 candidates. I am still sticking with Amy. She has the political chops and the experience to not only win but to be an excellent president. 

I have moved Bloomberg up because it seems clear, he could destroy Trump in a general election and yes, he was a decent mayor. 

I have to admit that the biggest thing I don't like about Bernie Sanders is not him but his supports. They are very inflexible and seem like they may pull the same act they did in 2016 ... just not voting because their candidate is out of it. If they would have showed up for Hillary in Ohio, Pennsylvania or Michigan, we wouldn't be in this mess. It doesn't seem like they have learned anything and may do the same in 2020. 

One positive about Bernie. When it comes to second choices, he is the most popular candidate.  So as other candidates start dropping out, he will move up faster than others. This is big. I love Bernie, even though many of his supporters are lunatics. I moved him up and moved mayor Pete down a little.  He's been getting beaten up lately and not handling it that well.

Klobuchar

Sanders

Warren

Buttigieg

Biden

Booker

Yang

Bloomberg

Delaney

Castro

Patrick

(I probably won't vote if the people below get the nomination)

Gabbard

Steyers

Williamson

Hindsignt 2020: December 2019 #MoscowMitchIsNextToGo

Quid pro quo (or "this for that") is common in politics. The swapping of favors is how the system works. If you vote for a bill that helps my state (this), I will vote for a bill that helps yours (that). The problem with the Trump Ukraine situation, the "that" is a political favor urging a foreign power to get involved in our Federal elections. There is some truth to the statement that this is not a "quid pro quo" because these swaps usually are not lined with a threat. To threaten to withdraw aid to Ukraine for a political favor is not only unethical and an impeachable offense, but it is a huge change in American policy in how we deal with security in Europe. For seventy years, since World War II, security in Europe has been maintained by the nations involved following certain rules of behavior. When Russia invaded the Ukraine is 2014, those rules were broken. Our sanctions against Russia and aid to Ukraine were just, reasonable and necessary. When Trump plays political games with these factors, he is playing with fire and a good argument could be made that he is committing treason. He consistently shits on our allies while throwing bones to tyrants around the world.

He undoubtedly will be impeached in the House, but thanks to Moscow Mitch and the rest of Trump's lapdog GOP Senators, it will not go far in the Senate and Trump will remain in office. We'll be lucky if we even get a trial. It is possible that Moscow Mitch will let the inquiry in the Senate take a lot of time to interfere with the election since several of the Democratic candidates are Senators. The problem with Trump isn't just him but the system that produced him and his political party. They need to be replaced with reasonable people who respect the rule of law, especially Mitch McConnell.  This is why we need not only a candidate that can win but one who positively impact down ballot candidates. We don't need another Hillary Clinton who inspired no one and who convince many that the Democrats are as bad as the Republicans.

The more people see Biden, the less support he gets. It seems that people like the idea of Biden, but not Biden in person. He has high name recognition, but after they get to know him, they are unimpressed. Buttigieg on the other hand is growing in popularity the more people are exposed to him. In the latest polls, he is ahead in Iowa. Senator Warren said something that I found thought provoking. I am paraphrasing, she said that the Republicans are going to oppose whatever we come up with, so we might as well aim high. This is a really good point.  She is clearly the smartest person running but I am concerned, as I have stated in prior posts, that she is too extreme for the mainstream Democrat. I am not only concerned about her support in the general election, but how she would affect the rest of the electorate. Will she help get more Democrats elected or less?  Will the moderate Democrats not show up or vote Republican as a moderating force? Regardless of how much I like Sanders and Warren, it makes me still want to pull to the center and Biden is not the answer.

Voting begins in February. Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina will be telling, but Super Tuesday is where kill shots are going to take place.

Reflections on the Impeachment Inquiry Hearings:
In November we had the impeachment inquiry hearings. Many Americans actually thought these were the actual impeachment hearings. They weren't. After they were done, a report was produced by the Intelligence Committee. The actual Impeachment Hearings started this week.

I have little patience for anyone that states that he doesn't deserve impeachment. We has violated the emoluments clause, he has obstructed justice, he has intimidated witnesses, he is guilty of using the presidency for personal gain, bribery and treason. Impeachment is the only course of action to deal with a President like this. We cannot take legal actions because the Justice Department reports to him. Not impeaching him, means that we are inviting future presidents to do the same as him. If you are living in state with a Senator that will not impeach, I surely hope you are on the phone with their office right now expressing your outrage.

The actual hearings are political theater for news junkies like me. The panelists aren't supposed to have an opinion in the inquiry and are only supposed to be inquiring into the truth. yet everyone Representative doing the questioning already seems to have decided where they stand. The two party lawyers, Daniel Goldman (D) and Stephen Castor (R) seem to be the only people who adhere to this. Both of them are quite impressive.

Throughout the hearings, there is a reference to a "drug deal." This a metaphor. There are no drugs involved here. It is in reference to a comment that John Bolton made that was quoted heavily: "I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up." So if you tuned in late, you might think there are drugs involved. No such thing. Only geeks like me that watched it from start to finish may have noticed this.

No one is paying attention. Naively, I keep hoping for an upsurge in Republican Senators standing up to oust this guy. No such luck. We all know how this is going to end. He'll have to remove him at the ballots. There is no political courage in the Republican party.

The Debate:
There was another debate in November. Nothing of any interest happened as far as I can see. Andrew Yang is polling 5th and he only got six minutes which doesn't seem right. It is not really worth watching but I included it anyway in case you are interested.

Dropping Out:
Tim Ryan dropped out of the race to run in Ohio's 13th congressional district. He endorsed Joe Biden for President.
Wayne Messam dropped out of the race. He barely left his home state of Florida. I'm not sure why he even tried.
Steve Bullock dropped out of the race. He never went over 1% in the polls and failed to raise enough money to continue.
Mark Sanford withdrew himself from the Republican primary.
Kamala Harris dropped out and this is big news. She is the first major candidate to drop out. She had a surge after the first debate and then she got a lot of media coverage. With more attention comes more scrutiny and she did not handle it well.  She lost a lot of volunteers and donors.  It is odd that she went this far and drops out before Super Tuesday (which includes her home state of California).

Entering the Race:
Deval Patrick - He is from the South Side of Chicago, he is the ex-governor of Massachusetts and now employed by Bain Capital. He is a great speaker like his close friend President Obama.
Mike Bloomberg - The stop and frisk guy. He is ex-mayor of New York City. He plans on skipping campaigning in the early states and concentrating on Super Tuesday states.

What this race does not need is two more millionaires to jump in late. They add nothing new to the race.  I thank them for their interest but I think I will ignore them for now.

Our Field:
Cory Booker was on the Daily Show.

Joe Sestak was on an episode of Shooting the Shit.

Elizabeth Warren released a veterans plan. 

Joe Biden attended a CNN town hall. He released an infrastructure plan. 

Pete Buttigieg released his plan for veterans and a mega plan for affordable housing, child care and college education costs.

Bernie Sanders released his plan for veterans and his immigration plan. He was interviewed on one of my favorite podcasts, The New York Times' The Daily. It makes me love him all over again.

Andrew Yang released his technology plan. He appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live.He is wearing his MATH pin as usually. He says it stands for Make America Think Harder. I like this guy.

Tom Steyer released a healthcare plan and an affordable housing plan.

Power Rankings:

I count 15 candidates. I am going with Senator Amy Klobuchar this month. She is Elizabeth-Warren-lite. She has the right politics but more moderate. I find her very smart, witty and she has an impressive history. Much more impressive than Pete Buttigieg whom I like, but lets face it, he is the mayor of a tiny city. Is he ready for the big stage? I don't know. 

If I had to rank the Democrats in order of my personal preference, I would do so in the following manner: 

Klobuchar

Buttigieg

Warren

Sanders

Biden

Booker

Yang

Gabbard

Delaney

Castro

Sestak

Patrick

Bloomberg

(I probably won't vote if the people below get the nomination)

Steyers

Williamson

Hindsight 2020: November 2019

Thank you for helping me think this election through. This is a difficult decision and I wouldn't be able to make an intelligent decision without someone to talk to. I am coming to the conclusion lately that Republicans are even more disgusting than I thought they were. The president's behavior is so repulsive and their lack of getting behind the impeachment only shows how little respect they have for the US Constitution which they claimed to love so dearly when President Obama was in office. Trump seems to use the Constitution as toilet paper on a daily basis and most of them stand behind him waiting to flush. Where is the civil outrage?

Impeachment is a not a gleeful thing. It is something we do with many regrets. It is an admission of failure as a society.  But it is something that needs to be done and those who have had the courage to go forward with it, especial those in his own party, should be thanked, and certainly, not punished. They are simply doing their job.

In the meantime, we turn to the election for a more civil way to replace an incompetent, ill-prepared and uncivilized leader. The impeachment process affects the election in two ways:

1. The amount of media coverage of the impeachment takes away from the candidates. This badly affects the lesser known candidates. 
2. Once the process gets to the Senate, the six Senators (among our 18 candidates) will have to spend a lot of time putting the president on trial. The other candidates (the governors, the mayors, reps, ex-cabinets members, business people and VPs) will still be out there campaigning.

Both of these advantage Biden. He is the only candidate that still beats Trump in polling in all the battleground states. 

With Joe Biden becoming the king of gaffes and the Democrats being too afraid to go as far left as Warren and Sanders, I expect other moderate candidates to get a boost every time Biden opens his mouth. Klobuchar, Harris, Buttigieg ... here is where you make your move. If they were considering moving their queen into their opponents' pawns at some point, that moment would be now. Buttigieg is already polling higher than Biden in Iowa. He might just be the candidate to pull ahead of the field.

Something we should all remember whenever Giuliani talks about Biden. It was Biden that torpedoed his presidential campaign back in 2008 ... a noun, a verb and 911 comment.  Giuliani obviously has a vendetta against him.  I don't believe a word he says about Biden.

Dropping out:
Beto O'Rourke: In 2018, when he ran for US Senate, O'Rourke set a record for the number of votes ever cast for a Democrat in the state of Texas and he lost to the very awful Ted Cruz. This got him a lot of press outside of Texas and a lot of popularity. Some of us thought he was the next Obama. He has suspended his campaign. We'll see him again.Texas will be blue soon.

Our field:
Congressman Ryan did not make the debate stage this month, but remains in the race.

Governor Bullock didn't make the cut for the debate either.He talked at the Politics and Eggs series in New Hampshire.

Both Congressman Sestak and Mayor Messam didn't make the numbers for the debate either. I am not sure why they are wasting everyone's time. If they don't have the name recognition and support by now, they won't by election day.

Congressman Delaney was interviewed on Fox Business.

Vice President Biden wrote an Op Ed in the Washington Post. He also released his gun violence prevention plan. He was interviewed on 60 Minutes.

Congressman O'Rourke appeared on NPR's Off Script. This was before he dropped out.

Senator Booker releases a plan to reduce childhood poverty He also introduced the Break the Cycle of Violence Act in Congress.

Secretary Castro released his labor policy plan,  a plan for foster children and a criminal justice platform.

Mayor Buttigieg released his prescription drug plan and a criminal justice plan. He appeared on NPR's Off Script.

Senator Sanders released a plan for campaign finance reform.

Senator Harris released her family leave program.

Senator Warren released a plan to assist people affect by climate change.

Mister Yang was on Freakonomics, one of my favorite podcasts, last January. I just heard it so I am sharing it now.  He is fascinating. He also appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show to talk about foreign policy:

Senator Bennet released an affordable housing plan.

Power Rankings:

I count 18 candidates. If I had to rank the Democrats in order of my personal preference, I would do so in the following manner: 

Biden

Buttigieg

Warren

Klobuchar

Booker

Sanders

Bennet

Harris

Gabbard

Delaney

Ryan

Bullock

Yang

Castro

Messam

Sestak

(I probably won't vote if the people below get the nomination)

Steyers

Williamson

I expect this to change.

The Watchmen: Season 1 Episode 1 and the Tulsa Race Riot

The world of The Watchmen is different from ours.  Not just because they have superheroes, that is obvious, but the story line exists in an alternative universe.  I am talking about the HBO Series based on the graphic novel/comic not the comic or the movie based on it. I've read the first ground breaking graphic novel and loved it. For some, when Game of Thrones went off the air, it was time to unsubscribe to HBO. For me, I could give or take GoT.  The Watchmen is more my taste. When the greatest television network, ever, makes a show about one of your favorite comics, starring one of your favorite actresses (Regina King) and Trent Reznor does the music .... you take notice.

The graphic novel came out in 1987 and was created by the British creative team consisting of writer Alan Moore, artist David Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. Alan Moore is considered by many to be greatest comic creator in the English language. Among his achievements are V is for Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Batman: The Killing Joke, all of which received critical acclaim. The original graphic novel,The Watchmen, is on many media organizations' lists of top 100 greatest novels of all-time. It made Time Magazine's list and is along side The Great Gatsby and To Kill A Mockingbird; it is that good.

The most interesting thing about The Watchmen, as a comic, is that it is much more realistic and less mellow-dramatic than most comics. It is about a group of superheroes but it is questionable whether they are the good guys or not. The good guy/bad guy dichotomy doesn't exist in this world. The characters exist in a gray area. Some people in their world fear them, some think they are menaces and part of the problem, and they are celebrities. Some of the characters are borderline evil, like Rorschach. He could be seen as extremely right-wing or a character out of an Ayn Rand novel. He is unstable and a bad ass. Some might consider him a hero. Others think he's a fascist. Lets face it, if super heroes did exist, this is how it would be. Right? They would be aligned along political lines. The white supremacy group in the show, the Seventh Kavalry, are inspired by his writings and wear his mask (like how Klansman would wear a hood). The comic is thought provoking as is the show.

The HBO show takes place 30 years after the comic book story ended. The story has no connection the film that came out in 2009. Its setting is a bit terrifying. Richard Nixon served five terms, he is on Mt. Rushmore, Vietnam is a US state and Robert Redford is president. Please note, Robert Redford is not playing the president. In this world, the actor, Robert Redford, has become president and his biggest achievement is reparations for slavery. Redford never gave them permission to use his image (thank you public domain). Reparations are so controversial, they are referred to as Redfordations (much like the ACA is referred to as Obamacare in our universe). The police in this universe have to wear masks (yellow masks, the color of the iconic smiley face), because violence against cops is so high, they have to hide who they are. White supremacists are making a resurgence, coming out from hiding, which is another parallel to our world (thanks to Trump). It also rains squid in this universe which is a reference to an event in the comics. That storyline ended with a giant squid attack.

When watching a show like this, it is difficult to tell what is an actual reference to our world and what is fiction. The first episode opens with some incredible violence in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It appears like fiction, because it is outrageous, graphic and I never heard of this event. Unfortunately, this is real and not something from Moore's imagination. The Tulsa Race Riot (also called the Black Wall Street Massacre or the Greenwood Massacre) took place in the Greenwood section of Tulsa in 1921. Greenwood, at the time was called Black Wall Street. It was a thriving middle-class African American neighborhood with black owned businesses, doctors, dentists and tradespeople. It was thriving. The violence exploded on Memorial Day Weekend when a 19 year old black man was accused of raping a 17 year old white girl. Thousands of whites marched in this black neighborhood in what is known as the worst race riot in American history. 36 black people were killed, 10,000 were left homeless and over a $1 million (in 1921 dollars) in real estate destroyed. The rioters actually used planes (at least a dozen) to shoot rifles and firebomb businesses, homes and fleeing families. When you hear about events like this, you understand the call for reparations. Not a single white rioter was prosecuted following the riot.

The rest of the show takes place 98 years later, still in Tulsa. As of right now, I don't know if the riot has any connection to any of the characters or if it was just an introduction to Tulsa and its history.  We'll see. I am looking forward to episode two this evening. What should I watch? The World Series is also on.

The Tale of Two Stadiums

When we travel, we always take in a baseball game or two if we can. This summer we were in Chicago for a wedding. Normally, we'd take in a Cubs game but they were out of town. We could have went to see the White Sox, but since I have no interest in ever visiting that park again, we chose not to.When looking at the baseball landscape in Chicago, on the north side, you've got one of baseball's gems, Wrigley Field and on the south side you have Guaranteed Rate Field which is horrendous.

You have to wonder if the people who designed the White Sox stadium ever watched a game in person before they put pen to paper. Built in 1991, it was built before the new wave of great new ballparks that started with Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Oriole Park was built in 1992 and started the trend of great new ballparks. The White Sox missed the wave. The stairs are so steep at this park, the one time I visited in the late 90's, I almost got vertigo walking to my seat. It is a big pile of concrete with no character or charm. Not only that, but you get the impression that the people running the show really don't get it. The music between innings is so loud you have to yell at each other to converse. By the fifth inning I had a head ache. Contrast this with the melodious organ at Fenway which is not only entertaining but relaxing. So when visiting Chicago and you want take in a game, unless you want vertigo and a headache, check out Wrigley. It has maintained its charm since it was built over a hundred years ago. It doesn't change its name every few years either. I generally just call the White Sox stadium, White Sox stadium because I lose track of their field naming rights.

The tale of two stadiums I am writing about is not the Chicago parks, but the two parks we visited on our drive home from Chicago, Progressive Field in Cleveland (to see the Red Sox) and PNC Park in Pittsburgh (to see the Cubs).

Cleveland: As a Red Sox fan since the mid-70's I remember watching games at Cleveland (via television) which must have had only a few hundred fans there.They were a perennial last place team and kinda of a joke. They have had really turned things around since then. Jacob's Field being built in 1993 has a lot to do with this. Going to a game is enjoyable so people are more likely go ... imagine that!  More people going means more money to the team, therefore they can get better players and build a stronger farm system etc. It was commonly referred to as The Jake and still is even though Progressive Insurance bought the naming rights in 2008 and renamed it Progressive Field. I find the name ironic.

If this is your team logo, you have no business using the word "progressive" in any capacity.

So I won't be calling it the Jake or Progressive Field, I will be calling Regressive Field.

I could point out here that the team decided not to use Chief Wahoo anymore but many of the fans still do so. They wear shirts with this symbol and some of them have slogans like "Save Chief Wahoo."  You can name your team after groups of people. For example, the Minnesota football team is called the Vikings and the Boston basketball team is called the Celtics ... this is because there are a lot of Norwegians in Minnesota and a lot of Irish in Boston. To my knowledge, not a lot of Native Americans in Cleveland. Also, neither Norwegians nor Irish were hunted to near extinction by the US population and our government. Norwegians did not have their land invaded and stolen, weren't round up at gun point and marched into concentration camps called "reservations." The experience of the Irish immigrant is not great in this country but the government never handed out rewards for the scalps of the Irish. So it is really dickish for a team, in 2019,  to be named the Indians, and guess what, by extension, you are a dick if you wear this logo. Many people already call them The Tribe. Why not rename them? Oh that's right, you are not renaming the team... because you are a dick.This makes total sense.

With this in mind, you can guess, I didn't go into Regressive Field to see my Red Sox with a very positive attitude. The park is quite beautiful. We went to two games. The first game we went to we had good seats between home plate and the Red Sox dugout. These were very expensive. The ticket prices are jacked when the Red Sox are in town. The second game we bought the day of the game so we bought tickets in the nose bleeds and they were quite nice. The picture below is was taken from those seats. We were in the second to the last row.

The park itself was perfect. Nothing wrong with it. Not quite as nice as Comerica Park in Detroit or the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, but it is a gorgeous park. It is a lot nicer than the White Sox mess and a better experience than the new Yankee Stadium or Montreal's Big O. If you are a fan of baseball and in Cleveland, it is definitely worth seeing.

Most of the things I didn't like about the experience had nothing to do with the building.  The capacity is almost 43,000 and it was only about half full. At the time, they were in a pennant race, tied for first place and another contending team was visiting. You think there would be more fans there. Like the White Sox stadium, it is incredibly loud. Not only the music between innings, but the words "make some noise" were constantly being flashed on the jumbotron. It was loud visually, not just auditory. I've never been to a park where the fans had to be prompted to be loud. Normally, they are loud because they are at the game. Do you see the pinkish/purplish lights in my photo? Those lights were constantly flashing throughout the game.

These fans were not Yankee-fan-rude, but they were pretty rude. Chris Sale started the first game for the Red Sox and he pitched very well.  When he left the game, they booed him. This is another thing I've never seen. This is baseball, a civilized game, a game for gentlemen. A great pitcher like Sale leaves the game, you cheer for him. We do it at Fenway, I expect fans on the road to do as well. I've seen Red Sox fans stand and clap for Yankees if they performed well. Even Yankee fans would cheer for Sale if he pitched a gem like he did. But again, since the fans at Cleveland are dicks, I guess my expectations were too high. No wonder they haven't won a World Series since since 1948. What players would stay here with such poor sportsmanship in the stands.

The team is complicit in this as well. When the Red Sox made a great play, it wasn't shown on the jumbotron. Only good plays by Cleveland are shown on the jumbotron. Again, I've never seen this before. Kinda petty! If I'm ever in Cleveland again, I will not be returning to Regressive Field.  On my way out of town, someone tried to steal my bike off of my bike rack on my car. This has never happened before either. Eh! Return to Cleveland! But why?

Pittsburgh: The difference between these two cities couldn't be wider.  While Cleveland is flat and beside a Great Lake, Pittsburgh is hilly at the convergence of three major rivers. They are only a few hours apart. Pittsburgh's hills gives it some character and makes it picturesque. PNC Park opened in 2001 and of the new parks, it is the nicest I've visited. As you can see by my picture, it is in downtown like the old parks. It is also on the Alleghany River so it has a river walk that is open to the fans before the rest of the park.

It seems like the people who run this park, just get it. They understand the fan experience unlike Regressive Field or White Sox stadium. They understand what an enjoyable experience is like at the park. The music isn't too loud and occasionally had some traditionally organ music. The fans are friendly and the place was packed. This is a last place team. The jumbotron has some fun things on it, but it wasn't overwhelming. They portrayed the Pirates players in comic book art form on the second time through the order. On the third time through the batting order, they were portrayed as Legos.  Unlike Cleveland, it is very jovial environment at PNC park. We were rooting for the visiting Cubs, but the fans were still quite friendly. The great tickets we had, behind home plate were relatively cheap. We may stop into Pittsburgh again and again. We go to Chicago enough and it is a nice stop (a small detour) along the way.

At both games we went to they played this take on the Pirate of the Caribbean in the bottom of the ninth:

Very entertaining.

I still have a lot of parks to get all 30 in. By the time I get them all in, I am sure there will be newer ones to get to. Perhaps there will be a new park in Vegas or Portland Oregon on the horizon if expansion comes as it is expected. Here is my list of the Major League parks I have visited in order of favorite to least favorite:
Fenway in Boston
Wrigley in Chicago
PNC in Pittsburgh
Comerica in Detroit
Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati
Oriole Park in Camden Yards, Baltimore
Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia
old Yankee Stadium in NYC
Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City
Rogers Centre (was named SkyDome when I visited) in Toronto
Petco Park in San Diego
Shea Stadium in NYC
new Yankee Stadium in NYC
Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia
Guaranteed Rate Field (called Comiskey Park when I visited) in Chicago
Kingdome in Seattle
Olympic Stadium in Montreal

Hindsignt 2020: October 2019 Edition

In the time that I last blogged about the election, our president has suggested we use a nuclear bomb to fight off a hurricane, he invited the Taliban to the Camp David on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and asked the leaders of foreign governments (China and Australia as well as the Ukraine back in July) to dig up dirt on his political opponents.  Can you imagine if President Obama had done any of this? Members of the Republican party mentioned impeachment of Obama for many outrageous reasons when he was president --- including being born outside of the US (false), the Benghazi attack (bogus), Libyan intervention, an IRS non-scandal, a legal prisoner swap and a transgender initiative. Yet when one of their guys commits actual crimes, like say ... treason, most of them stand by their man. Their hypocrisy in this matter is astounding.

The question remains for the Democrats, how far left do you want to go with our candidate? If history is any indication, we may want to go with a moderates, because they win. McGovern, Mondale and Dukakis .... they all have two things in common, (1) they were all liberals that ran for president ... and (2) they lost. Obama, Clinton and Carter ... were all moderates and guess what? They won. Of the top three candidates we have now, Biden, Warren and Sanders, only Biden is a moderate. I would hope that the Democrats will learn this lesson from history and nominate a moderate. Buttigieg, Delaney and Klobuchar would all be excellent Presidents. But time is changing so perhaps four years of Trump has set the stage for finally having a leftist president which hasn't happened in my lifetime. The Republicans have been calling us socialists for decades; we might as well finally elect one and make good on this. I am torn.

Considering what has been going with Trump, regarding Ukraine, it is hard to believe that whoever runs against him would lose but I have been wrong before about this. I was amazed when W was reelected.

The last televised debate was the best so far. They actually talked about issues, pointed out their differences but remained clear on the point that any one of them is far better than Trump on every issue, on any given day. The only conclusion I came to from this debate is that Juan Castro needs to drop out. He was a complete dick to Biden and in a prior debate, he was a dick to Buttigieg. We don't need a dick running for President in the Democratic party. Trump has already wrapped up the dick vote. Castro, please leave quietly.

There are a few Republican candidates running against Trump. Primarying an incumbent president is an uphill battle but it just became more difficult because the GOP has cancelled primaries in four states already (SC, AZ, NV and KS). More are expected. This is just further proof that Republicans really don't like democracy. They like power.

All three of our top candidates are in their 70's and so is President Trump. I don't know if this is something we should be concerned about. Is it ageism?  Maybe. Being 70 isn't what it used to be.  It takes a lot to develop the experience to be presidential. Perhaps the other candidates are too young. Unless they show major health problems (which Bernie is), I don't think it is an issue.  Warren seems be the sharpest of all the candidates so I'm not too concerned about this.

Dropping out:
Bill de Blasio - good riddance.

Our field:
John Delaney appeared on Hardball. He released his digital privacy plan.

Amy Klobuchar released a climate policy. She appeared on WBUR's Here and Now and on Radio Atlantic.

Cory Booker released a climate policy and a labor policy. He was also on Jimmy Kimmel Live and on the New Yorker Radio Hour.

Steve Bullock appeared on the Daily Show.

Pete Buttigieg released a climate policy and a disaster relief program. He appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Julian Castro released his climate policy plan and his housing plan. 

Kamala Harris released her climate policy and her criminal justice reform program. She was also on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. 

Elizabeth Warren endorsed Jay Inslee's climate plan. She also appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Michael Bennet released his education program. 

Joe Biden appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and on Jimmy Kimmel Live. 

Beto O'Rourke presented a clemency plan for drug offenders. 

Bernie Sanders wants to eliminate $81 billion in medical debt and proposed a wealth tax and a corporate tax plan. He also had a heart attack but has made it clear, he'll be on the trail again in no time.

Andrew Yang was on The View.

Power Rankings:

I count 19 candidates. I expect Booker and Castro to drop out soon and hopefully few others will as well. If I had to rank the Democrats in order of my personal preference, I would do so in the following manner: 

Biden

Warren

Buttigieg

Booker

Klobuchar

Sanders

Harris

O'Rourke

Gabbard

Bennet

Delaney

Ryan

Bullock

Yang

Castro

Messam

Sestak

(I probably won't vote if the people below get the nomination)

Steyers

Williamson

I expect this to change.

Hindsight 2020: September edition

A recession is coming. The only good thing about a recession is that a lot of people will blame Trump. Even though Presidents have little effect on the economy, it is one of the biggest factors that help determine whom people vote for. This could also have the opposite effect. The recession could take awhile to get here and people could blame the new president for the bad economy. Remember how some people blamed Obama for the mess he inherited? It could really stunt a new administration even if we elected the best possible candidate.

In watching the debates in the past two months, it appears that these candidates are trying very hard to lose the general election. They are spending their time debating old issues like busing and bashing Obama (who is extremely popular with their base). I am not sure what they are thinking. Surely, they know that everything they say will be used as sound bytes by Trump's people in the general election. I am concerned and yes, fear is setting in.

As expected, Biden is starting to scare me as well. I am reminded again why I didn't vote for him in the past. He is a gaffe machine: Here are some things that Joe has said this year that are downright awful:

“Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” 

... and ...

“We choose truth over facts!”

He also called Theresa May, "Margaret Thatcher" and claimed that England used bio-fuel to fuel their "steamships." No shit! He really said that. This wasn't Trump, but the Democratic party's leading candidate. I'm pretty confident that many of us would be hopping on Trump for saying such things. Trump's way ahead in the gaffe department. Biden has always been this way. I do think Biden can beat Trump, but I'd like see someone really smart rip Trump to shreds. Trump and Biden debating, sounding like drunk idiots I'd meet at Rira's five minute before last call, is not my idea of inspirational. Warren, Harris, Bennet, Gabbard, even Bernie ... they'd tear him a new one. Biden seems more like a nice, mildly liberal and slightly more competent version of Trump. 

Whenever I hear the word "spiritual," I prepare myself ... this word is a red flag. The word "spiritual" announces to the world that bullshit is being spoken. It means it is time for me tune out. There are a lot of things I could be doing with my attention right, listening to bullshit about spirituality is not one of them. So when I hear that one of the candidates is a "spiritualist" this is a huge red flag for me. Ignore Marianne Williamson! The last thing we need right now is more empty platitudes. They are just painful to hear. She represents everything that is wrong with the American left. No policies, just talking points. It pains me to hear this woman getting applause at the debates. She really needs to go away.

Trump now has three legit primary challengers: Joe Walsh, Bill Weld and Mark Sanford. Jeff Flake and John Kasich may get in the race as well.  I am looking forward to the Republican debate (this is sarcasm).

Dropping Out:
John Hickenlooper is dropping out of the Presidential race to concentrate on a Senate run, something I wish more of these candidates did. He recently wrote an Op Ed criticizing Trump's tariff.

Jay Inslee, Seth Moulton, Mike Gravel and Kirsten Gillibrand have all suspended their campaigns. 

Our Field:
Cory Booker introduced a bill that would eliminate the death penalty. He also announced his plan to fight hate crimes.

Elizabeth Warren proposed creating an office of Broadband Access to get more Americans connected. She also released several proposals regarding Native American issues and a criminal justice plan. He is a policy rock star.

Tulsi Gabbard left the campaign trail for two weeks to fulfill her National Guard training in Indonesia. She was the inaugural guest on Matt Taibbi's new podcast, Useful Idiots.

Pete Buttigieg released his healthcare plan, which would overhaul healthcare in rural areas, and a policy to combat domestic terrorism.  He also released plans to tackle mental health and addiction.

Amy Klobuchar released a plan to combat domestic terrorism and a farming communities program.

Bernie Sanders was on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. He just released his plan to fight climate change.

Beto O'Rourke wrote an Op Ed about the shooting in El Paso. He released his economic plan and a trade plan.

Bill de Blasio wants to raise taxes on the wealthy.  He was interviewed on WBUR's Here and Now.

Kamala Harris released her plan to combat domestic terrorism.

Michael Bennet was on WBUR's On Point. He announced his idea for a national mentoring and apprenticeship program.

Julian Castro announced his economic and tax plan and proposed doubling our investment in wind power.

Tim Ryan appeared on one of my favorite podcasts, The Gist.

Andrew Yang released his climate change policy.

Power Rankings:

We are getting down to a manageable field. If I had to rank the Democrats in order of my personal preference, I would do so in the following manner: 

Warren

Buttigieg

Biden

Sanders

Booker

Klobuchar

Harris

Castro

O'Rourke

Gabbard

Bennet

Delaney

de Blasio

Ryan

Bullock

Yang

Messam

Sestak

(I probably won't vote if the people below get the nomination)

Steyers

Williamson

I expect this to change.

Hindsight 2020: August 2019 edition

We are living in an era of malevolence tempered by incompetence. In eight years of Obama's presidency, one cabinet member resigned due to a scandal. In three years of the Trump's presidency, we have had seven already. Rick Perry apparently has plans to leave soon as well. Trump has had more turn over in his cabinet than the last four president's first terms combined. Anyone of Trump's scandals would have devastated other presidents, yet his supporters don't care. Ripping off tax payers for personal gain apparently doesn't bother them. I wonder what does. We haven't found out yet.

While I believe Biden will get the nomination, I am not looking forward to a debate between these two men. Neither one of them are fast on their feet and it would be an embarrassment to all Americans. Both Warren and Harris would eviscerate Trump in a debate. I would love to see this. Mayor Pete would do well but he'd be more polite about it.

Of the 25 candidates in our field, we have eight candidates whose last public office was/is a Senator and seven Representatives. That is more than half coming from Congress and from recent years, we have not seen a lot of success of Congress people running for President (Obama being the exception). We also have three Governors, three Mayors, three private citizens, one Vice President and one ex-cabinet member (who was once a Mayor). Since nominating conventions were adopted in the 1832 election, major parties have nominated 21 candidates who most recently served as a governor, 15 who most recently served in a Senate, six from the House of Representatives, 27 who were incumbent presidents and eight vice presidents. Like Castro, only five candidates most recently served in the Cabinet. Four were ambassadors, one was a state judge, one Supreme Court Justice and seven with no prior political experience. Of the 21 governors nominated, only ten won the presidential election. The state with the most governors who won a presidential nomination was New York with seven. The only New York governors to win election as president were Democrats, Grover Cleveland (1884) and FDR (1932).  Of the 21 candidates who had most recently served in Congress (15 in the Senate and six in the House), a third of them (seven), won election as president. The success rate is the same for members of both chambers; five out of 15 Senators and two out of six Representatives were successful in presidential races. Only two of the last five VPs have won the presidency but unlike Biden, they ran immediately after their president last office. Biden might have won if he ran in 2016.

Our field is diverse in many other ways. We have six women, one gay man, several black candidates and two from Asian descent. They range from age 37 to 77. We have mostly Protestants and Catholics in our field but we also have a Jewish and a Hindi candidate. The field is still mostly white men, but they are still the most diverse field ever, perhaps anywhere. I am still waiting for my atheist candidate.

The most recent debate has been discussed ad nauseam, so I won't spend a lot of time of it. The only thing I want to point out is that the formats don't bode well for some candidates. Beto O'Rourke is a great candidate, but like Obama, he does well when he has a lot of time to speak. He is a great orator. You have to wonder how Obama would have fared in these formats with so many candidates on the stage. I hope no one is rejecting O'Rourke purely on this debate performance. These are not really debates anyway. They seem more like sound byte opportunities than anything else.

Announcing:
Tom Steyers, another billionaire is trying to buy his way into the presidency. He is a hedge fund manager from NYC and philanthropic support of many leftist causes. I think it is great that he wants to run for public office. He should start with governor or mayor, not with president. I am not going to take him seriously.

Our Field:
Michael Bennet appeared on Pod Save America and The View. He was also on  Slate's The Gist, one of my favorite Podcasts.  No weekday morning is complete without Mike Pesca.

Tim Ryan released his education plan that concentrated on getting young children ready for school. He also introduced a plan to stimulate manufacturing.

Cory Booker released his immigration plan and a long term care policy that would expand Medicaid. He is also the only candidate to have visited Comic Con in San Diego, trying very hard to get the geek vote.  He was on Late Night with Seth Meyers. He wrote an Op Ed for CNN about agri-business and anti-trust law.

Steve Bullock was interviewed on Bloomberg news. He also wrote an Op Ed in the Sioux City Journal on Social Security and Medicare.

Pete Buttigieg released a nation service plan. He is polling very low with voters of color. He's got a problem there. He explained his plan for racial equity on NPR, the radio network mostly listened to by white people. He also appeared on Recode Decode. He released a plan for workers.

Julian Castro appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and on Democracy Now.

Tulsi Gabbard seems to be campaigning for VP. She appeared on CBS News. 

Andrew Yang proposes an act to save our dying malls with over 200 of them expected to go under in the next three years. He appeared on The Daily Show.

Elizabeth Warren reintroduced the Climate Risk Disclosure Act, introduced an act that would assist low income college student buy food and a student load relief act.   She also released her trade plan. Yes, there will still be trade in a Warren administration. 

Kamala Harris proposed spending $1 billion to end the rape kit backlog nationwide. She also introduced a program to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and released her Medicare For All Plan.

Joe Biden released his health care plan that builds on the ACA and his plan for to assist rural America. 

Amy Klubuchar says that appointing judges will be a top priority for her which is really important to me and it should be for you as well.  She released a plan for housing. 

Seth Moulton was on NPR's Here and Now. He also introduce the Automatic Listening and Exploitation Act that would penalize companies that have smart devices that listen without our permission. He wrote an Op Ed for Fortune calling for the impeachment of Trump. 

Beto O'Rourke announced a Social Security policy that would give credits to care givers. He appeared on The View with his wife, Amy.

John Hickenlooper was on WMUR's Conversation with the Candidate. He also wrote an Op Ed on CNN about gun safety and released a plan to increase rural broadband access. 

Joe Sestak wrote an Op Ed about Iran in the Des Moines Register.

Bill de Blasio introduced a plan for a worker's bill of rights. 

Jay Inslee released his plan for workers and unions. 

John Delaney released a plan for mandatory national service. 

Bernie Sanders was on Pod Save America and he really rocked.

Power Rankings:

With Swalwell out and Steyers in we still have 25 candidates. If I had to rank the Democrats in order of my personal preference, I would do so in the following manner: 

Biden

Warren

Buttigieg

Booker

Sanders

Inslee

Hickenlooper

Klobuchar

Harris

Castro

O'Rourke

Gabbard

Bennet

Delaney

de Blasio

Ryan

Bullock

Yang

Moulton

Messam

Sestak

(I probably won't vote if the people below get the nomination)

Steyers

Gillibrand

Gravel

Williamson

I expect this to change.

A Killer Rock n' Roll Running List

I went for my annual medical exam recently and when they weighed me, I was 29 pounds lighter than last year's weigh in. This was great news for me. I did a lot in that time period to help cut my weight. I cut pasta out of my diet, I cut down on bread, I changed my weekday breakfast from oatmeal or cereal, to yogurt and fruit. Most of my snacks are fruit now. I also played tennis all winter, almost every weekend, my wife and I played a set or two. But the thing I am most proud of is that I am now running about three miles every other day now. I couldn't have done this without a killer playlist.

I used to be a runner. In high school I ran track and by my senior year I was quite good.  I made the regional all-star team and ran in state championships for middle distances like 400 meters and 300 meter low hurdles.  I was truly awful at the beginning of my track career, as a freshman. I always had problems with my arms. When I got tired, I would hold them against my chest. My coach would yell at me to "move your arms!" I would listen only for a minute or so and then go back to holding my arms back up against my chest. He had me run with weights in my hands which really helped. I used to run on average about seven miles a day back then.

Once college started, my first semester was spent on campus at the University of Rhode Island and I started running on campus. But once the cold set in, the wind blowing off the ocean and classes etc., I stopped running. I consumed lots of beer and pizza, hence gained a lot of weight. I didn't start running again until  recently. That is about a 30 year stint away from running. 30 years went by without having a killer play list. That's what I needed, really!

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a couch potato that whole time. I lived in Boston for ten years and I didn't have a car most of the time. I biked a lot. My longest trips were across Rhode Island, from Westerly to Woonsocket (two days) and across Massachusetts, from Lee in the Berkshires to Brighton in Boston (three days). I loved biking. I'd do more of it now if I didn't live at the top of a huge hill.

A few things had to happen for me to return to running. First off, I don't run in the winter. It isn't just the cold here in Northern Vermont but the ice on my street in deadly. The days are so short that I have a very short window of when I can run and I am nowhere near an indoor running track. Once I realized that I was fair weather, I could live with that. The most important thing that needed to happen is that I needed a killer running list. It has to be so good that I look forward to running. I've heard other people's choices for running lists. They seem to think you have sacrifice quality for a good beat.  No, you don't have to go over to the dark side and have crappy music on your playlist. There are some really great rock and roll songs that are good for running.

A few other things are needed, like a good app on my phone. I am using the Dog Walk which tells you when you hit a mile and gives you your time. Currently, I am running a mile in 16 minutes. Yes, I am very slow. But a lot of that is hills and I have to stop to pick up dog poop at least once a run.

Oh ya, the dog. Hazel is awesome on a run. She is extremely happy running. She is steady and doesn't stop often.  She is the perfect running dog.

I have 108 songs on my running list now. I am not going to go over all of them, just the favorites. What makes a song upbeat?  If the beat of the song is faster than your heartbeat, you perceive it as fast. This is why sometimes you think a song is fast, but then you go running and it doesn't seem that fast. This is because your heart is beating faster hence your perception changes.

Here are the songs:

Classics:
I defined classic as anything that came out 1983 or before. Why? Because I graduated high school in 1983.  That's right, it is all about me.

The Who: These wily Brits have a lot of great upbeat songs, but Slip Kid from the By Numbers album has always been one of my favorites.  Sometimes I accidentally start singing out loud when I am running and you may hear me say, or even yell, "There's no easy way to be free!" at the top of my lunges. This is a great rocking song.

David Bowie: Most Bowie is not upbeat, but Queen Bitch is. The song is a tribute to the Velvet Underground and sounds just like a Lou Reed song, but better. It is off his Hunky Dory album, an underrated album.  The Scary Monsters album actually has three great running songs: Up the Hill Backwards, Ashes to Ashes and Fashion.

Bob Dylan: You know I can't blog about music without bringing up Dylan. Most of his songs are not rocking but these two tracks from Slow Train Coming, Gotta Serve Somebody and When You Gonna Wake Up are.  For newer Dylan songs, try Political World and Everything in Broken both off the Oh Mercy album.

Sly and the Family Stone: Dance To the Music is rocking from the very first notes, a trumpet blasting, and it just gets better from there. The bass is truly magical on this song.

Haircut 100: I fear I might have flashback from college while running to Love Plus One, but this is 80's rock that I stand by.

Pet Shop Boys: Are they old enough be classic?  I am not sure, but West End Girls has such a driving beat that I am tapping my feet just thinking about this song.

Sweet: Ballroom Blitz is a song that really brings me back. Glam Rock at its best.

Contemporary:
Keller Williams: If you listen to jam bands at all, you are familiar with Keller who is one of the greatest banjo players around. He has a song called Mantra that is the perfect song to start your workout. Set the play list to shuffle and click on Mantra to start off running.  It starts off slow with an acoustic guitar riff and slowly builds. This is an incredibly creative song about how the mind wanders during meditation. It is light and somewhat comical. Perfect for running.

Phish: As a Vermonter, I am required by law to promote Phish.Trey's guitar and Page's piano on Chalkdust Torture from A Picture of Nectar are truly sick.

Modest Mouse: I love this band. Two of my favorite songs, Float On and Missed the Boat are both great for running.

Mood Ruff:: Mood Ruff is a Canadian rapper so technically this is may not be rock n' roll, officially, but the song Rocketship rocks.

Spoon: Almost everything by Spoon is good to run to, but try The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine which from the first guitar note will have your leg tapping or Got Nuffin which does the same but with the drums.

Parquet Courts: This is a very dark New York City band. Check out Dust and One Man No City off of their "Human Performance" album. The rhythm guitar is what drives these songs.

Cake: About half of what this band does is good for a running list.  Right now, I only have Love You Madly on my running list. I need to add more. I have everything this band has done. I wish they put out more.

Cage the Elephant: I love this song: Ain't No Rest For the Wicked. Is it rock? Is it rap?  Who cares really!  A great upbeat song.

Courtney Barnett: Australia's best newish song writer can also rock. Check out Pedestrian At Best. She can write and she can jam.

Gnarls Barkley: I just discovered recently that CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse are Gnarls Barkley. I had no idea. I know both of these guys and I know Gnarls Barkley. I had no idea that they were one and the same. Crazy is great to run to.

The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is one of my favorite albums of the last 20 years. Fight Test is probably the only running song on it.

Fela's Egypt 80 and & Seun Kuti: I am sure there are several hundred songs from this Nigerian family, the Kuti's, that are good running songs. I am just telling you about the one that I know of. The horns in Think Afrika are to die for.

SUGARCULT: Los Angeles is a great song to run especially when it is very hot.

Dessa: Technically this is rap but man Fire Drills is such an awesome song. Nothing like an angry feminist to get your adrenalin pumping. Probably the best song to come out last year.

alt-J: Left Hand Free is a strange song, but I love it. It gets me moving.

The Kills: Future Stars Slow and Cheap and Cheerful are both great for running. This band really has rhythm.

Frances Dunnery: Too Much Saturn is still the most entertaining and witty song I've ever heard and it is also great to run to.

Chumbawmba: Come on now! Every running list has to have Tubthumping on it.  If not, then something is very wrong.

G. Love & Special Sauce: G. Love with Jack Johnson on guitar. Rodeo Clown is one of my favorite songs. How could it not be?

Metallica: What can I say? I like an occasional heavy metal song. Enter Sandman is great to run to.

New Order: I've been listening to Love Vigilantes for years. It wasn't until I added it to my running list that I actually listened to the lyrics. It is about a ghost returning home from war watching his widow open the telegram about his death. Depressing but a great running song nonetheless.

Simple Kid: Staring At the Sun is the only song I know by this band, but I love the guitar riff. The change in tempo throughout the song doesn't bother the running. I am not sure why.

Obscure:
I don't know what is obscure really. Perhaps these bands are household names. I just don't know if anyone else I know are familiar with these bands.

Brad Sucks: This is a great name for a band. I know nothing about them. They aren't even on Wikipedia. Check out Dirtbag.

David Kirton: Green Camouflage is a reggae song about peace. What else do you need to know? Add it to your list now.

Plants and Animals: These guys are from Montreal & Halifax. I can say only one thing about The Mama Papa: More cowbell!

Mother Mother: Another Canadian band, Let's Fall in Love and Touch Up are fantastic.

Pigeon John: Money Back Guarantee is about meeting a woman in a bar and not knowing what to say to her. It is very witty and fun to run to.

Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband:  Yes, another banjo song, Banjo Boy. It is self referential and endearing.

Noah & The Whale: L*I*F*E*G*O*E*S*O*N will have you spelling out loud on your run.

The Speech Writers LLC: I heard this song, Chbb, on Pandora about a decade ago and I immediately bought it. I don't understand the song title but it is a great upbeat song.

Now you have no excuse not to go running.