Friday, January 20, 2017

25-4

So, today, at noon, when Barack Obama leaves 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and Donald Trump moves in, what do we call it?

The Red House?

The Whore House?

Or the Out House?

We've had stupid Presidents. We've had dishonest Presidents. We've had crazy Presidents. Donald Trump is all three.

Or, as George Carlin -- who would have had a lot to say if he'd lived to see the Tea Party era -- said of a guy who was a political precursor to the Tea Partiers:

Some people are really fuckin' stupid... And it doesn't take ya very long to spot one of them, does it? Take ya about eight seconds. You'll be listenin' to some guy, and say.... "This guy is fuckin' stupid!"

Then, there are some people, they're not stupid, they're full of shit! Huh? That doesn't take very long to spot, either! Does it? Take ya about the same amount of time! You'll be listenin' to some guy, and say, "Well, he's fairly intelligent... Ah! He's full of shit!"

Then, there are some people, they're not stupid, they're not full of shit, they're fuckin' nuts!

Dan Quayle is all three! All three: Stupid, full of shit, and fuckin' nuts!

What do you do with a President who is stupid, full of shit, and fuckin' nuts?

There are people who can be reasoned with. People who are stupid, maybe not. People who are full of shit, usually not. People who are fuckin' nuts, almost never.

You can say "No" to Barack Obama, and he'll say, "Well, maybe we can come to some sort of an agreement. What if, instead, we... " It's the same with Hillary Clinton. It's even the same with most Republicans who ran for President last year. Even George W. Bush was reasonable enough to come to some sort of conclusion like that, once he saw that his policies had utterly failed (Iraq in 2006, the economy in late 2008). But if you say "No, that's not right" or "No, you can't have that" to Donald Trump, he'll say, "Wrong. I can have whatever I want." If you insist, he'll say, "I'm Donald Fucking Trump! Nobody says no to me!" He might even hit you, or grab you by your... wherever.

*

So what can we do, now that we're going to have a Russian-fixed election that gave us an illegitimate "president" who is stupid, full of shit and fuckin' nuts?

Can Trump be impeached? Of course he can. But he won't be. We need 218 members of the House of Representatives, half the membership, to impeach him. So even if we get all 194 Democrats to agree, we'll still need 14 Republicans to decide that a Republican President should be removed from office. Yeah, surrrre.

And then, we will need 2/3rds of the Senate, 67 members. Which means that even if we get all 46 Democrats, plus the 2 independents -- Angus King of Maine, and that backstabbing schmuck Bernie Sanders of Vermont -- to vote to convict, we'll need 19 Republicans. Which ones? Maybe John McCain, because Trump questioned his heroism. Maybe Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, whom Trump savaged during the Republican Primaries. They'd probably prefer Vice President-elect Mike Pence, anyway. But that's only 51. We gonna get 16 other Republicans willing to make a Republican the 1st and only President ever removed from office through the impeachment process?

That many Republicans, in the House and the Senate, putting country over party? You think that will ever happen? Get outta here!

So we wait. And on November 6, 2018, after nearly 2 years of Trump wrecking the country, we get enough people in full revulsion mode to the polls to give us a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate. And, on January 3, 2019, those Democratic majorities take office. And then...

Don't make me laugh. Ronald Reagan sold weapons to Iran. And Iraq. And the guys who went on to become al-Qaeda and the Taliban. And the Democrats, who showed so much guts against Richard Nixon in 1974, showed no guts at all against Reagan in 1987. You think the Democrats of 2019 will have the same kind of guts? Dream on.

And so, we will wait, until November 3, 2020. It may be another Depression, with another war as stupid as Vietnam or Iraq, paving the way for Trump to have the greatest repudiation in the history of American elections.

Or maybe he'll lie his way into a 2nd term, the way he lied his way into a 1st term.

*

If impeachment does not happen, it may come to the point where Section 4 of the 25th Amendment may have to be invoked:

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. And if you think that Trump's selection of Cabinet officers he likes will be his insurance against that, recall that, on July 24, 1974, when the Supreme Court ordered Richard Nixon to turn over the tapes that would have insured his impeachment and removal had he not resigned first, the vote was 8-0. He had appointed William Rehnquist, who recused himself based on a conflict of interest. The other 3 Justices he appointed (Warren Burger, Harry Blackmun and Lewis Powell) all voted against him.


So it can happen. You may see "25-4" memes eventually.


*



Hours until darkness descends over America: 12, at noon today. #NotMyPresident

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 1, tomorrow night, against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly. By a quirk in the schedule, the New York Islanders, a team they usually play several times a season, don't show up on the slate until Saturday night, February 18, at the Prudential Center. The next game against the Rangers is on Saturday, February 25, at the Prudential Center.

Days until The Arsenal play again: 2, Sunday morning at 9:15 (2:15 in the afternoon, their time), home to Lancashire club Burnley in a Premier League game. They have also advanced to the 4th Round of the FA Cup, where they will play away to Southampton.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 9, a week from this Sunday, at 4:00 PM Eastern Time (1:00 local), at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, a friendly against Serbia, designed to warm each team up for their respective continental World Cup Qualifiers. It will be the team's 1st match in the 2nd run as manager for Bruce Arena, now that Jurgen Klinsmann has finally been fired. We next play on Friday, March 24, 2017, home to Honduras, at a venue and time TBA, in a CONCACAF Qualifying Match for the 2018 World Cup.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 33on February 22, in the 1st leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal, home to the Vancouver Whitecaps. The 2nd leg will be on March 2. The winner will face the winner of the Quarterfinal between 2 Mexican teams: Mexico City-based Pumas de la UNAM, and Monterrey-area team Tigres UANL.

Days until the 2017 Major League Soccer season opens: 44, on Sunday, March 5. The Red Bulls will visit expansion club Atlanta United, which will be playing their 1st competitive match ever, at Grant Field at Bobby Dodd Stadium, home of Georgia Tech. It will be their home field until Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where they will be tenants of the NFL's Falcons, opens in the Summer.

Days until the Yankees' 2017 season opener: 72on Sunday, April 2, at 8:00 PM, away to the Tampa Bay Rays. A little over 10 weeks.

Days until the Yankees' 2017 home opener: 80, on Monday, April 10, at 1:00 PM, home to the Rays.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 85, against D.C. United, on Saturday, April 15, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. They will next play the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, May 6, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. They will next play the New England Revolution on Saturday, May 27, at Red Bull Arena. And they will next play a Hudson River Derby against New York City FC on Saturday, June 24, at Red Bull Arena.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series: 95on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, at 7:00 PM, at Fenway Park.

Days until the next North London Derby: 99on Saturday, April 29, 2017, at White Hart Lane. A little over 3 months. It could be moved to the next day, Sunday, April 30, to accommodate the TV networks. It is also possible that Arsenal could face Tottenham again sooner than that, through an FA Cup pairing.


Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 225, on Saturday, September 2, 2017, home to the University of Washington. A little over 7 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, as the 2017 schedule hasn't been released yet. If history is any guide, it will be on Friday night, September 15, which would be 238 days from now. 

Days until the next election for Governor of New Jersey: 291, on Tuesday, November 7, 2017. A little over 9 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 295, on Saturday, November 11, 2017, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving game: 307, on Thursday morning, November 23, 2017, at 10:00. A little over 10 months, and thank God it's at home at Jay Doyle's grove, rather than at the purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 510, on June 14, 2018. Under a year and a half, or a little under 17 months. Now that Klinsmann has been fired, our chances have improved, but did he already ruin them? Or will Trump ruin them? Maybe, with the tournament on his soil, Putin will tell Trump to tell Bruce Arena to tank the games. Maybe not. Or maybe just if we end up playing Russia.

Days until the next Congressional election: 655, on November 6, 2018. Under 2 years, or 22 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 719, on January 9, 2019. A little under 2 years, or 24 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 1,083, on January 8, 2020. A little under 3 years, or 36 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,281, on July 24, 2020. A little over 3 1/2 years, or just 42 months.

Days until the next Presidential election: 1,383, on November 3, 2020. Under 4 years, or a little under 46 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 1,461, at noon on January 20, 2021. A little over 4 years, or a little over 48 months.

No comments: