The Frankish Reich

I lived in Minnesota for part of the Jesse The Body Ventura governorship. What I learned: - joke/protest candidates thankfully can't do a helluva lot of harm at the state level. Arnie was even modestly successful. Jesse left Minnesota more or less the same as he found it. Or even as Senators or Representatives in Congress. - people tire of them pretty quickly. Arnold objectively was perfectly o.k., but you don't see anyone pining for some kind of Return to Shwarzeneggerism. And of course later on I learned that joke/protest candidates CAN do a helluva lot of harm in the White House. Thank you, Lord, for saving us from the Ross Perot administration, or the Herman Cain administration. But wait a minute, why did you forsake us in 2016?

Wow. Right now I can't think of anything unusual about 2020 that could possibly explain this. Let me know if you come up with something. Otherwise I will have to assume that the Trump Administration is somehow responsible.

??? Blood letting was "natural." Herbalists are all "natural" Steve Jobs eschewed modern science in favor of a "natural" cure for his pancreatic cancer.

You do realize that a large component of this is wage-push inflation?

1. The California recall process is absurd. 2. Newsome has done nothing unexpected or grossly improper to warrant being recalled. 3. If there were someone sensible running against him with a chance of winning, I would nevertheless vote to recall him. The party in power in a single-party state gets arrogant and unresponsive to the voters. California needs a counterweight. 4. California needs a counterweight; it does not need a joke Governor like Elder or Jenner.

If he'd go away, like other one-termers (Jimmy Carter who retreated to building homes for Habitat for Humanity and writing boring books nobody reads), well, then, you'd be right. I do scrutinize the current president like the last. Maybe you don't notice. If I ever had a townhall meeting with him I'd say this: "There is one overwhelming reason you are President today: you are not Donald J. Trump. That's it. We are not interested in you trying to be a "transformational" president by enacting some kind of New New Deal. Never forget that."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/13/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-omarosa/index.html As a candidate, Donald Trump would famously boast that if elected, he’d “surround myself only with the best and most serious people” – adding: “We want top-of-the-line professionals.” Top. Of. The. Line. The line of alcoholic old men, that is.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9985471/Rudy-Giuliani-says-NOT-drunk-rambling-September-11th-speech-Cipriani.html ‘I'm not an alcoholic,’ Giuliani told the network. ‘I’m a functioning, I probably function more effectively than 90 percent of the population.’ He recoiled when DailyMail.com asked if he had been making a connection to the term ‘functioning alcoholic.’ ‘I’m not an alcoholic. I use the word functioning, I don’t know why I used the word functioning. I am not an alcoholic. I am 77 years old. I’ve never been an alcoholic. I’ve never been treated for alcoholism. I have worked every day of my life. The longest time I ever took off was for COVID. 'If I was an alcoholic, I’d be fricking dead by now. It is [a] complete lie. I’m on television all the time. I’m as lucid as you can be. I’m not demented like Joe Biden. I can go before the Supreme Court … I have already many times. I write. I do a podcast twice a week. I do a radio show … five times a week. I answer questions from people constantly. I’m probably one of the sharpest guys you’re ever going to meet. And you want to put me in a court room and I’ll kick the s*** out of anybody. I am not an alcoholic.’ He said the word ‘functioning’ has ’10 other meanings. I’m not even sure of what the significance of using that word is. Am I a functioning alcoholic? No. I’m a fully functioning human being.

The R-E-L-A-X post. I wouldn't know when to bring in the last tomatoes of the season without it.

True. Chargers always underperform, but this season they strike me as real. Broncos were the typical good roster with horrible quarterbacking, now featuring the perfectly acceptable Teddy Bridgewater. And some key additions in the secondary. There's not enough wins around for everyone to go 10-7 or 11-6.

This is aging well!

And proof of the concept that Any RB In A Greg Roman Offense With a Running QB Will Average 5 Yards Per Carry.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-your-beer-costs-more-aluminum-prices-tariffs-biden-trump-trade-policy-11630520745 Why Your Beer Costs More Aluminum prices soar as Biden keeps Trump’s 10% tariff. Mr. Trump’s tariff helped lift domestic prices, though it didn’t result in a substantial increase in U.S. production. Meantime, manufacturers using aluminum in the U.S. were harmed by higher prices. Now the aluminum supply glut has disappeared and a severe shortage is sending prices even higher. And that's just for starters in this steaming heap of misinformation. Now ... there is a reasonable argument for boycotting the Olympics. And it has to do with China's egregious actions in the Xinjiang, Hong Kong, with respect to Taiwan, its recent propaganda campaign against the so-called sissy boys (I am not making this up: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/china-ban-boy-bands-reality-talent-shows-1235008064/), not to mention all the economic manipulations. Generally I think boycotts are counterproductive, but at what point is it just time to say enough is enough, we're taking our ball and going home?

Virgil, great write-up (particularly about the D line play), but I have to take issue with this one comment. He was wide open on the early bomb and Allen admitted he just missed that throw; if he'd put some air under it, that's a quick 6. And he was also open later in the game for about a 30 yard gain that Allen missed. If Allen makes those throws we're talking about a 140 yard day for Sanders and we're all talking about what a genius Beane is for effectively upgrading from John Brown for similar money. I do think they'll get in sync soon. Overall, I was impressed by Sanders' debut as a Bill ... he seems to have a lot more left in the tank than I thought when we signed him.

If he hadn’t led them to a 25 point lead today he would’ve had to throw more passes and thereby get to 300! (he was playing Jacksonville….)

Not garbage. But ... ideally you'd be able to use him as a backup flex G/C. He's pretty marginal as a starter in my opinion. I am well aware that you can't upgrade every position while keeping your newly expensive starters like Milano, but the fact is the weak spots last year are still the weak spots this year.

Well ... I'm not all gloom and doom, but: - at Miami: not "easy" at all. We are the better team. They're solidly average-ish, and at home. - WFT: we get the backup Heinicke, who's played really surprisingly well but who's probably going to get solved pretty soon. Still, who do they remind me of, at least with a Fitzy at QB? Umm, maybe the Steelers? - Texans: a Tyrod Taylor QB'd team will typically not do anything to lose you a game. He typically won't do a whole lot to affirmatively win you a game, but we now know the Texans are playing hard and are definitely not going 0-17. They're probably not even going 4-13. So ... yeah, any given Sunday and all that. I'd be o.k. with playing better and going 2-1 in the next 3.

Yeah, Sanders impressed me today. I wasn't sure there was anything left in the tank there, but he got open - even wide open - a number of times. He'll be a good addition once he and Allen start to click. Yep. That's my big concern, particularly after the loss to the Chiefs last year. Meanwhile, I have a strong feeling we're gonna regret not upgrading at TE or getting a true outside threat at RB. Breida may still be able to do that; he may also be a year or so past his RB expiration date.

I saw a bit of it. Also tried to catch some of the Cincy-Vikes game to see Burrow. Mac was a lot like Burrow. Remains to be determined if either of them can do more than master the short game. But still ... a lot of rookie QBs never master the short game and never have the chance to show they can also make the big play. So I'm officially (sort of) worried that the Pats may have hit on something ...

Good for Tyrod. Glad to see him have a great opening game after getting hurt the last couple times around. But Texans: if you were planning to tank, well, you've got the wrong former Bill at QB. May I suggest maybe Matt Barkley? Nathan Peterman? 6-11 or 7-10, here we come.

Excellent comment. In the bad old days we would’ve called this “Billsy.” Texanish doesn’t have the same ring to it but I suggest some form of that as shorthand for general incompetence surfacing in the most ridiculous ways imaginable. Sometimes not even imaginable until they actually happen.

You beat me to it.

Bryce Brown just turned 30. I haven’t given up on him. This could be his big breakout. Seriously … this is an interesting experiment. Are modern RBs fungible, particularly in a Ravens system? I’d bet yes, and that some unknown (or has been) will suddenly fill the role just fine.

What happened to the B.I.G. guys? Lil Baby Lil Peep (RIP) Little Wayne (almost RIP a few times) Not to mention Da Baby or the assorted adorables like Bad Bunny. Where are they hiding the fat (male) rappers? Meanwhile … Lizzo. Cardi B. Nikki Minaj.

The comments were always better than Magary’s articles. And some things just run their course, Drew. Time for a new shtick…