In an otherwise lackluster MLB season, Seattle has found an uncut gem. Kyle Lewis is fun to watch. The shortened season has been unkind to Seattle, as they were miserable out of the gate. But suddenly and without warning, they’re playing some pretty good ball and even the pitching has found new life.

We as Mariner fans will cling to any signs of life. We are relentless armchair managers, always certain we would have called a better play. But it doesn’t matter if you love the sport.

It is in fact a perfect metaphor for the state of affairs rocking the nation. Even a slow starter can find new life and renewed hope. And so we Americans will persevere as we always have done and take pride in knowing there is no better place on earth, warts and all.

There’s no crying in baseball.

Vitamin Q. Quaaludes. You cannot get them anymore, but as a recreational outlet, the pills were quite popular in the late 70s. And it seems the world could use a dose right now. It was a barbiturate, a downer, something to get you relaxed and ready.

I have no idea what Qanon is, but it seems a bit ironic that it borrows from Alcoholics Anonymous in name only. Like a RINO. Cults are a big draw lately. Surrender your critical thinking and disbelief to a higher power…of what. We seem to take comfort in sheep’s clothing, waiting for the wolf to devour us. How being eaten alive has become a fantasy worth pursuing is beyond my capacity for imagining.

We need to expand the diagnostic manual of psychiatric disease to include zombie affect. I am not a zombie expert, but I think the goal is to eat the brain of a living host, thereby extending their zombie existence while creating more converts. Close enough. Well after all isn’t that the goal of a cult: Eat out your brain while creating a convert.

The country of “don’t tread on me”, has been transformed into the country of “who moved my cheese”. A nation of foxes and hens, everyone is divided into two groups.

While I would not presume to underestimate the talents of DJT, I do not think he rises to the task of cult leader. Too self absorbed. But, and this is critical, he is malleable enough to twist in the wind of any suggestions that serve to spotlight his presence. And those behind the scenes with laser focused agendas are content to give dear leader all the credit. So when he applauds militia types targeting peaceful protesters, he’s really and truly merely thinking, “they like me. They really like me.” And in the back of that half eaten brain of his, he may be wondering if they like him enough to keep him safe and sound inside the White House, election be damned.

United States Privatized Mail Service

But we are also in an era of chronic premenstrual syndrome. Dear leader, in touch with his feminine side, is at once irritable, mean, bloated and bitchy. Those are the good days. He has freely admitted to being “in love” with North Korea’s leader, Kim. He fawns after Vladimir Putin like a high school girl with a crush. PMS.

I believe we all have a bit of a love/hate relationship with our post office. There is definitely some PMS at work, from the surly attempts at customer service, to the mail carrier who insists on delivering my mail on the ledge of my now insecure mail box. We might agree that some tidying and tightening are clearly in order. Let’s not be so stupid as to assume that dear leader is interested in streamlining the postal service at this moment in time merely to make it run more efficiently. A manager Trump is not. Remember, it takes a special kind of stupid to bankrupt a casino.

So the plot is now as thick as the burly rope around the hyoid. President for life or life in jail. Even us average Americans would have to agree jail is a bad deal.

As further proof that DJT is the messiah, he walks on quicksand. Talk about compartmentalizing multiple personalities…yikes Scooby. His endless drivel has become our waking nightmare. And everyday I walk into work at a casino in Las Vegas, I am reminded how stupid we all really are. “Ma’am I need you to put on your mask.” “Fuck you.”

Thank you for playing.

Each day is a confluence of unprecedented, disturbing, sad events emanating from the current administration. What we are seeing is a calculated, destructive campaign to put occupying forces into our cities. To call them anything other than dear leader’s personal guard would be shortsighted. Testing the waters has been the plan since day one of this corrupt, malevolent administration. Like a kid manipulating his parents, dear leader keeps pushing the limits of our tolerance and has found us flaccid. He is free and emboldened to destroy us and what is so striking is how quickly he and his minions have wreaked such havoc.

His believers are the segment of our society that feel threatened by their government. They cling to their Second Amendment rights like a dog to a bone. And dear leader is tossing out plenty of bones. In an abundance of irony, here is another. The government they propose to protect themselves against by stockpiling weapons, is exactly the government they have endorsed and created in DJT.

Chicken Little is deceased. Voices of reason that remain are drowned out by the incessant drum beat of threats, intolerance and misogynistic behaviors perpetuated by the White House and spread wide via the propaganda delivering arm of the administration’s favorite media.

Right now we are being enlightened by a task force briefing highlighted by dear leader’s reading of the daily sermon. Sadly, once again, dear leader points to poor Democratic leadership in the cities to which he is mulling sending his personal guard as the reason to defend them and all of us from wanton violence. Thank you sir. May I have another.

Perhaps another cognitive exam is in order. And this time make sure he doesn’t cheat.

Right now in the state of Oregon, troops deployed under orders of POTUS are harassing, detaining, arresting peaceful protestors in Portland. The troops display no insignia. Now why might that be true.

Well, and it’s purely speculative, these may be the fledgling white supremacy militia that DJT has been rallying. Of course they could be anyone, we simply do not know. But it makes greater sense that DJT would be drawing from his wing nut base as a means of defending him when he knows the US military will not. This is crucial to his ultimate plan of retaining the White House by force rather than by numbers of votes.

“You knew I was a snake when you let me in.”

Dear leader is not a poker player. He tells us exactly what he is thinking and every thought is on full display without filter. His followers do not care what he says, as a result of blind devotion. But…the majority of us should pay attention and consider that to vote for him or to opt out puts the country and the grand experiment on which it is founded at great and irreparable risk.

Take a stand now for freedom and democracy. Take a stand for all the Americans who are dying, whether it be at the hands of police, or at the whim of a virus allowed to run free by POTUS, an irrational, misogynistic bigot. Take a stand.

The currency of Trumplandia is bullshit. The reason bullshit is so valuable is that it is difficult to harvest. The bulls object to interference and the smell is disgusting. So disgusting that low wage immigrant labor must be brought in to facilitate the harvest.

To visit Trumplandia, one must suspend all critical thinking and surrender to the psychotic meanderings of its founder. Once arrived, you can check in but you can never leave, much like Hotel California. But this ain’t California. Nor is it a hotel. It resembles an insane asylum. Medication is dispensed regularly and daily.

The citizens of Trumplandia are required to sign NDAs immediately upon arrival. Failure to do so results in both public humiliation and excommunication. With few exceptions (Mitt Romney) everyone signs.

Outsiders are not allowed access. Unless of course you bring a gift for dear leader. Depending upon the value of the gift, which is determined by dear leader, you will be granted anywhere from limited to full access. But beware. Access can be rescinded at any moment if dear leader feels an absence of deference or a hint of awareness.

This Trumplandia is not utopia. It is cleverly attractive to lure its prey. Once trapped, there is no escape but death. It is dangerous now to speak truth to power. Remember, whatever DJT accuses someone else of doing, it is what he is doing or has already done. No exceptions.

DJT vowed to make America first his priority . And we are first. First in deaths. First in known cases. First in stupidity.

Are you tired of winning yet?

Let us begin. Trump’s decent down the ramp. It was a lovely, clear day at West Point. No precip. The leader of the free world seemed a tad unsteady. The Army officer taking the walk with Trump was quite close by. One might see more distance between horny teens at a frat party. Well, Trump made it, but like so many things he does, it was tantalizingly embarrassing. His attempt to tweet his way out fell as flat as he seemed destined to be on that lovely day.

John Bolton. Oh you rascally rabbit. Some excerpts from the book have somehow gotten to the press. Here we see Trump needing a little help from China, you know, in case Russia can’t seal the election deal for him. But it’s already in the bag.

William Barr. Dredged up from the swampy depths to serve as consigliere. If you didn’t hate lawyers before, I rest my case. Trump needed a little help to rig the Justice Department and doesn’t it seem the casting couch has taken on a whole new dimension.

Ukraine. These poor bastards. Call it a quid pro quo but Trump would probably prefer tit for tat. He needed a little help smearing Joe Biden. Sometimes the stars just align perfectly. And a very stable genius is able to play astronomer. Kidding. He stumbled into this.

White supremacists. Trump finds them useful in his desire to foment a civil or race war. Desperation. At this moment in time, Trump is tweeting threats to protesters which will surely entice a large representation of black lives matter. Trump’s de facto army of skin head militia will appear to defend the supreme leader and somehow blood will be shed. In other words, a normal Trump rally.

Hydroxychloroquine. No way. UV light bath. Seriously? Clorox cocktails. Unbelievable but true.

Rudy Giuliani. Even Trump isn’t sure if Rudy is helping anything.

Sworn to protect and to serve. It is clear that some individuals in law enforcement have an agenda, that some individuals in law enforcement have a personality disorder.

It is hard to imagine what compels an individual to pursue a career in law enforcement. Increasingly it appears that a certain personality has taken dominance in the ranks. But I would suggest that it is a reflection of our society. Derisive, divisive, and hateful exacerbated by political agendas.

To be clear, there is a bias which negatively impacts minorities. Rightfully referred to as systemic racism. It is so hard wired into the culture of law enforcement that the only way to change it is to selectively weed out offenders. Like any other workplace, the craftier are effective at bullshitting management, so unless protections are put in place for individuals who cooperate by calling out racist comrades, there will be little appetite for honest reflection.

But, and this is crucial, no segment of civilian society is immune from police brutality. Lights in the rear view mirror is frightening for anyone. And cops are not a homogenous population. They each one bring their own set of prejudices and personality traits. And your day depends on how lucky you feel.

In this country increasingly your worth as a human being is directly correlated to your bank account. Trump views his target audience as something less than worthy of breathing. But, he is willing to strike a bargain. Votes for souls. When he says he will send in troops to dominate the streets, he does not exclude anyone. You’ve already surrendered your souls willingly, so a little militaristic domination should be easy to swallow.

Everyone thinks they’re in on the joke. But not so. The payoff is so enticing, but like the greyhounds chasing the rabbit, it’s always just a little out of reach.

We will make no progress in healing our fractured society until we realize that to be American does not require a genetic bond, but a human bond fostered by our desire to be free and to be united by the creed that all men are created equal.

Only a don’t player enjoys hearing “seven out”. And don’t players are intrinsically negative, a true pain in the ass. Don’t get me wrong, the casino loves them as we love all of our customers. A seven out ends the game. And that’s where we are, metaphorically speaking.

Protests to the contrary, the people pushing to get the city open are not the people with the most at risk. Casino workers are more thoughtful..and worried. Of the major casino companies on the strip, only one has expressed an interest in covering the cost of COVID-19 testing, sending the signal that if you go to work and present with a fever, you’re on your own. Like the population at large, casino workers are driven by self interest. Those that fall outside the most vulnerable category are more likely anxious to return to the casino. Those that fall within the most vulnerable category are hoping for caution and restraint. And to be honest, the less vulnerable do not much care about the risks to the more vulnerable. But open means open for all and to decline the offer to return means forfeiting your job.

Governor Sisolak is right to move ahead with caution and restraint. A rush to open the strip could be disastrous to those of us who make the wheel turn. And while we understand the lure of gambling, we prefer to not gamble with our lives.

It seemed that maybe dear leader was up to something with Xi. All that dancing and flirting. But after further review…

Why? Number one, most asked, most unanswered question in the political universe that is DJT. Let’s go back to the future.

Why did he downplay the virus repeatedly? Because he is not a brainiac. He thought if he closed his eyes it would go away. And then when he had to come to grips with this shit is serious, he ignored it. Because the economy is his only shtick. All the playing around with a task force and running numbers is strictly bovine scatology. Wide scale testing will never happen. It would threaten his reopen push to have real body counts. Deny, deny, deny.

But, why?

Because DJT is not normal. Like an alien species, he is here to study us and in turn we are obligated to study him. The goal is knowledge but not necessarily understanding. Like lions tearing apart an antelope, it’s his nature to be cold and cruel and focused primarily on dinner. And his goal is to bring the country to its knees and install an oligarchic regime.

Social media has aided the plan by creating the illusion that there is an overwhelming majority in the country in favor of opening up, of preferring anarchy to democracy, of preferring a paycheck to risking death. Of preferring to show fealty to DJT rather than agree unity and cooperation is our only way out of this. The message is relentless and once overwhelmed the population capable of critical thinking begins to recoil.

All about business. Everything and everyone is expendable if it jeopardizes the bottom line. A caste system. Money makes you worthy. Money gives you power. Money makes you smarter. And money gives you access to a vaccine. So, the lower caste dwellers are eminently expendable. We may lose a million lives to the virus, but it’s just business…nothing personal. It is no irony that the demographic most at risk are old folks. Well we don’t need them, they just eat up social security and add no value to the bottom line. Black and brown people are at higher risk. Well we do need them, but there’s so many of them we’ll never run out of cheap labor.

That debauchery and greed and oppression which drove the founders out of Europe to this grand experiment is now us. From destabilizing the public school system to keeping wages for the lowest caste at poverty level, it is all intended to keep money and power in the hands of the ruling elite caste. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is a quaint idea, which the ruling caste views as exclusive to them. Think no further than what is being called the Greenwich rebellion to gain a glimpse into the future. It’s just business.

Nothing personal.

#VegasStrong