Odd Bits - SCOTUS, Spotify, and Cornhole

Fox “News” is predictably up in arms over President Biden’s advance declaration that he intends to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court. “Reverse Discrimination!” they cry, which is the only discrimination they ever acknowledge. Oh, those poor oppressed White men, who have landed all but seven Supreme Courts seats throughout the country’s history. Such an oppressed segment of the population, no?

Naturally, people like Sean Hannity are complaining that proclaiming a race/gender qualification ahead of time is a big deal, much like everything else Democrats do. The revered St. Ronald of Hollywood stated in advance that he was going to place a woman on the Court, and followed through with Justice Sandra O’Connor. No one said diddly about that, then or now. The Former Guy also spoke of putting another woman on the SCOTUS bench. Again, no one said boo.

I’m starting to think the issue here is the Black part and not so much the Woman part. Just a hunch.

Sen. Susan Collins waded into the mess too, calling out a “clumsy handling” of the nomination process. Gee, thanks for weighing in there, Senator. And tell me, how graceful were the last few nominations? Like nominating a drunken frat boy with a rapist past, or stonewalling one nomination for 10 months while hustling the next one through in two weeks.

Listen, Susie, the next time I want your opinion, I’ll just ask the Federalist Society. The death of Roe vs Wade will be laid at your feet because you could have stopped it.

See Spot Run

I’m enjoying following the ongoing Spotify controversy, wherein Neil Young and Joni Mitchell both asked to have their work removed from Spotify if they continue to host Joe Rogan’s meathead podcast. They take issue with the deadly misinformation that streams forth from said podcast, which has resulted in the continuation of the COVID pandemic.

So far, in a move that is not remotely surprising, Spotify has granted their requests. I’m sure they’re doing the math and as soon as the amount of money lost due to principled artists pulling their music tops the income brought in by Rogan’s podcast, THEN they’ll do something about it. But until then, dream on because money talks!

I’m not sure how much of an impact the music from a couple old hippies will have on Spotify. Maybe if additional artists, more current or popular artists join in, they may have to rethink things.

And of course, the protests from the Right about freedom of speech are as misguided as they are short-sighted. The First Amendment protects speech from government interference and does nothing to require that private companies support or not support any given speech. It’s purely a free market issue and the market ultimately answers to the people. I find that Republicans consider the free market the answer to everything, right up until it infringes on something they like. Then it’s a race to claim victimhood and cry “Oppression!”

Hole in One

When looking over the cable TV menu the other day, I came across this surprising viewing option:

Seriously? They have freakin’ cornhole on TV now? What’s next, televised church bingo? The World Yahtzee Championships? Professional Solitaire?

I mean, I have nothing against cornhole. It’s a lot of fun to play. But watching someone else play while I sit on my couch? Please. To me, it’s the same with bowling, billiards, poker, fishing, and golf… fun to do yourself, mind-numbingly dull to watch others play.

I am a bit surprised that they didn’t find a new name for it, given the risqué nature of its original name. If they really want to jazz it up, they should make a few changes… like play with Jarts. At least then you’d have a chance at seeing a serious impaling. Or have a drink requirement, like whichever team loses a round has to drink a shot or chug a beer. Anything to break up the monotony of watching people toss beanbags into holes.

Please, if you ever find me watching people play cornhole on TV, just put me out of my misery right then and there. It would be a mercy killing.

More Dad Stories

At my dad’s memorial gathering, we invited people to share their stories about him. One such person was Dad’s oldest friend Sam. They knew each other since first grade, having lived across the street from each other. Sam was as Irish as Dad was Italian. Both went to the local Catholic school. This was one of Sam’s stories:

“One time Jimmy and I decided we were going to go to one of the dances in (a predominantly Jewish suburb of Pittsburgh), and see if we could pick up some nice Jewish girls. Unfortunately, they seemed completely uninterested in these two Irish and Italian boys. So we decided we’d change our names so they couldn’t tell. The next time we went back, I became “Sammy Greenbaum” and he was “Jimmy Diamond.”

But even with our new names, we still struck out completely.

As we headed home, I asked Jimmy, “Do you think maybe we should have taken off our St. Christopher medals?”