Nurse the Hate: A Nice Dog Walk at The End Times and Wild Card Weekend Saturday

 

I was walking the bassets in the park this morning.  I have little to no choice on doing this each morning as Montgomery, the big man, becomes quite insistent on not only the walk generally but the time specifically. When I start to lag behind our normal routine, he will first begin little moans of protest before eventually reaching full braying howls of anguish.  You might not be surprised to learn this is a very effective motivator to get him out of the house.  When he gets worked up, it borders on the spectacular.  

This morning I was on the walking path when they both decided to sit down.  They are short dogs, but they are big dogs weighing in at about 65-70 pounds each.  If they both decide they aren't moving, there isn't much you can do about it.  As I stood there hoping to coax them back into motion, a pair of women walked past me listening to something on the speaker of one of their phones.  It was a woman's voice, twangy from Missouri/Kansas.  "...and this was only the first battle in our war against George Soros..."  The women smiled at me as they passed, a couple of homeroom mothers that appearance wouldn't suggest are fully radicalized in some QAnon fantasy world.  They could make you a terrific brownie before shooting you in a ditch I'll bet.  The women power walked on.

The bassets decided to finally move when I hinted about a cookie back at the car.  They seemed doubtful, but decided that only a fool would ignore only even the possibility of a bonus treat in midmorning.  The Big Dog looked at me with an expression that suggested "I know you are bullshitting, but dammit, I just can't take that chance".   We moved ahead at a pace similar to that of a Galapagos Tortoise.  I saw the two women stopped ahead, one showing her phone to a couple they were conversing with at the head of the path.  "This is someone very close to the President.  It is VERY interesting."  I slowly walked past with my turtles as the man spoke to the woman with the phone.  "I tuned on ESPN after it happened and I saw Doc Rivers, he's an NBA Coach with Sacramento or something, say that this was an example of white privilege.  That made me sick.  I called up my golf buddies, and we all had these Blue Lives Matters shirts printed up, and we went up to the club.  It makes me so mad.  We were all sitting in the club with our shirts on!"  The woman with the phone leaned in and spoke in a dramatic whisper.  "My cousin knows someone that works in Washington, and he says, you know that TV show House of Cards?  It's even worse than that!"  They all then excitedly nodded their heads.

I thought about joining in the conversation and asking "Are you people fucking brain damaged?" but thought that might set an immediate negative tone.  My gut told me that a man that couldn't entertain the possibility that the people sacking the capital may have been treated more leniently than the tear gassed crowd that assembled this summer might not be interested in some passerby questioning his intellectual background.  We were standing near the Fire Dept garage.  Over the loudspeaker the dispatchers voice crackled out.  "Woman dehydrated on Lake Road.  All residents are positive with Covid."  The foursome in the conversation ignored the noise.  "It's a shame to see those Patriots being targeted by the Fake News."  Holy shit.  I kept walking back to the car, herded the dogs inside and drove away.  

Things aren't great right now.  I have no idea how the genie gets put back into the bottle.  A good portion of the country exists in a simulation where they have been cast as potential heroes fighting evil, in this case "evil" being majority elected civil servants that they are convinced are pedophiles and devil worshippers.  There is another huge chunk that will make their brain do whatever mental gymnastics are necessary to absolve the coup attempt they just saw play out on live TV.  "Well, Trump didn't say to do THAT exactly.  Plus, most of those people were Antifa and crisis actors!"  Meanwhile, the next administration will likely pull a Neville Chamberlain and wave a sheet of paper to say "At last, THIS TIME he has learned his lesson.".  You are on Double Secret Probation.  That will fix you!  That is just pushing the problem down the road and letting it percolate, but it's the easiest path now.  Set your watch for the downfall of the Republic, and save big at Best Buy!  The revolution will be televised! 

The biggest issue in the country seems to be the unwillingness to admit most Americans are total fucking morons.  While this is going to destroy the nation, it does present advantages.  For example, the public has been very busy this week betting down the Seattle Seahawks against the Rams.  Rams coach Sean McVeigh has been cagey all week if they are going to start Jared Goff or backup John Wolford.  If it's Goff, I expect him to play terribly, as his history shows poor play in December games/bad weather/adversity.  If it's Wolford, I expect him to throw a million check downs and dink/dunk.  Neither scenario suggests optimism beating Russell Wilson and a much improved Seahawk defense.  With the line moving down to -3, I like Seattle -3. 

I don't see much line value with the Bills, though I expect them to win.  The over seems the move in that game if you are so inclined.  If I have to chase late, I like the under in the Washington/Tampa game.  I would think Tampa hopes to get a first half lead and then not risk exposing Brady to contact from the Washington defensive line.  It could be a slow plodding second half.  It's hard to imagine Washington having much success on offense with a gimpy Alex Smith or whoever the hell they throw out there instead.  This should be a low scoring game, especially if Smith plays.  Smith doesn't turn the ball over which will help head off a blowout, but if he gets replaced due to ineffectiveness, all bets are off.  Gun to head, I like the under.

Season Record:  24-20-1