Wild Card Weekend In The Home Of The Free

 

I have had to take a break from social media because it's really starting to stress me out how stupid almost everyone is in the country.  Like most of you, I created a Facebook account whenever the hell that rose to prominence so my "friend" group is sort of a relic from that time where I have a disproportionate number of people in my feed that I had casual business relationships with in the early 2000s.  I have two basic groups on Facebook, my musician friends and my old work world.  My musician friends for the most part are reliably socially liberal, not that concerned about how people spend their time as long as it doesn't negatively impact others.  Then I have this other 15-20% of people that have become increasingly radicalized into Far Right (read as "fascist") talking points.  I'll see these accounts where the profile picture is some smiling suburban Dad with three kids and the text will be the most hate filled bile you'd ever imagine.  Meanwhile everyone at the office is saying "Bob is such a nice guy."  

Well, Bob might be agreeable at the water cooler but he's also loudly suggesting that half of the country needs to be publicly hung from meat hooks because they have a measure of tolerance for (fill in your topic) trans people/people from different cultures/different religions/rule of law, whatever.  It's hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that people will proclaim on a public platform "That Minneapolis Mom got what she had coming because she didn't comply with the law" as if we all didn't see the same video of some commando cosplay hillbilly shoot some woman in the face as she drove away from him.  I think we are all on the same page that we need to have police in our communities.  I don't think we have the same level of buy-in that if someone doesn't comply from orders from whatever this paramilitary ICE goon squad is then that person gets immediately executed.  Is this even a real discussion?   

Something people forget is that when the Kent State students got shot in 1970 by the National Guard, the majority of Ohioans thought it was the students fault.  Students protested an illegal bombing by the government in Cambodia, and later that day essentially untrained military personnel shot them.  You know, sorta like those ICE hillbillies.  It seemed ludicrous as an incoming student at Kent that anyone could have thought the students "deserved" to get shot, but sure as shit that's what some people thought at the time.  I watched all these man on the street interviews in black and white film when I did my Intro seminar at the university.  History has certainly changed that point of view with even the most ardent "law and order" honks willing to begrudgingly take a "mistakes were made" position on shooting kids.  This is just like it will when this time period is looked back upon on the chapter of an American History book called "The Beginning Of The End" when they talk about shooting some Minneapolis mom.  

The fact that the existing Democrat leadership seems only be able to argue about points of legislative procedure and standing around pretending to be cool headed shows how unwilling they are to get involved in the accountability business.  There is one ruling party now and it's an 80 year old man with God Knows What health issues surrounded by Yes-Men and authoritarian zealots.  These guys are showing you that you will get shot in the face if you defy them, and there is nothing you can do about it.  The courts will not rescue us.  The Democrats exist now to serve the lip service "resistance", the same role that Putin has given to the performative "opposition parties" that serve as the Washington Generals role as imaginary competition.  The Democrats are sitting there playing checkers against someone hitting them with a boxing glove and they just keep saying "Well, when someone makes that guy play by the rules, he might lose this checkers game!".  There is no one coming to save anyone.  We aren't "slipping into autocracy", we are there.  Look around.  You live in Turkey or Hungary now, but everyone is somehow more stupid.  

But just when that can bum you out, the good news is it's Wild Card Weekend!   Let's turn that frown upside down, bury the Mom and PLAY SOME FOOTBALL!  OK, I think the Rams are the best team in the NFL.  It's not a sure thing, that's for sure, but that's where I'm at as of today.  The Panthers fucking stink and there is a good chance that the Rams humiliate them in that carefully planned "Saturday Shitty Early Game Slot" usually reserved for the Houston Texans.  That point spread is one of the largest of all time in the modern NFL Playoffs, and I think it's too many.  However, I'm not running to the window to drop money on the Panthers even if they are getting 10.5 points.  I do think the Rams are going to score and score frequently.  Bryce Young is going to come though for me with an otherwise meaningless bullshit touchdown late to get me the Rams/Panthers OVER 45.5.

I am going against my longstanding personal policy and betting on a Trevor Lawrence led team with Jacksonville +1.5 at home against Buffalo.  Look, I think Josh Allen is more injured than anyone is saying and his mobility is limited.  More importantly, the Jags are just a better team right now.  This line is being led by the idea that Buffalo is the best team in the AFC, and they clearly haven't been.  It seems to me that there has been a generational shift in the QB stars where Mahomes/Lamar are sitting on the couch and the narrative of Josh Allen having a clear path to the Super Bowl is just sorta stupid.  The Bills aren't as good as they have been in the past.  The Jags last loss was the first week of November to the Texans and they are 8-2 against the spread in their last 10.  They've gotten really good but no one gives a shit because they're the Jags.  This is where the value is on this game.  I think they are a live Super Bowl team.  Jacksonville +1.5

Current record:  35-31