The Daily Dose/December 11, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience…
HERE WE GO AGAIN: Donald Trump became the fourth president of the United States to have impeachment articles drawn up against him, joining Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.
Dry, Technical Matter: The president still is not officially impeached, though that is a mere formality, of course. He will be officially impeached when the entire House votes to accept the articles and send them to the Senate for trial. What happened Tuesday merely were the Democrats announcing the specific articles they will ultimately prefer.
Broad Historical Context: Presidents Johnson and Clinton would later be impeached by the House and both were acquitted in their Senate trials. Nixon resigned before the entire House could vote on his impeachment.
Back On Message: At first we were surprised there were only two articles. We’re not lawyers here at The Daily Dose – thank god – but with a president so unconcerned with protocol or procedure or anything other than drawing as much attention to himself as possible, we would have thought there would have been three or four articles drummed up.
And You Wonder Why You Don’t Get Invited To More Parties: Like you probably did, we read the impeachment articles the entire House will consider. Article One, Abuse of Power, has some meat to it, but not as much as Article Two, Obstruction of Congress, which Trump seemingly does every five minutes.
Crystal Ball Me: Up next is consideration of the articles by the House Judiciary Committee and after they pass them they will be considered by the full House. A Senate trial would probably begin in January. The rules for the trial will be determined solely by the Senate, much as the ground rules for the impeachment hearings were determined by the House.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow as the latest MPG figures for the new ride. Today’s Diary.
The gas mileage figures on the new ride keep getting better and better…
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
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On This Date
In 2008 – Bernie Madoff, chairman of his own investment firm, is arrested on assorted charges associated with running a Ponzi scheme, where Madoff would pay returns to old investors with funds from new investors. Though there are a variety of ways to calculate losses, it is estimated $36 billion was invested, with about half of that returned to investors and the other half missing. Madoff, now 81, would plead guilty the following March and is serving a 150-year sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina.
In 1960 – Johnny Unitas’s NFL record of 47 consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass ends in a 10-3 loss against the Los Angeles Rams. The streak had started on December 9, 1956, when Unitas threw one touchdown pass, also in a loss to the Rams. The streak is now held by Drew Brees of New Orleans, who threw touchdowns in 54 consecutive games between 2009 and 2012 and Unitas is now fourth on the all-time list behind Tom Brady (52) and Peyton Manning (51).
In 1954 – The Chordettes are at #1 on Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart – a predecessor to the Hot 100 – for the second of seven consecutive weeks with Mr. Sandman. It was the first chart single for the group, the first of their four Top 10 hits and remains their only #1 song. A version by the Four Aces also released in 1954 made the Top 10 and a version by Chet Atkins the following year hit the country chart.
Quotebook
In general, the wise in all ages have always said the same things, and the fools, who at all times form the immense majority, have in their way too acted alike, and done the opposite; and so it will continue. – Schopenhauer
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The longest non-scoring play in NFL history is 104-yards, done twice, first by Percy Harvin of Minnesota (kickoff return) in 2011 and matched in 2018 by Marcus Maye of the New York Jets (interception return).
Today’s Stumper
What was the Chordettes’ second-biggest hit? – Answer next time!
