The Daily Dose/August 20, 2020
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
USA! USA!: We recently found ourselves wondering if there was any possible way Donald Trump could have provided us with any value whatsoever as president. We came up with this scenario:
Tonight On Fantasy Island: If Congress had a spine, imagine that, Trump could have been put to use. House and Senate Republican leaders could have confronted him before his inauguration and said, look, Donny, here’s the deal: you are incompetent. We haven’t completed the final analysis yet, but your only real talent appears to be drawing attention to yourself. You were an embarrassment as a candidate and left unchecked your presidency will be no better.
De Plane! De Plane!: So here’s what’s going to happen because we have asses to cover: you are going to be managed like no president since Reagan. We will pass some useful legislation that you are going to sign. You will say what we tell you to say when we tell you to say it. If we do this, our country will avoid becoming a complete fiasco. If you defy us, then we will let the Democrats drum up some impeachment charges and we will vote to remove you, bad for you because no one will pay attention to you anymore. Worse than disgraced, you will be ignored.
Back To Reality: This never happened, of course, because Trump, despite less personal substance than George W Bush, has commanded the loyalty that wealthy bullies have commanded since time immemorial. It’s the way the world is built.
The Bottom Line: Trump, of course, has done America much harm and very little good. America is dying, now, midway between the influence she once had and the oblivion that awaits her. In 75 days America will herald to itself and the world if she’s ready to take charge and make some changes or whether she’s content to rubber-stamp the status quo.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow is foiled in an attempt to get a haircut. Today’s Diary.
So I knocked off early and drove over on the chance there was a technical glitch and there wouldn’t be much of a wait but that was not the case…They’d been booked since noon…There was one stylist and the receptionist had the service skills of a gulag commandant and I don’t really want to go back there…Unclear right now, tho, is whether to try someplace else or let the flowing locks grow out.
Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: Sparrow is now joining Lee on his ten-minute breaks.
I am blaming this entirely on Lee. He is such a professional that when I announce my 10-10 is over within a few seconds he is opening the door to the EDR, ready to start his and I can see no reason to leave Lee sitting there all by himself so I’ll stay and keep him company.
Free Stuff
The same trick the drug dealers use.
Backstairs at the Monte Carlo
Click here for the first two months of complimentary entries.
Criminals, Courtesans and Constables
Click here to read the first four chapters with our compliments.
The Regular Guys
Coming soon! Meet Lenny and Larry, two comedians going nowhere on their own who team up and become the biggest act in show business.
Click on the button to get started to read The Diary of a Nobody, Backstairs at the Monte Carlo and Criminals, Courtesans and Constables for only $4.99, a steal.
On This Date
History’s long march to today.
In 1940 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, speaking before the House of Commons, makes his famous “never was so much owed by so many to so few” speech. The speech came about a third of the way through the Battle of Britain, an air battle between British and Canadian forces against Nazi and Italian forces that Britain ultimately won. Churchill had first used the line a few days earlier after visiting a Royal Air Force operations room.
In 2016 – The United States wins its sixth consecutive women’s basketball gold medal, defeating Spain 101-72 in the gold medal game. The Americans went 8-0 in the tournament, including a 5-0 in pool play and had defeated Japan and France in the quarter and semifinals. The last team to win the women’s basketball gold medal in the Olympics had been the Unified Team in 1992, an Olympics where the Americans had won the bronze medal.
In 1977 – The Floaters are at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot Soul Singles chart – for the second of six consecutive weeks with Float On. It was the first chart single for the group and remains their only pop hit and their only soul Top 10 hit. The song also went to #1 on pop charts in Great Britain and New Zealand, peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and was Billboard’s biggest soul song of the year. The song returned to the Billboard charts in 2004 when it peaked at #17 on the Adult Alternative chart.
Quotebook
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
…if his mind was preoccupied with emotions he couldn’t use it effectively. – John Creasy, A Sharp Rise In Crime
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
It’s not who you know, but what you know.
Of the 30 men who have held the world record in the 110-meter hurdles since the record was first recognized in 1908, 19 have been from the US.
Today’s Stumper
Cheaper than Trivia Night at the bar.
What is the overall record for the US women’s basketball team at the Olympics? – Answer next time!
