Sometimes you can be surprised where you find good writing. Bill James is the preeminent baseball statistician from the last 50 years. However, what makes him unique is not necessarily how good his statistics are, but in how artfully he uses them to craft a narrative. I still remember his foreword in the first edition of the Fielding Bible.

He simply described watching video of Adam Everett and Derek Jeter play shortstop. He instinctively knew that he was watching the best and the worst defensive shortstops in the game. Without seeing the numbers he couldn’t tell you which one was which, but the eyeball test didn’t fail. They were polar opposites of each other.

The same thing is happening in Texas in the governor’s race. You can approach these things with snark, sarcasm, and all of the disdain you can muster. I imagine many people will. What I’m prepared to say beyond a shadow of a doubt is that one of these candidates is the kind of human being we should all aspire to be. The other is just not a very good person. I’m not sure of any other way to put it.

The juxtaposition can be seen most clearly in what is happening with a North Texas family. Greg Abbott has them under investigation because they have a transgender teen. Beto O’Rourke visited them on Mother’s Day and even cooked dinner for them.

To be perfectly fair, it is reasonable to ask whether O’Rourke would have visited them in a year when he wasn’t running for statewide office. I’m guessing he wouldn’t have. Would he have helped them cook dinner if the cameras weren’t there taking pictures? Again, I’m guessing the answer is no.

Then again, we could ask the same of Abbott. Would he be investigating a family for child abuse if this weren’t an election year? Would he threaten Texas families with charges and family separation if the movers and shakers in his party weren’t applying that pressure? My guess is also no.

So, here we are. We are left with the most vivid example of the difference between the two parties. One party wants to help make the world a better place and safer for all of its citizens. One party does not. One party wants to reach into homes and into people’s bodies to impose its will. One party does not. At this point it doesn’t make much sense to point out who is who and which is which. Everyone must answer that for themselves. What we can’t do is assert that they are all the same. Clearly they are not. One of these must win and one of these must be driven from polite society. I’ll leave the which is which up to you.

I always hesitate to write these things. You know that’s what these people intend in the first place. After all, why does someone take a picture and release it onto the interwebs? So, we feed the beast but likely not in a way that they fully intended.

It’s the same reason why they put bumper stickers on their big ass truck or fly the flags at the house. It’s the same reason why they wear their t-shirts and hats to the gym or into the grocery store. It’s a not so subtle fish symbol like the early day Christians used to identify each other. For the rest of us, it is the announcement that I am indeed an asshole and there is nothing you can do about it.

I could focus on poor Logan and the life he has in front of him. I could focus on the hatred that is obviously there. I could focus on the nearly pathological need for attention. I could certainly link it to gun culture and the tragic events that occurred in Buffalo. All of these things are things they want.

My overwhelming feeling when seeing that isn’t anger or fear. Those are the emotions they want, but aren’t the ones they get. The overwhelming emotion is one of pity. At the end of the day they are closer to being a victim than they are to being a bully. They likely went out and stockpiled weapons when Joe Biden became president. They stockpiled weapons because they heard that Biden was going to take their guns. Somewhere the gun manufacturers are having a huge laugh and sharing a round of drinks at happy hour.

See, Jimmy Carter was going to take their guns. That didn’t happen. Bill Clinton was going to take their guns. That didn’t happen. Barack Obama was definitely going to take their guns. That didn’t happen. Even three year olds and most dogs could pick up on the pattern. Somehow the MAGA crowd is incapable of deductive reasoning or maybe even object permanence.

Poor Logan doesn’t stand a chance. He is being indoctrinated and not so much into a life of hatred, bigotry, and violence. Yes, he is being indoctrinated into those things too. More importantly, he is being indoctrinated into a life of abject stupidity. Abject stupidity allows you to be led by the nose to hate, to discriminate, and to respond in violence. Abject stupidity allows you to buy crap you don’t need in order to protect your family from things that will never happen. Abject stupidity allows you to photograph your own ignorance and broadcast it on the internet for everyone to see. The self-own is the cruelest own of all.

Abject stupidity pushes you to do things to own the liberals, leftists, and progressives when you could be a lot happier just living your life. These photos never inspire the fear they think it does. It may inspire outrage, but that outrage fades pretty quickly. More than anything it inspires pity. Anger and stupidity don’t mix well and they are a horrible way to live. Yes, the self-own is the cruelest own of all.

Reminder that the hearing in the Jones bankruptcy tomorrow (Friday) is at 1:00 Texas Time in Houston federal court.  You can listen in.

Telephonic Participation
Dial-in Telephone No: 832-917-1510
Conference Code: 590153

Fair warning, bankruptcy court is about as exciting as golf on teevee in Chinese, so the odds of something you’ll understand happening are pretty damn slim.  However, with the type of lawyers that Jones hires, you never know.

… donors.

First, you are gonna want to know this ..

Nine more women say that Alex Kozinski — a high-profile judge who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit — subjected them to sexual comments or other conduct, including four who say he touched them inappropriately.

And what’s this guy doing now?

And ….

Well, of course he is.

You know Alfredo over at the Dairy Queen is back.

So, just for weekend fun, here’s how Marjorie Taylor Green spends here campaign money.  You’ll notice right off the bat that her car needs a lot of maintenance and that she still spends a lot at the Trump hotel.

Senator Susan Collins is either the most wimpy woman on the planet or maybe deaf.  I dunno.

She called the police and filed a report because somebody, probably a transgender hooligan socialist, wrote a message on her sidewalk that she obviously felt was threatening.

The chalk art, described in the police report as “intricately drawn” and non-threatening, read: “Susie, please, Mainers want WHPA —–> vote yes, clean up your mess.” WHPA refers to the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify abortion rights.

Yeah, you read that right.  It was in chalk and it said please. Oh, the pearl clutching at the Collins house!

The police said it wasn’t a crime, but somebody from the public works department went over to clean Collins’ sidewalk – I imagine with a garden hose.

She didn’t back down.

“We are grateful to the Bangor police officers and the city public works employee who responded to the defacement of public property in front of our home.”

Look, I am not in favor of demonstrating in front of the justices’ homes, but damn, woman.  It’s chalk. I don’t call the police when the kids of Republicans on my block draw a hopscotch game on my sidewalk because it’s shady there. I give them cookies.

Honey, you need to get a hobby besides believing lying men.

She’s got less class than beanie-weenie night at the bowling alley, but she got herself a pimpmobile, Honey.

Majorie Taylor Greene just purchased herself a $92,000 “campaign car” using her political donations, a significant amount of which come from retired people.

It’s kinda hard to figure out which Russian tank she bought, but here’s a general idea.   This appears to be the  dealership’s most expensive car.

As of the time of writing, the website of the dealership in question shows no vehicles for sale with a sticker price above $81,860. That would get you a brand spanking new 2022 GMC Sierra 2500 HD AT4 truck complete with leather upholstery, two first row LCD monitors, a Premium GMC Infotainment System, and six speakers. So whatever MTG bought, it’s swankier than this.

Here’s my reckoning:  add another $10,000 for an ammo storage compartment, a hair dryer and mounted hair spray station, a tattoo equipment board, a fully equipped S&M dungeon, and small but tidy personal abortion clinic, and there’s your $10,000 in add ons.

Ain’t she dandy! If you can think of any other “add -ons” she’d need on her truck like maybe an animated  neon pop-up middle finger with “Eat This!” signage to flash at any vehicle with a Go Beto bumper sticker – just let me know in the comments.