Picture it: California. 2019. California lawmakers pass a bill allowing college athletes to profit off of their own likeness. They cannot be paid by their team, but they can endorse products, lease their image, profit from jersey sales, the whole nine yards. (Actually, for football that should be the whole 50 yards, right? I’m more of a baseball gal).

Despite Greg Abbott’s never-ending quest to claim how much California sucks, two years later he signs the same bill that originated in California. If only Johnny Manziel had a time machine.

I’m posting this mostly to foster discussion because the people that come to the beauty salon know way more about college sports than I do –  I’m a Mean Green Eagle and a Houston Cougar and unless they make headlines I mostly tune out.

My first and last opinion on the matter is this: My liberal populist heart is sated just a little bit this morning. Regardless of the impact on the sport itself, for once, the little guy can get his share of the take. For those college athletes that put their all into sports only to be sidelined with injury before they ever make a dime, perhaps they’ll have a chance to profit off of their work, even if the career ends before it gets a chance to begin. What say y’all?

Sometimes you just gotta wonder how how deep the Putin love goes in the GOP.  And here’s why I conjure up that …

Republican congresstraitor Dana Rohrabacher continues his work in retirement. On Jan 6, Rohrabacher roamed the Capitol all day with a guy in a giant ushanka hat. Is this epic trolling by Russia?

In 2016, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said, “There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump.”  Looks like they both are still on the payroll.

Capitol Hunters is a fun place to track people on January 6th if it’s too damn hot to mow the back 40.

It’s almost as if I predicted it. I wish I I could say I was clairvoyant. I wish I could say I have massive powers of deduction. I suppose I could say that, but no one would take me seriously. It would be like predicting the Texans finish in last place in the division next year. It’s hardly a brilliant prediction and this situation could be seen coming a mile away.

Greg Abbott has suggested building a wall on the southern border. I wonder where he got that idea from. Moreover, one of his would be opponents Allen West suggested it as well. Furthermore, Abbott wants to round up migrants and send them back where they came from. He is even planning a joint task force with Arizona to do the trick across state lines.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why he is doing this. It’s a combination of things. First, when someone has done something wrong the best thing to do is make sure no one pays attention. Magicians do it all the time. They focus your attention at one spot so you’re not paying attention to the other hand. Look at the shiny object in this hand and ignore what the other hand is doing.

The second point is that someone still casts a long shadow over the party and those that remain have to make a choice. Either they stand their ground and become a part of the opposition or they keep diving to the right in hopes that he gives them his approval. The more who enter the fray the worse it’s going to get.

Like I said, I predicted this along with thousands of others. Abbott has a long history of doing this. He isn’t a bad guy necessarily. He’s certainly not a crazy one. He’s just a weak one. Every time he has had to make a choice between the base and reality he chooses the base. Of course, whether that makes him bad is in the eye of the beholder.

First there was Jade Helm. If you don’t remember you can be forgiven. The military were doing training exercises in the hill country and suddenly kooks and jackasses came out in force saying that it was going to be a federal takeover. He could have ignored it. He could have made a statement that there was no reason for alarm because they do this stuff all the time. He could have called them out as idiots and kooks. He did none of those things. Instead he said he was sending a letter to make sure they didn’t do anything untoward.

It was classic Abbott. He didn’t really do anything but it was a gentle nod in their direction. It was a gentle nod to the conservative crazies that he was one of them. Those same folks that could have predicted this latest capitulation also predict not a single brick will be added to a wall. That was never the point of the wall anyway. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. You make a lot more by saying you will build it then by actually doing it.

So, no pats on the back here. We all know the score and we all know what’s going on. The next year will be a fun year for those of us that aren’t crazy. We have multiple crazies competing for the chance to be governor and the guy sitting in the chair that must act like he is in order to get their support. Buckle up. It’s going to be a lovely ride.

Donald Trump’s PAC, ironically named Save America, is geared up and ready to be buried hairdo deep in money.  Here’s his latest trick for his goofy supporters.

Save America, the political action committee (PAC) created by Donald Trump, is urging donors to “surprise” the former president with extra money on his birthday.

When supporters donate via Save America’s site, the website automatically ticks a box saying they would like to donate the same amount on Trump’s birthday, which is June 14.

 

So, actually, you’d be donating every month plus an additional donation on June 14th.  And the very cool thing about this particular type of Federal PAC is that he can pretty much spend the money on anything he damn well wants to.

So …

We’ve already covered Gohmert’s latest journey into the land of the stupid here. I did have some profound thoughts I could leave in the comments section, but I thought I would offer them here. With a wife that works at NASA, the questions hit a little closer to home than for most. As a teacher, I would have to say that Gohmert’s frequent stupidity do the same.

Anyone familiar with Gohmert’s work is not the least bit surprised by this. He already had the reputation as the dumbest member of Congress before all this happened. In his defense, he seems to have a lot of competition for that title these days. Maybe he felt he needed to up his game. The citizens of Longview must be proud.

When Gohmert bragged about his high SAT score I was reminded of the time I taught in a private school. One of my students proudly announced the reason why we had day and night. It was because the sun was half fire and half rock. When we were on the fire side of the sun it was day. When we were on the rock side it was night. This was an A student.

I immediately went home and asked my wife why we didn’t plan manned exploration of the sun. She said it would be too hot. I corrected her and told her we would simply go at night. Obviously, the second part was a joke at my wife’s expense, but the student was earnest when offering this and she was one of my better students. Thus, proving that academic performance and intelligence are not necessarily the same thing.

I’m obviously doubly sensitive to stupidity as it pertains to space (I didn’t even mention the solar flares). I’ve lived in the shadow of NASA virtually my whole life and it has been a huge part of my adult life for nearly 25 years now. I readily admit I don’t know as much as some people and there are areas of science where I’m a drooling idiot. Yet, I get the idea that admitting as much and allowing yourself to feel ashamed for that lack of knowledge is more than half the battle.

I don’t think it is any coincidence that the folks on the list that might battle Gohmert for his position are virtually all Republicans. Sure, that might just be my bias coming through. I readily admit that. I also can’t help but think this is a feature and not a bug. One of the common markers people look for when they vote is someone they feel comfortable with that they feel like they “could drink a beer with.”

When you follow that thought to its logical conclusion you reach two very disturbing realizations. First, if people elect leaders that reflect their values and intellectual curiosity then the Louie Gohmert’s and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s of the world reflect the majority of people in their home district. Secondly, as one comedian put it, go down to your local bar. Look to your left and to your right. See any leaders there?

I can’t help but think this is how we’ve gotten it wrong all this time. I don’t want someone like me in Washington that I could share a beer with. I want someone better than me. I want someone smarter than me. I want someone wiser than me. I want someone with more courage. I want someone with a stronger moral conviction. That’s what representative government is all about. After all, if people were just as good as me (or worse than me) than why wouldn’t I be there?

Three words that automatically open every library door in America: Louie Gohmert, y’all.

ORBITS: Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) asks whether the Forest Service or the BLM can alter the orbit of the moon or the Earth in order to fight climate change during a House Natural Resources hearing pic.twitter.com/yYiOyi2cMZ

— Forbes (@Forbes) June 8, 2021

I think by BLM, he means the Bureau of Land Management because, you know, what is the earth but land? Although I am pretty damn certain he’d love to blame all this on Black Lives Matter.