"Running Commentary"
Crazy, Crazy World!
Another crazy week here in Pandemic Land.
Me? I’d rather be in Disneyland, but traveling anywhere these days is an iffy proposition. Look no further than the 28,000 Mouseketeers laid-off this week due to declining attendance. Yikes! Not exactly a thumbs-up for our nation’s economy.
More inside Disney dope?
You came here for the dirt, didn’t you?
Informed sources have told me privately that Mickey Mouse is in quarantine after Daisy Duck tested positive for coronavirus – the two of them were seen having an intimate tete-a-tete, dining together at a private club in Santa Monica. Tsk, tsk!
Minnie has refused to talk to reporters, requesting everyone to honor the family’s privacy during this difficult time. Donald Duck is depressed and seeking a good therapist – obviously for something other than his speech impediment.
Shame on you, Mickey!
If you can’t trust Mickey Mouse – whom can you trust these days? Well, let us consider the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in beautiful downtown DC. We can CERTAINLY trust him, can’t we?
President Trump has repeatedly informed the American public that the virus has been overblown, downplaying the need for protective masks. He has repeatedly held political rallies –not all of them outdoors – where large unprotected crowds are seen waving their orange toupees like the Stars and Stripes.
Now some late breaking news: Trump and his lovely Slovenian wife have themselves tested positive for COVID-19, which automatically means that the most powerful politician on the planet – not counting Vladimir Putin – will necessarily be running the country from a private bunker.
Is this a crazy world, or what!!
Having delved into the political swamp – a subject I have steadfastly avoided in over 30 years of writing columns – let us consider another juicy item.
Did you watch the presidential debate? Do you even care? I predicted to anyone within earshot that well over 90% of the voting public has already made up their minds whom they’re going to vote for, and the debates were unlikely to change anyone’s vote.
With great anticipation, I went over to my mother’s house to watch the debate with her. We turned the TV off after 20 minutes of lies, personal insults and shouting matches that even the moderator couldn’t control.
Here’s a suggestion for the next presidential debate – have a button that allows the moderator to cut-off the microphone of the guy who keeps interrupting someone trying to state his position. Poor Chris Wallace – the moderator who kept screaming, “MR. PRESIDENT! MR. PRESIDENT!” to no avail.
You know who lost the first presidential debate? The American public. We are the true losers. The debates should be about policies and give us a reason for voting for one person over another – not about attempts to goad your opponent with personal insults.
Meanwhile, the Pinocchio Nose Award this week goes out to … yep! Our president, who claimed to have paid “millions” in Federal taxes. However, the New York Times has obtained Trump’s actual tax returns – and for both 2016 and 2017, and …well, the numbers are the numbers. Our self-proclaimed billionaire president paid a grand total of $750. Two years running.
Jeez, I’m on Social Security and I paid more taxes than that! I’ve never been good at math, but I’m confident that $750 is quite a bit lower than “millions.”
Now that he’s in quarantine, perhaps our president can review his tax status and come up with a better argument to the IRS why he really is entitled to that $72 million refund he claimed. The issue is still being audited – after 10 years!
Amazingly, very few Trump supporters give a bleepin’ hoot. I pointedly asked someone waiting on me the other day whether she was bothered by an alleged billionaire paying only $750 in taxes.
She looked at me as if I were wearing a red badge reading, “Positive for COVID-19.” The woman didn’t care one bit. Trump himself has said that he could commit a murder on the streets in Manhattan – not the one in Kansas – and he would never be convicted of the crime.
As I said – is this a crazy world, or what?
Let’s emerge from the muck and mire of that swamp and talk about something positive – The CHIEFS! Is anyone watching football these days? The hometown eleven is almost unstoppable. Mahomes is unbelievable! Most teams have a down year after winning the Super Bowl – not the Chiefs.
Think about how weird it is for the players. On TV, we hear crowd noises, cheering and booing the refs. That’s all piped in electronically for viewers. The players don’t hear any of that. For them, it must be just like having a scrimmage – No noise, no cheers! Almost unreal.
On a sour note – my team’s fortunes have dropped faster than fortunes on Wall Street in 1929. A mere three years after winning the Super Bowl, the Philadelphia Eagles have become one of the WORST teams in the league. How quickly the mighty have fallen.
And just a reminder all you Chiefs’ fanatics – we GAVE you Coach Andy.
Reid continues to be beloved in Philly. We had a lot of great seasons under his helm. We just didn’t win the big one. And for that reason alone, with reluctance, it was time for him to move on to another city. Eagles’ fans are delighted by Reid’s success. Go Chiefs!
It’s been a wild and whacky week.
I need a drink.
Contact Michael at: Rmykl@yahoo.com