"Oh, I'm fine Mom, how's Washington?"

 Game on:

Best comment of the day, from a guy I know on FB:

It's a good thing when the ruling class has to have its head on a swivel.

If this sort of thing sends you to the fainting couch, I would suggest you'd better get the ol' fainting couch reinforced. For all his bluster and suboptimal bedside manner, it's important to understand that, for the last four years, Trump was asking nicely. 

We Want Justice/We Want Barabbas

I am a Milwaukee Bucks fan. They assert they want justice, so tonight they scuppered their scheduled game with the Orlando Magic:

The Milwaukee Bucks appear to have boycotted Game 5 of their playoff series against the Orlando Magic due to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, according to social media reports.

TMJ4's Lance Allan reported that neither team was on the floor as the pregame countdown clock hit zero.

So what does justice mean to you? Does it mean cops should stand down in a domestic dispute, with a guy who has a felony warrant out for his arrest? 

Jacob Blake had a long history of entanglement with law enforcement when he lived in Lake County.  

Blake's shooting by police in Kenosha on Sunday sparked destructive riots in the Wisconsin city not far from the state border. 

Records reveal Blake was arrested in 2013 in Round Lake Beach and criminal trespass to a vehicle and arrested in 2012 in Zion, Ill. for domestic battery, endangering the life and health of a child and driving under the influence. 

Blake is currently facing a rape charge in Kenosha.

A warrant was issued for Blake’s arrest on July 7 on felony 3rd degree sexual assault, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, all related to domestic abuse.

Well, he was unarmed, we're told. Or was he? I've seen this image multiple times:

I don't know what he's holding there. It could be a weapon. But we don't know.

We have reason to be skeptical of cops, all of us. Every profession has its bad apples, but most people's jobs do not include the use of deadly force. But do we romanticize bad guys? In this moment, I think we do. There's a reason we learn of Barabbas in all four Gospels. 

You had to know it was crap

In this racially fraught moment, the notion that someone would put a noose in the vicinity of the only black driver competing in NASCAR seemed, well, dubious. There are security cameras everywhere and by all accounts the driver, Bubba Wallace, is a popular figure in the racing community. And, sure enough, the incident wasn't what it seemed:

The FBI has determined that NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime and that a pull rope fashioned like a noose had been on a garage door at Talladega Superspeedway since as early as October, NASCAR said Tuesday.

"The FBI report concludes, and photographic evidence confirms, that the garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been positioned there since as early as last fall," NASCAR said in its statement. "This was obviously well before the 43 team's arrival and garage assignment.

"We appreciate the FBI's quick and thorough investigation and are thankful to learn that this was not an intentional, racist act against Bubba. We remain steadfast in our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all who love racing."

The 43 car is iconic in the world of stock car racing, mostly because Richard Petty drove it. I've never been much of a racing fan, but everyone knew the 43 car:

King Richard

Petty hasn't been racing for decades, but he remains a major figure in the sport and his racing team has kept the number 43. Wallace drives for Petty, so having that number means something. It's always been the stereotype that because NASCAR came out of the South, it had an undercurrent of racism. Perhaps there's some truth to that, but in the main the modern racing fan doesn't care about that. You aren't likely to hear much about this story in a few more days -- the people who were riding the hobby horse would rather you pay attention to something else now. But racing fans will remember. NASCAR is pursuing a full-on social justice model these days, as are most sporting organizations. They are free to do so, but the point of spectator sports is to provide a diversion from the dreary architecture of modern life. The audience doesn't watch sports for moral instruction. There's plenty of that going around anyway.

I haven't been blogging much, as you've noticed. . .

We are living through one of the more momentous years of our lifetimes, and yet I have found it difficult to face the blank screen to write. It's not surprising, I suppose, because we are in a time of great tribalism and primitivism. Our fellow citizens cover public monuments with expletives, when they aren't topping statues from plinths. A typical conversation seems to go like this:

Or like this:

I'm a Catholic boy and I can sling the rhythmic Anglo-Saxon terms with the best of them, but it gets wearying. I have to get better, but man, it's tough to engage when the world is mad.

Just a question

So the Twins decided to take down a statue of their longtime owner, Calvin Griffith, because he apparently said racist things back in the day.

So, I'm curious -- in the greater scheme of things, who (and what) do you suppose hurt black people more. Is it Calvin Griffith and his racist musings, or is it Carl Pohlad and his lending practices?

Bonus question -- do you suppose Pohlad's offspring, who inherited and currently own the team, would be willing to take a serious look at that question?

Today

Do the lives of blacks matter? Of course.

Does that mean the goals of Black Lives Matter are sacrosanct? Not really.

Can you affirm one notion and dispute another? At this moment, no.