Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 146

On Politics
Yes, the Supreme Court’s healthcare ruling surprised me, and I remain in shock from Chief Justice Roberts being the crossover vote. Interestingly though, he wrote the opinion. Here’ my bottom line: Justice Roberts shifted through all the political crap and judged the law for what it is.

Now, Congress needs to make the law better. Unfortunately, I can’t see that happening for some time.

After the ruling, I changed the channel or hit Mute when a representative or senator was commenting on the health care ruling. Blah, blah, blah, blah.

Earlier in the week, the high court ruled in the immigration case (Arizona v. United States). Justice Scalia (in his written opinion) clearly demonstrated judicial activism by going outside the merits of the case and into policy and politics.

Only Gov. Brewer (R-AZ) could declare victory in the immigration case after the court slams the Arizona law 3 of 4 times. Governor, baseball considers a .250 hitter as respectable, but far from great – and you aren’t playing baseball.

On Headlines from The Onion
Republicans, Leukemia Team Up to Repeal Health Care Law
Evolutionary Biologist Discovers Common Human Ancestor at Cousin’s Wedding
Pea Farmer Say They Alone Keep Peas from Overrunning Planet
Phil Mickelson’s Shower Caddy Recommends Sudsy 9-Iron
Bonsai Tree Finally Dies after Four-Year Battle with Student
Scientists to DNA Test Bigfoot Evidence

Interesting Reads
A Stimulus Plan even Republicans can support (that will be the day)
An interesting election graphic from WSJ and NBC
David Brooks on Power, Springsteen, and Politics
David Ignatius on Greece
Background noise and creativity
A fashion statement: Fermentation and clothing
Classroom proclaims Loch Ness’ Nessie is real  (Unfortunately, no kidding)

On Potpourri
I started the week in Dubuque, Iowa – a small city (50K) on the Mississippi River.

Oh no! My first-place Cincinnati Reds are on a west-coast swing – which past history screams Oh Crap!

Sadly, it seems Ann Curry has taken the fall for NBC’s Today show rating dip. Meanwhile, I have not watched the weekday show since producers paid Sarah Palin to guest host – and that was not Ann Curry’s fault!

A classic cartoon post will go up for your Saturday morning.

This Top 10 list (below) from David Letterman cracks me up. 310 is good, but #6 is my favorite; thus those words come to mind every time I hear the song.

Have a safe weekend everyone. In the words of Garrison Keillor; Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

40 thoughts on “Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 146

  1. Thanks for brightening my afternoon, as usual. I really liked the Top 10 List–#6 is great! So was #5. I also appreciated your take on NBC dumping on Ann Curry when they stupidly put Sarah Palin on the air. If their ratings drop even more, will they realize it might be in reaction to dumping AC? Have a good weekend!

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    • Hey hey hey … Hi Patti!
      As a Californian, #6 has extra meaning. Meanwhile, Ann Curry was on the show for 15 years, and poof …. gone and her goodbye was 5 minutes … and the rest of the team looked like they didn’t know what to do or say. Very sad. She’s a good journalist, so hopefully she will land on her feet. Thanks for visiting and hope all is well with you.

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  2. Another good post. Lots of stuff in there.

    Re the Onion, this one makes me laugh
    Bonsai Tree Finally Dies after Four-Year Battle with Student

    Re Letterman
    #6 is very good, but my fav is #5

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  3. Hi,
    “Pea Farmer Say They Alone Keep Peas from Overrunning Planet”
    I think I have seen this movie, oh no that’s right it was “Rotten Tomatoes” but close. 🙂 (Voted the worse horror movie ever made a lot of years back, beyond ridiculous)

    “Scientists to DNA Test Bigfoot Evidence”
    Well it is about time we found out about these hairy beings.

    Great video, I thought they were all rather funny. 😀

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  4. Thanks for great start to my Friday. Top 10 list was good, # 5 easily my favourite. From the Onion, it’s a toss up between the ‘Evolutionary Biologist’ and ‘Bonsai Tree’. The biologist wins by a nose!
    Have a great Friday!

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  5. I, too, was surprised that Chief Justice Roberts said a resounding NO to judicial activism, and threw the issue back to the people to decide in November. I agree with Roberts’ opinion that the mandate in the ACA is a tax, as are the payments we make to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

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  6. Loved the top 10, favorites though were 5 and 3; I am completely unable to choose between them.

    I am not surprised by CJ Roberts being the deciding vote on SCOTUS, I suspect he weighted how history would see his court and decided he didn’t want to come out on the wrong side of history, knowing his court was already darkened with Citizen United.

    Like

    • Valentine,
      Glad you enjoyed the top 10. Cheers to you for not being surprised by CJ Roberts. He sure is being bashed by those who feel betrayed. Thanks for sharing and visiting. FYI: This is typical Friday fare.

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  7. as usual i enjoyed the comments section just as much as the pages you wrote though i have to admit that american politics is A Very Confusing Place for someone like me.. morning frank! c

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  8. Once again, you’ve outdone yourself! I laughed out loud at the David L Top 10. Just awesome.

    Thank God, I’m not the only one who can’t stomach Sarah Palin. Ann Curry is great–so great she’s taking the high road. Hopefully she negotiated a big check as part of her leaving.

    And thanks for all the recent comments on my little blog. It’s a lot to ask to comment on DBQ, I realize. A great job. Gotta have a sense of humor about it! 🙂

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  9. Great video, and some interesting reading links.
    While the Court ruled for healthcare, that fight is far from over.

    And I weep (and laugh) for that poor bonsai tree.

    Have a great weekend Frank, filled with dance, golf and wine!

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    • Guapo,
      No kidding that the fight isn’t over. For instance, the representative saying (after the ruling), “The law is clearly unconstitutional.” The fight will continue to November, then what will happen is wait and see. Meanwhile, no golf this weekend as it is too dang hot! … but wine and dance will work its way into the equation. Thanks for stopping by.

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  10. I love your links today, and the comments regarding SCOTUS decisions are good to read, too. I’m following it “all” as much as I can, and then when I think my head is going to explode I have to move away from the talking heads. I also agree about poor Ann Curry. Shame on the Today execs for making her the scapegoat. Now…Republicans, Leukemia Team Up to Repeal Health Care Law–just seems somehow appropriate to all the talk! Have a good weekend, Frank. Maybe some golf? Debra

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    • Debra,
      Just returned form your recent post. 🙂 No golf for me this weekend as it is way too hot!!!

      The comments regarding the ACA decision are off the wall. It is so hard to find good commentary and.or dialogue – which definitely doesn’t come from anyone in government. My fav may be the rep who stated the ACA was unconstitutional after the ruling. Hello … anyone home? At least the one rep who compared the decision to 9-11 apologized. Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye. Anyone making references to Hitler or 9-11 will be subject to extreme scrutiny. Has anyone learned that yet? Ok … I’m ready for a mid-Firday afternoon glass of wine. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for commenting.

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  11. I loved the Onion headlines.
    “Evolutionary Biologist Discovers Common Human Ancestor at Cousin’s Wedding…”

    I don’t know how you manage to post every day and still travel to places like Iowa (I assume for work) plus read and comment on other blogs. You obviously don’t sleep. 🙂

    Like

    • Rosie,
      The trip was for work … but hotel time on blogs is better than TV. Then again, I can have a baseball game in the background. Otherwise, the week before the travel I wasn’t out-and-around as much because of the necessary work before the trip. Thanks for sharing your favorite and for stopping by.

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  12. Well I had written you such a pithy, funny, entertaining comment about all the things you entertained me with on your blog sitting in the midst of storm-ravaged DC (1M plus without power) when the internet went down again as I pushed post comment. Anyway, thanks for giving me such a chuckle with the Letterman piece in the midst of fallen trees, 100 degrees and no air-con, no phone service, and water restrictions. There’s always a ray of sunshine in the worst of events and you were it, my friend. Cheers!

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    • E-Tom,
      That same storm ravaged our area around 5:30 pm Friday … and raced across the country! Hope your power returned and the house is OK. Meanwhile, glad you enjoyed the Letterman clip. Thanks for the kind words and for visiting.

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  13. Justice Roberts is actually a major strategic politician given this ruling. He gave Obama a win, but he gave the Repulicans a win by saying it was a tax. So the law stays in the arms of Congress to deal with, as it should be. Let’s hope Congress can improve this law, but the concept behind it of making sure folks can get health care is a good one.

    The Reds are going to win the division. My Cardinals are out of it this year. I am still mad at them for letting Pujols go, and at Pujols fore trading cash for Bob Gibson, Stan Musial fame. I am so mad I find myself wearing a Brewers hat. I used to be a Brewers fan when they were in the AL, and still rue Bud Selig the power monger greedy Commissioner for moving them to the NL. Before that move I could have two teams to follow.

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    • Randel,
      In terms of the health care ruling, I can’t see Congress improving the existing law because of the effort going into repealing it. As long as leadership in the 3 key positions, stalemate will be the order of the day. But I am organizing some thoughts for an upcoming post. (Hopefully Tuesday).

      Don’t give up on your Cards yet. They can still hit and once they get healthy, they could be a factor. Pirates are pesky, thus seemingly are sticking around due to their pitching. I didn’t like seeing Albert leaving St. Louis … and yes, I probably dislike Bud Selig more than anyone in sports! Thanks for commenting.

      Like

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