I’m a little stunned this caused so much concern on Morning Joe. Why is what Caligula Lite said about the Civil War any different than any other stupid things which come out of his mouth? Somebody has to be the honest adult in the room and I guess it has to be me.
The people who voted for this con artist don’t care that he has no idea whatsoever WTF he is talking about in regards to pretty much anything. If he said Katie Perry was the 12th POTUS his base wouldn’t even blink. Enough already. This just isn’t about Donald Trump at this point. It’s about the GOP and the humans who voted for this person. It’s about the people who in 2008 we’re completely on board with Sarah Palin being the Vice-President of the United States. It’s about 82% of church goers voting for this rogue huckster despite hearing him say he tried to fuck her like a bitch. They must be reading a different book of Corinthians than the one I’ve read.
This is what he is and what he ran on. Why would there be any concern now?
This was released the day Trump’s healthcare plan was passed by the GOP in the House. How ironic it was on the same day when Trump hosted a keg party at the White House for getting a bill through the House which would strip health care for around 24 million Americans, seriously reduce coverage of pre-existing conditions, and double the cost of health care for people between the ages of 50-64. Who in their right mind would celebrate this with a keg party and a photo op at the White House?
The answer is fairly simple. The person who initiated the Birther Movement and the same guy who at the age of sixty told us he genuinely tried to fuck Nancy Dell like a bitch. That guy.
So while I agree with the thrust of what George Will is saying here, I don’t think Donald Trump is disabled, I just think he’s piece of shit who honestly doesn’t care about other people who have no positive impact on his life. And that’s precisely why I didn’t and never would vote for this person to serve on my HOA board let alone POTUS.
Not much of consequence or surprise so far with these NBA playoffs. All the higher seeded teams advanced into the second round. With the exception of Houston possibly beating San Antonio, it looks very probable Golden State, LeBron, and Boston will advance to the conference finals.
Houston is the team I hope advances simply because I like Harden and enjoy watching the Rockets play. With Sam Dekker back in the flow, the Rockets now have a nine man rotation and it was quite a beating the Rockets put on the Spurs in Game 1 in San Antonio.
Hopefully, Sam Presti and his staff are watching this series because the Rockets’ supporting cast is something akin to what Presti needs to put around Russell Westbrook moving forward. You look at that Rockets’ team and they can all play both ends of the floor. No severely limited one way players per se. All nine can play, one superstar, with a veteran NBA coach who’s given a strong voice in determining his personnel.
Anyway, the Houston-San Antonio series is the one I’m locked in on in the second round. It’s the only one where I think there’s that much at play. Maybe the Washington Wizards can make their series with the Celtics interesting, but I’m not sure if they have enough to go any further.
Quite frankly, the playoffs haven’t been all that interesting. I’ve been more entertained watching Anthony Bourdain episodes past and present. This one was on the other night. It’s a classic in the series. Bourdain with Sean Beck experiencing the Waffle House Five Course experience in Charleston, South Carolina.
Houston at San Antonio tonight in what to date might classify as a big game. The NBA could use a compelling second round series. To date, Harden and the Rockets have been the most interesting team to watch this post season.
Well, this was interesting. Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, Devin Nunes, Ivanka, and Jerrod somehow didn’t get their invitations I’m to assume. Maybe they were too busy still conning some lost white souls somewhere in the Rust Bucket. Maybe even telling them that at some point one single piece of legislation containing the erasure of the Alternative Minimum Tax will be passed on their behalf sometime in the next four years.
I have to admit, the first time I watched Hasan Minhaj’s speech, it kind of numbed me. It made me feel a little uncomfortable. Then I googled it and watched it a second time. And here’s the thing, I’m a white fifty-nine year old moderate dude from Deer Creek, Oklahoma—and I couldn’t find much he said I don’t agree with in relation to Donald Trump, The First Amendment, and our press.
Where else in the world could this happen? Now, I’m fairly certain there’s not many other white dudes in Deer Creek who feel like I do, but still, where else could this happen but in America?
And that’s the beauty of what he ultimately said after pretty much the same things I’ve been writing on here since Caligula Lite somehow became the GOP’s nominee for POTUS.
Where else but in America could you have a seventy year-old furniture store sport fucking zenmaster tweeting at three in the morning while totally sober while pretending to be President of the United States? Then get rebuked by a young Muslim in D.C. in front of the world. Only in America, baby.
But now, more than ever in our history, it is incumbent upon the press to do their jobs and report the news.
I liked what he said collectively said about Fox, MSNBC, and CNN–in that I agree all three are part of the problem as to what we’ve become. Cable news shouldn’t be partisan cheerleading, it should just be the news. Report the news and get the facts right. I didn’t see Wolf Blitzer or Dana Bash smiling all that much.
But all in all, I thought it was a great speech because as he said…where else but in America could a Muslim make a speech in front of the world in Washington D.C. and be allowed to tell the complete truth about Donald Trump?
Think about the power of those twenty minutes or so just keeping that fact in mind. And this is what ultimately makes America so unique as to the rest of the world. Never, ever take the First Amendment for granted. It’s our most precious liberty.
I’m not an ideologue of really any sort. I just believe that any president needs to be smart, qualified, and have a mature vision of America’s leadership role in the world.
Donald Trump is obviously somewhat smart or else there’s no way he could have kidnapped the National Republican Party and won the presidency. So, with some reluctance I’d have to say from a purely secular view of how to con people—Donald Trump is a smart guy.
As far as being qualified, so far he hasn’t shown me anything. Not one piece of meaningful legislation has been passed to date. No repeal or repair of health care, no tax reform , and nothing with deregulation except the shameful appointment of Oklahoma’s own Scott Pruitt to head EPA. No wall. Nothing from Congress to Mexico to suggest they would pay for the wall. No real concessions from China. No redos to date of any trade treaty except for the U.S. pulling out of the Trans Pacific Agreement. No new deal with Iran on the nuclear deal. No concession to date from North Korea. A failed Muslim ban hasn’t helped assuage the feel of failure as well.
On to jobs. After the economy collapsed in 2008 under W, the U.S was losing 800,000 jobs a month. In the aftermath of the meltdown, the Obama presidency had a period of sustained growth of around 200,000 jobs a month which carried over into the first two months of Trump’s presidency until the March report when 98,000 jobs were created. Trump’s first quarter GDP report was released and it was a paltry .7 per cent. Trump has clearly stated that a 3-4% real GDP growth would be a walk in the park for his presidency. What I think someone in the Trump camp might want to understand is the whole world economy isn’t growing at real GDP in excess of 2%. It’s a global thing, as in we’re all connected. I know Trump followers don’t read Thomas Friedman or buy into climate change or globalization—but it is what it is. Even places like Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi have to acknowledge some degrees of math and science at some point.
Trump’s appointments of Jeff Sessions, Scott Pruitt, Betsy Devos, and Tom Price are all shameful. What else could be written?
Michael Flynn was fired 24 days into Trump’s presidency and will either serve some prison time or cut a deal at some point with the Feds.
The one bright spot to date has been some mature person other than Donald Trump picked Generals Mattis, McMasters, and Kelly to keep an eye on Donald Trump. They’ve gotten rid of Bannon pretty much, and seem bent on educating Donald Trump on the importance of things like NATO, alliances, treaties, and the fact the U.S. won WWII and the Cold War to protect freedoms from dictators like Vladimir Putin. The generals are to date the only part of the first hundred days which aren’t a shameful disgrace unless you’re convinced Mitch McConnell going nuclear to affirm Neil Gorsuch some how saves the Republic.
Trump did bomb a Syrian air field and closed it for 24 hours, but I’m not sure what that really accomplished. As I’m not sure what dropping the MOAB did for the world either.
Trump has yet to leave the country once on a diplomatic trip. He’s no Nixon in that regard. He’s not that deep. He only sees the world thru a lense which ultimately enriches Donald Trump. He loves Alex Jones. He reads the National Enquirer. He loves playing golf in Florida. He loves talking furniture store sport fucking with Billy Bush or anyone else willing to buy his bullshit.
In the end of these first hundred days, if you played the market you did well. If you didn’t, then not one meaningful thing to date has been done in any way which has made your life better or easier or fairer. Not one thing. Funny, one of the first things Trump did was raise the rate of FHA loans a quarter of a per cent. I’m not exactly sure how that helps struggling Americans, but there it was. But then again, those who squeal Build the Wall or Lock Her Up probably didn’t notice.
America, are you tired of winning too much yet?
For those still aspiring to attain furniture store sport fucking zenmaster status—-this is for you.
You won’t get any of this from the OKC media except maybe from Jim Traber on WWLS when he’s ranting about the roster. None of the print guys would ever write anything like this because Clay Bennett is one of the most powerful men in the state. I’ve never read anything even remotely close to this from Berry Tramel or say Royce Young on the ESPN beat coverage. But pretty much everything said here on this First Take segment by Steven A and Max is correct.
Basically, OKC at one point had Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka, and Reggie Jackson on the same roster at very young ages. The notion that only one remains can’t be ignored. If you’ve been watching the playoffs, Durant, Harden, and Ibaka have all advanced to the second round. Scott Brooks is one win away from advancing to the second round as well. So…let’s keep all that in mind.
Myself, I believe Westbrook does actually like it here. Oklahoma is a tough ass place to live for tough minded people. Westbrook fits the mold and I believe he does actually genuinely appreciate the fan’s love for him here. But at some point, he’s going to look around the NBA landscape and say, “Why doesn’t my owner put some players around me other than guys on rookie scale deals?”
The roster as it is now in no way give Westbrook a chance to compete for an NBA championship next season. None.
The first thing I’m watching is Taj Gibson. Does he even seriously consider staying here or go back to Chicago or some place else? I’m fairly certain Russell and his agent will be watching that at well.
Does OKC even entertain the notion of trading Kanter for an honest two way player who can help against the Warriors and Rockets?
Does maybe OKC actually spend a few dollars and acquire a quality backup point guard? You’ll notice if you’re paying attention, the top four contenders this season all have quality backup point guards. Golden State has Livingstone. San Antonio has Patty Mills. Houston has Lou Williams. Lebron has Deron Williams. Russell Westbrook had Billy Donovan playing Semaj Christon the first two games of the Houston series at backup pointy guard.
So while I thought it was nice Russell said he wants to stay here in his exit interview, always remember one thing–the NBA is an agent driven league and I’m fairly certain Russell Westbrook’s agent and his client are going to be keeping a very keen eye on what the Thunder’s roster looks like as camp opens next season.
Sam Presti and Clay Bennett need to decide if they just want to field a team which can sell tickets in a college market with a college level media covering a developmental team or a team which can genuinely compete for an NBA title or at the least a divisional championship. Because right now–I have the Utah Jazz firmly circled in red to repeat as Northwest Divisional champions next season.
This is Steven Adams’ exit interview from yesterday. Steven would be my second favorite Thunder player to listen to as far as nuances of the game. Plus, he has a great sense of humor. I particularly enjoyed listening to him explain Enes Kanter’s challenge of lateral mobility. He was very diplomatic. I’ll leave it at that.
No Berry Tramel asking any questions of Steven during over nine minutes of interview time access. How could this be? I thought Tramel was mesmerized by everything Steven thought Thunder related. Was Tramel lunching with Dan Patrick? Or was he doing some legwork on the Baker Mayfield – Pickleman’s story he should have written a week before the Sugar Bowl and a couple of months before Fayetteville? It must be the latter, because we all know how entirely absorbed Berry Tramel is with journalistic integrity. Color me Colonel Frank Slade.
Anyway, here’s Steven’s interview. Good interview, mate.
I’ve come to love and respect Russell Westbrook, but Nick has been my favorite Thunder player since Season 1 in Oklahoma City. He’s smart, tough, skilled, and the total team player. It very much heartened me to hear Nick is going to keep playing next year. I agree with him in that he still has enough to have a positive impact on this team in pockets of play, plus his teaching and leadership skills. Nick Collison has always been my favorite interview to listen to of all Thunder players. If you listen closely, you’ll always learn a new thing or two about the game when Nick is speaking. Always. Very ironic for me that a hated Kansas Jayhawk has become one of my favorite basketball players of all-time.
Assuming Russell Westbrook stays this is what I would do to build my team for the future. I wouldn’t go after another superstar per se. Blake Griffin and Paul George wouldn’t be in my template for this Thunder team at this point.
I’d do to some extent what Morey has done in Houston with Harden. I’d build the team around Russell Westbrook with a supporting cast which highlights his abilities.
First thing I’d do is trade Enes Kanter and see if I could get a functional two way shooting guard for him. Just a solid player, heady player.
Second thing I’d do is try and resign Taj Gibson and hopefully have my core stable of bigs next season be Adams, Gibson, and Sabonis.
Then, I come to terms with the Andre Roberson situation. If another team’s offer exceeds $7 million a year, then I have to let him walk even as much as I love his defense and intangibles. If that happens, then I simply insert Jerami Grant into the starting rotation. A starting five of Westbrook, Oladipo, Adams, Gibson, and Grant would be for the first time in Thunder history be a combination of five honest two way players.
The bench is next. The combo/hybrid guard I get for Kanter would be my Sixth Man. I’d join him with Sabonis, McDermott, Abrines—-and maybe a vet backup guard who can score some.
If Nick Collison wants to come back as a player/coach for say a million a year—I’d be totally good with it.
I’m not sure what I’d do with Kyle Singler in that I’m not sure what you could get if anything get in return.
For the time being, I’d keep Semaj and Huestis, but I wouldn’t put my trust in either of them being rotation players.
Houston basically plays with eight guys. They just won 55 games with only one real star player—James Harden. They made their team better by picking up Lou Williams, Eric Gordon, and Ryan Anderson. None of these three are what I’d describe as stars. Just solid contributing vet players.
So–the first two things I’d do if I were Presti would be to resign Gibson, then trade Kanter for a hybrid guard. Market forces will dictate the Roberson decision so that’s just a wait and see type thing.
Build the team around Russell, but just give him some more offensive help. I would expect marked improvement from Sabonis, Abrines, and McDermott next season—so I think that’s pretty much the way I’d go. But what Presti can get in return for Kanter needs to be a decent player who can stay on the floor against the likes of the Warriors and Rockets.
The team is doing their exit interviews today. This was Westbrook’s post game presser last night. Moving forward, I have no idea whatsoever what Russell Westbrook’s thoughts are on his future in Oklahoma City. He’s contractually obligated for next season, then he has an option out clause the following season.
Sam Presti has some significant work in front of him to make this team better next season. Taj Gibson is an unrestricted free agent. Andre Roberson is a restricted free agent. Enes Kanter probably needs to be part of some type of deal which brings an honest two way swing player to the Thunder. There’s some major adjustments which need to be made to make this team more than just Russell Westbrook.
Somebody needs to emerge as consistent second and third offensive weapons. I mean, ask yourself, who was OKC’s second best player this season? I can’t answer it because I didn’t see one on a consistent basis.
But I have no idea whatsoever what Russell Westbrook feels about his long term future in OKC. I would think he’d like to play on a serious contender, but OKC is not a contender as presently constructed.
It should be a very interesting off season for Sam Presti.