Doug Jones Never Had a Chance in the Alabama Senate Race

Doug Jones is a Democrat in Alabama who won the U.S. Senate seat after Jeff Sessions was picked as Donald Trump’s first attorney general in the rogue red state of Alabama. Somehow Jones won the special election when the GOP in Alabama nominated the Love Judge Roy whaatever his name was as their candidate.

Even before Jones took the Senate floor and gave what I thought was the best speech of the impeachment trial he never had a chance in Alabama. No way. Oklahoma and Alabama are almost identical politically. No chance…no way.

Great speech. I called his office and told one of his aides as much. Honest politicians are like dogs who play in the street. Neither lasts very long.

He did the right thing though. His family should be proud of him.

I wonder what would have happened if Saban had run against Tommy Tuberville?

I don’t know.

I might want to think about that a bit. Who would carry all the rural counties in Alabama?

Like in Oklahoma. If Mike ‘Mullet King’ Gundy ran on the GOP ticket versus Lincoln Riley as a Dem … I would assume Mullet King would would win that senate race in rogue red Oklahoma by a comfortable margin even though none of his teams have done anything since 2011.

BTW…Gundy should grow the mullet back. What kind of man allows Mike Holder to tell him to cut his mullet. Grow the mullet back…Mike Gundy. I have to admit…I miss the mullet.

Chick Flick Film-Fest in Deer Creek

While they count the votes…I need to take a break from the workload here at okcthunderground.com. Three world championships in three various bubbles and a presidential election. I watched close to a hundred Stanley Cup Playoff games and quite frankly…I’m whipped.

I’m not watching any football for the next month except for OU, Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State games.

My wife was so impressed with my Jeff Bridges Film-Fest… she said, “Why don’t we binge and do a Chick Flick Film Fest?”

On Monday night we did ‘A Good Year’ starring Russell Crowe, Marion Cottilard, and Albert Finney. This is a good film directed by Ridley Scott. It would never make my top ten chick flick list, but it’s nice little sleeper and a well done movie.

Tonight…we’re going big boy britches with Four Weddings and a Funeral. This is No. 2 all-time on my chick flick list. This reminds me so much of my trip to Alabama when I asked my wife to come back to Oklahoma. This scene just blows me away. Be sure and see the movie if you never have before.

Love actually is all around us everyday in various shapes and forms. We just have to take the time to realize it. I feel so much better with the prospect the human junk bond will no longer be our president.

Trump Declares Victory

I thought it would be close and its incredibly close. The polls do not reflect the grip Donald Trump has on people from an economic standpoint. He strikes fear in the hearts of the have nots and greed in the hearts of those who have too much. As James Carvell once said…”It’s always about the economy, stupid.”

I wrote on my modest blog to never trust a poll related to Donald Trump and I got that right.

I had Nevada on my key state list and I’m giving myself a pat on the back for that as well. As Nevada goes the country goes.

I picked Joe Biden to win and in poker parlance if I had to pick between Joe Biden’s cards and Donald Trump’s cards this morning I’d say Biden has a pair of kings over a pair of nines while Trump still needs a card to fill an inside straight.

I ‘think’ Joe Biden will be our next president come Friday or so, but I would never ever count out the grifter rogue Donald Trump and what he could pull off at the last hour. Fifty three cards to a deck, right?

A part of me almost wants to see Trump win just to see if he will replace Bill Barr with Mike Gundy as our next Attorney General. Albeit…Gundy never went to law school and can’t beat OU…but what does that matter.

I also picked former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville to beat the extremely qualified Doug Jones for a Senate seat in Alabama. You go 7-3 at Auburn over Alabama and you get yourself a United States senate seat. The Peter Principle has never been more alive in the South than this morning after the election. Someone please tell the South they lost the Civil War but got SEC West football and Tommy Tuberville in return.

I also never bought into the notion Biden could win states in the South with a liberal black woman as his running mate. Maybe Georgia will prove me wrong later today, but I’m skeptical. The flip side is Kamala Harris may have stoked black voter turnout in Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia. I don’t think so, but that there’s that possibility. When Biden won South Carolina in the Democratic primaries it was evident blacks trust Joe Biden more than either Kamala Harris or Cory Booker. Tell me I’m wrong.

So we sit… watch and wait with the hope we don’t see Trump in a downtown parade in Miami looking every bit the piece of Fidel Castro with orange hair and a Slovenian escort at his side in celebration of his re-election.

How far has America devolved culturally?

You tell me.

Maureen Dowd, that was for you, babe. See you on the beach in Miami soon.

Election Eve

This election is basically for the soul of America moving forward. The rule of democracy and the hope for more decency.

I have no idea how it will go in the battleground states tomorrow once all the votes are counted. No one really does now or did they on the eve of the 2016 presidential election.

I don’t think polls calibrate Donald Trump and how he affects the fears of certain voting blocs.

We can only hope this isn’t a repeat of the courts deciding an election as was the case in the Bush-Gore election of 2000.

We’ve somewhat lost ourselves on what it means to be an American. We spend too much time arguing and not enough time listening to the concerns of one another.

Regardless of party affiliations we all need to experience an inflection point of remembering how fortunate we have been to be Americans.

Our country is the last great hope for democracy. For the freedoms and liberties which make America such a uniquely wonderful place to live.

We are all in this together so we might as well start learning how to live and govern together.

God bless our country.

Will Rhamondre Stevenson’s Return Change the Big 12 Football Season?

When you add Ronnie Perkins back on defense and you now give the Sooners a legit power run game in Rhamondre Stevenson… I think the Big 12 football season just took a turn.

Especially since both O State and Kansas State lost on Saturday to bring the Sooners to within a game of a first place logjam atop the standings.

I’m not on here writing OU should be pounding their chests and saying they want Alabama or Clemson, but for the sake of the BIg 12 football title chase if this OU roster stays intact the rest of the football season I would say OU is the team to beat after witnessing the the 62-28 win over Texas Tech in Lubbock on Halloween night.

Add to the fact ever since Lincoln Riley sat down Spencer Rattler in the first half of the Red River Rivalry after a shaky start the freshman quarterback has been phenomenal and has quit making costly game changing mistakes.

If this OU roster was in this year’s SEC West they would be the second best team behind Alabama. I would love to see this OU team play Georgia on a neutral field in some New Year’s Day Bowl.

At 4-2 these Sooners should run the table in their last four games of the season even though O State’s defense has been scrappy so far this college football season.

Tommy Tuberville was 7-3 versus Alabama while at Auburn. That’s primarily why he probably will defeat Doug Jones on Tuesday’s election and become a United State’s senator.

Mike Gundy is 2-13 versus OU and Boone Pickens never let him forget it. It would be 1-14 if Bob Stoops hadn’t done something Mike Gundy never did one time that entire Bedlam Game when Tyreke Hill broke loose on the second punt… namely giving the ball on back to back plays to the most explosive player now playing in the NFL. Gundy never considered it. Bubble screen, jet sweep, trick play reverse, quick slant, give and go flag…Andy Reid does it. Gundy should coach like there’s nothing to lose. Turn it loose.

This in no way is a diss of the O State players…especially those on that gritty defense which basically shut Texas down on Saturday. I’d love to have Rodriguez, Peel, and Sterling wearing crimson. But it’s more the feel that with Rhamondre Stevenson and Ronnie Perkins back on the field with Spencer Rattler playing with poise…these Sooners even with the two losses are the best team in the Big 12 for whatever that’s worth in 2020.

During last night’s telecast Tim Brando made a comparison of Rhamondre to Marcus Dupree of the one OU season back in the days of Barry Switzer in 1982. I’m not sure about the speed comparison, but otherwise…maybe.

Smerconish Saturday

Hopefully…the reality television presidency of Donald Trump will be over sometime next week depending on how long it takes to count the various forms of ballots.

It’s not that I dislike Donald Trump, it’s more that he’s just a person I’ve never taken seriously. He’s a rich white kid who avoided the draft and basically we would never have heard of him if he hadn’t inherited $420 million from his daddy.

His entire presidency has been about division and about himself.

Here’s the thing… I never voted for either Bill Clinton or Bush 43, but in their years after leaving the White House they’re both men I enjoy listening to from time to time.

After this election is over this country better learn to get along is all I can say.

Bill Clinton beat Bush 41 in 1992, but in the years which followed… Bill Clinton in reality became one of 41 and Barbara Bush’s sons for crying out loud.

Barack Obama became the 44th president primarily because Bush 43’s eight years in the White House were a struggle which ended with two wars and an economic collapse.

But in the years which followed….Bush 43 has behaved like a normal human being compared to Donald Trump. I read his tribute to his father and it touched me. I read the book as my own father was fighting pancreatic cancer and the warmth of his book touched me.

We as Americans all see the world through 330 million unique prisms. We do. That’s just a fact.

The Civil War II is not something we need to be using as our next model in American history.

My primary hope for Joe Biden if elected is for him to somehow become president for all 330 Americans… not just the president for those in his base.

Oklahoma’s Historic Ice Storm—October 27, 2020

Just west of Oklahoma County in El Reno. As of Wednesday evening…370,000 Oklahomans were still without electricity.

More precip on the way later tonight in Deer Creek.

Just a stunning weather pattern this week in the wetern half of the state. I wonder if this is God punishing Oklahoma for Trump’s gaudy electoral plurality in the reddest of the red states.

That was tongue in cheek…kind of. My Trump friends are adorable. I’m past the point of asking if they would have voted for Stalin if he were the GOP candidate. Why do I do this to myself?

Probably need to finish the second half of my Jeff Bridges Filmfest now that we have power back up and running. We have a generator, but didn’t hook it up this time. We were lucky in we were only down seven hours. Some of those OG&E workers must be reading the blog and want to see the rest of the filmfest is all I can figure.

I feel for these OG&E workers. Tough work in near impossible conditions.

LA Dodgers Win World Series For First Time Since ’88

For the third time in the last four years the LA Dodgers advanced to the World Series…. but for the first time since 1988 they won it.

I watched this video and it reminds me of how much baseball has passed under the bridge since the Dodgers won it all.

After getting down to the Atlanta Braves 3-1 in the NLCS the Dodgers pulled it together and played beautiful overall team baseball to win their seventh championship in franchise history.

When Mookie Betts became a Dodger this past off season one had to figure the Dodgers might be the team to beat and it turns out they were.

Betts scored the game winner in the 3-1 Game 6 clincher versus the Tampa Bay Rays with some heady base running then added a solo home run for insurance with his last at bat in the Series.

He was my MVP because he got the monkey off the Dodger’s back. He did this same thing for the Red Sox several years ago as well.

Klayton Kershaw finally has his World Series ring to go along with his place in baseball history as one of the best left handed pitchers to ever play the game. I’m happy for him. I got to see him pitch in Oklahoma City and it’s something I’ll never forget. He was the opening card for me on that fateful night I found myself at a Waffle House later on experiencing the Anthony Bourdain pecan waffle mystique after the Meriweather-McGregor fight. That was truly one of the great nights of my life.

I have no idea why Rays’ manager Kevin Cash pulled his starting pitcher Snell…but he did and Mookie Betts and the Dodgers took advantage and now are part of baseball lore.

I’m happy for LA manager Dave Robets as well. What a great guy he seems to be.

Cody Bellinger, Cory Seager, and Chris Turner all played in Oklahoma City during their journey to the big leagues and they’re my three favorite current Dodgers minus Kershaw– so good for them as well.

So given I wasn’t even going to watch the World Series if the cheating Houston Astros had advanced…it turned out to be a completely wonderful ending to this World Series for me.

Jeff Bridges Deer Creek Film Festival Session One

Just a horrible weather day in Oklahoma. No reason whatsover to be outside. I had to literally push Pauli outside to pee today. One of the most dreary abysmal weather days I can remember. A perfect day to have your own film festival.

First movie I went with was Thunderbolt and Lightfoot starring both Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges. This timeless sleeper was made in 1974 directed by Michael Cimino who later in his career directed The Deer Hunterwhich won an Oscar for Best Picture.

Jeff Bridges as a kid still with the baby face and goofy smile before his classic stare had been perfected in later movies.

Not an epic movie like Fabulous Baker Boys, but one worth watching if you like Eastwood and Bridges.

The second movie to close out Session One was Wild Bill which is a depiction of the life of Wild Bill Hickok.

Diane Lane plays the role of Sarah Moore the only real love in Wild Bill’s life. Diane Lane is right there at the top of my faavorite actress list so this movie was a natural selection for me.

Nice little movie.

One of the great things about running your own film festival is you can break and have your own intermission as you choose. I a need break before Session Two. It’s like Kramer running the Merv Griffin Show from his apartment. Let’s take a break. Kramer pretending to be Merv Griffin might be my favorite Seinfeld of all-time.

Steph Curry Interviews Bill Gates

Isn’t it tragic we have a sitting president in the midst of perhaps the greatest pandemic in the history of our country and he can’t sit down and answer questions in a mature adultlike manner.

It’s basically tragic and ironic that the reason Trump didn’t do this was because he never wanted the markets to take a hit and hurt his re-election chances.

China just posted positive GDP growth for the third period. I would guess perhaps South Korea will be the next to post a positive quarter of GDP numbers. Do you think the rest of the world is in awe of how the United States has handled Covid? Do you think governments around the globe are viewing the Trump-U.S. template as the ecomonic gold standard moving forward?

It’s equally tragic the fifty-three GOP senators allowed him to do this. How ironic that the party of a fervent pro-life stance only values life in the womb and not across the board for Americans in their latter years.

I would think human life is human life.

How is the life of a fetus different than the life of say an eighty year old?

Why wouldn’t both be valued equally?

I find this contradiction somewhat amazing. If we are going to turn the Supreme Court upside down to overturn Roe vs. Wade then every life should be valued.

But I don’t want to go there. I’m honestly not a person who votes for presidents based on their singular position on abortion. I’m pro choice, but certainly not a zealot. I think it’s woman’s choice, not one for a bunch of white male Republican senators.

Anyway…this interview was sent to me from my sister Jan who works for Bill and Melinda Gates.

Bill Gates is a prolific reader. I would love to someday have coffee with Bill Gates and talk to him about his ten favorite books and my ten favorite books.

Hopefully…Jan has enough sway with Bill to pull this off for me someday. We could meet in Toronto. I would love to be able to live in Toronto at some point from April through October. What a lovely city.