Fat Pitch

Stopped Clocks and Blind Squirrels

One of the sublime pleasures of a life spent engaging in rhetorical combat toe-to-toe with the forces of ignorance and irrationality is the endless supply of asininity and preposterousness with which to amuse oneself. It's like going to the local batting range and feasting on Peggy Lee fastballs. Big fun, if you enjoy that sort of thing. Which I do.

"Who says I don't act presidential?"

So asshat Donald Trump (a major emitter of asininity and preposterousness) was in my state yesterday, making a campaign appearance in Dubuque. When you live in Iowa, you have to accept the infestation of national politicians every four years the way people learn to live with periodical cicadas. It's just a fact of life, more of an annoyance than it is anything else. That he was in Dubuque was reason for me to be glad I live in Council Bluffs, more than 300 miles to the west.





Anyway, there was a kerfuffle at Trump's press conference when pro-immigration activist Jorge Ramos (it is inaccurate to describe him as a "reporter," since reporters don't routinely do things like this), rather than wait to be called upon (like the rest of the, you know, reporters), simply stood up again began assailing Trump for his stance on immigration. He was escorted from the premises by security, then brought back and given a second chance, which he also mostly wasted. His agenda was plainly to heckle the candidate and polish his own pro-immigration street cred. It was an embarrassing display, but Univision has never been bothered by his partisanship up to now, so I doubt there will be any consequences for him.

My point is that, although Trump obviously did the right thing by ejecting Ramos from the press conference, doing so does not automatically make everything Trump says or does, whether on immigration or on other issues, equally correct. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in awhile. Thinking otherwise (which Trump's supporters clearly do) is a variant of the genetic fallacy. Unfortunately, Trump supporters are by no means alone in committing this error; it is one of the most common fallacies in political and social controversies. It is also, for me, a fat, juicy Peggy Lee fastball.

In Dubuque yesterday, Trump was just a blind squirrel finding a nut. That's all. He's still a blithering idiot, as he demonstrated just the other day...

Things That Make Me Happy: Bullpen Love Edition

Last night my beloved Kansas City Royals held on for a tense 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Kauffman Stadium. It was their fourth straight win, and the sixth straight defeat for the slumping Orioles. The Royals are 12-2 in their last 14 home games.

As the score suggests, this was mostly a night for the pitchers. Danny Duffy (7-6, 4.13 ERA) couldn't quite finish the 6th inning, but Luke Hochevar and All-Star Kelvin Herrera protected the 3-2 lead until the 9th inning. All-Star Wade Davis earned his 12th save with just 13 pitches.

DH Kendrys Morales gave the Royals the lead, which they never relinquished, with a massive 472-foot solo home run (his 14th of the season) to lead off the 2nd inning...

"BOOM!"

Game 3 of the four-game series is tonight, with Johnny Cueto (9-8, 2.70 ERA) starting for the Royals opposite Wei-Yin Chen (7-6, 3.13) for the Orioles.

Switching to Front-Wheel Drive

When I moved to Casper, Wyoming in July 1983 to begin a teaching gig, I was still driving the 1976 Pontiac Catalina I wrote about here. Unfortunately, she did not do well in the higher elevation (Casper is around 5,200 feet above sea level), and periodically she would simply refuse to start. I learned that there was a fix for this known issue with carbureted engines at high elevations, but that the cost would be prohibitive for such an old vehicle.

As Christmas vacation approached in December, I finally sold the Catalina and went shopping for her replacement. In addition to the fuel delivery issue, the Catalina's rear-wheel-drive layout had been a problem occasionally when the weather turned dicey, so I decided to give front-wheel drive vehicles some attention. I wound up settling on a brand new 1984 Buick Skylark Limited Sedan...

1984 Buick Skylark Limited Sedan

Mine was a light blue/dark blue two-tone that reminded me of my high school alma mater's color scheme. It did have the fake wire wheel covers and the "opera lights" mounted on the "C" pillar just like the one pictured.

The Skylark was Buick's iteration of the X Platform, which only had one more model year of life left when I bought mine. The Oldsmobile and Pontiac iterations of the platform ended after the 1984 model year, while the Buick and Chevrolet iterations ended with 1985 models.

My Skylark served me well and faithfully, through beastly Wyoming winters and 800-mile drives between Casper and Kansas City, for many years. I have never gone back to rear-wheel drive vehicles.

Unassailable Truth

From the witty--and truthful--comic strip Zits, by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, which you should read every day, as I do.

Until Next Time...

One of the innumerable pleasures of music is savoring collaborations by talented musicians who blend their individual gifts into a pleasing musical whole, without regard for ego or reputation. I enjoy listening to players who serve the music, rather than themselves.

Today's send-off is one such collaboration. It is a performance of Beethoven's Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 70 No. 1 (the famous "Ghost" trio) by Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, and Emanuel Ax, virtuosos all. Enjoy...