I Can't Brain Today...

Shameless Plug

I readily admit that I stole the title for today's post from a t-shirt design by the wonderful folks at SnorgTees.

Highly recommended that you check 'em out!

Palmetto Pinheads

South Carolina, known as the Palmetto State because its state tree is the sabal palmetto, held its Republican primary on Saturday (the Democrats have theirs on February 27). The results do not speak well for the intellectual capacity of South Carolinians.



Asshat Donald Trump finished in 1st place with 32.5% of the vote, meaning two-thirds
of voters preferred "Not Trump" options, but because the South Carolina GOP is idiotic, the rules awarded all 50 delegates to the Republican National Convention to Trump.
And you thought the Democrats flipping coins at the Iowa Caucuses was stupid...

A great deal has been made of the "historical precedent" argument that no GOP candidate who won both the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries has failed
to win the GOP nomination. What this narrative overlooks is Trump's historically weak showing in both primaries. Trump's winning percentage in New Hampshire (35.34%) would be the lowest of any winner who went on to receive the party's nomination, and his winning percentage in South Carolina (32.5%) would also be the lowest of any winner who went on to become the GOP nominee.

"I'm pissed off, and you're gonna have to deal with it!"

One of the frustrating results of exit polling was that only 21% of voters who supported Trump considered "electability" as a factor in their vote. In other words, they don't care if Trump brings the party down like the fucking Hindenburg in the general election. Great!


In many respects, this campaign reminds me a lot of 2008, when "maverick" John McCain (another guy with anger management issues who hated conservatism) got the nomination with weak support because the Not McCain voters waited too long to rally behind a single standard-bearer. If things go on as they have been, the inability of Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz to consolidate the conservative vote will be disastrous for the party.

"My PAC spent $100 million for this shit? Damn it..."

One positive was that the hapless campaign of Jeb Bush came to an end, $100 million worth of negative ads being insufficient to persuade voters to give yet another Bush a crack
at the brass ring.



Bush's flame-out ought to put an end to all of the nonsense we hear from progressives about the Citizens United decision, but it won't, of course.

"You should try to calm down. Think about your blood pressure..."

I'm quite calm, thank you for your concern...

Baseball Irony

Just yesterday I wrote about how LHP Brian Flynn was starting his comeback from an injury that ended his 2015 season. Brian is hoping to make the pitching staff of my beloved Kansas City Royals with a strong spring training (he barely missed making the club last season). I included a picture of Brian in the entry, wearing No. 33.

41 - 34, 4.38 ERA in 654 IP as a Royal

After the blog was already up came news that RHP Jeremy Guthrie, whom the Royals did not tender a contract for 2016, had signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. I was glad to hear that Jeremy will have a chance to make the Rangers' starting rotation. He's a great guy, and I'll miss him.

Jeremy, as you can see, wore No. 33 during his Royals career...

I know, old friend, I know...me, too...

Trump in a Nutshell

From the pen of Chip Bok, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

A Summer Place was a popular movie released in 1959 based on a best-selling novel by Sloan Wilson. The film is far better remembered nowadays for a piece of music that was used in it than for its merits as a film.

Original 1959 "one sheet" poster

Composer Max Steiner's "Theme from 'A Summer Place'" was originally called "Molly and Johnny Theme" because it was only used in scenes involving those characters in the film, and wasn't the film's primary musical motif.

Recorded as an instrumental by Percy Faith, the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart on February 22, 1960.

It would hold on to the No. 1 position for nine consecutive weeks, which at the time was a new record. It remains one of the most instantly-recognizable bits of music in movie history.





Today's send-off pairs the original Percy Faith Orchestra recording with some promotional images for the film. Enjoy...