Politics –
1) who cares about how much Rosie donated? I get it. There are election laws. We, as US citizens, must abide, but let’s use this story as an example of backward laws. Crafty individuals can donate what at times sounds like endless amounts of money because of illustrious PACs and ‘super’ PACs. Marketing campaigns done by current politicians like Beto in Texas and Kamala Harris claim to not use funding from PACs which is nothing more than McDonalds advertising they only use real chicken in their McNuggets. It’s a PR blitz. My opinion – let the donations be far and wide as much as is given. With tech today – if you are a good candidate, you can use the Internet to your advantage and become relevant for minimal cash. If your message resonates, you don’t need ‘super’ PAC cash.
2) I prefer judging Trump on a week by week basis. I feel it has given me the most realistic perspective on his progress. Some morons do it daily, and even hourly. That is just far too difficult. Take the bad with the good and judge it on a seven-day spectrum. For him, this was a reactively calm week. I would give him a B- because nothing bad happened but no real wins. His foreign policy is rolling, and the market appears to have stabilized which helps his economy numbers. Cabinet drama has slowed. He made the move regarding Honduras and most of the stories didn’t stick nationally. It is clear the masses in USA do not care (first) about the rights of illegals or tempt immigrants. All take. No bite. Dems are learning a valuable lesson so far in 2018. Economy trumps everything … pardon my pun. Think about it – his approval creeps higher despite negativity from the special counsel, gun control, immigration, and an overall upcoming ‘Blue Wave.’ Case and point for the DNC – the average American cares first about the money in their wallet (economy, unemployment, tax rates/401k balances, and stock market). He is winning on all these fronts. Second, safety. The international threat of North Korea is a big deal. Domestically, the gun control debate has disappeared. He will continue to gain in popularity if he can maintain both of these fronts. Rest is just noise.
Sports
1) I’ll write a lot more about three issues late this week, but let me make some brief points. First, Brett Brown has to go for the Sixers. Stephen A on ESPN made an excellent point of coach Brown losing all three games. It’s true. The Sixers are soft and his is due to his coaching. He can’t put the right lineup on the floor, control the tempo of the game, and overall is simply being out coached. Sixers have too much talent to let this fall away, and they will be playing the Celtics probably every year in the playoffs for five years. They have to make a change.
The Dbacks are good. Bouncing back from two bad losses versus the Dodgers and an embarrassing lost against the Astros in game one of the series out the team on officially long slump watch. They bounced back strong with a come from behind win in both of their remaining games. Big wins. Astros certainly have pen issues. They’ll need to fix it if they plan to compete versus the Sox and Yanks. To me, Dbacks only have the Cubs in their way. Rest of the NL has not proved themselves. I’m interested to see if the Rockies can keep it up. The Giants are a wildcard to me. They may sustain some success. Cards are a fluke for now. Rest of the league isn’t worth my time.
3) Let me end with the best part. The Golden Knights. Something incredible is happening there. For the NHL – shame on you for not making this a bigger story through the year. Now you have the Knights and Jets in the West final and no one knows about these teams BUT both are fantastic stories. Shame on other sports networks for dodging the topic of hockey. The team is born out of tragedy. Shooting happens as the season debuts. The first few games are out of a storybook. The next month displays their fantastic start. The city embraces them exponentially day by day. Now, they take down two West powerhouses back to back and make the final. It appears they’ll dodge Nashville, who I felt would beat them. Jets are hot. It will be a great series.
Anyways – that’s enough for now. Enjoy your day.
Phil Your Day 