Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• The Republicans better hope the Youth of America didn't watch Tim Pawlenty or Mike Huckabee at the convention last night. The "Dad Humor" was enough to send them running from the room. 
• Mark Davis tweeted last night that the Republicans only lose presidential election when the nominee isn't conservative enough.  That is completely out of touch with political reality. A "strong conservative" can't win, and will never win again, even the Republican nomination. If the candidate is not a moderate, the Republicans stand no chance. 
• Davis has also actually been speculating that Paul Ryan could be in the White House for the next sixteen years (eight as VP and then eight as President.) That's delirious thinking. When's the last time either party held the White House for four straight terms? 
• Paul Ryan appeared on TV the other night and Mrs. LL fired off a "Hey, now!"
• There will be a "mystery speaker" at tonight's convention. Speculation is on for Sarah Palin (no way), Clint Eastwood (maybe), a hologram Ronald Reagan (which would be brilliantly fantastic), and Tim Tebow (but for that game tonight in Philadelphia). Any other predictions?
• The Republicans rolled out an African-American (Condi Rice) and then an Hispanic (New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez) last night to seem more diverse. The latter proclaimed she was a former prosecutor of child abusers -- the cheapest political ploy on the books. 
• It was funny last night when Paul Ryan introduced his family in the audience. The cameras turned to the family and his daughter had a friend sitting with her right in the middle of the picture. That friend scrambled out of there like there were bullets flying. 
• Mickey Spagnola had a little trouble remembering what station he was on last night at the beginning of the Cowboys game. 
• The Fourth Grader In The House has a select softball tournament this week. I saw the schedule. Good grief. After a couple of warm up games she plays a third game on Saturday which is the beginning round of a double elimination tournament. If they lose, the next game is at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday -- at a location one hour from our house. 
• Cancelling the Aggie game tonight was spot on. Shreveport will be dumped on all day today.  North Texas at LSU in Baton Rouge is still a go for Saturday.
• Watched Hard Knocks off of the DVR last night. Did the previous episodes bleep out the cussing but this one didn't? (And if you want to see a coach with less personality than Wade Phillips, check out Dolphins coach Joe Philbin.)
• Random Facts Learned Yesterday: The Beatles last concert (in Candlestick Park) was composed of only eleven songs, lasted 33 minutes, top ticket was $6.50, and only 25,000 of the stadium's 42,500 seats were filled.
• The ex-trooper harassment of his ex-wife case in Fort Worth is pretty bizarre. But before he was convicted yesterday, uber-conservative district judge Sharen Wilson almost threw out one of the charges for lack of evidence.