Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Sweetie Pie's on the courthouse square now has a hanging sign that reads, "Immediate Seating."  Uh, all the time? 
• The Supreme Court announced yesterday it would take a case to decide whether double jeopardy prevents both state and federal prosecutions for the same crime. Amazingly, the answer for all my life has been "no".  Is a change coming? Probably not. If Trump gets his way, the Court will probably just  issue an opinion that simply reads, "Sure. What's the problem? We affirm."
• Trump called the press "America's greatest enemy" the other day and has been railing on the media since day one. Conservative poster boy Milo Yiannopoulos said two days ago, “I can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight.” Now we have a guy walk into the offices of the  The Capital Gazette in Maryland and kill five. It's amazing what happens when nutcases are empowered. 
• Not sure I've ever heard this accurate twist:
  
  
• Just like I get rattled when there is news of a courthouse shooting, I bet there was tremendous uneasiness at the Messenger yesterday afternoon.
• And America has come to this: Cops guard the New York Times after the shooting in Maryland yesterday. 
  
• One of the reporters who saw her friends die had a hot and emotional opinion on Anderson Cooper shortly after the incident about people sending their "thoughts and prayers" .
• Remember when Gov. Abbott visited a gun range and, after admiring his target sheet, said,  “I’m gonna carry this around in case I see any reporters”?
• Since I read Elmer Gantry, I did a quick Wiki search on Sinclair Lewis. Look at this description for his 1935 novel It Can't Happen Here: "Published during the rise of fascism in Europe, the novel describes the rise of Berzelius 'Buzz' Windrip, a politician who defeats Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) and is elected President of the United States, after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and 'traditional' values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government and imposes a plutocratic/totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force, in the manner of Adolf Hitler  and the SS." Change "ruthless" to "weak" and that description is haunting considering our current political climate.
  
• I've been on to this alleged con man Chris Faulkner for years. I'm proud to announce he now has been arrested and federally charged. He used to sponsor Mark Davis' podcast, and I could tell he was a snake oil salesman within one minute. 
  
• Hey, over 1 million gallons of raw sewage is headed to White Rock Lake. Happy 4th of July!
• Buried in the news last night was the disturbing revelation that retiring Justice Kennedy's son, who worked at basically the only bank which will lend Trump money, Deutsche Bank, was the equivalent of Trump's personal banker while he was employed there.
• The Sophomore in the House is in Georgia. I got eye rolls as I hit her with, "That's the Night That The Lights Went Out in Georgia", "Georgia On My Mind", "Sweet Georgia Brown" (the Harlem Globetrotter's theme), and John Mayer's "Georgia, Why."  I forgot "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" and who knows how many others. That would be a great Jeopardy category.
• The Star-Telegram needs to update its home page. The TCU article, dated February 6th, is about a basketball game. 
  
• Trump told a "rally" in Wisconsin yesterday that Ronald Reagan never won that state. That's a lie. Reagan won it in 1984. A lie like that used to cause a politician to be disgraced. 
• The Capital put out its paper: