Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Highway 287 was shut down both way outside of Rhome this morning. From the map, it looks to be at the location where more than one death has occurred in the past. (Cars and trucks are trying to enter 287 from the east. And, compared to 10 to 20 years ago, 287 looks like Central Expressway in the mornings.)
  
  
• Let me tell you something, I've changed many a car battery in my life and last night I had to flex my skills again as I came to the rescue of Mrs. LL. As I excitedly prepped like a NASCAR pit crew and/or the dad in A Christmas Story, I ran into a complication I had never seen before: I had to take the driver's side front tire off to get to the battery.  You kidding me? Who is the engineering genius who designed that? I'm writing a stern letter to Chrysler. 
  
• Trump's day:
• He cut a "deal" with Turkey telling them they could continue to drive the Kurds out the land they occupy and that the sanctions that we just imposed would be reversed.  There's supposed to be a temporary cease fire, but even it's not happening. 
• Said Turkey would now not "have to kill millions of people." Huh?
• Went all Hitler by saying about the Kurds living along the border: "[T]hey had to have it cleaned out." Good lord. 
• His acting Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, specifically said that there was a quid pro quo to withhold millions of dollars from the Ukraine in order to get them to investigate the "DNC Server" (which is based upon a crazy and debunked conspiracy theory that Giuliani is chasing to exonerate Russia from its election interference), told us to "get over it",  and then three hours later had to put out a statement to say he didn't say what he said. Trump's going to fire him.
  
• "Mad dog" Mattis had enough of Trump and said last night, “I earned my spurs on the battlefield. Donald Trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor.” And there's more: 
  
• Retired Admiral William H. McRaven (he led the team that killed Bin Laden, former Chancellor of the University of Texas System, and author of the great "Make Your Bed" speech), wrote a New York Times opinion piece saying Trump is destroying the U.S., has caused our Republic to be under attack, and that it's time for Trump to go. 
• Told an audience at the AAC in Dallas that there were "30,000 people outside." 
• Announced that the G7 Summit will be held at his private golf course -- a mind-boggling theft of taxpayer dollars. (A Texas county commissioner would get indicted if he brought donuts to a county meeting from his donut shop and then submitted a bill to the county auditor. Seriously.)
• I don't know what to make of the Trump Rally in Dallas. I can't deny that he has his 43% base, and there is nothing he can do that will prevent them from worshiping him. It's a cult the likes of which I have never seen before.  (Here's a great thread of photos of people who showed at the AAC.)
  
• Here's an oddity: That Tarrant County DA's office tried two people this week for the misdemeanor offense of prostitution. Both people were found not guilty. I'm guessing the verdict form could have had "and we don't care" next to "Not guilty."
  
•  I think I want to marry this woman. Yes, I'd think she's crazy but I'd spend all my time walking around the house thinking about what she just said. Take for example this tweet from her yesterday. There's a lot to unpack in this statement, but I'd spend an hour in silence trying to figure out why she threw in "home repair" at the end of it. Then I'd end up hugging her for acknowledging that, yes, yes I do have home repair needs that the federal government doesn't care about.   
  
• Christmas falls on Wednesday this year. How's this for a Wise County government calendar: They will be closed on Monday, open a half day on Tuesday, and then closed on Wednesday.
• This Dallas lawyer got held in contempt yesterday, handcuffed, and thrown in the hoosegow. (Here's the ruling and the story. ) He actually missed the afternoon session of court because he was in jail. I don't think I've ever heard of that before. But I like his fire:  “Put a black man in jail, huh? That’s the only way to shut him up.”
  
• Trump ordered all flags flown at half staff today because of the death of Elijah Cummings. I presume local government will follow suit, but I haven't looked out the window yet.