Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I'm still in a funk about my missed snow forecast. Here's a map of the ultimate snowfall. Look how close we were. It was as if there was a force-field around Wise County's borders.

  

  My graphics team made that little yellow arrow thingy.

• “We were treated unbelievably unfairly, and you have to understand we first went through Russia, Russia, Russia. It was all bullshit.” - The President of the United States before his cabinet and members of Congress in the White House.

  

  That's an extremely white audience for a very diverse nation.

• Trump is going to be Trump. But I can't get over the audience just fawning over him like he's a Supreme Ruler as he rants like a madman. (Rhetorically and historically speaking, haven't we seen this before?) They just waited out in the audience like children waiting for their king to say their name and praise them. It's just flat out weird.
• What's next? Is every Valedictorian of every high school going to use the word "bullshit" in their Valedictorian speech because the President of the United States has gas-lighted them to do so? Why not? 
• I think its a big deal that the hospital in Bowie closed. 
  
• One faithful reader took at the Pat Mahomes photo I posted yesterday of him wearing the photoshopped Kansas/Missouri mix-up shirt and noticed the necklace of his girlfriend. That man is in control of his scene. 
  
• The attack from big money on Kay Granger is real and just a little sleazy. This is all funded by a Super PAC.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Speaking of big money, one candidate for Congress a Texas House seat Dr. Glenn Rogers, withdrew from a public forum yesterday because of the Empower Texans Super PAC connection. He's right. Empower Texans is basically two rich guys out of West Texas, and now the son-in-law of one of them is running against Rogers. Roger then learned that the moderator of the forum works for Empower Texans and had already done a hit piece on him.  
  
• Legal stuff which became a way-too-long-bullet-point-which-will-only-interest-two-of-you all because I saw a Washington Post story: Little Tom Green County made national news  in a Prosecutors vs. One Defense lawyer battle. 
• The defense lawyer filed an appeal in a case involving a guy named Carpenter after his probation was revoked. She argued that the original lawyer who negotiated the plea bargain was ineffective  because, in her view, all plea bargains are unconstitutional. It's a novel argument, but the DA's office had to use resources to fight the appeal.  Importantly, the defense lawyer lost but is still pending further review. 
• But the DA's office had a plan: Hey, Ms. Defense Lawyer, if we reach a plea bargain with you with any of your future cases and clients, we want you to sign a waiver that says,  “In no way do I believe this defendant’s plea of guilty in exchange for the State’s punishment recommendation in this case to have violated my client’s constitutional rights, including his due-process rights.” 
• She wouldn't do it and had to withdraw from ten cases since the DA's office wouldn't try to work out the cases unless she signed the waiver as part of the deals. That's not fair to the clients so she got out. 
• She then filed a federal civil suit against the DA's office.  I appreciate her spunk. 
• So here's what I think is going on: (1) The DA's office wants her to sign the waiver to foreclose her trying to appeal the current plea bargained cases - most which would be probations which would only be appealed if the defendant screwed up and got revoked. (2) The  DA's office would also try to use her affirmation against her in the still pending Carpenter appeal. It probably wouldn't work, but worth a try.  (3) The defense lawyer is suing in federal court saying the policy targeting her is a violation of her Free Speech rights which, I think, has a heck of a lot more merit than you would think. 
• I've said it before: I think there's a good chance Michael Bloomberg catches fire in the next two months and wins the Democratic nomination. 
• This morning we learned, thanks only to journalism and a free press, that the Secret Service has been paying Trump's properties up to $650 a night for a room when he goes golfing.