Removing the Trump Muzzle from My Mouth

Following the election back in November, I was disheartened that a majority of electoral college voters would be selecting Donald Trump as the president. I viewed him as a decent businessman whose dad made sure he always had money. I saw him as an entertainer. I did, however, regard him as someone who would make a good politician. He is self-centered and public servants need to be focused on helping others first. I vowed, however, to give him a chance. So, I stayed quiet on social media about my thoughts regarding his actions and decisions.

I bit my tongue as family members called out liberals for protesting the election results. I held back from responding when friends challenged progressives for complaining when Trump fired the man who was investigating his ties to Russia. I have not posted anything political to social media since the election despite a growing inferno burning inside me each time something “un-presidential” occurs at the White House.

Presidents are generally graded out by their actions in the first 100 days and now that Trump has had his 100 days, it is time to review exactly what he has done. Keep in mind, my opinion of Trump is one that is probably not going to be shared by the vast majority of those who voted for him. When a man makes statements during his campaign that exposes him as being anti-women, anti-Mexican, anti-Chinese, anti-Muslim, anti-African American, anti-religion and pro-Russian, it is easy for me to know that he is a bad person and that I would never support him in those endeavors. Knowing this, however, also lets me know that if people are willing to cast their vote for a person like that, they have already made a statement as to who they are and it is likely nothing he does is going to sway that.

Early on in his presidency, it appeared that the former Democrat (look it up) was going back on all his campaign promises. He finally admitted he wasn’t going to exactly repeal ObamaCare, but was merely going to make some minor changes to it. It felt as if there might be hope for him after all. As it turns out, however, he flip-flopped on that admission and it seems that he is only making changes to the parts that the majority of people liked and is bending over backwards to make sure the money-makers are getting what they want.

He proved his anti-Muslim stance with his attempted executive order to ban Muslims from hand-picked countries from coming into the U.S. Amazingly enough, I still found people out there who wanted to defend that action. People whose heritage began in another country were in support of banning people like their ancestors from coming to this country. It is embarrassing that I know people like that. Knowing how this country became what it is and knowing what it is they now support is just incredible to me.

There are dozens of examples of things that Trump has done in his first few months that are worthy of convincing people to no longer support him (trying to waste taxpayer money on building a wall, undoing progress on the environment, his appointments to the Cabinet and other leadership positions). However, the links to Russia are enough. Having members of his campaign working with Russian officials to affect the election was one thing. One illegal thing. However, firing the man (FBI director James Comey) who was investigating that isn’t something that should just get people’s attention. It is a desperate act of a man who is clearly attempting to keep something secret. And for those of us who know history, it is a repeat of what President Richard Nixon did when he was being investigated during the Watergate scandal.

This week, Trump doubled down on his pro-Russian moves with his admission that he handed over classified secrets to Russian officials based on his decision that it was good diplomacy for them to have that information. I said during his entire campaign that he was a child whose daddy made him a millionaire. His dad made a choice to allow him to run an empire but we should have never allowed a person with this behavior to run a country, much less our country.

This probably won’t be my last blog attempting to expose what is going on in this country. If you still support this behavior, I know I am not going to say anything that is going to convince you about his lack of character. That’s on you. People voted for him despite knowing he was nothing more than a bully in nice clothes (made in China and Mexico), and they aren’t going to be easily convinced that he is doing anything wrong. But, smarter people than me and you will make that determination sooner rather than later. And, maybe, just maybe, we can have a nation to be proud of instead of the laughing stock of the world that we have become in 2017.

Sports World Got Your Head Spinning?

There seems to be so much going on in the sports world that sometimes I feel the need to tackle multiple topics all at once. Today will be one of those days.

Most of the focus lately has been on the NBA playoffs, which seems to have less meaning around OKC nowadays. For obvious reasons. But, I don’t think it is just that reason that the second round of the playoffs seems to be so lackluster this year. Sure, the Celtics-Wizards playoff series has been entertaining with the home teams winning every game and the players clearly not getting along with each other. And, yes, Rockets-Spurs is 2-2 but both of those series have a loser’s consolation bracket feel, and it just seems like destiny has hand-picked Golden State and Cleveland to play in a third straight NBA Finals. Yawn.

Speaking of the Warriors, KD finally showed the ability to lead a team to a post-season win. Yeah, yeah, I realize that isn’t fair or true. He did lead OKC to wins in the postseason. But one has to wonder what the landscape of the NBA might have looked like if KD had been more focused on practicing and winning last year when the Thunder were up 3-1 over the defending champions (at the time). Instead, he was secretly talking to Golden State players about the possibility of signing with them as a free agent. It’s not just sour grapes – it’s a follower doing what followers do.

Draymond Green says Kelly Olynyk of the Celtics is a dirty player. Who doesn’t think that statement isn’t a kick to the family jewels? So, yeah, Draymond Green – he of the billion technical fouls and the infamous kicks to clearly targeted areas – is calling someone else a dirty player. That would be like me accusing Draymond Green of having no talent. See what I did there?

And before we leave the Celtics behind, we can’t forget what Isaiah Thomas said about the rough style of play coming from the Wizards. Any Thunder fans out there wondering when Scott Brooks-coached teams began getting known for playing with a chip on their shoulder? Hmm, maybe it would have saved his job.

Is it safe to say we are finally over the LeBron James to South Beach drama? When that happened – and keep in mind, I have no allegiance to Cleveland – I felt like it was one of the crappiest moves a free agent had ever made. He made it seem as if Cleveland was going to be his home, and then suddenly he was arrogantly off to Miami. For fellow Thunder fans, the KD move felt the same but is actually worse since Golden State is a champion without KD. And from what I can tell, the Warriors were probably a better team without KD. Just an observation from a lifelong basketball player.

Everyone made a big deal about Joe Mixon getting picked by Cincinnati in the second round of the NFL draft. People, he was going to get drafted. If Greg Hardy was going to get a second chance to play in the NFL after everything in his past, it was clear that an apologetic Mixon was going to also get a second chance. The victim accepted his apology (as well as a settlement in a civil case). You don’t get to be more upset than the victim. She appears to be over it, and so should you.

What is going on with Matt Harvey and with the New York Mets as a whole? He doesn’t show up to the ballpark due to a migraine and an apparent miscommunication. And then he is suspended for three games. That was questionable or at least interesting, but the Mets can’t seem to stay out of the news. Tweets of photos that include sex toys. A dispute regarding MRI’s between the general manager and pitcher Noah Syndergaard. A pitching staff once regarded as the best in baseball that is now always injured. The Mets are becoming … well, the Mets.

Just for your information, I picked Always Dreaming. I liked the inside position and the pre-race results. But, it didn’t hurt that Always Dreaming was the favorite. Favorites don’t always win the Kentucky Derby, however. And a lot of people picked against the favorite in this race. Just not me.

Does anyone still watch NASCAR? Besides my dad? I was a Jeff Gordon fan and I rarely watched. I realize Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a popular driver but does anyone actually tune in to watch him? The numbers are saying most people don’t. And now that Junior is retiring, can the viewership numbers go any lower?

And lastly, we can’t leave out golf. OK, we could leave out golf, but the US Open is coming up next month. But, first of all, we must give a shout out to John Daly, who finally won another tournament this past weekend. Got to love those fellow public golf course guys!

Back to the US Open. Who ya got? I’m saying now I’ll take Dustin Johnson but if he takes another tumble down the stairs, all bets are off. But it would be great to see Phil Mickelson win at least one more major before his golf game starts to look like mine. OK, Mickelson on his worst day is still better than me on my best, but he can only go downhill from here. Just like my blog …

Why Mike Tyson Wouldn't Be Working In My Office

Back when I was early in my adult years, a growing trend at the time was for men to start wearing earrings. Early on, it was considered “safe” to wear one earring in the left lobe, but eventually it became accepted to go ahead and wear an earring on both sides.

I initially experimented with another novelty in the late 80’s/early 90’s – magnetic earrings – just to see what they looked like and how people reacted. It was received well enough that I was willing to go ahead and get my left ear pierced. Months and possibly even a couple of years later, I decided to go ahead and get my right ear pierced as well.

Given that I was a bartender/college student during this time and for many years thereafter (which is a story for another day), it was an easy look for me to get away with. Eventually, however, I found myself getting close to finishing college and I began interviewing for professional career jobs. And the earrings came out. It was an easy decision given that I knew there would be numerous potential employers who would be turned off by the thought of having a guy with earrings facing the public as an employee of his or her company.

It was the right decision then and it has proven to be the right decision now. The holes have completely grown in and nobody has ever mentioned that it looked like I had once had earrings. That’s because they weren’t permanent and there is no trace of their existence.

Nowadays, I have noticed a trend for people to not only get tattoos, but to get them all over their bodies. During my early adult years, it wasn’t uncommon to see men and women with multiple tattoos, but they were typically strategically placed and not something that showed when applying for jobs. Today, however, there are pics everywhere that show more and more people getting sleeves of tattoos and neck tattoos and even face tattoos.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of any of these. I’m fine with random tattoos in strategically placed spots. I might have been willing to get one at some point in my life if I hadn’t instead spent my money on adult beverages during trips to Texas (Oklahoma didn’t allow tattoos until I was past my wild days.). But the growth in the number of tattoos people have now just seems to make it risky for people to find gainful employment. At least in an office setting.

Sure, there are jobs that are going to not think twice about hiring someone with a neck tattoo. Whether it is working in a bar or at a hair salon or in construction, body art isn’t something that is going to be a big deal. But in my world – where everyone had to work hard to finish college and work equally as hard to build their appearance and reputation – it almost comes across as disrespectful or at least out of place when someone is being considered for a job while showing off an inked snake slithering across the side of their neck. The bottom line is a guy with a face tattoo like Mike Tyson has isn’t going to get past the HR department if he were to apply for a white-collar job. At least here in Oklahoma.­­­

The smart ones cover up the tattoos when going in for an interview, but some of them are arrogant enough to think they are going to get the job despite their temporarily hidden tattoos. And as I mentioned before, some of them do. But people from my generation and from the generation that preceded mine still run a lot of the businesses out there, and as a whole they aren’t excited about having neck-tattoo guy or sleeve-tattoo girl representing their company in an important meeting. It’s too risky. And employers are smart enough to check out social media pics and tattoos typically are easy to find there.

Ironically, the trend of getting tattoos all over the body seemed to be a way for people to individualize themselves from others. However, now with practically everyone having multiple tattoos, it has become almost the cooler thing for someone to not have tattoos.

So, there you have it. Not only are tattoos potentially creating situations where employment could be a problem, but they could potentially be making you just like everyone else. So much for being a trendsetter. As it turns out, a lack of body art is what makes us unique. The rest of you are stuck with the decision or decisions you made.