A few thoughts on the Trump presidency and all things political to date on an unseasonably warm late November weekend:

…I can’t believe I’m reading this in a National Review column. I mean, these guys have been the biggest bunch of “Never Trumpers” on the right. I have always believed that, sooner or later, the sheer power and audacity of President Trump to keep hammering his message over the media’s heads and to the people were going to cause even folks on the right who have previously had nothing to do with him to come around, even grudgingly.

…and on the very same day this as well. Anytime you’ve got National Review offering up grudging respect you know the resistance of even the hardest “Never Trumpers” is starting to wane.

…Which tells me that the same must be true even in the back halls of Congress. At some point, even they have to realize that Trump is an unstoppable force that isn’t going away any time soon. Folks can speculate all they want about 2020, but that race is still two years away and by that time Trump is going to have one heck of a record to run on. The media can trash him 24/7 all they want, but folks can see for themselves what’s going on around them. If the economy continues to improve, if “The Wall” is getting built, and if Congress passes meaningful tax, healthcare, and immigration reform it’s hard to see what Democrats have as a platform to run against him in 2020. Being anti-Trump simply for the sake of it? A $15 minimum wage? Don’t make me laugh. But right now that’s all they have.

…never mind the fact that I think you’re going to see YUUUGE developments take place in the Middle East. Wouldn’t surprise me that a Saudi and Egypt-led alliance against Iran also results in a peace treaty that results in a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians. And who knows, maybe, ultimately, the creation of a Palestinian state committed to Israel’s existence. Don’t laugh, things are moving very fast these days – especially as far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, and it’s all because of the President, the people he has put in place, and his strong commitment to America’s allies who see a return to America as a force for good in the world. The days of Barack Hussein Obama apologizing for what this country stands for are over; the world has never seen a force like this President who says what he thinks and acts on what he says.

…Granted, all the above is making a lot of assumptions, and everything could go to sh*t faster than you can say, “Al Franken breast-grabber”, but right now it seems to me that, at some point, the whole Russia collusion thing is going to be replaced by a myriad of sexual allegations that will rock Congress to the core. It has to – I mean, you know in your heart this kind of thing has been going on and has been swept under the rug ever since sexual predators like Ted Kennedy and Connecticut senator Chris Dodd roamed the hallways of the Senate. And while Congress is smoldering in the wreckage of many resignations, the Trump administration will keep moving forward as a force continually to be reckoned with.

…which is why it’s hard to see Democrats nominating any man – I don’t care what his qualifications are – for President in 2020. It will be an all-woman ticket and a strategy that is bound to fail. Oh, you’ll get all the same “blue” states that Hillary got in 2016, but does anyone truly think any state that voted for Donald Trump is going to switch simply because someone like California senator Kamala Harris or Oprah or even Michelle Obama is running? Ain’t gonna happen.

…and besides, I guarantee you that with their clamp-downs on voter registration fraud both New Hampshire and Minnesota will go “red” as they would have done last year without the fraud.

…Finally, as far as the 2018 mid-terms go, it’s really all going to come down to two factors: 1) incumbent Republicans coming to embrace President Trump’s agenda for fear of being primaried, and 2) the ability of Democrats to get out ‘the Resistance” and swamp those Republican incumbents with their sheer energy. I’m not sure the latter is going to happen in all but the bluest of states and congressional districts, but we’ll see.

…If Judge Roy Moore wins in Alabama it will be an absolute shock to the system. Not to mention Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s future. All things being equal between now and December 11, I think Moore wins and McConnell is in big trouble. It would be an awesome thing to see.

Days until the 2018 Goodboys Invitational: 239
Handicap: 27.0 / Change: (-0.3)
Location: Trilogy Golf Club at Power Ranch
Score: 50 / 51 = 101

Pars – 6
Bogeys – 3

I know what you’re thinking: how is it someone who shoots +3 over nine holes – +3! – can’t break 100 for eighteen? Well, it’s easy:

Triples – 3
Quads – 3

When you shoot +21 over the span of six holes it’s pretty easy. Which pretty much explains the strangest round I think I’ve ever played. I’d been doing some quality work on my game since my return from Massachusetts a few weeks ago. Tried to focus more on staying on top of the ball in my take-away (i.e., no swaying) and staying behind the ball in my downswing (keeping my upper body quiet). I’d also changed my set-up at address and my ball position when chipping around the green, going to a slightly-more open stance and moving the ball from just off my back foot to the middle position. In both cases I think it showed in parts of my performance today, though most certainly not all. Notably, I did have four one-putts, which showed the improvement in my short game even though there were some hiccups along the way.

To say today’s performance was erratic is an understatement. With just a few exceptions I don’t feel I hit the ball particularly well all day, and a lack of focus and commitment to shots absolutely killed me. On the par 4 #2 after a solid drive left me only 110 yards to the pin I shanked a 9-iron into an adjoining back yard. On the next hole, the par 5 #3, after a solid drive and a halfway-decent 5-wood left me 150 yards to the pin, I chunked my 5-iron into a fairway bunker, yanked a pitching wedge way right, then took four strokes to get it in the hole for a rocking-chair nine. On the par 3 #4, a slightly-pulled 6-iron dribbled into the greenside bunker. My attempt at getting out caught all ball and sailed off to nowheresville (we never found it), then a crappy chip and two putts left steam coming out of my ears. On the par 4 #16 I hit my worst drive of the day OB, then hit my recovery 5-iron OB across the other side. I then chunked my 7-iron approach…well, you get the picture. And don’t get me started on what happened on #18 after a decent drive. Let’s just say I lost two more balls from 170 out.

But there was some pretty damned fine gold played as well. My drive on the par 4 #5 left me 160 yards to the pin with all kinds of trouble in front of me. I tattooed a 5-iron to sixteen feet and two-putted for par. I followed that up with a par on the next hole, the par 3 #6, smartly (for once!) hitting a 4-hybrid just short of the green then chipping to within a foot. After a triple-bogey on the par 5 #7 (bad drive OB, my only three-putt of the day) I hit a 3-hybrid just left of the par 3 #8 and chipped to less than a foot (short game!!). And then my best set of holes for the day: making pars on the par 5 #14 (solid drive, solid 5-wood, 8-iron from 120 out to ten feet), the par 3 #15 (a thinned 6-iron to ten feet), and the par 4 #16 (270-yard drive – yes, we measured it!), a pushed 9-iron left of the green but another nice chip to two feet). Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep the string going and sandwiched two double-pars on #s 16 and #18 around a solid bogey on the par 5 #17.

Even with those ghastly triples and quads there’s a lot I can take from today’s round. For one thing, my MyScorecard.com handicap is back to going in the right direction. I also hit four greens in regulation (a personal high). I guarantee I’ve never had a round with six pars, like, ever, and it doesn’t matter where you’re playing – Pebble Beach, Trilogy at Power Ranch, or Mrs. Cogswell’s “Executive Pitch n’ Putt” – you make that many pars, you’re doing something right. It’s funny, then, that during all of this, while there were some well-executed shots made along the way, I never felt as if I was striking the ball particularly well. The one thing I did feel today that was different was confidence in my short game and (even if they didn’t all pan out) confidence with my 5-wood and 3- and 4- hybrids. And all of this without much – if any – measure of focus.

The focus thing remains a concern and I don’t know why that is. I’d hit the ball beautifully (at least for me) at the range a couple of days ago and felt really good warming up. But once the round began I had a hard time focusing on making good decisions. Perhaps that’s something I’m never going to change – I’d just like to know why that is. At any rate, I’ll take the round for what it is and be glad for it. I’m clearly making strides, and it’s good to se my short game coming back. That can only help take pressure off of my approach shot and feeling the need to be perfect.

Well, it’s Black Friday (as they call it) but I’m not going anywhere near a shopping mall or retail store. Instead, I’ll be bashing a little orange ball around a sun-splashed course under unseasonably-warm, 90 degrees-ish blue skies. But it doesn’t mean I can’t post a few thoughts to catch up after what has been a crazy week work-wise that has left me practically no time for anything else.

…hard to believe it’s the holiday season and the next day it won’t be a holiday season day we’ll be in 2018. I don’t feel as if this year has rocketed by that fast, but then again maybe it has.

..this video made me laugh out loud.

…it when these kind of things happen – even to pros! – that I understand fellow Goodboy “Killer” Kowalski’s view that there is no such thing as a gimme. Putt them all out.

…and when things like this, or this, or this happen it’s time for Congress to enact a zero tolerance rule for behavior from its members. Look, no one is forcing these guys to run for elected office. And when they are representing someone’s congressional district or state, there should be a lower bar for reprehensible behavior. Of course, it has to be proven (as Franken’s and Barton’s has, whereas Conyers’ (and, for that matter, Alabama judge Roy Moore’s) has not; otherwise, all you’re doing is conducting a witch hunt. But clearly something has to be done so that Americans’ confidence in their elected leaders – and leadership – is restored.

…not that I expect anything like that to happen any time soon.

…Frankly, I think the media is doing a damned fine job of humiliating themselves on a daily basis without the help of WH Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, thank you.

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to seeing how Tiger Woods plays in his return to professional golf next week. Course, I’ll be playing golf in Vegas while he’s doing his thing in the Bahamas, but that doesn’t mean I can’t watch the replay in Golf Channel, at, say, the Wynn sports bet room on big-screen TVs while enjoying a Bloody Mary or two. I’m guessing Tiger knows this is his last chance and that he’ll just give it his all and either compete at a very high level or call it a career.

…Why the left hates Thanksgiving:

What animates the left is the conviction that everything (except their own tastes, preferences and opinions) is terrible and must be reformed until it too is like them. America is racist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, arachnophobic and claustrophobic. Every second the prison-industrial complex is gunning down drug dealers for no other reason than the color of their skin (and the guns in their hands), the military-industrial complex is bombing countries full of terrorists just because of the color of their skin, and the turkey-industrial complex is destroying the environment.

The militant lefty is an overgrown brat who never made the emotional transition from the funk of total unfairness that teenagers inhabit to the appreciation for life of the mature adult. Picking a fight at the Thanksgiving table is exactly the sort of thing a teenage brat would do. That’s why there are a dozen guides telling lefties exactly how to pick an unwinnable fight whose only purpose is to ruin a meal.

…actually it’s not just Thanksgiving. The left hates everything. They are haters and dividers. They simmer with anger and resentment and look for perceived slights in everything they do and see. And that’s why I’m so thankful this Thanksgiving for having a president like Donald J. Trump. The fact he is making so many people’s lives even more miserable than they already were brings me tidings of great joy.

…and it’s not just that I’m thankful for. It’s this.

…and it’s this as well. If last year’s election of Donald J. Trump has done more than anything is expose the liberal left for everything they are and what they espouse. They’re a bunch of hypocrites, and the phrase, “suck it up, buttercup” and get on with your lives comes to mind. Our time on this earth is far too short, tenuous, and precious to spend it in such intellectual and shallow misery. Me, I’m thankful that I live in a country where there is food to eat, clean water to drink, work to be found, money to be made, and a life that can be lived in relative peace and comfort. There aren’t many on this ball of rock floating in space that can say that, and I wish these folks would find a way to understand that. All is not misery, and you social justice snowflakes out there don’t know just how good you’ve got it.

…and with that I’ll call it a blog post. Don’t get hurt out there shopping for bargains!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there from the Goodboys (27th edition!) and Goodboys Nation weblog!

Look, I know it’s November: back home in New England, the fall is descending darkly into winter, the landscape is turning bleak and gray, the air is crisp, and the wind swirls dead leaves across the woods and pavement. Perfect weather for a witch hunt, wouldn’t you say? And it’s a Salem-esque kind of witch hunt that’s happening across the American popular and political landscape these days, snagging Hollywood producers, actors, politicians, and Senate candidates from California to Washington, D.C. and any number of places in between.

Yep it seems as if no matter where you turn, some accuser is coming out of the woodwork pointing a crooked finger at yet another celebrity or politician. And no one is immune – former prez George H.W. Bush is accused of pinching fannies. Judge Roy Moore from Alabama? Why, he’s a creep with a fancy for teenage chicks when he was in his thirties. Charlie Sheen, young boys. George Takei, young men. Same thing with Kevin Spacey. Senator Al Franken of Minnesota? Well, he’s the biggest doofus to date, making the mistake of having his picture taken while fondling a sleeping woman’s breasts. What a moron! And now you’ve got Democrats turning a cold shoulder to none other than that loveable serial rapist and sex fiend Bill Clinton (never mind that just a year ago when his wife was running for President it was lips shut as far as the donkey party was concerned).

And no one knows where the bottle will stop next. I guarantee you there will be more politicians, especially after this story. Me? I’m waiting for the first male to come forward to say a major Hollywood actress or female Washington politician put the moves on him. After all, fair is fair, right?

But seriously, I find it both sad and amusing to see this country all of a sudden whipped into a froth over this kind of thing. On one hand, I have little doubt that men in positions of power and influence have tried to use same in ways that were less than morally upright. But for gawdsakes, this kind of thing has been happening since the beginning of time. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m just saying it’s the way it has always been. The Hollywood “casting couch” has been part of its culture since the first silent movies. Politicians have made moves on interns and secretaries since the earliest days of the Republic. There have always been, and will always be, sex scandals of one form or another. You put ambitious and successful men and ambitious or vulnerable women alone in the same room or at a gathering and you’ve got all the ingredients for hanky-panky. And it’s not just the guy’s fault either – if you don’t think women are attracted to power and influence and are willing to play the game and push the bounds of propriety in order to get noticed or get ahead, you’re dreaming.

I’m not saying everyone does it so it’s OK. And I’m not saying that there aren’t true victims out there who have been taken advantage of (at the very least) or sexually abused in some form (at the very worst) and, for whatever reason, chose not to stay silent until now out of a sense of shame, fear, or some form of retribution. But that being said, it’s all too easy in this day and age of social media and media saturation to just toss accusations out there from decades ago as a way to either destroy someone’s career, make a name for yourself, or feel better about yourself. In my view, if you don’t have any evidence that goes beyond “he said, she said” – well, you had your chance when the incident originally happened and said nothing then, so keep your trap shut. You got witnesses? Fine. But they too better have more than just anecdotal evidence that can’t be validated by a complaint to the authorities, or bona fide, documented evidence of some kind. Otherwise, you got nothing. The statue of limitations for keeping your mouth shut ran out a long time ago, so keep it shut.

It’s too easy to ruin another person’s reputation in this day and age. For one thing, the media in all its forms is all too happy to splay it everywhere to get clicks or ratings or to sell newspapers. And that’s especially true if you’re a Republican or a conservative. It may not be fair, but that’s just the way it works these days. So in this season of the witch (hunt) I just wish folks would stop and take a breath or think about what they’re about to accuse someone else of before they say anything. Using baseball as an analogy, you might want to throw your best pitch in high and tight, but don’t be surprised if it misses over the plate and comes rocketing back at your head. Everyone – and I mean everyone has skeletons in their closets, so a little discretion would go a long way.

This is a picture of Bailey, one of my sister-in-law Tam’s rabbits who, along with her brother Midget Lee, comprise “The Ghurkins”. The Ghurkins are mini-lops, and they are a comical pair. Unlike our rabbits Marlie and Peach, they don’t kind of poke around their area, rather, they’ll stop, veg out for a time, then bolt off to whatever their next destination might be. With them nothing is done half-speed! The Ghurkins share their domain with Butterscotch, a “backyard bun” we got seven years ago as a result of a backyard rescue of (at that time) around fifty rabbits.

Butterscotch has had an interesting existence. We originally brought her home to a be a mate for our rabbit Geronimo who had recently lost his mate, Ginger. It took some time for the two to bond, but Butterscotch did a great job keeping “Mr. G.” company until he passed away less than a year later. We then gave Butterscotch to Tam, who at that time had her rabbits “The Beastie Boys”, Sherman and Cookie. They were starting to get up there in years and were very much bonded, so we figured Butterscotch could play the role of comforter in the event that one of the Beasties were to pass on. And sure enough, a year or so after Butterscotch moved in, Cookie died. It wasn’t more than a year later that Sherman too passed. Well, we couldn’t very well leave Butterscotch all alone, so when two mini-lops became available Tam, still broken-hearted over losing her long-time rabbits, did the right thing and brought them home. The Ghurkins love Butterscotch and Butterscotch loves The Ghurkins so it has all worked out and everyone’s happy.

I’d never been much of a fan of fiction in general. Like, ever. Biographies, autobiographies, and history from the real world has always been pretty much my choice when it came to reading. Sure, I got the entire Aubrey / Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian for Christmas two years ago, but that was more like historical fiction based on fact. (It’s been nearly two years later and I’m still not all the way through them; I think I’ve still got three books remaining!) This past January, however, I found myself facing a 5 1/2-hour flight back to Phoenix from Boston with nothing to read and nothing but a couple of crappy Hudson News stores at Logan Airport’s Terminal C to choose from. I couldn’t find anything that caught my fancy, but did find a piece of fiction called Cuba Straits by Randy Wayne White, a later book in his Doc Ford series of fiction.

Of course, anyone who knows The Great White Shank knows one way to grab his interest is to mention anything even remotely having to do with Cuba. And the fact the book was based in southwest Florida, on Sanibel Island – well, on a long flight back from cold New England to warm Arizona it seemed like the perfect way to pass the time. It turned out to be a fun read, so much so that upon arriving home I picked up the very first book in the series, Sanibel Flats and found that as equally enjoyable. I was hooked. I’ve now read 22 of the 24 books in White’s series. They’re not all great, there have been a snoozer or two amongst them, but all in all they’ve been a great way to spend time while soaking in a bubble bath or sitting with a glass of pinot grigio under happy pineapple lights. Sure beats watching TV, that’s for sure. So who is White’s Doc Ford character? From bookseriesinorder.com:

Marion “Doc” Ford started his career working for a small covert government agency as an agent and assassin. He was known for years as one of the best at tracking targets and eliminating them once they were found. But, while this might have been a career that he excelled at, it was also something that he was not entirely comfortable doing. He eventually quit to start a better life for himself.

Doc was always in love with the ocean and this is where he looked for his second career. He became trained as a marine biologist and set himself up to work in the quiet and uneventful community of Sanibel, Florida, focusing on doing research projects on environmental conservationism. Doc lives on a home right on the water and is known for being friendly and willing to help out others in the community. He also has a history with many different women but can’t seem to hold one down for very long. Like James Bond, there seems to be a new one around for each of his adventures.

One of the overriding themes in each of White’s books are the escape lifestyles of the people in Ford’s little fictional Dinkins Bay Marina and the mix of crime and corruption in Florida whenever old slow money and new fast money mix. Interestingly, there’s a character inspired by one of my all-time favorite Red Sox players, Bill “Spaceman” Lee who is Ford’s closest companion. In Doc Ford’s southwest Florida, the state truly is, as Boston radio talk-show host Howie Carr is wont to quip, “a sunshiney state for shady people.” Having performed a rescue mission on behalf of my sister-in-law several years ago that took me into the seedier side of St. Petersburg, I can certainly vouch for that!

If you’re in the market for some decent fiction with an interesting cast of characters and plots where you actually learn something about Florida’s past in each novel, I recommend Randy Wayne White’s Doc Ford series of adventures.

November is one of my favorite months. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s back home in Massachusetts or here in the Valley of the Sun, it is a special time of year in both places. Back home, November is a transitional month – the early part bright and shimmering, the clinging leaves of October waiting for that first cold wet gale that strips the trees bare; the latter part of the month gray and chilly, waiting for that first snowfall that inevitably puts a final stamp on autumn. The clocks go back early in the month, leaving folks a commute home from work in the dark.

I took the picture above up in Portsmouth in a state forest just off the salt marshes that wind their way down the coat between Portsmouth and Hampton Beach. You wouldn’t know it from the pic, but if you keep walking less than ten minutes ahead you’ll walk right onto Route 1! The forest is a place I like to visit whenever I’m back home, especially in the fall. In the warmth of a fall afternoon you could still hear plenty of crickets and chickadees and squirrels and chipmunks rusting under the fallen leaves.

Here in the Valley, we don’t turn our clocks back and the days are refreshingly warm. This year, the heat of summer was slow to retreat – we ought to be in the 70s by now but most days have seen us in the mid-80s. The nights have cooled down nicely, though, and it’s great to have the bedroom window open even if the room gets cool with the nights dropping into the low 60s by dawn. This time of year, the electric blue skies of summer are replaced by days where the sky is oftentimes filled with high clouds from storm systems passing far to our north that shimmer beneath a sun that still can show its teeth in the late afternoon. Like in Florida, November is a big month for the snowbirds, so the golf courses are just opening up now after being closed for weeks after the change from summer Bermuda grass to winter rye.

Typically, I’m spending my November weekends doing all sorts of cleanup out back after all the dirt and dust of the monsoon season, but work has been extra demanding and my to-do list is a mile long. But there are some minor tweaks I’ve been making with my golf swing that I really like, and with a weekend trip to Vegas coming up in three weeks I want to get some golf work and play in before that time. Which is OK, December around here is also a great month for working outside.

About those Judge Roy Moore accusations: Maybe it’s just me, but I find it ironic (although not entirely unexpected) that the same mainstream media that knew and covered up “Hollywood Harvey” Weinstein’s behavior for years is now like a dog nipping at the pantleg of a Alabama judge over events that may or may not have occurred four decades ago. These people truly have no shame. Look, I don’t know whether the judge is telling the truth or not. Certainly there were statements during that Hannity interview that raised my eyebrows. Maybe he’s always had a preference for much younger women – don’t we all? 🙂 But the one thing I do know is that the mainstream media is a parasite and a cancer on this country that has to be destroyed. So here it is: if – and maybe that’s a big if – this is truly all they have on Judge Moore, rightly or wrongly, were I to live in Alabama, I’d crawl over broken glass to vote for him just to tell the mainstream media to you-know-what.

The Boston Celtics are a heck of an enjoyable team to watch play basketball right now.

Has the hockey season started yet?

Would love to see the Red Sox get Giancarlo Stanton. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but we can dream, can’t we?

I loves me some watching Greg Gutfeld’s show on FOX News Saturday nights. On Fridays it’s a combination of the MLB Network, Golf Channel, and Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. But on Saturday it’s Judge Jeanine and Kat, Tyrus, and whomever else Greg has visiting. My Dad likes them too!

Waiting for Democrats to condemn all these attacks on Republicans. Poor Rand Paul is just the latest. I guarantee you if a Trump supporter decided to rough up the likes of Chuck Schumer or Steny Hoyer we’d never hear the end of it.

If there’s an underrated Pink Floyd album it has to be Obscured By Clouds. Their last album before Dark Side of the Moon, it foreshadows that classic album with a pastiche of power-pop instrumentals and dreamy tunes. Worth checking out!

The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as brightly as his brass.
“Step forward now, you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?”
The Soldier squared his shoulders and
said, “No, Lord, I guess I ain’t
Because those of us who carry guns
Can’t always be a saint.
I’ve had to work most Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I’ve been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn’t mine to keep…
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I’ve wept unmanly tears.
I know I don’t deserve a place
Among the people here,
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you’ve a place for me here, Lord,
It needn’t be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don’t, I’ll understand.”
There was a silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God,
“Step forward now, you Soldier,
You’ve borne your burdens well,
Walk peacefully on Heaven’s streets,
You’ve done your time in Hell.”

Hat tip: The Bert Show

Thank you to all our veterans, here and gone, for their service.

You want to see something truly humbling? The UK remembers its veterans on this day as well, and this puts it all in perspective. Even if you have no British relatives, please consider remembering someone. Hat tip: Instapundit.