Saxman: Calling Bravo Sierra Out of Love of Country

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On the personal front a bit of news. Michele, a.k.a The Hammer, celebrated her birthday this week (same bday as Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling) and this coming Wednesday the family will be offshoring to the Dominican Republic for…William’s wedding. He’s marrying his high school sweetheart of almost eleven years and we’re pretty excited about it all.

For the uninitiated, William (26) was almost named Otis My Man! Saxman back in ‘95. True story. The nurses were chanting “C’mon, OTIS!” and my mom was having none of it, “Don’t you call him that! They’ll put it in the paper!” I would have paid top dollar to see mom’s legendary Jan Eye Roll as she read the Staunton Newsleader’s baby announcement that day.

Michele was displeased with the birthing suite scene.

In the end, as was the plan all along, William was named for the best man at my wedding and the best man I have known to date – my Dad. That William so honored me with that role in his wedding is a blessing beyond measure.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there especially those who step in to help single moms and the widowed. #BestJobEver #DamnOnions

Last week’s The Intersection received the most “interest” of any to date. The various responses ranged from profanity to gratitude. Must be doing my job.

A big thank you to all that read and engage here!

That’s the purpose of The Intersection – constructive engagement.

If all that is accomplished is getting folks to think more constructively and creatively about the world of politics, then I am on target. You can help:

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To that end – another listing of observations.

1. The 1/6 Committee is part of the oversight function of Congress; however, several things stand out. A) This is a committee of House of Representatives and not a Joint Committee which would include the Senate B) Speaker Pelosi should have accepted Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s suggested appointments to it. THAT would have been must see TV. Sure it would have leaked like a sieve, but that also would have built the audience. C) I enjoy reading the daily recaps the following day in the newspapers. The Old Soldier Richmond Times Dispatch and Wall St. Journal are both delivered. Nothing quite like a paper in hand with a predawn hot cup of black coffee being kept warm by new Ember mug. Great Father’s Day gift. *cough*
2. The latest dust up (h/t Jack Del Rio) on the 1/6 Committee – one source told me it was an open “civil war” – is over whether or not the Committee will make a criminal referral. Democrats appear to be less inclined but Rep. Liz Cheney appears to support the move. Maybe the Dems know that could portend an acquittal. And also can you #SayHiHunter
3. Former Attorney General Bill Barr comes across as a real stand up guy willing to call Bullshit on the president and even to his face. Would that others had the same hickory. Especially the media.
4. Speaking of the media…yeah… One cannot underscore enough the importance of an unbiased and objective press corps to the Republic. I’m going to use baseball here to make my point. There is one umpire in baseball who is known by fans, players, and managers as the being worst of them all – Angel Hernandez. (Like children who should be only seen and not heard, umpires’ names and faces should be unknown) Inexplicably, Hernandez remains employed as an umpire. Watch this clip NOT to see many calls he gets wrong, but the REACTION from those directly involved in the game. Over 1.5 MM views.

   Here is a video compilation of bad baseball calls by a variety of umpires just in April of this year. Again, don’t watch the missed calls as much as one should watch the players’ reactions and listen to the broadcasters respond to the calls.

   My point from these videos of obviously bad calls (in the umps’ defense there are so many calls to make that some are going to be missed) is not to point the finger at the umps, but rather to show you how the decisions impact behavior. Sometimes the missed calls are…wait, what? and others it’s OMG ARE YOU KIDDING ME???FURY AND ANGER AND PEOPLE GET THROWN OUT!!!

5. Story time – a friend of mine’s father used to hold business meetings at Little League games and would bet his opposite on the game in front of them. Just a little fun, right? Well, before the game, said Dad had paid off the umpire (s) to help him win. Yes, throwing Little League games. Naturally, this would get inside the head of his opposite and would weaken his position in whatever they were talking about. Imagine the players, parents, and coaches who were unaware.
6. To wit…polls from spring of this year – 2022 – Reuters – 55% of Republicans believe that 1/6 2021 was led by leftists and Rasmussen 72% of Democrats think Russia influenced the OUTCOME of the 2016 election. This spring. 2022.
7. Many “mainstream” outlets never even covered Hillary’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, testifying in federal court that HRC signed off on the false Russian narrative. Meanwhile, Fox News aired very little of the opening night 1/6 hearing just days after offering wall to wall coverage of the Amber Heard v. Johnny Depp trial here in Virginia. #Culture
8. Second umpire story comes from my only season of college ball. Before one game an umpire emerged from his car. I was warming up pitchers in the bullpen. Instantly recognizing him from high school and summer ball, I said out loud, “Oh. Sh*t.” My teammates asked what the problem was. “The worst umpire ever is working the game.” “C’mon…can’t be that bad!” “You’ll see…” Thankfully, he was placed on the bases. BUT sure as shootin’…there was a close play at first AND the guy never made a call. Either way. Safe? Nope. Out? Also nope. BOTH dugouts exploded. The guy said and I quote, “The call is the call.” BUT he never made one! No one knew what to do. And the No Call call stood. I still have no idea what the outcome was but I assume the players worked it out. To his credit, the ump saw me years later and said, “Do you remember the game when…” “Of course!” cutting him off. “Boy, were they mad”, said he. HE KNEW he messed up but couldn’t admit it at the time. Nothing is more endearing on a field of play than when a referee admits a mistake in real time and corrects it. It’s called calling Bullshit on yourself and it builds trust. Changes the game instantly. No time like the present.
9. If you still want to know where I stand on the events of 1/6, go read my column from 1/7. That was an easy call – belt high fastball right down the middle of the plate. Middle middle. Boom.

10. My comments about Hillary Clinton getting a complete and total pass from the media on her role in Russiagate are not WhatAboutism. It is another staggeringly obvious example of overt media bias. Period. And both sides have this condition for which there is apparently no cure. #Ratings. #REALLYBigChecks

    

    Ned Beatty’s character “In all fairness to Mr. Mellon here, it was a really big check.”

    We, the American people, have been told lie after lie after lie by our elected leaders and those paid to cover them. Bad umpires enable rules to be broken continually and, as a result, the game breaks down into chaos. #BaseballIsLife.

11. Call it Broken Windows Politics. Consider – Vietnam, Watergate, Iran hostage, Iran Contra, Read My Lips, I did not have sex with that woman, WMDs, You can keep you doctor/your premiums will go down/the 80s called and want their foreign policy back (Zelenskyy holding on line 1), Russiagate, 2017-2021, and now Putin’s price hike. #BabyFormulaAirLift

12. There is only sad irony that Rudy Giuliani (R-Kraken) rose to prominence by cleaning up New York City with Broken Windows policing. It’s depressing that it wasn’t applied to elected officials and corrupt business leaders along the way. #SystemicElitism? #ButWeWentToCollegeTogether I call it the process of Begetting. (Catholics should get this) One thing leads to another – naturally. Free enterprise capitalism and democracy are unnatural. They require vigilance, work, and fair referees.
13. *TakesADeepBreath* AND ANOTHER THING – Too many on the Right and Left point to the 50s and 60s as this great era of American economic dominance with a thriving labor movement/middle class that we need to get back to…MAGA (great slogan BTW) and all that…But can we PLEASE remember that the context was POST WORLD WAR 2 and the USA had virtually NO GLOBAL COMPETITION because their (Europe and Japan) infrastructure was either OBLITERATED and their male population decimated or they were two generations behind (China) us to begin with? Today is a very different economy with a very different competitive landscape.

Aaaandd Finally….

Democrats are trying to help some far right Republicans win primaries this year a la Claire McCaskill and Todd Akin in 2010. It might have already worked in Pennsylvania. Closer to home in VA 2 CD:

Kudos (Again) to Bill Maher for calling Bullshit on Hollywood violence:

Maher also called out the lack of coverage – especially the NY Times – on the recent assassination attempt of SCOTUS Justice Brett Kavanaugh. #IntellectualHonesty #GoodUmp

Before anyone on the Right gets all worked up about that one, take the events of 1/6 – strike the name Donald Trump and insert either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

The media on the Right would be OUT OF THEIR MINDS and covering the hearings 24/7 with an outrage heretofore unknown.

Just calling the Balls and Strikes here folks.

Also known as Bullshit. Which is defined by Merriam-Webster as “nonsense” or

to talk nonsense to especially with the intention of deceiving or misleading

Is calling Bullshit profanity since it means “nonsense” vs actual bovine excrement?

Ah the beauty and joy of American slang. In military lingo it sounds like Bravo Sierra.

Here, it’s just calling Balls and Strikes in an easy strike zone.

Take for instance Donald Trump’s lawyer John Eastman. Holy cannoli, Batman. THIS guy not only comes up with a truck load of Bravo Sierra that nearly EVERYONE (save DJT) immediately calls Bullshit on, but he so believed in his own dubious legal theory that Eastman asked to be given a presidential pardon. He also took the 5th in the hearings yesterday. Yup, personnel was policy.

Real tall in the saddle moment in U.S. history.

And Eastman clerked for the Judge Michael Luttig who cleaned and gutted the legal theory during the hearings. Luttig was described in the press as a conservative.

Speaking of Tall in the Saddle Moments – How about former Vice President Mike Pence?

Bravo, sir. Bravo.

*

More on the black and white wealth divide from Ian Bremmer’s GZero:

Because we all could use a little EWF (written by David Foster and Maurice White) right about now:

More of David Foster’s magic through Celine Dion:

All by Myself and that hair raising note she hits at 3:15 :

Send this to someone special:

And then Love Out. Give it a go.

Like this song also produced by Foster who doubted “radio” would play it because of the a cappella open. Just take the chance and say the three words we all long to hear:

I Love You.

Love Out.