TBR&R is a weekly airing of national and local politics, sports and lifestyle items from a very politically incorrect viewpoint. As always, beware - certain accounts printed here should not be taken literally.

The misuse of the term “patriot”

About a month ago, we nearly choked on our morning coffee when one of the liberal news outlets described a recently passed public figure as a patriot. The individual in question was one of the most divisive Americans in recent history. We’re not sure we can give you an ironclad definition of a patriot, but we know what a patriot is not. Patriots never dodged the draft; they never boycotted an inauguration of a President because the “wrong” party won; patriots don’t tear down statues of individuals who gave great service to our country; they never blindly attempted to reject a qualified appointment because the party leadership so directed. To describe people like this as patriots is an affront to people like Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Nathan Hale and thousands of others, all with some human flaws, who put their nation ahead of some private agenda.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri tested positive for Covid-19 last week. Many would say that is karma as the sheriff is putting inmates at his 49th Street jail facility at risk by not providing face masks – completely irresponsible.

2. Joe Biden’s pick of Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate is hardly a surprise. All but two of the names being floated by Biden came with rather serious baggage – the other safe pick being Rep. Val Demings of Florida. Obviously, Rep. Demings would have been a better choice for Florida if Biden prevailed. We also suspect she would have been a better choice for Biden from a geopolitical standpoint. California will go for Joe Biden – or Joe Stalin for that matter. Florida is more of a toss-up and Demings could have helped here.

3. Will the last rational person to leave please bring the flag when they exit Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle or Portland?

4. Factoid – in this time of need for a lot of folks, the three biggest and most effective non-government charities remain The Salvation Army, The United Way and Catholic Charities.

5. Number of the Week – 4. That’s the number of companies that are part of the current Dow Jones Industrial Average that were there fifty years ago. They are GE (the oldest on the DJ - since 1907), Exxon/Mobil, Procter & Gamble and Raytheon Technologies (originally known as United Aircraft).

Sports, media and other stuff:

6. Here is a money making opportunity for cable and unwired providers. We assume the technology exists to charge each customer who wishes an extra fee to block all political ads between now and November, replacing that 15 or 30 second block with a period of smooth jazz or new age music.

7. Major League baseball’s elite starters are taking it on the chin in this convoluted season. Four of the ten best starters in the game, Houston’s Justin Verlander, the Nat’s Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer along with the Brave’s Mike Soroka have all been hit with injuries in the first two weeks. Soroka is out for the season, the others are in various stages of recovery.

8. We knew the baseball season would be odd. At mid-week last week, the St. Louis Cardinals had played but five games (the Rays at that point had played 18) and the Atlanta Braves finally got a day off after being scheduled for 20 straight days.

9. He made his mark by adding pop styling to Peter, Paul and Mary songs like If I Had a Hammer and Lemon Tree. Trini Lopez passed away last week at age 83.

10. Again, your Humble Blogger celebrates the anniversary of his greatest feat – convincing an otherwise very intelligent girl to marry him 51 years ago this week.

The Mount Rushmore of female vocalists

The TBR&R focus group reconvenes - this time with the task of creating a Mount Rushmore for female vocalists. Our matriarchs chose the Canadian school teacher turned pop phenom Anne Murray and a woman who charted 11 number one records, but whose career ended all too soon – Whitney Houston. The guys opted for another phenomenal act whose career started in 1967, Linda Ronstadt, along with a name who gets a bit of an asterisk, because she was technically part of a group with her brother, but oh what a voice – Karen Carpenter. And the singular musician (and youngest member) in our group of ancients chose the legendary Billie Holiday. An incredible quintet to be sure.

UP NEXT: Coke, election reflections and vote Joe, get free stuff

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