Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of national and local politics, sports, lifestyles and nostalgia items from a very politically incorrect viewpoint. As always, beware - some of what is printed here should not be taken literally.

Leading off: time for a national voting protocol

Let’s face it; Americans are more than a little skeptical of the voting process across our nation. The sketchy operations in Arizona and Nevada are just the latest in dubious election outcomes – Catherine Cortez Masto’s “miraculous” come from behind victory in the Nevada Senate race being foremost. Then there’s Georgia’s and Alaska’s convoluted voting systems and states’ counting machines “running out of ink”. The answer to all these problems is not a month or a year away, but it sure would enhance our confidence in the 2024 outcomes if we had one unified protocol across our 50 states – and Florida’s system might just be one of the models to follow.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Surprise, surprise Donald Trump announces 2024 run. Both Don and Joe seem to be having trouble reading the tea leaves.

Jack Smith, part of the Obama Justice Department that was probably the most corrupt in the last half-century, picked to lead the Trump probe. Gee, that should guarantee a fair outcome.

Factoid: Financial organization Bloomberg News reports now is the worst time to buy a home since 1978 – the Carter days - the chief culprit – out of control interest rates.

Best election season quote, “look at the scoreboard” – Governor Ron DeSantis.

Lunch date: now that the mid-term primaries’ smoke has cleared, three politicians we’d enjoy dining with: Tom Cotton, Lindsey Graham and Nikki Haley.

Thought from a retired teacher: If I had to do it over again, I would staple Burger King applications to failed tests.

Whoopi has left Twitter. We guess we would get excited about that if we knew exactly what Twitter was or cared about anything Whoopi has to say.

Related - there is some benefit to being technologically challenged – like not getting all riled up about these Twitter controversies.

This week in 1936 (Nov. 23) the first issue of Life Magazine is published.

Sports, media and other stuff:

From the 5:05 Newsletter: In 1962 a new Thanksgiving tradition evolved. President John F. Kennedy summoned two turkeys to the White House pardoning one of the turkeys with the words, “Keep him going”. That tradition remains today with the pardoned turkey then being appointed to a high-level post in the Justice Department and later becoming a cable television political pundit.

From our Curmudgeon Dept. – Patience is an overrated virtue.

As you get ready for the traditional NFL Thanksgiving games, reserve a spot on your calendar for a Black Friday game debuting next year on Amazon Prime. Teams are yet to be determined.

Top five destinations this busy travel week – New York City, Seattle, Orlando, Boston and Atlanta – and for your Humble Blogger and Saintly Wife – Dunedin, Florida.

Factoid: If the NCAA football playoffs were expanded to 12 teams this season, five of the teams would come from the SEC.

Despite being 900 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, the University of Missouri is in the Eastern Division of the SEC – another school that obviously doesn’t offer a major in Geography.

This was not the year to win a lot of MLB games. One hundred game winners, the Braves, Dodgers and Mets all made quick exits. Houston, at 106, needed a giant horseshoe in their pocket to escape a similar fate.

Speaking of the Astros, we have to guess qualified candidates are not lining up to be their GM after James Click was cashiered after building a World Series winner.

Only 97 days until pitchers and catchers report.

A friend reminds us that you have lived in the bay area (or anywhere else) a long time if you remember your mother curing any cut, no matter how severe, with Mercurochrome – and how you would hide the cut to avoid having that stuff applied!

…and another thing: a tribute to “Sparky”

Charles “Sparky” Schulz would have been 100 this Saturday. Today, more than twenty years after his passing, we still open the pages every day for his unique view of human life – the daring World War I pilot, the annual place kick joke and the June tribute to D-Day from this decorated World War II veteran. It just seems fitting that the Peanuts strip did not survive him as we’re not sure anybody could have had the same slant on life as did Schulz. But the Classic Peanuts reminds us of the simple brilliance of this man. And if you have never sampled either David Michaelis’ biography Schulz and Peanuts or Good Grief by Rheta Grimsley Johnson, they are worth a visit. A couple of very personal reembraces remain with us as well as this telling thought from America’s cartoonist, “If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself.”

NEXT UP: Clean slate; Skywriting; Faster baseball

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