Established in 2014 and published every Sunday, Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of local and national news, sports and historical notes from a politically incorrect viewpoint.

First thing on our mind:

Voiced by someone with whom we watch TV frequently, “I don’t ever want to see her on TV again.”

Leading off: America can breathe easy

The wildest, most unimaginable presidential contest in our lifetime is over. President Donald Trump will return to the White House which means our nation can hopefully return to prosperity; again be a nation with borders and be free of crazy schemes that were hatched by Kamala Harris in a desperate move to buy her way into the oval office. Now, we must be watchful in the next 60 days or so that Biden/Harris doesn’t run off the tracks and that our enemies don’t try to capitalize on the weak team running out the string at the executive mansion.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

CNN says it will make a call on the presidential election later this week. MSNBC acknowledges Trump has an outside chance at victory.

We kind of lost count on how many promises made by both sides in the presidential contest were blatantly unconstitutional.

And then there were the fallacies and outright lies (mostly on the Vote Yes side) on Amendments 3 and 4 here in Florida – see below.

FEMA official fired after directing emergency workers not to offer help to homes with Trump signs in their yards in the Lake Placid area.

Take heart, Oprah, we think you will still be able to vote under a Trump regime.

One last election item courtesy of a good friend: I got confused by all the yard signs... and I think I may have voted for a realtor.

On the week of Veteran’s Day, a question that has always puzzled this vet: if a major outranks a lieutenant, why does a lieutenant general outrank a major general?

It was very disappointing to see “self service checkouts” installed at our favorite Publix location. One of the hallmarks of Publix over the years has been a friendly face at the checkout line. We don’t want to see Florida’s favorite grocery store going the way of Wal-Mart.

One of the two women behind the beloved Olde Schoolhouse Restaurant in Palm Harbor, Patti Smith, died recently at age 75. Her and Gloria Johnson’s rustic dining establishment was an experience you always embraced.

What a fitting tribute to Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus last week. Mourners at the 95-year-old’s funeral were garbed in the store’s orange aprons.

Seen on a bumper sticker: “I may be old, but I got to see all the cool bands!”

This week in 1990 (Nov. 11): Tim Berners-Lee, not Al Gore, advances the idea that would become the internet.

Sports, media and other notes:

From the 5:05 Newsletter on the cusp of the holiday shopping/returning season: They should invent a customer service center that isn’t currently experiencing higher than normal call volume.

And she’s off! This week, tentatively the 15^th, the SS United States will leave its long time berth in Philadelphia enroute to Mobile, Alabama where she’ll be prepared for her future service as an artificial reef off Florida’s panhandle.

The Athletic’s CFB 134 features four of Florida’s seven Division One teams below the 100 mark – USF (101); FSU (102); and, again joined at the hip, FAU and FIU 113-14 respectively. Miami remains #4; UF 51 and UCF 66. Incredibly, Army at 8-0 still hangs outside the Top 25 (27), but 18 in the AP Poll.

He was probably already headed there anyway, but with his World Series performance, all Freddie Freeman has to decide is whether to wear a Dodger or Braves’ cap on his Hall of Fame plaque.

Looking back at a prior Dodger-Yankee World Series (’63), three Dodger pitchers worked all but 2/3s of an inning in a four game sweep – Drysdale, Koufax and Podres. Times have changed.

Idle thought: Ever notice how your second favorite team changes depending upon whom your arch rival is playing?

He was known for his interpretation of Bacharach-David’s Wives and Lovers and the upbeat Love Boat theme song. The smooth vocal stylist Jack Jones passed away last week at age 86.

The date of this week’s TBRR (11/10) reminds us you’ve lived in the bay area a long time if you remember the other early Tampa Bay rock station, 1110, WALT.

One last thing: Defeating the onerous 3 & 4

Florida joined Nebraska and South Dakota last week in upholding the sanctity of life by defeating the onerous Amendment 4 that would have declared open season on the unborn in the state. Meanwhile, voters also listened to law enforcement officials and members of the medical community and turned back an ill-advised amendment that would have opened the flood gates to recreational marijuana. Our streets are crazy enough without a bunch of stoned drivers piloting two-ton vehicles on our roads. Many things do not belong in a constitution, Amendments 3 and 4 were outstanding examples of flotsam that has no place there.

UP NEXT: Publix and the Mouse; Taxes & donations; Coign

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