A weekly look at the Tampa Bay area and national politics from a conservative viewpoint – plus a helping of sports and lifestyle items. Warning: not everything printed here should be taken at face value.

Takeaways from Super Tuesday

In as few words as possible, it’s a two man race. Even as the Democratic field narrows the questions expand exponentially. For instance, is Biden simply Obama II which most of America doesn’t want? Is his age (78 when he’d be sworn in) a factor? Of course, his rival Bernie Sanders is even older. As for Sanders, most of middle income America is terrified of him. He seems to think a family that earns more than $60,000 a year is rich and can be heavily taxed to support his socialist agenda. With Bloomberg out of the race, it’s comforting to most Americans that millions and millions of dollars can buy you American Samoa and nothing else. In our mind, Biden will get the nomination and then the decision becomes do you want four more years of Trump or Obama II? Neither choice is very tasteful.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. Related to above: Answer – George H.W. Bush, Richard Nixon, and Calvin Coolidge. Question: who are the last three vice-presidents to be elected President on their own without the benefit of incumbency (like LBJ). Bush and Coolidge were elected immediately after serving as vice-president, Nixon eight years later.

2. Quote of the Week (Irrational Class): “You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” Senator Chuckles Schumer issuing a warning to Supreme Court Justices should they rule on the side of a pro-life issue before them. Second Quote of the Week (Rational Class): Chief Justice John Roberts on Schumer’s remarks - “Not only inappropriate, but dangerous.”

3. As we all know, every self-anointed expert can run a restaurant, hotel or baseball team better than those in place. Now, we are privileged to have the same group weigh in on how to better deal with the world’s latest health crisis.

4. Come on Duke Energy, dispense with the phony line item Asset Securitization Charge and truthfully say “we really botched our nuclear energy program and we’re charging you a few bucks a month into infinity to make up for it”.

5. With thanks to our unofficial TBRR historian, you’ve lived in the bay area a long time if you dined at the 94^th Aero Squadron at the St. Pete-Clearwater Airport.

Sports, media and other stuff:

6. We feel for the employees of the erstwhile St. Pete Times being forced to take a ten per cent pay cut. It isn’t like the old days where you could take a job across town at the Independent or in the next city at the Tribune or Sun. Such is the state of the newspaper industry.

7. Sports oddity – Dusty Baker who has been out of baseball for three years, will manage the American League in this year’s All Star game by virtue of being an emergency hire by the AL champ Astros after the house cleaning in Houston.

8. The National League East favorites, the Atlanta Braves, have to be a bit concerned about their $36 million dollar investment in pitcher Cole Hamels and outfielder Marcell Ozuna. Hamels, with a shoulder injury, has not picked up a ball this spring and Ozuna is, at this writing, zero for spring with over half his at bats being punch-outs.

9. Another takeaway from our February “Remembering” segment (TBRR 2/23/20) was during the Blue Jays’ first spring training in 1977 meeting rookie second baseman Garth Iorg – a class individual. He marveled at our career in the media. This failed amateur catcher could only reply “Want to trade?”

10. Topping the charts fifty years ago this week was Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge over Troubled Water, the biggest hit of the year.

Clearwater’s Election Day coming up

Next Tuesday is Election Day in Clearwater. Last month, we previewed our choices for the three council seats – Frank Hibbard, Bruce Rector and Bud Elias, although candidly, there are other good choices in all three races. It’s a good problem for the city to have, and we hope some of the unsuccessful candidates will return to the ballot in two years when there will be at least one vacant council seat. As for the six referendum questions (make sure to turn over your ballot), we recommend six yes votes as some are just some housekeeping issues except the use of city land for workforce housing and the right to deed over some unproductive city land pending a hearing. Extending the length of time between charter review committees makes sense – in fact we would have been happier with ten years between charter reviews.

UP NEXT: World Series droughts; Insurance guy; Publix closing 

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