It’s the Most Important Election of Our Lifetime . . . Again

by Bob Sparrow

Actually, both mascots should be ‘Cheetahs’

We here at ‘From A Birdseye View’, rarely, if ever, wade into the political swamp. Still, I now find myself tip-toeing, very gingerly, into what has become our political cesspool, as it’s simply impossible to ignore and will be for the next couple of months.  While election years typically provide different positions on various subjects, I feel like we’re watching a couple of junior high schoolers bad-mouthing each other.  I keep waiting for one of them to say, “Oh yeah, well I’m rubber, you’re glue, everything that you say, bounces off me and sticks on to you.  Neener, Neener!”

This childish display is partly due to the fact that we have two unique presidential candidates, who both believe and constantly remind us, that if their opponent wins, it will be the end of democracy as we know it.  Spoiler alert: I’m fairly certain that we will still have a democracy, no matter who wins.  Given the uniqueness of each of these two presidential candidates, it is hard to ignore the constant media coverage, which will get worse, as each candidate is vying to be the last one to insult the other.  Whether you’re for the cackling flip-flopper, the self-centered blowhard, or neither, the mud-slinging will only intensify as we get closer to election day.  It makes one wonder, are these the best two candidates we could come up with to become commander-in-chief of our armed forces and president of the most powerful country in the world?

The only thing the two candidates seem to agree on is that “This will be the most important election of our lifetime”.  Which is political babble for, ‘if you vote for the other person, YOU are going to be responsible for the destruction of our country as you know it’.  The use of this phrase sounded so familiar to me that I thought I’d do a little research into it.

Oliver Hardy for President!

The phrase, or something very similar, can actually be traced back to the election of Abraham Lincoln, but it can be found word-for-word dating back to the Great Depression.  Why is this phrase so popular? Because politicians need to make today’s election about tomorrow—which means they need voters to believe that the future literally depends on their vote today. So, while politicians are really just thinking about whether they are going to survive this election, they tend to use hyperbole to say, “It’s the most important election of our lifetime”.  As each candidate poses as someone who can save the world!

Last week’s debate ended with each candidate saying that they won, and of course, we can’t rely on the media to tell us the truth; the general left-slanted media has claimed the victory for Harris, while Fox will give Trump the nod.  Let me go back to what I just said, “we can’t rely on the media to tell us the truth”.  That’s discussing!!  News used to be a reporting of facts so that we could come to our own conclusions, now the so-called news, is trying to tell us how to think.  They have made it so that today you watch a network based on what you want to hear or don’t want to hear.  It’s obvious we can’t get unbiased reporting anywhere. What the hell happened?!!!

But what upsets me the most is that the two people vying for the trust of the American people must be ‘fact-checked‘, as it’s assumed they’re going to be lying to us.  And sure enough, each told us 5-6 lies during the debate.  Honest Abe would never get elected today.

How do I really feel about all this?  To quote slap-stick comedian Oliver Hardy, which seems appropriate:

“It’s another fine kettle of fish we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

 

Opening Day at Del Mar (Part 1)

by Bob Sparrow

DSC00657      I can count the number of horse races I’ve been to by scratching the ground with my hoof three times, and the number of Opening Days I’ve been to without scratching the ground at all.  But I live about an hour-and-a-half’s drive from Del Mar where Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Durante, Pat O’Brien and Oliver Hardy, all part owners, celebrated Del Mar’s first Opening Day back in 1937, so I felt it was time for me to join some 43,000 other fans and open up this year’s racing season at the Del Mar Race Track. 

     I was told to get there early and use the entrance by the ‘Turf Club’ – that’s where all the Hollywood stars go in.  As I’m waiting for the gates to open there, I did see a couple that was trying very hard to look like Scarlett Johansson and Bradley Cooper, but came off looking more like Rosie O’Donnell and Alice Cooper, in stupid hats.  It seemed as if Silicon Valley had moved a little south for the day, but this day was not about nipping and tucking, in fact it wasn’t even really about horse racing . . . it was mostly about hats!  One could find hats of every shape, color and description, and some that were beyond description – some elegant, some hideous.

   DSC00636    DSC00666   DSC00646   DSC00662

     The ‘show’ had started and I wasn’t even inside yet, and it became painfully obvious that I was not going to be let in at the ‘Turf Club’ entrance (I think my skin was too loose), so I meandered down to the ‘Steerage’ gate and was herded through.

“I’d like to buy a  . . . schedule . . . a list of the races . . . a program, a . . . ”                                                                                                                                         “Racing Form?”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         “Yes, that’s it, thank you”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     “Good luck buddy!”

With racing form in hand, I pretend to study it, or do whatever it is one does with a racing form.  It makes me thirsty and son of a gun if they don’t have plenty of places to buy a drink.

“That’ll be nine dollars”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           “I’m sorry I just wanted one beer”                                                                                                                                                                                                                       “That’s all you’re getting for nine dollars”                                                                                                                                                                                                           “But it’s only 10 ounces, that’s almost a dollar an ounce!”                                                                                                                                                                                     “Sir, there’s a line behind you”                                                                                                                                                                                                                               “Fine!”

     The beer went down too quickly (Hey, it was only 10 ounces!) and I soon find myself back in the $9 beer line reading the racing form and having a little trouble understanding some of the jargon therein.  I asked another $9 beer line-stander for the definition of a ‘furlong’; he said, “Let me put it this way, with your racing knowledge and proclivity for drinking, your money won’t last furlong.”  I didn’t like his answer, so I turned to another line-stander and ask him to explain what the ‘odds’ meant.  He said, “All you need to know is that they’re always against you”.  I quit asking, but continued to study the racing form and found out that horses in a ‘Maiden Race’ and I have a lot in common, neither of us have ever won a race.

     But today the horses and racing are really secondary to the festivities, and I don’t want to bury my head in racing form statistics while all the ‘festivities’ walk by in short skirts, high heels and bodacious . . . hats.

     I asked a group of young ladies if they wouldn’t mind posing for me for a picture.  The picture below shows their response.

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Thursday: Opening Day at Del Mar (Part 2)  My ‘pole position’ seat