Bill Hanna’s Musings
–How would you like this? You are a member of a book club, and the upcoming book is billed as “a mystery that will keep you guessing up to the final page.” As an avid reader you eagerly await the book’s arrival in your mailbox, and on the day of its delivery you clear your evening, pour yourself a nice tall beverage, settle into your favorite chair, begin reading, but as your eyes swim down the opening page, your mouth drops open in disbelief, as you read the following: “And much to Mary’s surprise her husband ultimately admitted to the police that he had, with malice aforethought, murdered her 30-foot, pet anaconda by feeding the enormous reptile a rat that had consumed a peanut butter sandwich laced with arsenic.” Your evening is ruined. Do you go back to the beginning and read the entire book knowing how it ends? Hell no! Here’s another scenario. Imagine that the pandemic is over and that movie theaters are open again, and you are eager to see a new film advertised as a “tense courtroom drama.” You pay $10 for a ticket and $44.25 for a large tub of popcorn and a medium Pepsi. You get settled in your seat and watch 20 minutes of trailers until the main feature begins. Theme music plays and opening credits roll by. Now the camera pans around a packed courtroom, and then it zeroes in on the judge, who says, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury have you reached a verdict?” The jury foreperson replies, “We have, your honor?” Judge: “How say you?” Foreperson: “Guilty, your honor.” Now you have just blown $54.25 to see a movie in which the ending is shown before the rest of the film. What a waste time, right? If you have been watching CNN this week, you would have seen the politicians participating in the charade of Trump’s second impeachment trial. The former president was impeached for orchestrating the Jan. 6, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building, where a joint session of Congress was in the process of certifying the Electoral College votes. As the attackers breached the Capitol, congressional members scurried around for their lives, and the mob came within 100 feet of capturing then Vice President Pence, whom they wanted to execute by hanging him. Several hours later after the dust had cleared and some semblance of order had been restored, five people were dead, and myriad others were injured. For allegedly inciting the insurrection, Trump was impeached for the second time in his career, but now it’s up to the United States Senate to find him guilty or not guilty. For two days the house managers from the House of Representatives presented an irrefutable case of guilt, but they don’t stand any more chance of convicting him than Atticus Finch had of winning an acquittal for Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It takes a 2/3 vote in the Senate, and with the exception of a few, the Republicans in the Senate are so frightened of arousing Trump’s ire that they won’t vote to convict him. On Jan. 23, 2016, Trump was the Republican frontrunner when he boastfully made the following statement: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK? It’s like incredible.” After seeing what his followers did on Jan. 6, I wouldn’t be surprised if he could stand on Fifth Avenue, hand a gun to a Trumpite with the command to shoot somebody. No matter what he says or does, his followers remain fiercely loyal to him. And that is incredible!
–This just in. TRUMP ACQUITTED! Final vote: 57 guilty, 43 not guilty (67 guilty votes needed to convict)
–Well, the Super Bore (Sorry, Bowl) LV is in the history books, and probably the only people who enjoyed it were New England fans because those in the Kansas City Chiefs’ camp had very little for which to cheer. Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs’ talented young quarterback, looked on as 43-year-old Tom Brady, methodically and convincingly led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 drubbing of the Chiefs while earning an unprecedented fifth MVP award and a seventh championship ring. Brady completed 21of 29 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns. Love him or dislike him, no one can dispute the fact that his seventh Super Bowl win inarguably makes him one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks ever to play the game. King Tom reigns supreme, and last Wednesday he celebrated by participating in boat parade, and at one point, aboard his $2 million vessel, he lobbed the Lombardi Trophy across the water to another boat. Fortunately, like most of Brady’s passes this one too was completed.
–There was a tiny bit of good news from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention last week. Those who have been fully vaccinated (two doses of Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine) no longer need to self-quarantine if they come into contact with someone who has been exposed to the virus. Being fully vaccinated means having received both shots and allowing two weeks to pass after the second shot. The reason for this is that it takes two weeks for the vaccine to reach its full strength in the body. The CDC emphasized that everyone should still take all the necessary precautions, but those who have been fully inoculated need no longer quarantine. Maybe a small glimmer of hope!
–Ponder this: Today a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation toward the local swimming pool. I gave him a glass of water. ~Anonymous
