Monthly Archives: December 2023

Let’s See How This Plays Out 

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Your faithful observer is a Protestant who believes that a faith that is so much based on love, whether it is toward one’s enemies, or in following as much as I can Jesus’ comment record in John 13: “A new command I give youL Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” can in so many ways pas judgment on who can love who.

My congregation lost some members a few years ago when our minister announced that he was a pastor for the congregation but a minister to all of God’s people and that he would, therefore, perform same-sex marriages (he had been approached by a same-sex couple wanting a marriage ceremony several weeks earlier).

A few days ago, Pope Francis allowed priests to bless same-sex couples.  The declaration has been described by The New York Times as “his most definitive step yet to make the Roman Catholic Church more welcoming to L.G.B.T.Q Catholics and more reflective of his vision of a more pastoral, and less rigid, church.”

It seems to be a major step away from the church’s long-held doctrine that marriage is only between a man and a woman. It is not, however, a complete break from that doctrine because the new policy refers only to “blessing,” not sanctioning marriage, a sacrament, a ceremonial rite of the church. The new rule makes that clear.

The Vatican says the blessing should not be part of any formal service but instead should be done during a private meeting with a priest, during a pilgrimage, or during a visit to a shrine or during a prayer recited in a group.

Kansas city Bishop James Johnston says the declaration “recognizes that God desires the good for all persons, including those in objectively irregular same-sex or heterosexual relationships, and if one reaches out for God’s assistance, that should not be denied.”  But he emphasizes that it would be a mistake to say the Church is “now approving or validating same-sex unions or unions which are outside of marriage.” A blessing does not signify the approval of the union but “allows for ministers to bless people in these difficult situations that they may be assisted by God’s grace along the path of conversion and salvation.”

The St. Louis Archdiocese describes those who seek the blessings as sinners.   “When we seek out a blessing, we come as sinners to receive God’s grace and mercy inour lives,” says statement from the archdiocese. “Blessings serve to open one’s life to God, to ask for his help to live better and to invoke the Holy Spirit so that the values of the Gospel may be lived with greater faithfulness.”

The statement refers to the blessings as “an expression of the Church’s maternal heart…a reminder that we nurture and promote the Church’s closeness to people in every circumstance n which they might seek God’s help and grace.”

The statement is aimed at more than LGBTQ couples.  It also applies to people who have divorced and remarried without getting an annulment of the first marriage.

About the same time the Pope’s declaration was making news headlines, NBC was reporting, “Moe than 500 bills targeting LGBTQ people were introduced in state legisltures around the country in 2023.  Of those bills, 75 became law, including two in Missouri banning gender-affirming care and restricting participation in school athletics.”

One of the most potent moral forces in the Missouri Capitol for decades has been the Missouri Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of the Catholic Church. I recall its opposition to legislation allowing the cessation of brain function to be a definition of death. And its opposition to abortion has never weakened.

Now the Vatican has softened its stance on LGBTQ issues. Will that action trigger any softening of conservative faith-based lobbyists on anti-LGBTQ legislation?

In matters of faith dictating law, will there be an emphasis more on pastoring than on rigid judging?

But then, how does rigid judging agree with loving one another?

And which should prevail in our lives and in our laws?

Let’s see how the Pope’s declaration carries out in our government halls and in the quiet rooms of our homes whether we be Catholic or Protestant.

Or even nothing at all.

Sports: Mizzou, KC Give Fans Lump of Coal for Christmas. But how about a toy car for New Year’s?

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

The weekend was full of the Christmas DIs-spirit.

(CHIEFS—It has become the Patrick Mahomes post-game litany: I’ve just gotta be better and not be making these mistakes.’

The resurgent Las Vegas Raiders capitalized on a couple of Mahomes mistakes in the first half and the Kanss City City Chiefs’ offense continued to muddle along, giving the Raiders a 20-14 win.

A botched handoff from Isaiah Pacheco to Mahomes and a pick-6 interception did in Kansas City now 9-6.  Defensive tackle Bilal Nichols returned a fumble eigtht yards for a touchdown and just seven seconds later, the Raiders’ Jack Jones took an interception back 33 yards for the next score. The Chiefs frustrated themselves and their fans with the no-longer-surprising fumbles and penalties.

The Raiders are up to 7-8 now.

The inability of the Chiefs to get their act together is leading to sideline tantrums by some team leaders. Ths time it was Travis Kelce who had a little converstion with his coach before he got back into the game.

One high note: Receiver Rashee Rice set a new record for most receptions by a rookie receiver. His six receptions give him 74, three more than Dwayne Bowe in 2007.

The Chiefs have another tough one next Sunday—Cincinnati.

(MIZ)—Missouri Tiger Coach Dennis Gates says the tigers are “very, very close. It’s very close and I’m excited about our trending because I think we’re trending in the right direction,” he said after the drubbing his Tigers took from the University of Illinois before heading out for Christmas break.

Close to what? Is the question hanging over the team after giving up 90 points or more for the second straight week and now on a three-game losing streak. Missouri outscored Illinois in the second half 49-48, hardly enough to overcome a 25-point deficit at the half.

Missouri is now 7-5.

Once again, the Tiger’s big guys had little to offer. The four of them, seven-footers Jordan Butler, Mahon Majak, Connor Vanover, and their 6-10 colleague Trent Pierce played a combined 38 minutes, twenty of them Pierce. They combined on 2-11 shooting from outside and 14 points, twelve by Pierce.  They contributed seven rebounds and three blocks.

One more game before conference play begins. (zou)

(BASEBALL)—The Cardinals and Royals seemed to take the week off—-although it doesn’t mean they weren’t talking.

Now, some off-track motoring sports:

(NASCAR)—NASCAR fans love their diecast models of their favorite drivers’ cars. And Lionel—you know, the toy train people—make a lot of them. Lionel has released its top ten list of popular diecasts.  Kevin Harvick’s farewell tour put two of his cars on the list—his #29 tribute car frm the All Star race was number one and his regular car was 10th.  Cars driven by Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, and Ryan Blaney were next.

Dale Earnhardt Sr., who was killed at Daytona in 2001, had the fifth most popular car, a 25th anniversary car honoring his 1998 win in the 500. NASCAR’s 75th anniversary commemorative car was next followed by the model of the car driven by Australiandriver Sane Van Gisbergen in the rainy Chicago street race—his only time in a Cup car, so far. He’ll be running more extensively in the series next year.  The last one was a late-model car driven by Dale Jr.

Interestingly, two of the sports’ biggest Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott were missing fromt that list even though Elliott was voted the fan’s favorite driver again.

Suppose—-(A Brief Christmas Thought)

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Suppose the only thing we know about Abraham Lincoln was written by a few of the members of his cabinet many years after his assassination.

Suppose nobody had thought him important enough to preserve the cabin in which he was born (the one on display in Kentucky has a lot of questions about its validity) and mark it as a historic site.

Suppose none of his writings survived and only a few of his speeches and only a few anecdotes of what he said were preserved.

Suppose the address of the place where he died was lost to history.

Suppose nobody got around to taking his picture.

What would we think of Abraham Lincoln today?

Would there be a Lincoln’s birthday holiday?

—-such as the person’s birth billions of people are celebrating now?

Must have been a pretty remarkable guy.

The one we’re whose birth we’re celebrating  today.

Gaining Face 

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Well, I’ve finally gone and done it.

For many years, Nancy has been on  Facebook.  When people have asked me if I am, too, my answer has been, “No, I have a life.”

But as of December 12, 2023, I have joined the 21st Century. Or at least stuck my toe in 21st Century waters. Nancy helped me put together a Facebook page.  I wudn’ta done it except she had just discovered a thing called Diabetes 101, which has a lot of information about, well, you can see the name.

We were in Kansas City to record some podcasts for the Missouri Bar (called Is it Legal to…?  They’re programs that explain the law in language you and I can understand, people who didn’t to go law school to learn all of the clever Latin words that are used to refer to something that can just as easily be explained in English but using Latin emphasizes that the speaker or writer is learn-ed.  You might check them out. I think they’re interesting.).  We had had some really mediocre barbecue at the place in Crown Center that is not Arthur Bryants’ or Gates’ for dinner on September 14 and I woke up the next morning very thirsty.  Breakfast included two glasses of orange juice and a glass of water and I consumed water all day like a camel and got rid of it like a race horse. Blood draws on two days the next week showed very high blood sugar rates and a loss of thirteen pounds in three weeks and I was told to get a finger-punching kit and a prescription for insulin filled.  Right now. I don’t know the exact hour but I do know the exact date that I became a Diabetic.

Since then I’ve met scads of people who have been dealing with this thing for decades.  I’ve learned from them and from personal experience it’s not bad.  But it does change one’s lifestyle.

For instance—-the Girl Scouts have just lost a significant customer.  I used to buy Thin Mints by the case and keep them under my desk at the Missourinet, breaking out a box to celebrate a good day or a great story or just to pep up the staff.  Goodbye Thin Mints.  And Oreos. And big cups  of Black Walnut ice cream at Central Dairy.

BUT one day last week I had two (2) Sausage-Egg McMuffins at McDonald’s—just without the muffin.  Early on, my spirits were lifted when I learned I could have chili and popcorn. I’ve been to Wendy’s a few times since and I’ve developed a tremendous desire to go see a movie but the offerings at our local theatre at this time of year have been ghastly. The closing of our favorite drug store cut off my main supply of daytime popcorn. We’ve been binge-watching a TV show about a public hospital in New York, New Amsterdam (until the next season of Grey’s Anatomy is released) and streaming programs on ACORN such as Martin Clunes’ (of Doc Martin fame) called “Man and Beast” instead of going to the movies.  But the experience is popcornless. Roku is a wonderful invention.

I’m doing fine.  Nancy has bought me several pairs of pants that will stay up (I’ve kept losing weight, 30 or 35 pounds or so).  And I’m about to become acquainted with some additional doctors of new specialties previously unencountered.  I’ve learned a lot of other people are in the same sugar-free boat I’m in and they’ve been rowing it for many, many years.  So that’s comforting.  And I don’t feel badly.  But creating a whole new diet that involves things I like to taste is an ongoing adventure.  I haven’t had real milk since September; that’s what I miss the most.  We got through Thanksgiving just fine and I wasn’t bothered too much watching other people eat dressing and mashed potatoes with gravy, and cranberry stuff out of a can.  Nancy made a pumpkin pie I could eat, as long as I didn’t eat the crust.

Peanut Butter, crunchy, has become a major part of my life.

So where was I?   Oh.  Facebook.

Well anyway, I’m there.  I’ll probably use it to tell people what’s on the blog next week and I’ll probably be a regular viewer of Diabetes 101.  Friend me if you’d like but we are not going to spend our days exchanging selfies or passing along cute cartoons or the latest editions of Wal-Martians.

I’m just showing folks a new Face. I’ll be friendly. But I have my own life and I’m going to keep living it for a good long time.

Sports: A New Hall of Famer; Tigers Looking for a Forty-Minute Game; Chiefs Do What They Are Expected To Do; Royals and Cardinals Spending Tops $200 Million, and a Silver Face

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(HALL OF FAMER)—Lemar Parrish was one of the premier defensive backs in the National Football League for many years throughout the 1970s. A lot of people think he hasn’t gotten the post-career honors he deserves.

Last week, it was announced that Lemar Parrish is a part of the 2024 class of enshrinees in the Black College Football Hall of Fame.

Parrish played for Lincoln University in Jefferson City, 1966-1969 as a kick returner and defensive back.  He was named an All-American in his final year, the same year he set a school record by running a punt back 95 yards for a touchdown against what is now Missouri State University. He averaged 16.8 yards per punt return. That record and his career average of 15.5 yards also are still school records. LU won 23 games during his career, almost ten percent of all the victories in school history (248).

He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round. In his rookie year he had five interceptions, one fumble recovery, 194 yards of punt returns and 482 yards returning kickoffs.

In 1970, against the Buffalo Bills, he took a kickoff return 95 yards for a touchdown and scored another one on an 83-yard blocked field goal attempt. Two years later, against the Houston Oilers, he scored touchdowns on interception returns of 33 and 25 yards. Against the then-Washington Redskins in 1974, he scored on a 93-yard punt return and a fumble return of 47 yards.

While he was with the Redskins he was named Football Digest’s 1979 Defensive Back of the Year.

When he left the Bengals in a contract dispute he held the team record for touchdowns scored by
return or recovery.  Four came on interceptions, four on punt returns, three on fumble recoveries, with one kickoff return and one on that blocked field goal. Three times, he scored two return-or-recovery toughdowns in a game. In his eight years in Cincinnati, he was named to the pro bowl six times. His 25 career interceptions is still the fifth-most in franchise history and he still holds records for career punt returns for touchdowns, kick return averae and single-season punt return average. He was named to the Bengal’s All-Half-Century Team in 2017, five years after Lincoln University enshrined him its all of fame.

In the entire history of the NFL, only twenty defensive backs have been picked for eight Pro Bowls. LeMar Parrish is one of them.  He was a three-time All-Pro first team player and a two-time second teamer.

The list of inductees into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame goes back to 1951.  LeMar Parrish’s name is not on that long, long, long list. It’s hard to understand why it isn’t.

(MIZ)—The Missouri Tigers hit the snooze button halfway through the first half against Seton Hall and didn’t get a wakeup call until the second half was about two-thirds gone.  Once again unable to play a 40-minute game, the Tigers took the loss, their fifth of the year to go with seven wins and facing a big game next weekend against 16th-ranked Illinois (7-2).

Missouri led early, 16-10 but dozed off, missing five of six shots and turning the ball over twice while the Pirates went on a 16-3 run and led 42-38 at the half. Seton Hall outscored the Tigers 33-18 in the first fourteen minutes of the second half. Missouri woke up down 75-56 and pulled within six with 3:32 left.  But that was as close as they got in the 93-87 loss.

The game was decided in the paint where Missouri’s bigs made no impression on Seton Hall at all.  The Tiger Trees (Trent Pierce at 6-10, seven-footer Jordan Butler, 7-foot-2 inch Mabor Majak, and Seven-five Connor Vanover) combined for just 26 minutes on the court, 12 points (two dunks by Vanover and Pierce going 3-3 including two from outside the arc), 3 rebounds, one steal amd three blocks while Seton Hall was going 17 for 21 on layups and scoring 44 points in the paint. Missouri scored just 30 points inside.

Missouri outscored Seton Hall 31-18 in the last six minutes but both teams scored 17 points in the last 3:32. (zou, weakly)

(CHIEFS)—The Kansas City Chiefs handed the New England Patriots their seventh home loss in eight games this year Sunday, dropping the Patriots to 3-11.  The Chiefs started slowly again and trailed 207 in the second quarter before getting their second touchdown just before halftime to take a lead, then adding 13 points in the third quarter and going scoreless in the fourth.

The Chiefs had a chance to score on their opening drive but Harrison Butker chose that moment to miss his first field goal of the season, ending a streak of 61 straight threes, one short of his own team record. The Patriots took the lead in the second quarter when Patrick Mahomes threw his 13th interception of the season, which ties him for career-most, set in 2021. It was hs only pick of the game, however, and he finished with more than 300 yards passing and appears to be a lock on another 4,000 yards passing year. He has never had a year of less than 4,000 yards since be became the Chiefs’ fulltime quarterback.

The Chiefs meet the Raiders on Christmas Day. The Raiders are coming off a 63-21 shellacking of the Los Angeles Chargers, afer leading at the half 42-0.

(THE PRICE OF SOUNDING OFF)—It’s not nice to blast NFL officials, especially if it appears you were wrong. ESPN’s Adam Schefter says the league has decided coach Andy Reid’s criticism of the offsides call that might have cost the Chiefs the game against the Bills was worth a $100,000 penalty for violating  “long-standing rules prohibiting criticism of game officials.”  Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is $50,000 lighter in the wallet for the same thing and for unsportsmanlike conduct on the sidelines after the call.

Now we wait to hear in the NFL goes after Kadarius Toney, the accused scofflaw who was offside. Toney says the call was ‘pretty much bogus.” He claimed he had gotten no warning form officials about where he stood as the play was called.  That’s not what the officials said. A fine for Toney? We’ll see.

(ROYALS)—After being relatively quiet in the early trading/signing period, the Kansas City Royals have started assembling the improvements they want to make for 2024.  Tops on the list is Michael Wacha, once one of the young arms for the Cardinals, who has signed a $16 million one-year deal with a player option for 2025.

Wacha will be 33 next July. He’s 88-54 after eleven years in the Bigs with an ERA of less than 4.  Last year with San Diego he was 14-4 with a 3.22 ERA, his best season since he went 17-7/3.38 as a 25-year old starter for St. Louis.Wacha’s career has been limited by injuries. He’s been out with shoulder problems in five seasons. The last time he started 30 or more games and pitched more than 134.1 innings was 2017.

The past week also saw the Royals add other guys. Seth Lugo, also a Padres starter last year,  signed for two years at $30 million with a $15 million player option for 2025. Lugo spent seven years with the Mets before moving to the other coast with San Diego. He’s 40-31 in his career that has mostly been in the bullpen although he started 26 games last year. He’s another guy with a career ERA under 4 (3.50).

While Wacha and Lugo’s numbers aren’t big given the number of years they’ve been in the majors, they add veteran experience to a young  Royals pitching staff of Cole Ragans, Brady Singer and Jordan Lyles, who showed promise last year

Earlier, Reliever Will Smith got a one-year contract for five million. Reliever Chris Stratton has a one-year deal at $3.5 million and a $4.5 million option for ’25. Outfielder Hunter Renfroe joins the team for $5.5 million in 2024 and a $7.5 million player option for the next season. Renfro has a chance to rebuild himself in Kansas City.  He started last year with the Angels, hit .242 with 19 homers and 56 RBIs before he was put on waivers when the Angels shed a lot of salaries and was picked up by the Reds.  But he was only in 14 games for them, hitting only .128, before he was designated for assignment, then cut at the end of September.

(CARDINALS)—The Cardinals have gone quiet, presumably because they’ve entered a new negotiating phase with somebody.

(SPENDING)—New York Times columnist Jeff Passan has ranked the teams’ free agent spending on new players so far this year and both of our teams are in the top six:

Dodgers  $717 million (plus $135 millon for the five-year deal with pitcher Tyler Glasnow, picked up in a trade)

Phillies  $172 million

Diamondbacks  $122 million

Giants $113 million

Royals  $105 million

Cardinals $99 million

(X-CARD)—Good Heavens, Matt Carpenter is still around. He’s been traded by the Braves to the Padres, who have given up an outfielder prospect.  The Padres also sent pitcher Ray Kerr and cash to Atlanta, the cash going to pay part of the $5.5 million player option salary the Padres would have had to pay him.  The Padres didn’t need him after picking him up from the Yankees after he seemingly rediscovered his bat while with the Yankees in ’22.  But in San Diego, he went back to being the Carpenter that Cardinal fans remembered in his final years in St. Loui: a .176 batting average, five homers and 31 RBIs. He played in only 76 games.

And this note about one of sports’ greatest trophies:

(THE SILVER FACE)—-It’s the only trophy in all of sports that has every winner’s face engraved in three dimensions in silver.  The trophy is almost five and a half feet tall and weighs more than 110 pounds.

It’s the Borg-Warner Trophy, originally designed in 1935, and each year the sterling silver face of the winner of the Indianapolis 500 is placed on it.  A few days ago, the face of Josef Newgarden was added in a special ceremony in Indianapolis.

Back on a warm day in May, Newgarden made a last-lap pass and a daring move as the field charged to the finish line at more than 200 mph to win the Indianapolis 500 for the first time.  He called having his face on the trophy “the highest honor you can have in motorsports.”

What became the bas-relief Newgarden face is the work of sculptor Will Behrends who first created a life-sized clay bust of Newgarden that is the basis for a tiny version that becomes a wax mold sent to a jeweler who turned it into the silver image.

Part of the process involved Newgarden sitting as a model while Behrends put the finishing touches on the bust.  The result turned into a special selfie.

(Photo Credits:  Wacha—MLB; Newgarden—Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including screenshot from trophy unveiling)

This One Joins Legendary Defenses

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But this time it didn’t work.  REALLY didn’t work.

The story has been told that one of Missouri’s colorful early lawyers once had a client who had been accused of libeling another person. In his closing argument, the lawyer told the jury his client could not be found guilty of libel because he was such an inveterate liar that nobody would believe him and since nobody would believe anything he said, his remarks could not have slandered the plaintiff.

The story says the jury was sympathetic to that plea and the liar was found not guilty.

Such an argument came to mind a few days ago while listening and watching and reading of of the defense attorney for Rudy Giuliani in Giuliani’s trial for defaming two Georgia women with his lies about the 2020 election. He  had said he would take the stand in his own defense and prove that everything he had said was true. His attorney did not let him testify.

The defense, in the end, was an effort to evoke sympathy from the jury for the day’s equivalent of Missour’s 19th Century liar.  Giuliani’s lawyer, Joseph Sibley, told jurors, “We made the decision not to have my client testify because these women have been through enough. These women were victims and, as the court has ruled, my client has committed wrongf ul actions against them.”

Sibley might have made some jurors’ jaws mentall drop when he said, “I have no doubt that Mr. Giuliani’s statements caused harm; no question about it. But just because these things happened, it doesn’t make my client responsible for them.”

!!!!!!!!!!!!

“When you see my client’s state of mind, you’re going to say, ‘You should have been better but weren’t as bad as the plaintiff’s make you out to be,” Sibley said, because, “Rudy Giuliani is a good man.  I know that some of you may not think that. He hasn’t exactly helped himself with some of the things that have happened in the last few days. The idea of him being a racist, or him encouraging racist activity, that’s a really low blow. That’s not who he is. He overcame negative stereotypes.” .

“I know he’s done things that are wrong. I know these women have been harmed. I’m not asking for a hall pass on that,” Sibley said. But damages had to be “in some way tied to what the actual damages are.”  They had to be “more closely related to the actual damage number.”

And just what would be that “actual number?”

Sibley pleaded for the jury to have mercy on Giuliani, whom he described as a “flat earther” who would never quit believing  his own lies. Sibley harkened back to the days when “America’s Mayor” was a unifying force in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. “This is a man who did great things. If he hasn’t been so great lately, I want you to judge him by the entire character of who he is.”

Let’s add some context to this:  Twenty-five years ago, a prominent Democrat was accused of (pardon the vulgarity here) diddling an intern.  Bill Clinton said, “There’s nothing going on between us,” to his top aides. When a grand jury asked him a question to the effect, “Is there anything between you and Miss Lewinski, Clinton answered with this masterpiece of gold-medal verbal gymnastics:

“It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is…If ‘is’ means is and never has been…that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement…Now if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relatons with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no and it would have been completely true.”

If there ever were created an Encyclopedia of Jabberwockey, the statements of Bill Clinton and Joseph Sibley would have to be featured.

Giuliani was Giuliani after the jury nailed him with a $148 million judgement: “The absurdity of the number really underscores the absurdity of the entire proceeding. I am quite confident that when this case gets before a fair tribunal, it will be reversed so quickly it’ll make your head spin. The absurd number that just came in will help that, actually.”

It would not be surprising if an appeals court reduces the damage awards; they sometimes do that while upholding the defamation judgment.

Regardless of what happens on appeal, this jury sent a message to others who have espoused the “stolen election” lie and who are facing their own defamation suits from voting machine companies and from other election workers. They should be very nervous.

If reports are true, Giuliani has little money and many creditors.  Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss might see little or no cash.  But they have received justice.  Whether they ever can get their lives back, though, is questionable.

Is there any amount that could make these women whole again?  Ruby Freeman says people with bullhorns standing outside the house where she had lived for 20 years, shouting racist insults, have forced her to leave  her house and move time and again, her belongings in her car.

Shaye Moss said she’s afraid to leave house, fears being lynched, and that she’s received death threats repeatedly.

Sibley urged the jury to “send a messge to America that we can come together with compassion and sympathy. And I think we need that.”

Let’s just hold hands and sing Kum by ya, in other words. Shaye and Ruby can lead it off.

Giuliani’s state of mind.  We’re so tired of hearing the word “unhinged” used for him and for his leader and others in that merry band, but we don’t have hours to spend with the big dictionary at the back of the classroom to find a better one.

How did it reach this point?  How could a great man in 2001 fall so far in less than twenty years?

We have referred in a past column to Giuliani as the most pitiful person in American politics. He is likely to stand in history as a great example of the dangers of falling in thrall to a person of no morals, of no respect  for anyone else, of no goal but power. It is telling that Giuliani’s Pied Piper has never shown on his own social platform or political stages any responsibility for the actions taken by Giuliani on behalf of his leader.

It is possible to have pity on someone but have no sympathy for them.  What he and his leader have done to these women, to many others, and to the nation itself deserves stern judgement. The jury has inflicted what Sibley has called a financial “death penalty” on Giuliani. So be it.  He has never personally asked for mercy; he has, in fact,  shown no remorse for what these people have gone through because of his words and has blamed others for what he has said. He threw gasoline on his own fire during the trial when he told reporters , “Everything I said about them is true,” and he reiterated that the women “were engaged in changing votes,” remarks that the judge suggested could lead to another defamation lawsuit.

After the verdict Giuliani remained defiant—”I don’t regret a damn thing,” he said. So much for coming together with compassion and sympathy.

This is why we have jury trials.  A dozen people who struggle to achieve justice from injustice is one of the greatest parts of our democratic system. There are plaintiffs and there are defendants. And then there are the heroes of our democracy, the jurors.

The Governor and the Book

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I see that Governor Parson has written a book.  It will be released next March but some excerpts have been made available to the press.  He calls it No Turnin’ Back.

I look forward to buying one.  Maybe he’ll have a signing at Downtown Book & Toy. I’ll be near the front of the line, I hope.  Ernie and Hazel, the bookstore cats, probably will have to be locked away because the line is likely to stretch a good distance down High Street.

It’s going to be a historic book because Mike Parson has been a central figure during some major points of history.  He came into statewide office as Lt. Governor, set to fill the role as Senate President and preside over the chamber in which he had just served eight years, while Eric Greitens careened throughout the capitol as a governor who antagonized most of the people he needed to make into allies.

Then came the historic day when Greitens announced his resignation as governor, getting out of town before he could be run out of town.  Suddenly Mike Parson—who was tending to his cattle on his southwest Missouri farm that day—became THE top guy in state government.

Then Covid hit. And for stress-laden month after month, Parson had to steer the state through shortages, uncertainties, and deaths.

We haven’t asked him but we have asked several former governors about the toughest decisions they had to make.  The most frequent answer has been that it was the decision to allow an execution to go ahead.

No governor serves without making mistakes. Some are mistakes they know pretty quickly they made. Others will emerge with the passage of time that places conduct within context. We don’t have much doubt that Governor Paron will recognize what he could have done differently or done better.  But at the time, somebody had to do something, and once done there is no turning back, which is why the title is appropriate.

I wish more governors had done what he is doing. History will paint its own picture. But self-portraits have value, too.

Jim Spainhower, who was a former State Representative and later a two-term State Treasurer and a 1980 primary election challenger to Joe Teasdale, was also a minister of my denomination, the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ.  He wrote a book called Pulpit, Pew, and Politics.

He told me when my first book was published, “Now you can start your prayers by saying ‘Oh though who also hast written a book.’”

Mike Parson is a man of faith, as you will hear if you click on the two-parts of an interview Ashley Byrd of the Missourinet did with him.  He, too, will soon be able to begin his prayers with those words.

Maybe we’ll greet each other at the book-signing with those words.

He talks with the Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd about the book and about his life and his governorship on these links:

Gov. Parson writes autobiography, but not to prepare a run for another office (LISTEN TO INTERVIEW PT. 1) – Missourinet

Gov. Parson: This office is not about yourself, it’s a much higher calling than your last name (LISTEN – PT 2 INTERVIEW) – Missourinet

(We thank our friends at The Missourinet for the photo.)

Sports: Mizzou All-Americans; The not-Moral Victory; The Foot on the Line; and Acquisitions in Kansas City and St Louis 

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(ALL-AMERICAN)—Before we get to anything else:  Missouri’s Cody Schrader has been named to the Associated Press All-America First Team.  He joins Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels of LSU and Ollie Gordon of Oklahoma State in the backfield.

Luther Burden III is on the second team. Kris Abrams-Draine makes the second team defensive unit.

Javon Foster is a third team offensive All-American at tackle.

The AP All=America team was picked by 18 voters who put together the weekly Top 25 football ratings.

(MIZ: Roundball)—-The Missouri Tigers outscored the second-ranked Kansas Jayhawks for the first sixteen minutes of the game in Lawrence Saturday and outscored them in the second half by three. But those last four minutes were killers as the Tigers couldn’t buy a bucket but Kansas reeled off fourteen unanswered points.

73-64, Kansas, the final.

Coach Gates isn’t interested in moral victories but for Tiger fans, the game might have shown team growth as it heads toward its pre-conference wrap-up games against Seton Hall next Sunday, Illinois on the 22nd and Central Arkansas on the 30th.

(MIZ: Football)—The Tiger football team might be able to say, it took a Heisman Trophy winner to beat us in the LSU game.  They probably aren’t saying it because it’s regarded as an excuse.  But LSU Quarterback Jayden Daniels could not be stopped in LSU’s 49-39 win over the Tigers this year.  He threw for 259 yards and ran for 130 more against a Tiger defense that has won national praise. He had help from LSU’s defense that stopped Missouri in the waning minutes.  The Missouri Tigers had the Geaux Tigers down 39-35 before Daniels threw a touchdown pass with less than three minutes left. The defense stopped Missouri twice, the last time on intercepted pass returned for a touchdown that stopped a Missouri drive that could have led to a tying field goal at the least.  Daniels threw for 50 touchdowns and rushed for more than 1,000 yards.

Missouri running back Cody Schrader was eighth in the voting with one first-place vote, two second-place votes and 22 third-place votes. It’s the highest finish for a Tiger player since Chase Daniel was fourth in 2007, equaling Paul Chrisman’s finish in 1939.

(REPLACING CODY)—The transfer portal has drawn to Missouri a running back with some strong credentials who might be a yardage chewer to replace Cody Schrader.  It’s Marcus Carroll, who rushed for 1,350 yards at Georgia Tech in 2023. He wound up in the end zone 13 of the 274 times he carried the ball.

(CHIEFS)—The Chiefs’ loss Sunday night was their fourth in six games, and another reminder of how much they miss Eric Bienemy, their former offensive coordinator who is now the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach for the Washington Commanders. His presence has not done any miracles for Washington, though, which is 4-9, losers of nine of their last eleven games, and 32nd in the league in scoring.

Some observers point to some friction in Washington between  Bienemy and some of the players because of his high-discipline philosophy. The Chiefs are clearly playing sloppier offensive football this year than they did when Bienemy was around.  While they might complain about the referees, the plain truth is that the receivers and the quarterback don’t seem to be in sync as much as usual and the number of dropped passes is disheartening.

The Chiefs lost to the Bills Sunday 20-17 and receiver Kadarius Tony went from being hero to being the goat in a matter of seconds.  Tony scored what would have been the winning touchdown but was the reason the play was called back.  He lined up offside, not by a little but by a lot.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed a pass to Travis Kelce who while running for more yards turned to his left and threw a lateral to the trailing Tony who went into the end zone untouched.  But there was that flag that killed the TD.

While Mahomes raged and coach Andy Reid mused about why the refs didn’t warn the Chiefs that Tony had lined up offside, Referee Carl Cheffers wasted no time saying the Zebras are not there to tell players to follow the rules:

“It’s one of those things we don’t want to be overly technical on, but when in his alignment he’s lined up over the ball, that’s something that we are going to call as offensive offside,” he told pool reporter Matt Derrick. “So that’s what the down judge saw. He saw that the alignment was over the ball and that’s what he ruled on the field. That’s what he called….Ultimately, if they looked for alignment advice, certainly we are going to give it to them. But ultimately, they are responsible for wherever they line up. And, certainly, no warning is required, especially if they are lined up so far offsides where they’re actually blocking our view of the ball. So, we would give them some sort of a warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one is beyond a warning…So really regardless of whether or not he was warned at other times during the day, if it was an egregious alignment to where he was over the ball – whether he had warnings or not – it would still be a foul.”

The Chiefs are 8-5. The’ll get out take their frustrations about the Bills game against the Patriots next weekend. The Pats are 3-10.

Now, the Baseball:

(ROYALS)—The Kanas City Royals haven’t made any big waves in the off-season. Their signing of Will Smith is a reunion; Smith started his  career with Kansas City. He’ll be 35 next July but is a low-risk opportunity fot the Royals, who have signed him to a one-year, five-million dollar deal. Smith has the distinction of picking up three World Series rings in the last three years. He’s the first major leaguer to do that with three different teams (Braves in 2021, Astros the net year and the Rangers this year). In fact, his record goes beyond baseball. He’s the only person in baseball as well as the NFL, NBA, and NHL to do this.

His numbers with the Rangers were not outstanding but were reasonable in today’s game: 57.1 innings itched in 60 games with an ERA of 4.40.  He’s 33-41 in his career with a 3.67 ERA and 113 saves.

There are other intriguing arms still out there and General Manager J. J. Picollo has let it be known that the club has about $30 millon in the budget for new players.  It appears the first five-million has gone to Smith.

(CARDINALS)—The Cardinals finally pulled the trigger on Tyler O’Neill last week and one of the best parts of the deal is that he can’t come back to haunt them in the immediate future if he managers to get through a season in good health.  He’s in the American League now with the Red Sox and the Cardinals have picked up a couple of young pitchers in return.

One of them, Nick Robertson, is expected to be with the team when it comes north in ’24. Evaluaters say his fastball averages better than 95, looks more like 97 and has some wicked movement. His changeup is only about eight mph slower but it moves and he has a slider that he developed late in the last season that raised some eyebrows.

The other pitcher is Victor Santos, who has spent a couple of years in Triple-A. He’s 23, has good command, and throws strikes. Slider/changeup/sinker guy with a pretty good strikeout ratio. He missed the 2023 season but is spending the winter in the Dominican League and is having a good season there.

Now, a couple of notes from the Zoom Room:

(INDYCAR)—Development of the new hybrid powerplant is moving a little slower than the series had hoped.  The series will open 2024 with the same engine that it has used for several years and won’t go to the new hybrid system until after the Indianapolis 500 in May.

IndyCar has two engine suppliers—Chevrolet and Honda.  But Honda has started counting its pennies a little more closely and says it’s considering pulling out of the series after 2026 because of high costs. Honda supplies power plants for as many as 18 entries in IndyCar races but says the cost/benefit ratio isn’t working as well as it wants it to work.

IndyCar has been trying to lure a third manufacturer into the series for several years. Honda has been a supplier since 1993.

(NASCAR/NHRA)—-Tony Stewart, who started a drag racing team two years ago is replacing his driver.  With himself.  He’s getting into the seat that his wife, Leah Pruett, had occupied. She’s taking the year off because the Stewarts want to start a family. He still is part owner of Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo Credit: Partial screen shot from broadcast of Chiefs/Bills game)

 

Dictator For A Day 

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Who wouldn’t like to be Dictator For A Day?   Let’s be honest.  What would  you dictate?

How about world peace?

Economic stability?

Real opportunities to achieve the American Dream?

Or to define the American Dream?

An unending supply of money to donate to programs to feed the hungry, house the ill-housed, give everybody a chance for however much education they might need to reach  their goals, help crime victims, cure diseases, etc.?

Then what would you do on the second day?

—Because you’ve only been a dictator for one day?

Wouldn’t it be smart on the first day to dictate that your authority extended for the rest of your life?   (I’ve always wondered by people who rub the lamp and find a genie in their midst granting them three wishes didn’t immediately wish for unlimited wishes.)

Our former president says he won’t be a dictator except on the first day when he’ll build the wall and drill, drill, drill. We hope he doesn’t get a cramp in his hand from signing all of his executive orders.

One day of a dictatorship is 24 hours too many.

A long-ago friend of mine once remarked after listening to a public office holder proclaim upon his inauguration that God intended him to be in that office, “Never trust a politician with a messianic complex.”

Let’s take a big leap beyond that.

Never, ever, trust a politician who says he wants to be a dictator for only one day, or denies obvious thoughts of being a dictator far longer. An old limerick warns us against placing trust in such a person:

There was a young lady of Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;
They returned from the ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger.

We Weren’t Good Enough for Trump. Or Was It The Other Way Around? 

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Next year will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the first legal casinos in Missouri.

The industry has done well in those thirty years.  It has posted revenues of almost $42-Billion.

For a time, Donald Trump wanted to be part of that, making some deals that would add to his casino empire back east. Before he started sniffing around in Missouri he had bought a casino from Hilton Hotels in 1985 and opened the property as Trump’s Castle Hotel Casino (later Trump Marina) in Atlantic City.  In 1986, he bought out a Holiday Inn and opened it as the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.

Two years later he got involved in the Taj Mahal project in Atlantic City and, using junk bonds,   turned it into a billion-dollar construction project.

In 1993, a year after voters approved riverboat gambling, he showed up in Missouri, ready to deal.  St. Louis Mayor Freeman Bosley didn’t want to cut a deal unless riverfront gambling interests got behind downtown redevelopment, a condition that Trump didn’t seem to mind, telling reporters, “Depending  on what he wants, I would be interested in discussing possible linkage. I think St. Louis needs a convention center hotel very badly. St. Louis is certainly a good gaming market.”

Already displaying the modesty to which we are accustomed, he proclaimed in May of ’93, “I think I know as much about convention halls as anyone in the public of private sector.”

While he was casting eyes at Missouri, he was feuding with Native Americans who were opening their own casinos.  The same year he looked at St. Louis he was ripping the operators of the Foxwoods Casino operated by he Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in New York, telling New York City radio host Don Imus, “I think I might have more Indian blood than a lot of the so-called Indians that are trying to open up reservations…I think if you’ve ever been up there,  you would truly say these are not Indians.”

(Just for the record, Donald Trump has zero Indian blood. His grandfather, came here as a 16-year old barber to escape three years of German military service. The legality of his entrance to the United States is questionable.)

American Indian Republic later reflected, “His discourteous rhetoric involving American Indians has often been used to both demean and frustrate those to which such speech was directed, with his early 1990’s tirades reflecting his discontent with the rapid and expansive rise of Indian gaming in particular. Much of the racially influenced remarks that had occurred during that period would later be conveyed once again during his 2016 presidential bid against his Republican opponents and Hillary Clinton, amongst other politicians.”

The year he was considering a Missouri casino, he filed a lawsuit against the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 that allowed Indian nations to open casinos. His whine was a familiar one to us today. The suit claimed those casinos were providing unfair competition, that the act was discriminatory as well as being unconstitutional.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit, a defendant, reacted, “My initial reaction was, ‘Hey, wait a minute, I’ve never even met Marla Maples. How can he be suing me?’ It is really absurd to think that a self-proclaimed tycoon s threatened by a few bands of impoverished Indians. It’s the theatre of the absurd.”

(Marla Maples was Trump’s new hobby at the time.  They had met in 1984 and started carrying on while he was still married to Ivana, who finally split with him in 1990.  It was about the time he was fighting Indians that Marla was trying to convince him to marry her.  She said they’d set the date “about a dozen times” but he always had “a little freak out” the day before the grand event. She said she helped him get over “that fear monster,” but had started taking her wedding gown along on their travels because “you’ve got to be prepared.”  They married late in 1993, two months after the birth of their daughter, Tiffany. Three years later, Trump fired his bodyguard after police reported finding him under a lifeguard stand with Ivana on a deserted beach at 4 a.m. They divorced in June of 1999.  By then he was fooling around with a Yugoslavian-born model, Melanija Knavs, who was building a career in New York. They were married in 2005.)

Getting back to our story:

As usually seems to happen with Trump lawsuits, the one involving Bruce Babbit went nowhere.

Later that year, representatives of the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma proposed building an 80,000 square foot casino/hotel/theatre/restaurant complex in the St. Louis suburb of Arnold.  One Arnold resident dismissed the idea, commenting, “Trump is in town talking about a deal on the riverfront. Who in the world is going to choose Arnold when downtown St. Louis is 20 minutes away?”  Governor Carnahan’s deputy chief of staff, Roy Temple, indicated Carnahan was cool to the idea of a casino in Arnold, generally opposed to casinos beyond those allowed by the riverboat gambling amendment added to the State Constitution in ’92.

Trump also was crosswise with Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker, claiming he couldn’t build a casino in that state until Weiker left office because Weiker opposed casinos. Weiker responded, “My opposition to casinos isn’t just casinos. It’s opposition to Donald Trump,” who he referred to as a “dirt bag” and a “bigot.”  Trump displayed his now-familiar brand of logic when he fired back that Weiker “is a fat slob who couldn’t get elected dog catcher in Connecticut,” ignoring the fact that Weiker had gotten elected to an office of somewhat greater importance.

In November of ’93, Trump unveiled his plan for a $300 million floating casino and 20-acre development just north of Laclede’s Landing on the St. Louis riverfront.  Five other developers also were eyeing the area.

In February of 1994, he floated the idea of a $98 million casino project in St. Charles that included a golf course, aquarium, and a park. Six other companies were competing.

Trump wasn’t good enough for either project.

In August of ’95, he left some people shaking their heads when he filed a lawsuit in New York to stop the introduction of  new lottery game, Quick Draw. He described it as “video crack,” and argued, “When you add it all up, the social costs far outweigh the potential tax revenues” and would be harmful to gambling addicts and casual gamblers “who can lose far more than they can afford.”

The same concerns did not apply to his own casinos because, “The overwhelming number of people who go to casinos do so for limited periods of time and with set budgets.”

By now, by the way, the Palm Beach, Florida, town council had capitulated in the face of a lawsuit filed by Trump and approved his proposal to turn his historic Mar-a-Lago mansion into a private club. The council had refused to allow the change two years earlier and Trump had, well, you know.

Trump’s grandiose plans for St. Louis and St. Charles were stillborn but he wasn’t done with Missouri.

In 1995 he established Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts as a publicly-traded company.  Four years later THCR agreed to buy the troubled Flamingo Hilton Casino in Kansas City, reportedly for $15 million.  The city port authority approved the deal on Trump’s 53rd birthday. But the deal fell through when the Missouri Gaming Commission refused to approve the company’s gaming license, expressing concerns about the THCR’s $1.8 Billion in debts.

The summer before the deal, the Hilton had agreed to pay $665,000 in fines and penalties to the federal government instead of going to trial in federal court  for “providing financial incentives” to friends of the then-chairman of the Kansas City Port Authority in return for his political support to build the casino on city-owned land. The company always denied doing anything improper.  The gaming commission threatened to yank the Hilton’s gambling license unless it sold its property.  Hilton had spent more than $100 million to develop the site.

In September of ’99, Station Casinos bought the Flamingo Hilton at the fire-sale price of $22.5 million. A Trump spokesman said the deal was cancelled so the company could focus on operating its three casinos in Atlantic City and reduce its debt.

Anyone wanting to learn more about all of this little drama seems to be out of luck.  The Associated Press reported in 2016 that about 1,000 pages of documents are locked away in the gaming commission’s files and are secret under Missouri law because Trump’s company withdrew its application on November 17, 1999. The commission lawyer says they’re sealed because the state never took action on the license application.

So ends the story of Donald Trump’s efforts to expand his casino empire to Missouri.

Had he done so, his track record indicates those projects would have been just another part of the story of the great deal-maker’s business failures.

THCR filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and was renamed Trump Entertainment Resorts and declared bankruptcy in 2009.

The Harrah’s at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992, closed in 2014 and was demolished in 2021.

Trump 29 Casino in Coachella, California is still open but Trump left the partnership in 2006.

Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana was sold in 2005.

Trump World’s Fair in Atlantic City closed in 1999 and was demolished a year later.

Trump Castle in Atlantic City filed for Chapter bankruptcy in 1992, was sold in 2011 and is now the Golden Nugget Atlantic City.

Trump Taj Mahal on the Atlantic City boardwalk filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991,  closed in 2016 and is now the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

And those are just part of a list of failures that also include an airline, a university, a vodka and a meat business, a travel agency and a mortgage finance company. And Truth Social is weakening.

His last casino development effort was on the Caribbean Island of Canouan, described as “a place where billionaires go to escape millionaires,” when Swiss-Italian banker Antonio Saladino tried to turn his languishing resort into a successful enterprise. He hired Trump to build villas around his hotel and golf course. Trump agreed to run the golf course and put up his own casino. Saladino sold out in 2010 to an Irish billionaire who fired Trump and sold the resort in 2015.

So Missouri missed out on having Donald Trump running a casino here.  It’s probably for the best.

Missouri has thirteen casinos, none that have ever born the name “Trump.”  There are those who think we need a fourteenth one, or maybe move a license from one location to the next—-which presents another problem of what is a small town that loses its casino going to do for jobs and what’s it going to do with the boarded-up casino.  And we have another Indian Nation that is trying to open a casino .

We saw during those years the Donald Trump character that is no different today. The casino industry has moved beyond Donald Trump.  Some might think it’s because the industry is run by better people, which is a case of damning by faint praise.

Is there a lesson in this for our political system?