Wondering on Wednesday (v133)

Whoa Nellie, as the late sportscaster Keith Jackson used to say -- there's a lot of wondering going on here tonight!

I wonder what, exactly, Jared Kushner did to get his full and permanent security clearance?  Did he:

• stop filing amendments to his financial statements? 
• Stop remembering meetings and discussions and how much money he made and squirreled away under which mattresses? 
• Stop seeking financial help from foreign governments to bail out his troubled real estate company? 
• Promise to take the fall for his father-in-law should the need arise? 

I'm sure there's no correlation between his lengthy interview with the Special Counsel's office and his getting the security clearance. I mean, that would be some kind of crazy conspiratorial dark red state infowar-ish false flag kind of thing, and we all know that's just crazy talk. Right? That's just crazy talk?

And I wonder what exactly is the cause of the falling attendance and falling ratings for NASCAR and why isn't anyone on talking about it? Well, let me rephrase that -- no one other than the fake news is talking about it. But the truth seems to be that attendance is down, ratings are down, and the family business that is NASCAR might be put up for sale.  Now, I'm literally 0% interested in car racing, but when racetracks go so far as to remove tens of thousands of seats to improve their attendance numbers, or to make it look better on TV, we're in the bigly manipulation game, don't you think?

Now, you may be wondering why NASCAR attendance matters to a person like me; let me explain.  You all remember the NFL 'anthem protests' and how the Interferer in Chief thought that anyone who protested should be fired, and how he encouraged everyone to boycott, and how ratings and attendance were down? And how everyone said, boy, those NASCAR fans sure as shootin' would NEVER stand for anyone not standing for the flag...

Well, the truth is, NASCAR attendance is dropping, NFL attendance is dropping, MLB attendance is down, all at the same time. So, it kind of begs the question, were the anthem protests and the resulting bluster from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue the cause of the drop off, as the president likes to claim, or is there a general trend here that maybe he's not wanting to tweet about?

Speaking of the NFL, the owners and the commissioner did their darnedest to come up with a plan that would please? appease? the president and get him to stop yelling at them.  The plan? Any player who is on the field at the time the national anthem is played must stand and be respectful. Players are not required to be on the field during the anthem, but if they are, they must toe the line (while assuming a respectful position of course). Now, don't go yelling at me: I love my country, I know the words to the national anthem, and I stand -- I've pointed all of that out before, and it is still true today.

I wonder, though, what they'll blame for this year's attendance? Or, will the rules changes made in the offseason  (a hit is just a hit, a catch is but a catch...) be enough to get fans back? And what, I wonder, will all the fans who became experts on the NFL's rule book and operations manual do with all their free time going forward?

A couple quick notes: the NFL has been in existence since the 1920's. I think it's safe to say that the world did not come to an end in years between the start of the league and the start of players on the field for the anthem, which began in 2009. And similarly, if unrelated, the world didn't come to an end in all the years between the adoption of the Second Amendment and the Heller decision in 2008 - but I digress.

And now to the last wonderings of the night. Wondering so painful, I must say, that my head Joe Biden Literally exploded (which means, of course, that my head is still intact, and attached). Wondering so exhausting, I'm -- well, I'm exhausted. And sick. And sick tired of this stuff.

How, I wonder - how can it be possible that a person who is parked across two handicapped spaces in an empty drug store parking lot at 2AM ends up Tased, screamed at, put on the ground, arrested for being physically aggressive, scratched and bruised by four police officers and two police sergeants? In 2018? In an American city?

Well, it happens, you and I both know, because the guy who chose to park badly is black. He's black, he's young, he's wearing a chain, and did I mention he's black? It's ridiculous. It's embarrassing. It's shameful.

And so I have to ask, does anyone really wonder why athletes protest during the national anthem?