Mike O'Connell

Update from Monday’s post: those giant free sample-giving machines are called “Freeosks” (clever!) and the one at my local Walmart did in fact produce for me a delicious Clif Bar Monday afternoon.

Note to self if nuclear fallout is ever set to occur for real (unlike the fake version last Saturday in Hawaii)…

Stock up on Freeosk Clif Bars!

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock on some distant planet the past week or so there is a new tell-all book about the Donald Trump presidency and its inner workings. The author, Michael Wolff “highlights unflattering descriptions of Trump’s behavior [and] chaotic interactions among senior White House staff.” That’s from Wikipedia, because I refuse to read any actual reviews of the book. Or the actual book.

Wolff originally claimed Trump had granted him access to the campaign and to White House staff, though it seems as if the book is more “Frank Sinatra has a Cold” than the insider access of an authorized biography. Wolff says he conducted more than 200 interviews of people around Trump, and much of the celebration the book has received has centered around what those close to Trump have said about their boss. One way to write a best-selling book these days: get people to say bad things about Trump and quote them on it!

There are two things that strike me about the book. (It’s called Fire and Fury, by the way.) One, on negative comments from those around Trump. Most people say unflattering things about their boss when he or she is not around. I bet not five percent of employees on Earth would say they think their boss is anything but a blithering idiot if they knew he weren’t listening. Have these people never read a Dilbert cartoon? This is what the world really looks like.

Second, on the book’s other major revelation, that somehow Donald Trump didn’t really want to win the election, and that he and his family were disappointed by the result on Election Night.

Huh?

Same guy who was supposedly colluding with the Russians to get himself elected?

Come on, media. Get your stories straight.

Today is one of those days with simply too many interesting news stories simply to focus on one.

This weekend’s NFL games, marred by questionable officiating?

College football and it’s aforementioned Goliath-Goliath matchup tonight to crown its national champion?

How about college basketball, where three of the top five-ranked schools lost this weekend in a flurry of upsets nationwide? (Including Maine beating Binghamton in a Bai Lee Court stunner!)

Maybe the Golden Globes, also known as Hollywood-types tripping over themselves to make softball political speeches? (I know, I know, sexual harassment and all its guises is a serious matter, but come on, this is like debating a four-year-old… is anyone out there pro-sexual harassment? I think the most interesting story from last night was the public fury over the handful of women who did not wear black, the official protest color of the evening. Anyone see the irony there? Public shaming for what those women chose to wear instead of being told how to present themselves by the Establishment?)

Sometimes I’ve got a few too many ideas and a little too much free time to read the news.

Much as I wanted to write the following for today… UCF is 13-0, give them the championship already! I thought I’d go with this one instead:

God damn that Alabama-Georgia championship game is going to be outstanding. Monday night is going to be epic and who cares about teams from small conferences.

Sometimes it’s fun to watch Goliath versus Goliath.

The Internet was all atwitter last night following a tweet from a certain president of ours that “we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming” in response to record low temperatures across much of the nation.

I have been making this joke for years, though I usually phrase it something like global warming, why have you forsaken us?!

The president’s comment is an attempt at humor. It’s a cheap joke. The man, though his talents may be many, is not a good comedian. His detractors should be thrilled he’s trying his hand at comedy rather than politics, just as I’ve suggested they should be thrilled by how often the guy plays golf (as opposed to, you know, spending time screwing up the country).

Meanwhile, the temperature outside my home really is about 17 degrees, and that’s probably as warm as it’s going to be all day.

Actually it’s going to be 70 all weekend where I’ll be.

New Year’s at home never looked so good.