Weekly Mail May 22, 2016

Hey There:


So I took the last two weeks off to attend communions, one for my buddy Ethan, the other for my gal Taylor. Ethan is Timmy buddy from school, and Taylor is the daughter of Mary and Frankie LeBourhis, my lifelong friends from Queens.

Taylor's communion gave me a chance to catch up with two of my three nieces (Becky and Rachel) and of course with Ray and Maureen, Karl and Trish and Auggie and Mary.  Thankfully we kept the political banter to a minimum. But for now, back to the political banter.



THE 2016 ELECTION:

Since last we spoke, Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropped out of the race, so the path is now clear for Donald Trump to clinch the nomination. As of this writing, Trump is 134 delegates away from clinching the nomination prior to the convention. Of course the question now is, will Cruz, Kasich Rubio et al rally around Trump? Or will the party remain fractured.

Speaking of fractured parties, the Democratic party, the one we were told were the adults in the room, the one that would provide the united front. is, well, NOT!    Hillary Clinton is close to clinching the nomination for the Dems, but that pest Bernie Sanders just refuses to drop out. Yes, Hillary has by far the most delegates, but every time I turn around, Bernie's winning another state. By my count, Hillary has won 23 states (and three territories) and Bernie has won 20 states (and Americans Abroad).

Jonathan Chait in New York Magazine wrote an article that was critical of Sanders:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/05/bernies-revolution-stops-for-no-one.html

What I gathered from this article, is that Chait is suggesting that Sanders and his campaign is guilty of having sour grapes, and they should just step aside and give Hillary the nomination. Which is funny, because that's exactly what the DNC wants him to do, and it's also something Chait doesn't mention in the article...how badly the DNC stacked the deck against him.

DNC chief Debbie Wasserman Schultz has bent over backwards to make sure Hillary wins the nomination. Sanders and Maryland governor Martin O'Malley were just supposed to be token opponents in the coronation. O'Malley did his part, but Bernie found himself with a following maybe even he didn't think he's have. Time and time again though, the DNC has screwed him over, not the least of which has been the use of super delegates, delegates independent of the primary voting process who have been overwhelmingly in Hillary's favor.

While it's true that Hillary has the lead even without the super delegates, it's a hell of a lot closer without them. Folks who might be inclined to vote for Bernie if they thought he might have a chance to win are now either voting for Hillary, or worse, not bothering to vote at all.

And people wonder why Trump is so popular? Some people say it's President Obama's fault that Trump has been able to rise. I disagree. I believe that the will of the people is being severely tested by the Democratic party. There is no worse feeling in the world than feeling like your vote doesn't count. If you vote and your candidate loses, that's life. If you vote and your candidates never had a fair shot, that blows.

SPORTS: The curious case of Matt Harvey

          The following quote appeared in Mike Vaccaro's Friday column in the Post.

“He’s 27 years old,” one member of the organization mused recently. “He’s a professional athlete, who makes his living — and wants to make $200 million — by being an athlete. Does he look like an elite professional athlete to you?

I never really gave it a lot of thought of Harvey's weight being an issue as to why he has pitched so poorly this year. I thought maybe it was the extra wear his arm took last year.

But as the article also says,check out what Harvey looked like in 2013 before he got hurt.  It's a big difference.

I can't stand A-Rod. It's not because of his steroid use or the fact that he grabs for every last dollar, and it isn't because he was so dominant both with and before he joined the Yankees. No, I couldn't stand A-Rod because of all the extra curriculars, all the non baseball crap. The mistresses, his fights with Derek Jeter, his flirting with girls in the stands. And then the whole act where he just wanted to be left alone when in fact that was the last thing he wanted.

Matt Harvey is going down the same road. In the news more for his mouth than his arm. I mean has a UTI ever garnered so much coverage in the history of mankind?

If Harvey is looking for a big payday, either here or elsewhere, he needs to get his act together. He needs to stop making news for all the wrong reasons. He needs to get his a$$ in shape.

And he needs to start winning again.

Have a Great Week