The Pearl: 13 April 2015

A fool and his money are soon elected. -- Will Rogers Hillary Clinton announced her campaign for president in 2016. She is widely expected to "win" the Democrat nomination for president without facing any serious competition within her party. Conversely, Jeb Bush has opposition for the Republican nomination from Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio, as well as from Governor Scott Walker, the current frontrunner. However, once Jeb declares his candidacy, the conventional wisdom says that he will attract the lion's share of Republican campaign contributions, from people who want to see another Bush in the White House. My question is, why? Also, who is funding these candidates? Between them, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush occupied the White House for 12 years in total. While I think Jeb was a pretty good governor down in Florida, that doesn't mean he'd make a great president. I think Jeb's wrong about immigration and Common Core. Besides, enough is enough. In between the Bushes, Bill and Hillary Clinton had 8 years in charge. If you think Hillary had no power in Bill's administration, your memory needs jogging. Before Obama gave us the "Affordable" Health Care Act, Hillary basically tried to nationalize health care by giving us the Health Security Act all the way back in 1993. Furthermore, no one in modern times has done more to destroy the moral fabric of American society than Bill Clinton, who had an affair with an intern, lied about it, and was disbarred for committing perjury while in office. Hillary enabled Bill's clinging to power, … [Read more...]

The Pearl: 8 April 2015

It's good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling. - Mark Twain Occasionally a quote requires no further elaboration. This is one of those times. But because golf has provided a wealth of quotes worthy of remembering, I've managed to cobble together a few of the wittier observations about the sport. Twain also wrote that, "Golf is a good walk spoiled." Comedian Buddy Hackett didn't like golf very much, either. He said, "Golf is more fun than walking naked in a strange place, but not much." Former U. S. President Gerald Ford joked, "I know I am getting better at golf because I'm hitting fewer spectators." An excellent golfer, Hall of Fame baseball player Mickey Mantle said, "He who has the fastest golf cart never has a bad lie." In contrast, famed humorist Will Rogers said, "The income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf." Al Boliska asked, "Have you ever noticed what golf spells backwards?" Humorous author Dave Barry wrote, "For me, the worst part about playing golf, by far, has always been hitting the ball." James Patrick Murray said, "Show me a man who is a good loser, and I'll show you a man playing golf with his boss." According to actor Jack Lemmon, "If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball." Actor Dick van Dyke added, "I found out that retirement means playing golf, or I don't know what the hell it means. To me, retirement means doing what you have fun doing." Former professional golfer Gary Player once said, "As we all know...golf is a puzzle … [Read more...]