Let the games begin!

A battle for the party’s soul!

With Elon Musk providing the halo effect, another Florida man will announce today via Twitter (not Truth Social, not Fox!) that he is, indeed, a candidate for President of the United States (of America). “Ron DeSanctimonious,” his chief rival calls him. No one does bile like #45! Those of us who miss Jerry Springer’s trailer trash cage-fight of a TV show can hardly wait!

Like horse racing (apparently), politics is a blood sport. No love lost between these two. Question is will Ron D. stand there and take it like poor Jeb Bush or rope-a-dope the Big Dope like Muhammed Ali did to George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle? 

The Republican presidential primary will really get interesting if Chris Christie gets in. Can he bring down Donald Tr•mp like he did Marco Rubio at the 2016 debates? None of the announced candidates so far is inclined to go low on the opinion poll leader; either through fear (we’re thinking Mike Pence) or inherently kind disposition. (Is Tim Scott too nice?)

Chris Christie has no such qualms. This is the federal prosecutor who put Jared Kushner’s old man in prison. As governor of New Jersey, he ate hecklers for breakfast with a side order of deep dish pizza and a Pabst Blue Ribbon. Even though the man insists “I’m not a paid assassin,” Politico counters that:

“Christie … loves nothing more than throwing a political punch.”

Taking down the most dominant Republican political figure in a generation, the 60-year-old former two-term New Jersey governor has calculated, requires taking direct aim at Trump’s weaknesses — his questionable character, his lack of discipline and, most of all, his losing record.

— Politico

Let’s everyone go on strike! — Their workers are striking CUNA Mutual Group here in Madison WI “for all the right reasons,” John Nichols declares in The Capital Times. Main issue seems to be the employer is out-sourcing work to other locales. Seems to be if you want to assure out-sourcing, go on strike. We’ve noticed that every work stoppage is conducted for all the right reasons, according to John’s playbook.

The bat plays — Is the Brewers’ Owen Miller — of Mequon WI! —  the next Ryan Braun? Well, he is 26, a little old for a second-year player. But he was batting .347 after 101 at bats. Or is he a Hurricane Hazle, who will flame out the second time around the league? Christian Yelich was hitting only .223 on April 27. Since then, he’s batting .313 to lift his season average to .259. Go, Yellie!

Make it rain — The unlettered field hands are watering our sparse asparagus fields with their salty tears. Last significant rain was 16 days ago: 0.53 of an inch on 05-08-23. Another 0.11 of an inch six days later. A measly 0.7 on 05-19-23 when a quarter to a half-inch had been predicted. No rain in the seven-day forecast with temps predicted to hit 87° F next week!

Blaska’s Bottom Line: #45 would have been no match for Ronald Reagan, who could deflect the worst of them with humor and self-deprecation. Remember how RR demolished Walter Mondale with a single line? Then again, give him this: Tr•mp is no Walter Mondale! More like a Евгений Викторович Пригожин.

Is Christie kryptonite or carbohydrate?