And They're Off....In The 150th Preakness Stakes!

The year it all started is in dispute.  I think it was 1978, the year Affirmed won the race..but it could have been 1979, Spectacular Bid's year or at the very latest 1980, the year Codex won The Preakness Stakes.  Nonetheless, it has been at least 45 years ago.

My new friend, Stan, had moved to Atlanta in 1977.  Having grown up in Baltimore, he had been a frequent visitor to Pimlico Race Track - usually with Uncle Phil or several of the other neighborhood delinquents, that were later portrayed in the movie Diner.  And every year he went to The Preakness, the 2nd Jewel of Horse Racing's Triple Crown.

In the year that is in dispute, he asked me and Abby and Roger (from New York) if we wanted to join him for Preakness weekend.  A "Boy's Trip."  A weekend of partying and gambling. A weekend without our wives and kids! His sister lent the 3 of us her apartment and Stan stayed at his Mom's.  Needless to say, we had a great time.  Friday at the track for The Black Eye Susan Stakes, partying all night and starting Saturday morning with brunch prepared by Stan's Mom...and like every Jewish Mom, she laid out an incredible spread of lox, whitefish and what she called "Revelation"...smoked sable!  And it wasn't just the 4 of us as several of the Baltimore crew also showed up for Brunch.  Of course, the "partying" had not stopped from the night before!  And then, a day at The Preakness.  Our seats have always been a box overlooking the finish line. 

Connie asked me how we did at the track.  Win or lose?  My response, no matter the results, was always "We broke even!" 

We had such a good time, that the next year we increased the size of the party to 6 or 8 of us and at one time during the early 1980's we had as many as 12 people to this "Boy's Weekend " that suddenly became a 4 or 5 day trip.  And yes, we certainly partied non-stop.  But the races were the central focus!  Even after I moved to Boston in 1983, we kept the tradition going and brought new friends to the party.  We saw the filly, Pleasant Colony, beat the boys in 1981, and couldn't believe (given all of the partying we did) that none of us bet on Snow Chief to win in 1986!  And "Uncle Phil" would serve as our tout - Stan won't let me forget the year Uncle Phil touted all of us on a long shot and I was the only one NOT to bet on that horse.  As the horse won easily and everybody was excitingly running to the windows to cash in, I sat glumly at my seat with my head in my hands.

In 1987, my family and I moved to Florida but the tradition continued and we continued the yearly trip with a core group of about 8 guys each year.  Then in 1989, after a Friday night of frolicking, drinking, smoking and telling lies, I finally got to my hotel room about 2 AM when the phone rang and I found out that my Mom had suddenly passed away.  I took a 5 AM flight to Atlanta and decided that, for me, the tradition was over.  I just didn't have the heart to return for a number of years because that was where I was when the terrible news reached me.  The big party weekend eventually fell apart, but Stan kept going and meeting up with his old Baltimore pals, but the others just quit going.

Meanwhile, my love of the Races simply shifted to South Florida and I would go to Gulfstream Park every so often and would take my son, Brad, with me.  I would give him $2 a race to bet and he learned how to read the Racing Form and handicap races...frequently showing a bigger profit than me!  We were lucky to be able to go to The Breeder's Cup in 1989, 1992 and 1999 - all at Gulfstream.  I would tell him about our exploits in Baltimore and he knew how much I missed those Preakness weekends.

So, unbeknownst to me, he called Stan and told him that he wanted to get me back to The Preakness and in 2005, after a 15 year hiatus, we did a 2nd generation Preakness trip with Stan, his son Ricky, me and Brad.  Arnie "Tank" Cohen, from Baltimore joined us and the tradition was revived.  

I continued to meet Stan there for the next couple of years and then Brad moved to Baltimore in 2010, making it mandatory that we go to The Preakness every year from 2011 until Covid hit in 2020.  But it was no longer a "Boy's Trip" and we were too "friggin" old to party the way we use to!  Now we took our wives, our sons and daughters, Stan's nephew, and other invited guests like my brother and his wife.  On Black Eye Susan Day I even took the 3rd generation, my grandson!  It was around 2012 that I bought my Preakness Day sport coat.  I found the ugliest Madras Coat and decided that would be my outfit for all subsequent big races.  I even wore it to Saratoga when I met Stan there for the Traver's Stakes one year. 

       

Some way or another, we missed last year's weekend although Stan, Ricky and Stan's nephew Brad were there but all 5 of us were there this past weekend and saw the most unbelievable race we had seen in a long time.  It looked like Journalism was done for at the 16th pole when he was bumped by 2 other horses. But he found another gear and won the race!  This time, we had the winner and didn't even need Uncle Phil to tell us who to bet on.  Standing at the betting window, some guy came up to me and offered to buy my sport coat from me.  I looked down and he was wearing a pair of pants with the same exact madras pattern.  So, I offered to buy his pants, but neither of us relented!

   

 

However, Journalism was not the only winner.  We all were winners in the sense that we got to spend a terrific weekend with Fathers and Sons (and Nephew).  We ate at the same restaurants we always eat at - Koco's Pub for crab cakes on Friday night, and The Prime Rib (I keep reminding the boys that it is overrated and over priced!) We told a lot of stories, laughed a lot, won some and lost some. Unfortunately, Stan's Mom is no longer around to layout that brunch and some of the others that attended years ago have since passed (Uncle Phil included), but we decided that as long as we are able, this special weekend will continue.  In fact, at dinner Saturday night, Ricky and Brad said that even after the old farts (me and Stan) are gone, they are going to continue the tradition!

Oh, and by the way, in case you are wondering how we did at the betting windows.....we broke even!

Rider's Up!

And The Journey Continues.....

 

It's The NFL's Fault!

It's the NFL owners fault!  If they had allowed him to buy the Buffalo Bills, then he never would have run for President.  But, they knew.  They knew that he would corrupt the sport, make it all about himself and cheat at every turn.  And, since they didn't let him in this exclusive club, he decided to run for President.

How did they know?  They looked at his track record.  He tried to be an owner of a professional football team when he owned the New Jersey Generals of The USFL. But, because he thought he knew more than anybody, he screwed up that struggling, over-leveraged league's pay structure by signing Herschel Walker to a lavish "Personal Services" contract.  He thought that act would make the NFL scared of him and they would fold his team and others into the league...but that was never a consideration of the NFL owners.

They knew he was all bluster from his business failures.  tRumpAirlines failed after 2 years; his Mortgage Company barely lasted a year; tRump Steaks failed; tRump Magazine failed; GotRump.com failed, tRump Vodka failed; tRump The Game failed; tRump Beverages failed; tRump fragrances failed; tRump Tower Tampa failed; tRump mattress failed and tRump University failed with a $40 Million judgement against it.

And the there were the Bankruptcies in the casino business.  tRump Taj Mahal, tRump Plaza Hotel, tRump Casino Resorts and tRump Entertainment Resorts all went bankrupt.  Who the hell bankrupts a casino?  The same guy that the Right decided to put in charge of the whole Country's economy!  The same guy that is a convicted felon.  How anyone could look to him for leadership, honesty or integrity when his past is littered with slime, broken promises, poor decisions, stiffed vendors, a devastating reputation in business and a history of repeated failures is the result of a f***ing Television Show.

Yep, he is a failed business man that was perceived to be a business genius because of the effect of a television show.  Jonathon Braun, a producer that worked on The Apprentice said: "Our job was to to make him look legitimate.  To make it look like there was something behind it, even though we pretty much knew there wasn't.  But that was our job."  His true talent was zero, but the creators and producers of the television show did one hell of a job creating his brand...and the American public bought it.  So, we get what we deserve...a know nothing President who is driven strictly by ego and revenge.

Am I surprised that the first 100 days are a disaster?  Am I surprised that he is blaming everybody but himself?  Am I surprised that he is an embarrassment and is being laughed at all over the world?  Should any of us be surprised that his cabinet is a disgrace and that they are ignoring the Constitution and Rule of Law? If you are surprised, then you haven't been watching!

Where is the Congress?  Where are the Checks and Balances?  What does this convicted criminal hold over the institutions that should be keeping him in check? If we make it through his reign, I WILL be surprised!  Of course that depends on whether RFK, Jr. kills all of us or Pam Bondi has all dissenters arrested.

But, just maybe, if we can get to the midterms, somebody will emerge to lead the charge against this insanity...we can only hope!

And The Journey continues....

MY 100th BLOG!

Nearly 15 years ago, I decided to write a Blog.  Actually about 8 years before that, I started a journal chronicling my training for a climb of Mount Princeton with my daughter. I found that unfinished Word document in 2010 and decided to update it in a blog and Roy's Journey was born. In a blog titled "My First Blog" (which on the list on the right side of this blog is actually the second entry!) I wrote:

 "Although this blog is intended to be free flowing - that is, I reserve the right to blog about anything I want to blog about -after reading what I wrote 8 years ago, I have decided to reproduce it here, along with my postscript dated today." (Note: That's the blog titled 'A Fat Man's Journey') 

"I am not sure if anybody is going to read my blog, and frankly, I am not sure I really care...but perhaps it can serve as my own sounding board and maybe one day my grandchildren will enjoy reading it and get to know their grandfather better!"   

Actually, it not only has served as my personal sounding board, but my personal therapy as well.  And it has been read by some, commented on by some and ignored by others.  While a lot of my readers think I only write about politics, only 37 of the blogs have been of a political nature and if the person who shall not be named (I refuse to use his name - he doesn't deserve that respect) had not entered the political arena it would have been a lot less.  I have written about grandchildren, dogs, family, TV shows, travel adventures, the story of The Sports Authority founding and even hamburgers.  I have written about new beginnings, births of my grandchildren and eulogized my Dad. This writing exercise has helped me through my kidney adventures and gave me needed distraction during my chemo infusions in 2022.  

I have always threatened to write a book, but have settled for sporadic missives through this blog.

I am frustrated by the negativism and the tribalism that is so prevalent today and want to encourage positive energy.  My loyalty is to the people who bring positivity into my life  My loyalty is to the people who want to build me up and see me happy. And I want to do the same for them. You never know what is going on in someone else's life and judging them without knowing contributes to the negativism that is so prevalent today.  That is not to say that I don't want to hear from those that disagree with my point of view.  I welcome intelligent, well thought-out, respectful discourse.

I am going to continue doing the best I can do and write about those things that I feel are important.  I may not have made all the right decisions at the right times nor always written about the appropriate subjects, but I can only be true to myself.  I will focus my energy on the fact that I have had the courage to stand up for my convictions and will keep that focus going forward.

Just recently, I decided to quit posting Roy's Journey on Facebook and only send it to those who have asked to be on my Blog Mailing list.  Unfortunately, I feel that given today's political climate, sharing to a larger audience is not prudent. However, you are always welcome to forward to others that you think might enjoy my writings.  Some of you have commented directly to me via email and I welcome all comments whether you agree or not.  Some have commented on the blog itself.  If you do that, it shows up as coming from "Anonymous" unless you sign in.  So, if you want the comment attributed to you, be sure to identify yourself.

Recently, I mentioned to a friend that I was writing my 100th blog, and she said that she must have missed some!  In case you haven't noticed, there is a list of dates on the right and ALL 100 have been archived...so if you see a title you think you might want to read, they are ALL here!  So, while this landmark blog isn't something cheesy like '100 Things I Love' or 'My 100 Deepest Thoughts,' it is what it is!

Thanks for reading and being a part of my community. Here's to the next 100!

And The Journey continues....

    

Civics 101

I might be old and maybe my memory isn't what it use to be, but I clearly remember taking a Civics class in 8th grade.  That's where I learned that the Federal Government is made up of 3 equal branches of government - Executive, Legislative (The Congress) and The Judiciary.  The whole idea is that there is a set of checks and balances that makes sure that one branch does not overstep their boundaries.  That's how THIS Democracy is suppose to work.

But, no more!

The Constitution gives Congress (not the President) the power to impose tariffs.  However, The International Emergency Economic Powers Act allows the President to impose tariffs if he declares a National Emergency under the National Emergencies Act.  So, of course, that's what the person calling himself President did on February 1st.  Now (follow me here), this is where checks and balances come in to play....that same law allows Congress to end such a declaration of emergency if such a termination is introduced and it has to be taken up in Congress in a matter of days.

So, why hasn't this been done?  The Democrats introduced a bill of termination.  But, because the Republicans are so scared to go against their overlords, the orange man and Musk, they passed a resolution that for the rest of the congressional session, "Each day shall not constitute a calendar day for the purposes of terminating the 'Felon's' emergency declaration....in other words, a day is not a day!

Now, I might be called simple, but even to me, that is ABSURD!  My question is when is Congress going to get some balls and fight the tyranny that Musk and his lackey are imposing on our Country.  When are we going to rise up and demand that something be done?  Where is the Supreme Court in all of this?  Oh, that's right...The Supreme Court is so compromised (see Alito and Thomas being paid off by Billionaires), they won't uphold the Constitution either!

Yesterday, a Federal Court ruled that the firing of those federal employees that had probationary status was illegal and they should be rehired immediately.  But, who is going to make sure that Musk, DOGE and their puppet President follows the ruling?  Congress? The Supreme Court?  The Military?  Nope...all of them are controlled by the Billionaire Class and since the Supreme Court already ruled that everybody is not subject to the same laws, nothing will be done.  The felon puppet President can't be held responsible for following the law or the Constitution...at least that is what the Supreme Court has said. 

In other words, we are faced with a Constitutional Crisis and the beginning of a country ruled by a Dictator who has cozied up to Putin.  His determination to "take over" Greenland, make Canada the 51st State and other lame-brain ideas is straight out of the strong-arm, dictator playbook.  His ability to lie to the American public is supported by the MAGA crowd who are blind to truth and honesty.  

He bragged about releasing water from two dams in California...it was all for show, as it was actually harmful to the region and the 2.5 billion gallons released in response to his order could not be delivered to Southern California.  According to the experts, the release is potentially ruinous as the sudden surge of water will damage the lands downstream and waste water that will be needed during the hot growing season.  But, he NEVER consults nor listens to the experts, because in his simple mind, he is smarter than anyone.  

And don't even get me started on how this POS has treated our Allies.  He has all but withdrawn the US from NATO, abandoned Ukraine, and placed onerous tariffs on our neighbors and friends.  You and I are the ones that will be paying for these tariffs.  It is just another tax on the American consumer...a necessary tax so that tax breaks can be given to Billionaires and Corporations.  We have had some self-serving politicians in our history, but none to the level of corruption that exists today.

His fixation on deporting millions of immigrants is already causing huge problems in the farming and ranching communities throughout the country.  There is nobody left to pick the crops and tend the lands. I recently saw an interview with a rancher from Montana that said that all of their workers have gone into hiding out of fear of being arrested and as a result there is no labor to do those jobs other Americans don't want to do.  They lamented the fact that their MAGA vote is throwing them into bankruptcy and is directly responsible for putting them out of business.

I don't even have the strength to address the impending Stock Market Crash and his assertion that we "might" feel a little bump but will come out of it stronger nor the lack of credibility or expertise for most of his cabinet appointees.  

Now that the White House has been turned into a used car lot and the President is doing infomercials from the lawn, there is zero deserved respect for the individual holding the office.  I refuse to use his name and will continue to refer to him as the Felon, the orange buffoon, the Musk puppet, the POS and the wannabe Dictator.  (If you have any other names, let me know!)

While I was hoping to not write about politics and the state of our Country and concentrate my writing on more pleasant subjects, I cannot sit still and not express my outrage.  Maybe next time I can write about rainbows, unicorns, grandchildren and ponies.  But I doubt it.

And The Journey continues....

You Have Been Conned

 Dear MAGA Voter,

You have been conned.  You voted for a convicted felon who ran on a platform that included Law and Order.  And then, one of his first actions was to pardon all of the January 6th convicted criminals including those that assaulted and ultimately killed law enforcement officers.  Law and Order, my ass!

He told you that he would lower grocery prices but now says that is not possible.  Additionally, he is taking actions that will make those prices rise at a much greater rate than overall inflation rates.  He won't recognize nor do anything about the bird flu running rampant throughout the country...in fact, he has eliminated any study by our health care organizations.  Already egg prices have more than doubled and soon, you won't even be able to find eggs in your local grocery store.  His tariffs will cost YOU!  Tariffs add cost to the goods you buy everyday.  Who do you think ultimately pays for the increased cost of goods?  You do!!

He told you that he wanted to eliminate the politics in government.  But what he really meant was he wanted to eliminate anybody that didn't 100% agree with him and his agenda.  He has "reassigned" experts in the Department of Justice and other agencies and replaced them with political operatives that have no institutional knowledge of their jobs and responsibilities.  His cabinet appointees are the most under qualified in the history of our country.  Their only qualification is that they are loyal to him.  He has fired all of the Inspector Generals in our government so that there is no one to report his unconstitutional and unlawful actions to Congress.

Speaking of The Constitution, he has already violated his oath to protect and follow the Constitution.  First, his declaration that he is eliminating Birthright citizenship is a direct violation of Amendment 14.  His attempt to halt all federal spending, although it has been approved by Congress and signed in to law is blatantly unconstitutional and unlawful.  

He told you that he was not familiar with nor going to utilize the Heritage Foundation's Project 25, but now he is following that playbook page by page and policy by policy.  But you believed he really cared about you, the little guy, when all he cares about is himself and others in the highest income bracket.

No other President has so blatantly turned the office of the Presidency into his own money making machine.  But the launch of his own cryptocurrency, his hawking of various products and his monetization of the office is not only unethical, but an impeachable offense.  But, don't worry, your boy won't get impeached nor stopped by this Republican controlled Congress.  They are scared of him and his oligarch bros.  They have let it be known if they oppose him, they will get primaried and keeping their office is much more important than doing their jobs properly.  Understand that he has already shown you that if it doesn't financially benefit him, then it holds none of his interest. 

He told you that he would be President of ALL people.  Of course, that didn't include the LGBTQ+ community, anyone with dark skin (look at his appointees, advisors etc - only 1 black person), Jews, Muslims or anyone that speaks any language other than English.  Oh, and mysoginy is the rule not the exception in this administration.  His immigration sweeps, which includes arresting US citizens because they speak Spanish, are totally performative.  But it's only the beginning of the efforts to make this country a white, patriarchal, protestant nation, rid of anybody that doesn't fit the MAGA mold.  His elimination of DEI in the government and attempts to make it the rule in corporate America is far reaching in its destruction of individual rights and freedoms, including those of handicapped individuals (many of whom are veterans injured in service to our country).

Everything is transactional to this guy.  That includes Foreign Policy, Disaster Relief, and even your cost of insulin.  He reversed the cap on insulin and stopped the negotiations of drug prices because the pharmaceutical industry made huge campaign donations and further lined his pockets with "inauguration contributions."  Do you know that there are no rules on how those funds can be used?  They can and most assuredly will go directly into his pocket.

This guy continues to demonize political opponents as dangerous to America.  He has no understanding of anything, claiming that thanks to him the water has been turned on in California.  Of course, he had no idea that the Corp of Engineers had conducted maintenance on federal water pumps for 3 days and turned them back on when the maintenance was completed.  He talked about the Democrats sending $50 Million dollars on condoms for Gaza.  How is that possible when a total of $7 Million was spent on condoms for the entire world by the Agency for International Development, and most of that went to Africa for AIDS control?  He keeps insisting that crime is running rampant as a result of Democratic leadership when, in fact, crime has plummeted in The US over the last 4 years.  Lies, lies, lies are the only thing his administration knows how to do.  Since they have installed totally unqualified people in the administration, lies will be the norm.

Today, this guy who pretends to be President, blamed last night's plane crash on diversity hires of unqualified workers hired under DEI policies, Pete Buttigieg, the pilots of both the helicopter and the plane, air traffic control and presumably the liberal press.  As usual, he would rather pontificate with no actual knowledge of what happened although he has the power and resources to find out rather than speculate.  But, if he actually dealt in facts, then it might cut into his television watching time.

But none of that matters to you, the faithful MAGA voter.  You were more concerned about defeating that brown woman and her "liberal" policies.  You were more worried about stopping people from choosing their own life path, by demonizing the entire LGBTQ+ community.  You were more worried about banning books from our libraries, stopping liberal academics from teaching truths and denying that January 6th was one of the darkest days in our history.

You didn't look at the similarities between this guy and Hitler.  Those similarities to what is happening in the United States and what happened in Germany are undeniable.  It goes further than the dehumanization of certain groups of people, his belief that there is an enemy within, his desire to conquer Greenland and the Panama Canal, his establishment of a concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay, and his embrace of militant groups like the Proud Boys.  His attempts at dismantling the Constitution are just the beginning.

Yes, MAGA, you have been conned!

And The Journey continues.....

RIP Jimmy Carter

 Upon the passing of Jimmy Carter, I couldn't help but think back to the Spring of 1975...nearly 50 years ago.  Connie and I were having dinner at her Father's house and (surprise!) the conversation turned to politics.  Since I never have an opinion (right?), we were discussing the events of the last couple of years including Watergate, Gerald Ford's ascendancy to becoming the first President to not be elected to either the Presidency or Vice-Presidency and whether he could win the next election.

It was then that Connie's Father, Abe, made the most outlandish statement he could possibly make:  "Jimmy Carter will be the next President of the United States."  Jimmy Carter had just wrapped up his time as Governor of Georgia, and this peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, was relatively unknown on the National level.  Besides, a Southern Democrat?  Come on, that was never going to happen.

When I stopped laughing at this absurd statement, Abe explained that he had just read the entire Marketing and Advertising strategy that would get him elected.  Abe headed up a small advertising agency in Atlanta and had just agreed to merge his company with Rafshoon Advertising and become President of this new agency.  That would free up Gerald Rafshoon to become Jimmy Carter's campaign manager and eventually his White House Communication Director.  The rest is history...shortly after our dinner, Carter announced his candidacy and Rafshoon's strategy got this peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia elected President.

Watching the ceremonies from the Capitol today, I reflected on our politics today as compared to our politics 50 years ago.  On his first day in office, Jimmy Carter stated "I promise I will NEVER lie to you."  Today's politics are rooted in lies, innuendos and "alternative facts."  Jimmy Carter was not a perfect President...there has never been a "perfect" President.  However, he deeply cared for this Country and the people in it.  His accomplishments, including the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, the establishment of the Departments of Education and Energy (which tRump is proposing to get rid of), his conservation efforts(which tRump want to decimate), the Panama Canal Treaties (another tRump target) and the establishment of diplomatic relations with China (again, a tRump target) were weighed against his failures. The Iran Hostage situation, the 1979 Oil Crisis, the boycotting of the 1980 Olympics (which he later said was a mistake) and inflationary concerns stopped him from defeating Reagan in 1980.

But it was his Peace efforts, Humanitarian efforts and fight for Democracy across the World that earned him the respect of any thinking person AFTER he left office.  The work of The Carter Center in helping to eradicate diseases in Latin America and Africa, monitoring of Democratic elections in troubled Countries and his work for Habitat for Humanity all helped him EARN The Nobel Peace Prize AFTER he left office.

Jimmy Carter was a good person and we should all strive to have his humility, his giving heart and care for his fellow man.

Rest In Peace, Mr. President!