Thoughts for the Day, April 30, 2025: How about those Pistons?

Pistons

How about those Pistons? Last night, the Pistons won for the fourth time at Madison Square Garden this season, extending their series with the Knicks to game six on Thursday at Detroit’s Little Ceasar’s Arena. The Pistons are 4-1 this season in the Garden against the Knicks. Unfortunately, the Pistons are 0-2 at home against the Knicks in the playoffs this series.

In last night’s game the Pistons’ defense was all over the place, with Ausar Thompson holding Knicks’ star Jalen Bronson to a 4-16 shooting night. Thompson also scored 22 points, mostly on dunks. Jalen Duren led all players with a +17 on the court because of his 14 rebounds, 6 assists, two blocks and only one turnover. All-star Cade Cunningham was a +13 on the court with 24 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 11-12 from the foul line, including two free throws in the final 3 seconds to secure the victory.

The key to last night’s victory was turnovers. For the first time in the series the Pistons had less turnovers than the Knicks. In addition, the Pistons shot better from the foul line. The key to winning for the Pistons is to cut down on turnovers. If the Pistons can keep their turnovers below 15, there is a good chance they will win most nights.

The Pistons made a statement last night with their victory. On Thursday, they have an opportunity to put fear into the Knicks. The odds are in the Knicks favor, but the Pistons have beaten the odds all year. Don’t count them out as they look for their first playoff home win in 17 years. The Pistons earn my Orchid of the Day.

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This should not be a surprise

The reality of logistics is that it requires planning, lots of planning. Things said on the campaign trail, have nothing to do with the reality of actually making it happen. President Trump and his team are learning the truth the hard way.

From the Contrarian, Jennifer Rubin: Scripps News reports that “federal data shows there has not been a significant jump in immigrants deported since Trump took office. Mass deportations have not occurred.” For all his bloviating, “The numbers show removals are lagging behind levels during the Biden administration.”

From Scripps: Pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants helped propel President Donald Trump back to the White House.

"It's going to be called a Trump mass deportation," Trump said during a campaign rally on Aug. 12, 2024. "We will begin the largest deportation operation in American history."

He appointed a border czar, Tom Homan, to increase expulsions.

"I will run the biggest deportation operation the country has ever seen," said Homan, a week after Trump won the election.

The Trump administration has embraced a shock and awe approach to immigration enforcement designed for maximum publicity. The homeland security secretary has attended and posted video of early morning arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump has deployed more armed forces to the border and used military planes to ferry away immigrants. He has also sent alleged Venezuelan gang members to a terrorism prison in El Salvador before they could have a day in court.

But federal data shows there has not been a significant jump in immigrants deported since Trump took office. Mass deportations have not occurred. The numbers show removals are lagging behind levels during the Biden administration.

"Frankly I was shocked," said Sue Long, co-founder of the nonpartisan Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse that tracks immigration statistics at Syracuse University.

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The truth about Trump’s first 100 days

I have not held back on what I think of Trump’s time as president in his second term. There is no doubt that his plan is to annihilate the Constitution and become a dictator as he said he would be on day one.

The Republicans in congress have abdicated their responsibilities, and the Supreme Court has granted him immunity from prosecution. Trump knows that the time to takeover the country is now. He has until, a new congress is sworn in on January 1, 2027, to make it happen.

The mainstream media is holding back on calling it a coup. They are attacking his executive orders, his appointments of cabinet members, and his ignoring judicial orders, but their editorial boards are not calling out Trump for his stomping on the Constitution or his attempted coup.

Robert Hubbell of Today’s Edition Newsletter has no problem calling Trump out. Here are excerpts from his Newsletter.

The media landscape is littered with analyses of the first 100 days of Trump's second term. Indeed, this is the third newsletter I have devoted to aspects of the 100-day mark.

I return to the topic because I believe that the media is largely missing the point in assessing Trump's performance at 100 days. The simplest, most direct explanation of Trump's first 100 days in office is to view his tenure as an ongoing coup attempt that seeks to overturn the Constitution and democratic norms.

That statement explains virtually everything Trump has attempted during his first 100 days in office…The most common sane-washing of Trump's first 100 days is that he is seeking “to expand the powers of the presidency” or “to reshape America.” While there is a kernel of truth in both articulations, they omit the existentially significant qualifier “by overturning the Constitution.” Failing to include the unlawful means by which Trump seeks to “expand the presidency” or “reshape the nation” is journalistic malpractice of the highest order.

…Most stories that center on “the list” of things Trump has attempted in his first 100 days do not include a single sentence noting that most of his executive orders have been successfully challenged (thus far) in courts across the nation.

Does it matter when the media omits that Trump's orders are universally regarded as unconstitutional and unlawful? Yes. Why? Because failing to acknowledge that Trump's actions violate the Constitution diminishes efforts to resist his unlawful actions by reducing them to mere policy disputes or “horse-race politics” stories.

But there is more—the cognitive dissonance being experienced by most Americans who understand that Trump is seeking to overthrow the constitutional order by violating laws and ignoring court orders. When they see their political leaders “go along to get along” in the insular institutions of the House and Senate, they are bewildered. For example, on Tuesday, fifteen Democrats (and one independent) joined with Republicans to confirm David Perdue as US Ambassador to China…

Even as Trump claims that the Constitution and the rule of law no longer apply to him, Democratic Senators are still voting to confirm Trump's nominees—harkening back to an era when it was “impolite” to offend the president by voting against a nominee with a pulse and full head of hair.

…The normalization of Trump's lawlessness is bewildering for the grassroots movement that is (again) serving as the last bulwark of democracy. I confess I frequently feel like I am living in the Kafka novel where a human-sized insect is living in the bedroom, and all anyone wants to talk about is how much the grocery bill has increased since the insect took up residence.

We are experiencing a coup. For the second time in our nation’s history (the first being November 2020 to January 2021 under Trump), we are living through a coup attempt.

That is a remarkable and exceptionally rare state of affairs. Virtually nothing else should matter. Every instinct should be on high alert, every evolutionary defense mechanism should be triggered, every collective memory burned into the unconscious survival mechanisms of clans and tribes over millions of years should be screaming—“Danger! Not again!”

There are hundreds of examples of Trump violating the Constitution in his first 100 days in office. Rather than describe how each of his actions violates the Constitution, I note the following broad principles: The Constitution prohibits the president from doing the following:

· Withholding funds appropriated by Congress.

· Closing or suspending the work of an agency, department, or program established by Congress.

· Violating laws enacted by Congress to protect civil servants from arbitrary or politically motivated terminations.

· Punishing private institutions based on their political speech (such as law firms, universities, and broadcast networks).

· Violating court orders.

· Ordering politically motivated investigations and prosecutions by the DOJ, FBI, IRS, FTC, etc.

· Denying due process to migrants and citizens alike.

· Denying the writ of habeas corpus to migrants and citizens alike.

· Imposing tariffs without congressional oversight or review.

· Repudiating obligations assumed by international treaties.

No retrospective analysis of Trump's first 100 days that omits either the unlawful nature of Trump's actions or their perverse cruelty is worth the electrons used to record and transmit the story.

We are engaged in a great battle to determine whether the Constitution will endure in the face of an ongoing coup attempt. That thesis should be the start of every story about Trump's first 100 days….The story of Trump's first 100 days in office is that at the 100-day mark, it is still a coup.

Thank you to subscriber Jan for sending me this article.

Speak up and speak out.

Please call your members of Congress today. The U.S. Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. Tell the operator where you’re from and the operator will connect you to your representatives and senators. I tested this out today. It is very simple. They will ask for the congress member you want to contact. They will then switch you to that office.

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Follow-up on the NFL Draft

On Monday, I gave Jax Ulbrich, son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, the Onion of the Day for his prank call to Shedeur Sanders, after Jax accessed his dad’s tablet to secure Shedeur’s private phone number.

The NFL has fined the Atlanta Falcons $250,000 and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 over the leak of Shedeur Sanders’ phone number before the 2025 NFL Draft. Specifically, the league said the fines stem from the organization’s failure to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL Draft.

This leads to my Question of the Day. How do you think, this is playing out in the Ulbrich home? Will dad Jeff make Jax (21) pay him back for the fine?

I am giving a second Orchid of the Day to the NFL for coming down with a heavy hand.

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The Tigers

At the beginning of the season, I said in this blog if the Tigers finished April with a .500 record they were going to be in good shape for the remainder of the season. The Tigers started the season with three key players on the injured reserve list that were not going to be back until May or later. Further complicating things, was that the Tigers played 22 of their first 31 games against teams that made the playoffs last season, including the World Series participants, the Yankees and the Dodgers.

The Tigers far exceeded my expectations. With their 7-4 win today over the Houston Astros, the Tigers finish April with a 19-12 record, which is the best record in the American League.

Manager A.J. Hinch has been a genius in how he manipulates the line-up to maximize matchups to give the Tigers the greatest chance of succeeding. Probably, Hinch’s biggest manipulation was asking Javy Baez to play centerfield and third base as well as shortstop.

Javy is off to the best start as a Tiger. His batting average is .296 and his OPS is .745. both, 100 points greater than last year. He is a “natural” in centerfield and he continues to be outstanding at shortstop and third base. His base running is as good as it gets. He is healthy and he is having fun. Today his grand slam was the key hit in the Tiger’s victory.

See my Video of the Day

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Summer slowdown

There will be no blog on Thursday. Starting next week, I will only be writing my blog on Monday and Wednesday. This will continue through the end of September.

The golf courses open this weekend and it will stay light until 9PM or later for the remainder of the summer. I have trouble getting motivated to write every night when it is still light out and Northern Michigan is so beautiful in the evening.

Thank you for understanding.

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Quote of the Day: “We are engaged in a great battle to determine whether the Constitution will endure in the face of an ongoing coup attempt. That thesis should be the start of every story about Trump's first 100 days….The story of Trump's first 100 days in office is that at the 100-day mark, it is still a coup.” Robert Hubbel-See above story.

Orchid of the Day: The Pistons

Second Orchid of the Day: The NFL for their fines against the Atlanta Falcons. See above story.

Onion of the Day: No Onion when I give two Orchids.

Lyrics of the Day: Say you don't know me or recognize my face
Say you don't care who goes to that kind of place
Knee deep in the hoopla, sinking in your fight
Too many runaways eating up the night

If you think you know the answer, feel free to send me your answer in the comments section of the blog.

Answer to Lyrics of the Day for April 29, 2025: Casey Jones by The Grateful Dead

Question of the Day: How do you think, this is playing out in the Ulbrich home? Will dad Jeff make Jax (21) pay him back for the $100,000 fine?

Video of the Day: Javy Baez Grand Slam today

Javier Báez's first home run of 2025 is a GRAND SLAM!

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