Thoughts for the Day, August 20, 2025: First it was January 6th and now it is slavery.
How about those Tigers?
With the Tigers 7-2 win today over the Houston Astros, they swept all three games against the Astros, the AL Western Division leader. The Tigers’ pitching held the Astros to two runs over the three games, including yesterday’s classic 1-0 win in extra innings, which the Tigers won on a bases loaded walk.
Last night’s game was one of the few games that lived up to its billing as Tiger’s ace Tarik Skubal went against Houston’s ace, Wayne State’s own Hunter Brown. Skubal (2.32 ERA) and Brown (ERA 2.36) are numbers one and two in the American League in ERA and one and four in strikeouts per nine innings. Skubal completed seven innings with 10 strikeouts, and two walks. Brown had six strikeouts and three walks over six innings. Brown was able to overcome a leadoff triple in the fifth inning by Zack McKinstry by pitching out of the tram. Skubal escaped a jam in the fourth inning when Houston’s Diaz was thrown out at home trying to score from first on a double down the right field line. It was a bang-bang play at the plate that was confirmed after a long replay. Skubal gets my Orchid of the Day
The Tigers now have a 9.5 game lead on second place Kansas City in the Central Division and a 1.5 game lead over the Toronto Blue Jays for the best record in the American League. ESPN has the Tigers’ chance of making the playoffs at 99.9%
Didn’t our country fight a civil war because of slavery?
Our country fought a civil war from 1861 to 1865 because of slavery. Slavery is a black mark against our country, which went on for over 250 years. It is not something we should be proud of, nor is it something we should try to sweep under a rug like it never existed. With that in mind, I was appalled by President Trump’s comments over the weekend regarding the Smithsonian Institute’s recognition of slavery in the United States.
Per the NY Times today, President Trump accused the Smithsonian Institution on Tuesday of focusing too much on “how bad slavery was” and not enough on the “brightness” of America as his administration conducts a wide-ranging review of the content in its museum exhibits.
“The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future,” Mr. Trump said in a social media post. “This Country cannot be WOKE, because WOKE IS BROKE. We have the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, and we want people to talk about it, including in our Museums.”
Mr. Trump made the comments a week after the White House told the Smithsonian that its museums would be required to adjust any content that the administration finds problematic in “tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals” within 120 days.
The following quote sums up my opinion of Trumps direction to the Smithsonian. It is my Quote of the Day.
“It’s the epitome of dumbness to criticize the Smithsonian for dealing with the reality of slavery in America. It’s what led to our Civil War and is a defining aspect of our national history. And the Smithsonian deals in a robust way with what slavery was, but it also deals with human rights and civil rights in equal abundance.” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian.
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If you keep telling some people the same lie repeatedly, eventually they are going to believe them.
I have to say one thing about Trump, when he gets stuck on an issue it is hard for him to get unstuck even when the facts have been punching him in the face since November 2020. Here is his post about mail-in-ballots and voting machines.
“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly “Inaccurate,” Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election. We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED. WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections. Remember, the States are merely an “agent” for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do. With their HORRIBLE Radical Left policies, like Open Borders, Men Playing in Women’s Sports, Transgender and “WOKE” for everyone, and so much more, Democrats are virtually Unelectable without using this completely disproven Mail-In SCAM. ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS. I, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS. THE MAIL-IN BALLOT HOAX, USING VOTING MACHINES THAT ARE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER, MUST END, NOW!!! REMEMBER, WITHOUT FAIR AND HONEST ELECTIONS, AND STRONG AND POWERFUL BORDERS, YOU DON’T HAVE EVEN A SEMBLANCE OF A COUNTRY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!!! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Trump elaborated on the post Monday afternoon, saying the quiet part out loud: “If you [end] mail in voting, you're not gonna have many Democrats get elected,”
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Trump’s truth, or lack thereof, about mail in voting and voting machines
Here are excerpts from Joyce Vance’s Civil Discourse post about Trump’s claims about mail in voting and voting machines.
For people with long commutes, limited mobility, reliance on public transportation, non-traditional work hours, or family care responsibilities, mail-in voting is essential to exercising their right to vote. And despite the myths spread by Trump and his allies, there is no evidence that mail-in voting is linked to fraud. Trump has been searching for that evidence since he stood up his “Election Integrity Commission” in 2017, which was supposed to find it but couldn’t, and was forced to fold just months into its work.
Trump’s post is full of—I’ll be generous and call them—errors. Some of his other lines, beyond the lies about mail-in voting, include:
His claim is that he will get rid of “Highly Inaccurate, Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES.” It’s ironic that he put this out there the same day Newsmax agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $67 million to settle their defamation lawsuit for lying about the machines. That settlement, of course, follows one agreed to by Fox News. Smartmatic also obtained settlements from outlets that had falsely inflated its role in the 2020 election and claimed its machines were faulty. Trump continues to circulate these mythical claims, in what, at this point, can only be viewed as a deliberate effort to deceive Americans.
Trump also endorses “accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper,” which is supposed to allow detection of tampering. States are free to use it if they want to. Trump could encourage that by making funding available to those who do. There is no suggestion he has, nor is there much to suggest it’s needed.
Trump claims that “We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED.” That’s not true. Countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, German, Australia, and Switzerland use mail in ballots, and there is no more suggestion of fraud there than there is here.
Trump continues, “WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE.” I’m not going to even dignify this with a response. Trump lost dozens of cases making this claim after the 2020 election (Trump lost 62 of 63 cases that he and his supporters brought challenging the 2020 elections).
Trump claims he will sign an executive order to this effect (he hasn’t yet) because “the States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY.” That’s another wild and false claim. Congress sets the date and the time for national elections, but all other matters are reserved to the states, and each state runs its own elections with its own rules. If that wasn’t clear to Trump previously, it should be now. In June, a judge blocked the part of Trump’s March executive order that sought to stop states from counting mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day but arrived afterward. The judge emphasized that presidents can’t impose their views about how to conduct elections on the states.
Trump tries to argue that Democrats can’t win because of policy positions he doesn’t like. But isn’t that the whole point of having an election? We let the voters decide; that’s the essence of democracy.
…Trump conflated policy choices with the right to vote. Voters choose their elected officials—and the policies they want them to pursue—through free and fair elections, where each of us has the right to vote. It’s up to Republicans to compete for those votes in the marketplace of ideas. Trump doesn’t get to dictate the outcome of our elections. But Trump wants to be a dictator—that’s abundantly clear in this post.
It is true that Democrats will oppose ending mail-in voting, as Trump has predicted. That’s because Democrats believe that who you vote for is a political choice. But your ability to vote, your right to vote, is a fundamental part of being an American. Having mail-in voting makes that easier for some people, including a lot of older people who tend to vote Republican. Trump and his wife, Melania, have notoriously voted by mail in the past.
Trump always returns to his fantastical myth of voter fraud, which doesn’t exist, in moments of stress. It’s the fairytale he tells the kids when he wants to distract them.
… As I’ve written to you before, there will be elections in 2026 and beyond, but it will likely become harder for us to exercise this fundamental right. We will have to fight to register to vote, to stay registered, to cast our ballots, and to make sure they get counted. We must do that because it matters. We should not have to, but this is our fight for democracy. And Trump has made it clear it’s time for us to get to work.
Quote of the Day: See above by Douglas Brinkley.
Orchid of the Day: Detroit Tiger Tarik Skubal (2.32 ERA), who joined Curt Schilling (2002) as just the second pitcher in MLB history with at least 200 strikeouts and 25 walks or less in his first 25 starts of a season.
Onion of the Day: President Trump for trying to sweep slavery under the rug.
Question of the Day: Does Trump believe his claims about mail in voting and voting machines or is it a smokescreen to distract us from other issues?
Lyrics of the Day:
If you think you know the song and the artist, send me your answer in the comments section of the blog.
Answer to Lyrics of the Day for August 18: Layla by Derek and the Dominoes. Rest in Peace Bobby Whitlock, founder of Derek and the Dominoes
Video of the Day: Akshay Bhatia hole in one at the BMW classic on Saturday. Watch the reaction of his caddy. Just before the shot, Akshay told his caddy that if he got a hole in one, he would give the prize BMW to his caddy.
https://youtube.com/shorts/m5wTuCPI2JI?si=QIs8C46AYzdKQLRG
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