Thoughts for the Day, February 18, 2025: Robo calls coming to the MLB this spring
Robo calls are coming to the MLB in Spring Training
For the first time Robo umpires will be used to call balls and strikes in many MLB spring training games.
Per Jeff Seidel of The Detroit Free Press, all games played in Joker Marchant Stadium, the Tigers’ home ballpark in Lakeland, will test the automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system, which will be used at 13 f
“I think 24 of our (spring training) games are going to have the ABS challenge system, so we will get a front row seat at that,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Tuesday.
When using the system, human umpires still crouch behind the catcher and call balls and strikes, but teams can use two challenges to appeal on-field decisions. ABS has been used in Triple-A since 2022. And most reports have been positive.
“Anybody that's gone through the minor leagues has seen this before, and it'll probably be easier to adapt to but for us, it'll be part of our of our everyday,” Hinch said. “We're going to try to learn the system and give feedback while simultaneously getting ready for the season.”
The system will not be used during the 2025 MLB season, but it’s possible it could be implemented in 2026.
I think this is a good thing for players and fans.
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My Ninth-grade Civics Teacher, Miss Koss, was correct.
My ninth-grade civics teacher, Miss Koss, told our class that the number one job of a politician is to get re-elected. No one knows this better than Elon Musk.
As we have learned recently during confirmation hearings, any Republican member of Congress who is not in step with the Musk presidency plan will be threatened with Musk funded primary challenges. Per Robert Reich today.
Iowa’s Republican Senator Joni Ernst was firmly set against Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense until Musk hinted that he’d finance a primary challenger to Ernst, who’s up for reelection next year. Presto: Ernst supported Hegseth.
Indiana’s Republican Senator Todd Young expressed concern about the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence until Musk tweeted against him. A besieged Young spoke with JD Vance, who arranged a call with Musk. Presto: Young announced he would back Gabbard.
Musk warned Republican lawmakers in December that he was compiling a “naughty list” of members who buck Trump’s agenda. He also pledged shortly after Election Day that his political action committee would “play a significant role in primaries” next year.
A Republican senator told The Hill that Musk’s wealth makes primary threats “a bigger deal.”
With the current congress, there are no checks and balances coming from the legislative branch. The courts are our only defense against the Musk presidency.
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More on Thursday Night Massacre
We must remember what led to the Thursday Night Massacre, the quid pro quo between New York Mayor, Eric Adams and the Musk presidency which called for the DOJ to drop bribery charges against Democratic Mayor Adams in exchange for Adams allowing ICE to house ICE detainees while they are in the process of being deported. If Adams does not cooperate with the Musk presidency the charges against Adams will be reinstated.
From Harry Littman. There never has been an assault on the integrity and professionalism of the attorneys of the Department of Justice—which is to say, on the Department itself—remotely as spurious and brutal as the one executed last week.
At least four different factors put last week’s mugging in a shameful class of its own. First, DOJ attorneys are accustomed to wrongheaded criticism from political actors and the public, but not scathing attacks from Department leadership itself. Second, the attacks included not just general grousing about prosecutions but direct and defamatory attacks on the probity of individual prosecutors. Third, it entailed despicable collective pressure on a group of esteemed Department career professionals. Fourth, it was anchored in a rank and brazen lie, plain to anyone of any political stripe who knows the Department.
: we now know for a fact that Emil Bove summoned the entire staff of prosecutors for the Public Integrity Section and told them they had to choose someone, and within an hour, to sign the motion for dismissal that Sassoon would not. He added the sinister detail that whoever complied with the unethical and unlawful order could be promoted.
The shell-shocked prosecutors of the Public Integrity Unit, arguably the most respected section in all of DOJ, were dumbfounded and distraught. One of them later told a colleague that the discussion was “gut-wrenching” and “not anything any of us ever expected to see in America.”
They debated an en masse resignation until an attorney nearing retirement agreed to the ugly ultimatum to shield his colleagues from being fired.
Bove didn’t threaten the group with death if they didn’t produce a sacrificial lamb, just loss of job and livelihood. But the strategy is analogous. It displaced unfair pressure and the dirty work of enforcing Bove’s unlawful order onto blameless victims. The strategy of collective pressure on a group of faultless colleagues is famously morally odious—and it worked.
It worked, however, at an incalculably large cost within the Department. A staff member in Bove’s office immediately stepped down in protest. To no surprise for anyone familiar with Department culture, multiple reports document that Bove’s thuggish tactics have generated outrage throughout the DOJ, and not just at Main Justice but in all 94 United States Attorneys’ offices.
For Bove, there is no recovering from the treachery. I expect that Judge Dale Ho, who still has to consider the Department’s motion to dismiss and decide if it is in the interests of justice, will want to hear from Bove at the hearing. Bove will probably try to resist, though on what legal basis is unclear. In any event, he will be reviled for as long as he remains at the Department, and in fact for as long as the massacre remains in patriots’ memories, which it certainly will.
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An Open Letter to the Prosecutors who Resigned as part of the Thursday Night Massacre.
The following letter was signed by 900 former prosecutors of the Department of Justice
February 17, 2025
An open letter to career federal prosecutors:
Like you, each of us devoted years of our professional lives to pursuing justice on behalf of the American people. Although we dutifully carried out the lawful enforcement priorities of the Executive Branch irrespective of who headed it, the oath we swore was to the Constitution—not to the President, Attorney General, or any other individual.
Our obligations didn’t stop at the oath we took to support and defend the Constitution. They included upholding a set of values that have guided the United States Department of Justice for decades. These values are ingrained in the Department’s DNA as exemplified by the Principles of Federal Prosecution, which were written to ensure federal prosecutors exercise their tremendous power fairly, without regard to partisan politics, and in furtherance of the rule of law.
As prosecutors, we were rightly prohibited from making criminal charging decisions based on someone’s political association, activities or beliefs, or because of our personal feelings about them. We knew it was impermissible to treat a defendant more leniently just because they were powerful or well-connected, or more harshly because they were not. We were taught to pursue justice without fear or favor, and knew our decisions to investigate and charge should be based only on the facts and the law. We knew these values were more than just requirements in a manual—they were foundational to a fair and just legal system. And we upheld them no matter who was President.
Against this backdrop, we have watched with alarm as these values have been tested by recent actions of the Department’s leadership. Some of you have been ordered to make charging decisions based expressly on considerations other than the facts and the law, including to serve solely political purposes. Some of you have been forced to consider whether your actions will result in the elimination of the Public Integrity Section, created in the wake of the Watergate scandal, and whose vital work is intended to protect the public from government corruption. Several of you have resigned, and others are wondering what will happen to the Department we served and revere.
To all of you, we communicate this: We salute and admire the courage many of you have already exhibited, and that will guide all of you as you continue to serve the interests of justice. You have responded to ethical challenges of a type no public servant should ever be forced to confront with principle and conviction, in the finest traditions of the Department of Justice. We know there will be more challenges ahead, and we have no doubt that those of you who continue to serve will uphold the Department’s values for the sake of the rule of law, just as you have always done. Please know that when you do, generations of former federal prosecutors are watching with pride and admiration and stand ready to support you in this honorable pursuit.
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It is Always About the Money, his Money
With Trump it is always about the money. His money. If you think otherwise, you haven’t been paying attention. His order to the Justice Department to stop enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for the next six months and instructed prosecutors to refrain from bringing FCPA cases. Not that the Trump administration was ever going to enforce it anyway.
Killing the enforcement was one of Trump’s priorities in his first term when Trump ordered his first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, “I need you to get rid of that law.” Tillerson did not comply.
Trump has long argued that the law banning foreign bribery stifles dealmaking abroad and puts American companies at a disadvantage. Who better to take advantage of the six-month suspension of the law than Trump through his many deals to expand his massive real estate companies.
One thing you can always be sure of is that everything he does is because he benefits from it.
Parts of the above came from Robert Reich’s blog today.
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Quote of the Day: “The nonpartisan Ad Fontes Media, which rates all U.S. news organizations on bias and reliability, gives the AP high marks for reliability and rates it in the middle for bias. The only thing more middle of the road than the AP are yellow stripes and dead armadillos.” Dan Rather’s comments on the Musk presidency banning the Associated Press from attending certain White House media events.
Second Quote of the Day: “Isn't ironic that Trump protected his tax records from public scrutiny, and yet our records and privacy have clearly been violated.” A subscriber in response to yesterday’s Thoughts for the Day
Orchid of the Day: MSU Spartans men’s basketball team for their big win over Purdue tonight. On to the first-place showdown against the Michigan Wolverines on Friday at Chrisler Arena
Onion of the Day: The Musk Presidency who will continue to restrict The Associated Press' access to his events and news conferences until the news outlet goes along with his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico in its reports. It was acknowledged by Musk”s spokesperson Donald Trump that the move was a retaliation against the news agency's editorial policy.
Lyrics of the Day: This hit. That ice cold. Michelle Pfeiffer. That white gold
This one, for them hood girls. Them good girls. Straight masterpieces.
Stylin', while in Livin' it up in the city. Got Chucks on with Saint Laurent
Got kiss myself I'm so pretty. Hint: See my Video of the Day.
If you think you know the answer, send me your answer in the comments section of the blog.
Answer to Lyrics of the Day for February 17, 2025: Backward by Rascal Flatts
“Question of the Day: Who is calling the shots in the executive branch. Trump or Musk?
Video of the Day: One of my favorite Super Bowl Half Time Shows from Super 50.
Coldplay's FULL Pepsi Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show feat. Beyoncé & Bruno Mars! | NFL
I'm waiting and waiting but you keep providing the weak DNC PROPAGANDA. You remain quiet about the amazing items DOGE has found. Millions of people collecting Social Security over 100 years old, Some are over 200. USAID money going to ridiculous causes including the Taliban. $20 billion Biden was hiding! Sending condoms to Hamas who made small bombs.
Some reflections on comments over the past few days. 1. Access to federal government information such as financial even personal information including HIPPA, SSN and other identifying data does not require a security clearance, nor FBI vetting. It does require basic information security training, depending on agency and information handled, that can be completed in 1-2 hrs or no more than a long morning training session. There are hundreds of thousands of government personnel who have authorization, based on their duties, to access personal privacy information including financial and other personal information. This type of information is being audited by the DOGE group, which does not have means or methods to change the information only observe, coalesce and audit. Auditing financial information is almost always by a disinterested third party. This information is usually marked as FOUO or has a disclaimer at the foot of the message or document indicating that it is personal privacy info. DOGE assumed the mantle of the US Digital Service created by Obama and is an official government organization. Hiring of government personnel is generally under three categories: Competitive, Excepted and Senior Executive Service. (about 92% of federal employees are in the Competitive category. I was in the Excepted and temporarily the SES categories). The President has the authority to appoint anyone needed to advise or perform duties that he determines are needed, there are no preconditions for a direct presidential appointment. DOGE employees are in the excepted service category (appointed). There is a long history of US Presidents and some Cabinet levels in making such appointments.
2. Auditing is of course crucial to ensure that financial positioning is fair, accurate, legal and clearly authorized. Unfortunately in government it's not necessarily easily transparent. Each federal agency supposedly does some form of auditing but it's doubtful because there is not a uniform standard government wide on presenting audits. Try and find US government audits in this day of information technology. You can find federal audits but it's not easy to get from here to there and even more, the data is not presented in a way that can allow easy useful recalculation or reexamination. This is a transparency problem and a way to 'hide the ball". It is also the door for maligned activities, hidden side bar economic activities. graft corruption and abuse. DOGE is a good effort at "looking under the hood" of government spending and operations. DOGE itself and the audits are in my opinion unquestionably legal. Personnel matters and adjustments, including reductions in force, may have wider requirements than what DOGE can properly execute, but it does give direction toward efficiency.
3. No matter what part of the political spectrum you land on - democrat, socialist, communist, republican, libertarian, antifa-anarchist or whiskey-rebellion hold out, there's one thing that looms over the entire playing field - our national debt and it's seemingly uncontrollable growth threatens to crash our entire set of economic foundations. Our families, our children, our grand-children and their hopes, dreams and opportunities are at risk due to proliferate squandering and mismanagement of our national expenditures. DOGE is not the solution but it should provide another wake up call and direction toward gaining controls over how we spend, what we spend on, what we really need, what makes the body stronger and the bottom line. I believe the democrats have completely misread this on the populist level and the deeper economic level, but it's one way to weed out those who want to continue towards economic Armageddon without taking a hard look at the direction of our nation. The fake hype and propaganda be damned, there's been so much of it across so many levels it's just background noise. It's only a start and yet we're seeing opposition to transparency and real-time accounting.
4.Typing space won't be able to add the moral decline that goes hand in hand with the economic decline. How do you look past the government funding of drag queens in libraries for our elementary school children? How do you see federal government funding of the Kennedy Center presenting "family" LBGT indoctrination via the arts? Some argue it's small amount, but it's more likely the rot that goes beyond small events and into the larger body.