5 Thoughts for September 8, 2016

1. Spotify Playlist: I sometimes accidentally forget that I'm listening to my Spotify classical music playlist, and think to myself, "Gosh, this classical radio has one great tune after another!" It's a true face-palm moment and one that I'm not ashamed to admit to. I need to make more of them, but they require so much leg work to build, you know?
2. The Expanse / Archer: I finished watching SyFy's The Expanse season one on DVD. The special effects are absolutely spectacular and the story is not too shabby, either. I rate it 4.5 stars for the plot twists and wonderful visuals that make you forget that you're watching a science-fiction show. At the same time, I've also been binging on Archer, which is absolutely awesome stuff, strictly for adults, but specifically for adults old enough to understand all of the pop-culture references.
3. Third Party Debate Inclusion: The way it's supposed to work is that journos are supposed to scrutinize the candidates and provide Americans with an understanding of not just third party groups but of their candidates, then, after their judgment in polls, are included in the debates. But journos have not done their duty and the people I talk to about these third parties and their candidates reveals a shocking lack of knowledge. We know more about Hillary's email server than we do about Jill Stein's economic plan (she doesn't have an actual plan aside from empty rhetoric). Had journos done their job properly, Gary Johnson would have never made it past the starting line, and Jill Stein's judgment could be reviewed by people who otherwise know nothing about her other than a lot of empty rhetoric. Which points me to the next item...
4. The Decline of Journalism: Think about it for a moment. Journalists have spent probably tens of thousands of hours collectively searching for illegal activities behind Hillary's ____ (fill in the blank), only to come up empty. Yet, they've barely paid attention to Donald who has openly stated that, in the past, he'd routinely donated to people in order to court favors from them. The guy told the entire world that he expected quid pro quo, but barely any time has been spent digging into his past! Which leads me to the next item...
5. Clinton Foundation vs Donald's Bondi Problem: It is false equivalence to compare the actions of Hillary as SoS, to what Donald and Pam Biondi have done, and it's incredibly simple to explain. The innuendo (the assertion that something looks bad) of the Clinton Foundation, offered up by the press, falls short of quid pro quo -- something I've explained before. What appears to have occurred between Donald's donation to Pam Bondi and the underpriced hosting of a fundraiser for her at his Mar-a-Lago, is quid pro quo. That is to say, it appears that Pam Bondi acted in an official capacity of her job to drop the investigation of Donald's university after receiving a substantial donation to her SuperPAC. BTW, if it matters any, I learned about quid pro quo when I sued my landlord at the age of 22 (I won).