Squat and Squabble

Conflicting viewpoints on topical subjects

Presidential Bracketology

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Barry’s brackets

President Obama took time to appear on ESPN over the years to discuss his picks for the NCAA Tournament. Sports analysts would yuck it up with the President and then comment on the selections he made. This year, President Trump decided that he didn’t want to fill out a bracket. I was devastated because March Madness is totally YUGE and know that he would have constructed the perfect bracket. However, Barry O. made sure to keep the tradition going.

The Obama Foundation tweeted out his picks this year, and once again, Obama failed to deliver. As a Democrat, I fully respect the man as a politician. As a college basketball fan, I’m completely disappointed in his selection process. I will give him some praise, he did pick Michigan to make it to the Elite 8 this year, but every last one of his picks are highly predictable. Considering the guy introduced our country to universal healthcare, I expect him to be a risk taker.

Every single year, Obama picks the same top seeded teams to win it all. In fact, he picked a #1 seeded team to win the tournament every year during his presidency except for 2014. I’ll give him some credit for that one. Picking Michigan State when they were a #4 seed was pretty gutsy, but it still isn’t that risky when you have Tom Izzo at the helm. Hey, it’s totally understandable that you expect the teams with a better regular season record to win it all, but Obama didn’t pick the winner once throughout his presidency.

Now, do higher seeded teams usually win the tournament? Yes. Is it probably the safer/smarter bet? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean I’m okay with it. If you’re not going to pick the winner, you should be going with some wildcard picks. He’s the freakin’ president of the United States. He should have known that UConn was going to win it all as a #7 seed back in 2014.

Southpaw’s Picks

Overall, the bracket that he put together seems to be pretty solid, so let’s just see how he does this year. I’m sure he’s knocking back cold ones and watching the tournament on one of Richard Branson’s yachts right now. For the sake of friendly competition, I’ve posted a copy of my bracket, so let’s see how Obama stacks up to Southpaw’s when the nets get cut down.

I don’t follow the sport, but I’ll bet that even Southpaw would have been a better president. – Pops

Dutch Election: Stirred, but not shaken

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PM Mark Rutte – winner

Geert Wilders – Sloppy Second Place

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Netherlands’ main exit poll suggests Prime Minister Mark Rutte easily defeated his opponent, anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders in today’s Dutch parliamentary election, which was seen by many as a litmus test for populism in Europe. The Ipsos exit poll indicated that Rutte’s party won 31 seats in the 150-place legislature, 12 more than Wilders’ party, which shared second place with two other parties.

But Europeans are generally complacent folks, not looking for big changes, so maybe the Dutch are still a little too reticent to accept the beating of the anti-Islam drum as the new norm.

Many pundits are surprised that following close in time behind the Brexit vote in the UK, and the election of Donald Trump in the US, the pro-nationalist rumblings on the Continent have not yet boiled over into any political paradigm shifts in the heart of Europe.  (So far, anyway.)  Whether or not the rising voices of populism that have been sweeping Europe these past months will yield victories in the upcoming elections in France and Germany is presently unknown.

However, it is clear that the Rip Van Winkles of Europe are slowly stirring toward political action.  It remains to be seen if they will shake themselves awake, or just roll over and go back to sleep.

Go north, young man

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The U.S. State Department is warning college students across the country not to spend spring break in certain parts of Mexico, where rampant crime has made travel dangerous for Americans.

Mexico – Mucho Problemo

The warning comes as students are finishing up midterm exams and heading out in search of warmer climes, salty margaritas and wild parties. But Mexico, once among the most popular spring break destinations, is plagued with endemic levels of violence, according to the government.

San Francisco – No Problemo

  • So, if you want to have a safe and really bitchin’ spring break…. Go someplace that nobody cares if you act totally ridiculous, and openly do drugs, and get drunk, and take a dump in a doorway, and then pass out in the street.   Someplace like the Bay Area, perhaps?

But then again, the spring weather is pretty nice in Baja….

♩   If you ever go, down to Mexico, you may meet a gay senorita guy with an AK-47…  ♫

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