WHAT KIND OF FOOL AM I?

Not the kind that writes a blog on April Fool's Day, so there--BAM!  Moving on to items of utmost seriousness.

--Each year the St. Patrick's Day parade is held in South Boston.  Southie is the neighborhood which had the most virulent anti busing riots when desegregation came to the schools here.  In the olden days (as a close relative of mine refers to it), the period leading up to the parade was always marked by controversy. First, the folks did not want any black people to march; then, there could be no Veterans against the war in Vietnam; and, more recently, the organizers could not tolerate having GLBT people involved.  Litigation followed each of these decisions right up to the date of the event.  This year the route of the parade was to change--right back to court they went. The man who directed the parade was consistently referred to as "Wacko" Hurley (seriously, I could not make it up).  I don't know if that was his real  first name or not--but they have long memories in Southie and might even now prefer covered wagons and candles to cars and electricity.

--50,000 American soldiers died in Vietnam.  But we have normalized relations with them, trade with them, visit each other's country, and generally treat them as a partner.  Vietnam is a dictatorship.  90 miles away lies Cuba--another dictatorship.  The Bay of Pigs was not a war--it was an invasion and it failed miserably. Because of the rabid Cuban Americans (mainly in Miami), we continue to have a blockade/embargo in place against Cuba.  Republicans in Congress are berserk over Obama's visit there.  The same Republicans criticize and want to eliminate the immigrants trying to come here from Central America; but welcome one and all from Cuba. Get over it. Anyone who saw Obama's welcome there knows the Cuban people, despite being so limited because of their politics and our own, love American people. It was a terrific moment in history.

--Cannot continue to go after the Donald but according to polls, he is likely to lose in Wisconsin (as is Hilary).  I do, of course, have to say say something!  Maureen Dowd in the NY Times of 3/20 had an excellent editorial focusing on the Donald and the assault committed by his campaign manager.  More pridefully, the Association of Reformed Rabbis boycotted his speech at the AIPAC conference--for those in the dark, AIPAC is the ultra conservative Jewish group made up of gazillionaires who cannot tolerate a two state solution.  Good for the rabbis.  Another Times editorial by David Brooks excoriated the Donald.

--I am back to following Nate Silver on his 538 blog.  Currently predicting Hilary losing Wisconsin but winning NY, Pa., and Maryland.  Not sure how Bernie will recover from that but he has been resilient.

--The recent 4-4 vote in the Supreme Court is interesting even though I cannot totally explain the case.  The bottom line is that the death of Scalia has really balanced the Supremes--the four liberals can now "win" cases since a tie will support their position.  Btw. this new guy who may never get appointed is also a member of my tribe.  That should send the anti semites into orbit.

--FYI.  I will return from a long period of sunbathing in time for an entry in honor of May Day.

SPORTS TALK
--I need to speak with the person who keeps track of NHL statistics.  It seems impossible for the Bruins to be the second highest scoring team in the league--despite their 6 goals last night. Even though both teams lost, congrats to the Bentley women's BB team and the BC women's hockey team for wonderful seasons. The UConn women look unbeatable and a kerfuffle has arisen over whether or not they are "good" for their sport.  Raised mainly by male writers.  Those writers should just shut up and watch some fine basketball.

Adios