Jan. 30-31 and Feb. 1, 2015 can be summed up in three words, appropriated from the collected wisdom of long-ago sage Gomer Pyle:
"Sur-prise, sur-prise, sur-prise!"
Surprise #1: We won't have Mitt to kick around anymore. OK, perhaps the only one who was really surprised about this announcement was Mitt himself, because the dominant reaction among political observers to his potential presidential candidacy redux was, "Huh?" followed by "Why?" followed by "Doomed!" But he did depart with a nice slam at Jeb, so there's that. We suspect the only person really upset about his departure is NY Times Op-Ed columnist Gail Collins, who may have told her last joke about the family pet Romney strapped to his car roof.
Surprise#2: The Gasparilla parade celebrated its 100th anniversary with the usual piratical theatrics, with one glaring difference: Fewer arrests! People of Tampa, have you no respect for tradition?
Surprise#3: A Super Bowl that was actually super. A game that was better than the commercials. Katy Perry turning into a human Firework. Two crazy last-minute catches, one a game-winning interception by a rookie. If this doesn't deflate Deflategate, nothing will. (And a thought: If the Watergate Hotel burglary had taken place in, say, a Holiday Inn, what would we have called our national scandals all these years?)
Note: Our usual Sh*tmeister, Herr Scott Harrell, is on vacation this week.
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 4, 2015.
