TRUMP IMPEACHMENT “TRIAL”
Basically, a farce.
A trial with neither witnesses nor documents is patently absurd. And that wasn’t all.
The Democrats took over twenty hours to present their case, at least nineteen of which were repetitious. Trump’s lawyers used up fewer hours to present theirs, but fifteen minutes would have sufficed because all they really presented was a mountain of red herring.
And next Wednesday the completely predictable partisan Republican “verdict” will be delivered: not guilty.
The USA’s reputation as a beacon and proponent of democracy took quite a hit.
CONSERVATIVES LEADERSHIP RACE
As I wrote earlier, it’s not nearly as interesting without Ambrose, Charest, and Poilievre. I also wrote earlier that one of the problems the party has is that of all of those who aren’t running, the ones who are, and the wannabes, the only one capable of both winning the leadership and beating Justin Trudeau in a general election is Rona Ambrose. Charest could beat Trudeau but was far from certain to win the leadership race. Neither was Poilievre a sure bet to win the leadership. Peter MacKay now has the best chance of winning the leadership but is far from a sure bet to beat Trudeau, the quality of his facility in speaking French seemingly the main concern.
Although Canada is not officially bilingual, and New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province, we are a country with two official languages, and any Conservative leader hoping to beat Trudeau has to be able to effectively debate and adequately answer questions in French. As mentioned, MacKay reputedly falls short of that bar and, if so, the question is can he fix it by 2022, the first year in which there’s apt to be an election.
The same language considerations render the possibility of Michelle Remple running to be nothing more than useless party virtue signalling, a trivial reason to further clutter the race with her candidacy. There’s more than enough clutter already.
The number of existing and potential entrants who have no chance whatsoever of winning will, as in the Conservatives’ last race, skew the ranked-ballot voting to the possible detriment of the winner’s legitimate claim to being the overall choice of the party. Flawed though they may be, overall, delegated-conventions work best in leadership races.
THE GAME OF HEARTS
As challenging and enjoyable as Bridge is, I would rather play Hearts, particularly with three skilled players. Five players can be fun, but is far less strategic, and six players is simply unpredictable chaos. I’ve been playing Hearts for over sixty years and very early on discovered that my chances of winning were greatly enhanced by correctly choosing the cards to pass.
The unwritten rules of passing cards are basically common sense. But before detailing the more important ones, remember that they all go out the window if you’re planning to go for control, and sometimes your hand’s distribution will dictate exceptions.
Never pass spades. Even if you don’t have the queen you may get it on the pass.
Never pass the ace of hearts. A key element of winning a game of Hearts is preventing other players from getting control, so the ace of hearts should never be passed because it’s the best defence against controls. Also, there’s no downside in keeping it if you’re going for control.
Always pass the two of clubs (which has to be the first lead) so that you can slough off another unwanted card on the lead. Then there’s the possibility of winning the first trick, which can’t contain any penalty cards. Winning the first trick also allows you to make an advantageous lead.
Never pass the ace of clubs. You can win the first trick with it without penalty, so it’s better to pass another unwanted card. Winning the first trick also allows you to make an advantageous lead.
Always pass the queen of spades to the right, passing it to the left or across increases the odds of you getting it in a trick.
Creating a void can be a huge advantage.
When it comes to playing the hand, unless going for control, win early tricks with high cards because early tricks are less apt to contain penalty cards. And most important of all, always break control at the first opportunity.
Of course, strategies may change as the play of a hand develops, but the above rules are simple, easy to apply, and will work in your favour in most circumstances.