Happy Spring! Yes, I know the official beginning of the season of rebirth was several weeks ago. However, the weather has been more like December than April soon to be May. I appreciate that every day is a blessing and obviously we can’t change the weather. What a problematic spring sports season on all our area athletes, coaches, and officials. Local athletic directors have been working overtime trying to figure out when, where, and how to get scheduled and rescheduled events completed. That isn’t even getting to the Little League and AYSO aged young folks. Warm weather events just aren’t much fun when it’s snowing.

Hopefully, as you’re reading this, the weather has changed to some beautiful spring days. I don’t know if we’ll have the smell of fresh-cut grass anytime soon, but who knows? I’ll take some 50s, sunshine, and the smell of hot dogs cooking on the grill. Hard to believe many people will be opening their pools in less than a month.

Well, enough about Mother Nature — well maybe one more thing for you baseball fans. A few years back BBCOR bats became required for teenage leagues, high school, and collegiate baseball. They are awful when the weather is warm, let alone cold. They are also very expensive, a good BBCOR bat, if there is such a thing, runs between $350 and $500. Get rid of them! Find a compromise somewhere between the hot bats used prior, and these dialed back bats. If the temperature drops below 45, use wood bats. Or, here’s a novel idea, just go back to wood across-the-board. I honestly believe they hit better over the long haul than these high-dollar BBCOR bats they want us to buy into.

For those of you not familiar with BBCOR, imagine if a law was passed that you must purchase a vehicle governed for 45 miles an hour. All vehicles cannot exceed that speed, and on top of that the price went up significantly to drive that 45-mile-an-hour car. Sorry, I got a little windy there, been out in the cold too much.

I also must add that the bats were getting too hot about a decade ago, and for safety reasons, something needed to be done. The action Little League Baseball is taking this year definitely is necessary for safety and development of the young players on the much smaller diamond.

Well, back to the real world, as I flip back and forth between Fox, CNN, MSNBC, and ABC trying to find the truth and the actual news, it gets more and more frustrating. I never remember a time when our Nation faced more issues, and with all the technology of today, good old fashion ethical journalism has been lost. The concerning thing about this is that at a time of division across our Nation, this only seems to add to and complicate the problem. I will say more Americans are paying attention and sincerely want the truth and answers about what’s going on. I believe this began during President Trump’s Run for the White House. No matter if folks support him or despise him, “We the People” have been watching, reading and listening.

To surmise the whole situation, I would need more pages than the federal budget. But in a nutshell, President Trump defeated the Republican Party, and then defeated the Democratic Party to become president. I don’t know if he’s really had the support of his fellow Republicans since his inauguration, but he has stuck to his campaign promises and attempts on getting them done. Those promises and format are what got him elected by an America disenfranchised with the two-party system. He owes it to everyone that voted for him to try to accomplish his agenda. An interesting thought that pops into my head at this point is who actually elected him was the moderate and disenfranchised Democrats that in no way were going to vote for Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton would have been better if they just didn’t vote. However, many of them voted for President Trump, which created a two vote swing.

So basically we have our Nation divided down the middle. In the age of Twitter and social media, organization and protest have never been made easier. Back to the Twitter thing, President Trump needs to throw that smartphone away. Nothing good ever seems to have come from him using Twitter and social media. To say he needs it to reach the American people couldn’t be further from the truth, he has Fox News 24/7 at his disposal.

My greatest concern for the future of our Nation, is how do we get back to the days of President Reagan and President Clinton when leaders worked together to get things done? And compromise and shaking hands across the aisle was a sign of strength, not weakness.

Fired FBI director James Comey and all these sidebars and investigations that are going on just take away from solving all the problems facing our Nation. Honestly, I think President Obama should have fired Mr. Comey. I think he did a disservice to his administration and to the possible future administration of Hillary Clinton. I think James Comey has hurt both parties equally. In the betting world, he would be referred to as a “push”. More importantly is the adverse effect he has had on our Country. These everyday distractions need to give way to real compromise and getting things done for the American people. All the media outlets need to identify the obstructionist that refused to compromise and work for the American people, not grab for the National division story of the day.

I will have more on former FBI Director James Comey, Syria, and the Democratic Party filing a lawsuit alleging Russia, the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks conspired to disrupt the 2016 Presidential campaign as factual information becomes available.

Please remember we are all Americans and together we can find a way.

God Bless America.