Greeson: Trump takes in a game, Gates monster tax bill, a chicken sandwich to kill for and obit observations

Jay Greeson
Jay Greeson

So Donald Trump is heading to the big LSU-Alabama game Saturday.

Insert red state joke here, I guess.

Hey look at it this way, considering that these teams are 1-2 in the AP poll, he's hedging his bets about the eventual champion visiting him after the season.

Which leads me to this point: Did you know that Nick Saban, the Alabama coach with six career national titles - five with the Tide, one with LSU - has been to see the president after each of them?

Heck, he knows his way around the White House better than Mike Pence.

Say what?

OK, one of the ways our pass-the-hat, Socialists-in-practice, Democrats-in-name Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders want to pay for their Soup Kitchen to solve every societal whim is to super tax the super rich.

Bill Gates is one of those in the super rich category.

Gates said recently he'd be happy to pay $20 billion in taxes. But joked that something like $100 billion would be going too far.

Ah, the American way. Work hard. Dream big. Pay 12 figures in taxes.

Hey, before you fire off the "He'd still have more than $1 billion" like Bernie reminded everyone on Twitter, here's a question that I have not seen addressed:

If the government embraces the super tax plans on the super wealthy, what happens to the vacuums of funds for charitable and/or religious organizations or causes that so many of those folks fund and float?

Drive-thru or drive by?

OK, there has been a six-month song and dance about who has the better chicken sandwich, Chick-Fil-A or Popeye's.

Hey, in our divided country in which everyone has their opinion and everyone who does not agree with that opinion is wrong, of course this galvanized each side.

Well, while the CFA folks will gladly tell you that they have a heavenly chicken sandwich, Popeye's can now claim they have one to die for.

Two Maryland men got into a fight over the Popeye's sandwich - which has been in limited supply because of high demand, limited buns, marketing designs or some combination of any of those - and one was stabbed to death. Seriously.

Hate to see what would happen if they forgot that fella's pickles.

That's it

Every time I think we can't get softer or more sensitive as a society - and there was a GQ article that the Popeye's chicken sandwich is a form of black-shaming - I am shocked that there is no pearl-clutching line that can't be crossed.

Reports went everywhere that Oxford University decided to ban clapping to be more inclusive for those students who suffer from anxiety and who may be triggered by loud or sudden noises.

In truth, Oxford's student leaders passed a motion to 'encourage' the use of sign language for clapping - also referred to as 'jazz hands' - rather than clapping. From the Oxford student newspaper: "BSL (British sign language) clapping is used by the National Union of Students since loud noises, including whooping and traditional applause, are argued to present an access issue for some disabled students who have anxiety disorders, sensory sensitivity, and/or those who use hearing impairment aids."

Yep, when clapping is offensive, we are through the looking glass.

Obit observation

There are sad stories every day in the Times Free Press obits.

When you deal in death, it comes with the territory.

This week, the news of Dr. John Morgan's death gave me pause.

It was not the legacy of love for his family - his wife of 57 years Donna, his three sons and his nine grandchildren. (Side note: I love to see the names grandkids use for their grandparents. Dr. Morgan was 'Poppa,' and that's awesome.)

I couldn't help but think of the loss our city and society suffers when true contributors like Dr. Morgan leave such a huge void in our community.

After graduating from Vanderbilt Medical School and spending time in Florida professionally, Dr. Morgan moved to Chattanooga in 1972 as a pediatric cardiologist at TC Thompson. He held that job for the next 47 years.

Think how many lives he saved. How many hearts he mended - for the children and their families - through the years.

Not to downplay all the great community efforts he made at his churches or with the Boy Scots or even Boyd-Buchanan. Dr. Morgan was a life-changer and a life saver.

What a gift - for him and for all of us.

photo Jay Greeson

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.

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