Last night was the Democratic presidential debate. In the past, there were 10 candidates on the panel for 2 nights in a row to accommodate all of them. The rules of engagement for the debates has tightened since then (and some have dropped out), leaving 12 instead of 20. I was not looking forward to watching, since it was bad enough when there were 10 candidates on stage, vying for face time with the TV camera. Twelve? I couldn't imagine.

As it turns out, I decided not to watch. Our government (in particular - the Executive Branch) has been in a freefall into a dumpster fire ever since tRump took office, and it's gotten exponentially worse in the last few weeks as impeachment hearings have gotten underway. Ghouliani (ostensibly tRump's personal lawyer) is under investigation, demonstrating just how criminal the entire Republican party (and the tRump family and associates) has become.

Sometimes, though, you just need a break from all this, and look to something to lift you up, especially here in DC. So - instead of the debates, instead of wallowing in the tRump crime family filth on one of the news channels, I watched America's Favorite Pastime ™ - baseball. Specifically, I watched the Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals to win the National League Division - the last step required for entry into the World Series. They didn't just beat the Cardinals - they trounced them soundly, winning four straight for a clean sweep. This is the Nationals first trip to the World Series, so it was a big one.



This didn't seem likely back in May, when the Nats were at the bottom of their division, in the midst of a slump. Lesser fans (say - Boston Red Sox fans, LOL) would've proclaimed "the season is over" and walked away. I lived in Atlanta when the Braves went from "worst to first", and I can see the Nats doing the same. For a city that's seen baseball abandon it twice before, this is huge. The 1901-1960 Washington Senators moved to Minnesota to become the Twins, and the 1961-1971 Senators moved to Texas and became the Texas Rangers. The nation's capital was without its "favorite" sport from 1971 until 2005, when the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, DC and became the Washington Nationals (proving that immigrants are stealing jobs in America - or doing the jobs Americans won't do, all depending on your point of view).

in 1992, the Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl. That was the last time the capital city would celebrate a national championship until 2018, when the Capitals won the Stanley Cup. Since then, the Washington Mystics (WNBA) won their league championship, and now the Nats are poised to potentially do what was unthinkable earlier this year. It's all been quite cathartic for a city looking for something to be proud of and happy about, while the government swamp festers. It's a shot of good news in the arm.

So apologies to Cards fans (and fans of whichever team wins the ALD title) as I say "GO NATS!"