BALTIMORE, Maryland March 13, 2016 - Two days from now voters in a couple of pivotal states will go to the voting booths and make decisions that will go a long way towards making clear who the nominees of the respective political parties will be for the fall Presidential Elections. Especially in Florida and Ohio, where a lot of delegates are up for grabs and where the delegates are awarded on a "winner-take-all" basis, the decisions made may make clear who is going to be nominated by the Democrats and Republicans, respectively. As most Americans know by now, the GOP is scheming in the proverbial back rooms to deny Donald Trump the Republican nomination. The Democratic situaion is not all that different, except that the Dems did their scheming in advance, and awarded a sinful amount of delegates to HIllary Clinton, delegates that her schief rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, had no real chance to compete for. The result of this shameful nonsense was that, in Michigan, Sanders battled his way to victory in the popular vote, but Clinton received more delegates in defeat because she financially incentivised their votes for her before any of the real votes were cast. On the GOP side, a bunch of folk who know better than anyone else don't want Trump to be the candidate, even though it was the low brow and shameful leadership of these back room nabobs that led to Trump's strong voter support. Time after time GOP candidates promised to take certain actions if they were elected. Then, they were elected. Then, they went to Washington and did the polar opposite of what they promised the voters they would do. It doesn't get more shameful and low brow than that.
As I write this post, Trump leads the voting with 460 delegates, each of whom by rule must vote for him on the first ballot at this summer's GOP convention. If Trump or any other candidate can secure 1237 delegate commitments, they will be the GOP nominee. Senator Ted Cruz is in second place with 370 secured delegates. Senator Marco Rubio is a distant third with 163 delegates, followed by Ohio Governor John Kasich with 63 delegates. Rubio won the Saturday caucuses in Washington, D.C., followed closely by Kasich. But there are so few Republican voters living in the nation's capital that only one delegate was at stake, and Rubio and Cruz will split that delegate. In Wyoming, Cruz was the easy winner. There are 1401 delegates still to be awarded. Trump needs 777 of these delegates to secure the nomination. Cruz needs 867.
On the Democratic side, Clinton leads the race with 1231 secured delegates, followed by Sanders with 576. Exactly 2,383 delegates are needed for nomination. There are 2,958 delegates still to be awarded.
The mainstream media was concerned over this past weekend with the minor violence that has troubled Trump's campaign stops. Agitators are trying to disrupt every campaign stop. Trump isn't taking kindly to their low-brow stunts. One wonders how the mainstream would be reacting if the exact same thing was going on at Clinton's appearances.
Meanwhile, the FBI probe of Clinton has taken a decided turn that leads to indictment of the candidate if such an indictment is not quashed by President Obama or his operatives in the Justice Department. Fox News and their outstanding covert operations reporter, Catherine Harridge, reported last week that ""Bryan Pagliano is a devastating witness and, as the webmaster, knows exactly who had access to [Clinton's] computer and devices at specific times. His importance to this case cannot be over-emphasized,"
Other sources have indicated that a grand jury is already seated in the Clinton case and is hearing evidence. It has been confirmed that Pagliano has been given immunity by federal investigators.
SPORTS: Maryland in NCAA, But With Woeful Placement, Terps Will Have to be Magnificent to Advance
It is no fun being the University of Maryland. The Terps play by the rules and are politically correct to a T, for all the good it does them. After three woeful Big Ten basketball officials eased Michigan State past the Terps in the Big Ten Tournament Semi-Final, the NCAA Selection Committee Made an Outstanding South Dakota State team a No. 12 seed and matched them up against Maryland in the first round by down-seeding Maryland yet again. The NCAA's own RIP had Maryland ranked No. 13 in the nation last week. Between then and now Maryland did fast work of surging Nebraska, then took Michigan State to the buzzer before having the decision go against them, so how. Do the math. The 13th best team should have been the first 4th seed, but Maryland was made a fifth seed. How? And South Dakota State had an RIP of 28. That makes them a No. 7 seed, but they were down seeded so they could be matched up against Maryland. After being No. 28 in the last RIP, the Jackrabbits won their conference tournament. That gets them a 12 seed. But things are all copasetic and on the up and ups. Sure they are. Just yesterday, those cheeky Big Ten Referees got together with the love of their respective lives, Tom Izzo, and even while the Spartans were throwing Maryland all over the floor, they were calling most of the fouls on Maryland. Then they sat back and allowed the Spartans to mug Melo Trimble. If that happened outside of the field house, there would have been arrests. But why bother? It happens every game of every year.
Baseball: Maryland Takes Weekend Set From Bryant, Two Games to One, by Winning Sunday, 8-6, behind Excellant Start by Brian Shaffer
Maryland's baseball team pulled itself together enough to defeat Bryant on Sunday afternoon to win the three-game weekend set, two games to one. Justin Morris, the Terp catcher, ripped a bases loaded double to plate three runs during a five-run Maryland fifth inning uprising to key the win. Brian Shaffer allowed only one earned run and five hits over seven strong innings to win his first game of the season. The victory helped ease the sour taste of Saturday's 2-0 loss to Bryant, which finished the weekend with an outstanding overall record of 9-4. Maryland improved to 7-8 as they prepare to fly west for a single game with the University of California at Irvine Anteaters and a three-game weekend set with California State at Fullerton. Both teams played in the NCAA Tournament last season, and the Anteaters, like Maryland, made it all the way to the Super Regional Round.
Soccer: Burnley Rips Huddersfield, 3-1; Combined With Middlesbrough Loss to Lowly Charlton Puts Claret 7 Points Up in English Championship League
Burnley won on the road again, this time at Huddersfield Town. Stephen Ward, Sam Vokes and Ben Mee all scored as the Claret won for the 6th straight time. Burnley has yet to lose in 2016, and their Championship Lead has now swelled to 7 points. Burnley has 74 points to 67 for second place Middlesbrough, which lost to Charlton Athletic, 2-0. Hull City and Brighton and Hove Albion are tied for third with 65 points each. Derby County is in fifth place with 61 points, while Sheffield Wednesday stands in 6th with 59 points.
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