1. It’s Tuesday, September 29, 2015.

2. It’s supposed to be National Coffee Day.

Why? When you don’t drink coffee, as I don’t, every freakin’ day is National Coffee Day.

There’s coffee everywhere. Ninety percent of what’s available in workplace break rooms has something to do with coffee. When you go to a diner, the first thing they’re ready to do is pour you coffee.

If you go through life not drinking coffee, the world around you seems unforgiving. Everyone else seems to bond offer coffee, over whether it’s good or bad, too expensive and overrated at Starbucks, nasty at the deli down the street.

It’s what they serve at PTA meetings and town board meetings and any event I’ve ever covered. Kids aren’t supposed to drink it but, magically, when they turn 18, they are expected to drink it.

I’m through venting. For now. Enjoy your coffee.

3. The departure of House Speaker John Boehner has led to this theme in the past few days: The Republican Party isn’t interested in governing.

The constant shutdown threats over the past 20 years – this all started when Newt Gingrich took control in the 1990s – usually boil down to Republicans believing they need to stand for some principle of non-government.

It’s what makes the dynamic of our system so weird. Does any other major political party anywhere in the world trash the idea of actually being in charge of a nation’s government the way the Republicans do?

And because of that, the Democrats have a dilemma. Should they let people see the incredible stupidity of the Republican notion of government as the enemy? Or do they act like grownups, realize that this whole country depends on a functioning national government and take the steps to keep things going that Republicans will then use to vilify them?

I imagine the world is totally exasperated with this. It’s a wonder President Obama doesn’t run from the White House screaming. I’ll bet there are times, like now, when he can’t wait for Jan. 20, 2017.

I don’t know the solution. I keep hoping that it has something to do with demographics, with the civilizing influence of people from other countries where they don’t take what we have for granted. But, right now, I’m not optimistic sanity will prevail.

5. Another manifestation of the Republican fantasy of a utopian world with no government comes in the tax cut proposals of the leading candidates.

Yesterday, it was Donny Trump with his plan to cut the tax rate for those with the highest incomes to just 15% from the current 39%. He would also cut taxes for lower income groups, though not at nearly the same clip or with the same impact.

The problem, of course, is that when Trump and Republicans propose this nonsense, they’re basically making sure there’s less for actually operating the government. But that’s part of the idea, along with their fantasy that their proposals would stimulate economic growth to levels approaching developing, rather than developed, nations.

I’m sure the mindless who support Trump, the ones with the “I love America, it’s the government I hate” bumper stickers, will love his idea. Again, the Democrats have a dilemma – debunking this crap, or showing how a Trumpian world is a dystopian world. Neither of those options seems ideal.

1. It’s Monday, September 28, 2015

2. Too much cloud cover where I was for the blood moon eclipse. The next time it happens, I’ll be 79 years old. Wish me luck.

3. A lot of people, Catholics and otherwise, derived satisfaction from Pope Francis’ visit. He struck a chord with a message of compassion and tolerance that had been lacking from the church leadership in recent years. Whether the good vibe continues depends.

Will the rest of the Roman Catholic leadership understands why this pope is a success or choose to revert to its our-way-or-else stance on just about everything that has turned off followers for decades?

4. I was shocked to see some liberals celebrate John Boehner’s decision to step down as Speaker of the House.

No, I’m not a Boehner fan by any means. But he’s been what passes for reasonable in the Republican Party, and now even he is purged for the crime of compromising in order to get things done.

The message Boehner’s ouster should send to my fellow liberals is a reinforcement of what the Republican presidential debates have shown: The Democratic Party has got to get its act in gear when it comes to registering voters, particularly those citizens who were recent immigrants from Latin America, Africa and Asia.

The Democrats need to be the party of everyone, and the party of the future. Boehner’s departure should galvanize them, but I’m skeptical that it will.

5. Washington Nationals’ reliever Jonathan Papelbon failed to get his second choke of the season yesterday when teammates and coaches separated his hand from star outfielder Bryce Harper’s throat.

The first choke, of course, was his own performance since being acquired by the Nats in late July.

The only reason for him not to be suspended or released is that it would deprive New York Mets fans of the chance to personally thank him next weekend for all he’s done to help us secure the National League East title.

It’s September 25, 2015, and time once again for my Friday Yes or No, where I cop out from writing a real blog post by writing around it and answering each point.

Q1: Am I surprised that today is the day John Boehner announced that he’s stepping down as Speaker of the House and leaving Congress?

Q1: Yes

Q2: But, generally speaking, am I surprised that John Boehner is stepping down as Speaker of the House and leaving Congress?

Q2: No

Q3: Are liberal Democrats wise to think Boehner’s stepping down as Speaker at this time is a good thing for the United States?

A3: No 

Q4: Is that because the real nut cases in the Republican Party want to make President Obama’s final year in office a living hell?

A4: Yes

Q5: Is it terrific that Pope Francis, with his message of tolerance and protecting the environment, is getting the attention he’s getting on this short visit to the United States?

A5: Yes

Q6: Will his visit lead to progress in resolving such issues in this country as immigration and climate change?

A6: No

Q7: Is it true that, at one point, the car I would have bought for myself if my family wasn’t a consideration, was Volkswagen’s New Beetle?

A7: Yes

Q8: Given the revelation that the company used on-board software to cheat on emissions tests, is there a snowball’s chance in hell I’ll ever buy a Volkswagen?

A8: No

Q9: Is it surprising that e-book sales are starting to flag while sales of printed books are holding steady?

A9: Yes 

Q10: With the magic number down to three, am I finally convinced that the Mets are going to be in the postseason?

A10: Yes

1. It’s Wednesday, September 23, 2015.

2. It’s fall. Phooey.

3. It’s Yom Kippur. Jews around the world use this day to reflect on what they’ve done and how to square that with what they think God wants them to do.

I’ve always thought the idea of a day of atonement is something that all of us, no matter what our faith or lack of faith, should consider. A day to focus, completely and without even the respite of eating, on how we conduct ourselves in the world and whether or not it is in accordance with how we believe we should.

I hope my Jewish friends find peace and resolution in their reflection on this special day.

4. By the way, it is a gorgeous day in New York. My devoutly Catholic Dad once told me that it never rains on Yom Kippur because people have to walk to the synagogue to pray.

5. Pope Francis is at the White House for the start of his U.S. adventure. He’s already talking about how immigrants helped build this nation, which means this is going to be a long week for the wall builders.

6. Yogi Berra’s body died last night. His spirit, his legend, his heart, his place in baseball history, his way with words and his stature among the greatest Italian Americans will never die.

I’m proud to have joined more than 100,000 other Americans in petitioning the White House earlier this year to have Yogi receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The White House said it couldn’t comment on whether any individual would be honored in the future – the award is usually given in groups every three years, with the next one likely in 2016. But the response goes on as follows:

We can, however, say that throughout his career as a Hall-of-Fame catcher for the New York Yankees and beyond, Yogi Berra has done a lot more than hit and think at the same time. He demonstrated exemplary sportsmanship and character on his way to winning 13 World Series championships as a player and manager (note: he won 10 rings as a player and three as a coach), with each new title feeling like déjà vu all over again. He served our country in the U.S. Navy during World War II — including the D-Day invasion, and has established himself as an advocate for civil rights, education, and inclusion of the LGBT community in sports.

He’s demonstrated many of the qualities of past Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, so — as he might say — it ain’t over ’til it’s over.

Yogi’s body has passed. But his greatness never will. I still hope his name is included in the next batch of Medal of Freedom winners.

1. It’s Tuesday, September 22, 2015

2. It’s hard to believe this is the last full day of summer. It seems as though the season just started. I also think that the 21st, and not the 23rd, is the first day of a new season, but that’s another issue.

We’re getting the first relatively chilly days of the season. But this has been an especially warm summer, and in this part of the Northeast, it’s accompanied by an amazing lack of rain. No, we’re not California, but the ground is becoming more brown than green, and there are a lot of brown leaves on trees.

3. There’s at least one good thing about the end of summer 2015 — it also will be the end of Scott Walker’s presidential campaign.

I suspect I am not the only one who saw a coward when I saw this putz.

One who sat on a stage and declined comment after the addled Rudolph Giuliani said President Obama did not love his country.

One who me-tooed Donny Trump by saying that not only would he build a wall along the Mexican border, but that he’s build one along the Canadian border as well.

One who went to London and refused to answer a question about whether he believed in evolution, saying that’s not what he was there for.

One who equated union workers seeking to maintain their hard-earned rights to ISIS. One was happy to revel in University of Wisconsin sports triumphs, but wouldn’t support the university financially and tried to change its charter to turn it into a trade school.

Good, freakin’ riddance. If only this guy could slink back under the rock he came from, a lot of people would be better off.

4. One of the refrains spewed by Scott Walker and those still running for the Republican nomination is that President Obama’s Affordable Care Act is a job killer.

But according to a study issued today, and reported by the fair-minded and talented Tami Luhby of CNNMoney, Obamacare has not led to a massive shift of full-time workers into part-time positions.

In fact, a higher percentage of employers has shifted things the other way — making part-time workers full time so that they qualify for company health care plans.

Yes, as Ms. Luhby points out, there are flaws in Obamacare – the president wasn’t able to keep his promise to everyone that they would be able to keep the plans they had if they were happy with them.

But more than 18 million Americans have health insurance who didn’t before the ACA went into effect. And overall health care spending is up for a good reason – more Americans are taking care of themselves, because now it won’t crush them financially to do so. That will come in handy with the traditional start-of-fall cold just about upon us.

1. It’s Monday, September 21, 2015.

2. I’ll write a separate post about my New York Mets. The last couple of days have been too bizarre to include with the general stuff.

3. You would think that a man who’s running for president, a distinguished neurosurgeon, has met one or two people of the Islamic faith. He gives speeches, he signs books, he’s worked in a hospital.

So you have to figure, even though Muslims make up only about 1% of the population, he’s met at least a dozen people who say they are followers of the prophet Muhammad.

But Ben Carson believes none of them, not one, should be allowed to seek the highest office in the land.

When asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if a president’s faith matters, he said” “I guess it depends on what that faith is,” he said. “If it’s inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course it should matter.”

And then, asked whether Islam is consistent with the Constitution, Carson said: “No, I don’t — I do not.”

What Constitution is Carson reading? Of what articles, what amendments does Islam fly in the face?

I am not anywhere near as well traveled or a public figure as Dr. Ben Carson. But I’ve met people of the Islamic faith. I’ve worked with them and I’ve lived in a neighborhood with them. I had a devoutly Muslim landlord. Some were born in the USA, and some weren’t.

And of those born in this country, I have little doubt that if they were handed the awesome responsibility of the presidency, their first priority would be the safety and prosperity of their fellow Americans. That would include protecting this country from nut cases —whatever their professed faith, or lack thereof.

In light of his comments, that’s more than we can say about Ben Carson. He might be a man with a lot of degrees. But his comments on a Muslim president show he’s not really that smart. And he’s not particularly attuned to the people he encounters. Because I guarantee he’s met more than a few Muslims, and he dissed them for no good reason. (For a good take on this, here’s Ta-Nehisi Coates’ terrific note for The Atlantic)

It’s September 18, 2015 and time once again for Friday Yes or No, when I try to make things easier for myself by asking 10 questions and limiting the 10 answers to one of two words. Got that? Let’s go:

Q1: If I had a kid in the Irving, Texas, school system, would I pull him or her out of it so that she or he wouldn’t be exposed to complete morons six hours a day?

A1: Yes

Q2: Wouldn’t it follow logically that if Muslims have to keep apologizing for 9/11, Pope Francis has to apologize for the Oklahoma City bombing (Timothy McVeigh was a Roman Catholic)?

Q2: Yes

Q3: Should either Muslims or Pope Francis do that?

A3: No!

Q4: If I were trying to destroy the United States, wouldn’t a Donny Trump presidency be the best way to accomplish my goal?

A4: Yes

Q5: Is Carly Fiorina rising in the eyes of Republicans because the other people running in her party look like total dweebs?

A5: Yes

Q6: Is it a good idea for the U.S. to engage Russia in military talks about Syria?

A6: Yes

Q7: Is there reason to be optimistic that such talks will resolve this incredible mess?

A7: No

Q8: Pope Francis plans to talk about climate change in his address to Congress. Is he going to get a warm response (so to speak) from the Republican side of the hall?

A6: No

Q9: The math is overwhelmingly in favor of an imminent division title, so will New York Mets fans respond responsibly if their team loses this weekend’s Subway Series with the New York Yankees?

A9: No

Q10: As someone obsessed by time, am I jealous of Ahmed Mohamed because he can actually build something that keeps it?

A10: Yes

1. It’s Thursday, September 17, 2015

2.  I didn’t watch all of the Republican debate last night because I was teaching my Journalism class. So I missed about half of the three-plus hour display of what the GOP is offering for the presidency in 2016. That said, here’s my impressions:

3.   By all accounts, and from what I saw, Carly Florina was the most impressive of the 11 candidates. But that might be because she knows how to complete a sentence. The rest of them were either completely inarticulate or spew mouth foam that makes you wonder if they aren’t ill.

Florina, a veteran of fractious board and shareholder meetings, always seemed to remember the schpiel she planned to say on specific topics.

4.   However – and, yes, it was a silly question – Fiorina’s answer on the $10 bill question was very telling.

Instead of making a point that there are so many American women who deserve an honor that is long overdue, or even paying tribute to a woman in her past, she crabbed on about how the idea of putting a woman on the $10 is stupid. She said that what women really need is true equality in the workplace and in society.

It gets at Fiorina’s problem. Being president isn’t just being CEO of USA, Inc. It’s being a cheerleader, a hand-holder, a fan and the arm around the nation’s shoulder.

So even if she thinks putting a woman on the $10 is an empty gesture, enough people are empathetic to the idea that she should understand. Say something that isn’t churlish.

Empathy. It’s what made Ronald Reagan a two-term president. It’s what made Barack Obama a two-term president. The perception that they weren’t and aren’t above the little things. I don’t think Fiorina gets that.

5.  Jeb Bush had the audacity to say that America was safer under his older brother than it is under Barack Obama.

You have to admit it takes guts. Because somehow that conveniently forgets Sept. 11, 2001. It also forgets the 4,000-plus Americans who lost their lives in a dopey war in Iraq.

6.  But just to be clear, to Bush and the other Republicans seeking to paint Obama as a guy who has compromised this nation’s security, there was one question I wished CNN’s Jake Tapper had put to them:

Whatever happened to Osama bin Laden?

It’s September 11, 2015, and before I get to Friday Yes or No, I feel obligated to reflect on the fact that it’s September 11, 2015.

I listened to the thoughtful John Hockenberry on NPR this morning who took a less reverent view of the day than most of the rest of us. Among the things that he said was that 9/11 was a poison to our system from which we’ve never really recovered, that in railing against the creatures who fouled our lives we failed to see other forms of terrorism — the church shooting in Charleston, Sandy Hook, etc. He also reminded listeners that the U.S. squandered its opportunity to emerge as the undisputed moral leader of the world when George W. Bush decided to invade a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.

I see some of Hockenberry’s points. Twelve years after the fact, the Iraq war still infuriates me. How we let human scumbags such as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld lead us so far astray from our principles is something I’ll never understand. And yes, we seem far more worried about someone praying than losers who tell of their devotion to slavery and Nazis and then can’t pass up a chance to buy a few more rounds at the local gun store.

But when I think of 9/11, I think of two things. First, and always foremost, are the lives lost in the tantrum of a few evil men. People going about their business on a sunny day, and then not. The families of those people, who dreams and hopes were shattered. I suppose that happens any time there’s a sudden death – after a car accident, or in a fire. But to have it happen so visibly, in a such a deliberate and wanton act, is painful beyond words.

And the second thing is what I saw on September 12.

I had to get to work that day, and I couldn’t drive back into Midtown Manhattan. So I took the train from Tarrytown and made my way in. It was a warm morning, and the city was full of people who looked as though they hadn’t slept. A burnt smell hung in the air. Sirens blared everywhere — I heard sirens in my head for weeks afterward.

And yet, the breakfast carts that dot Manhattan opened up. The newsstands sold papers. The pizza stands and the sandwich joints and Macy’s and the salad bars and everyone else picked themselves up and resumed the business of their lives. There were thousands of police and fire fighters and others trying to save any survivors, not realizing — and, at the time, not caring — that they were putting themselves at risk of cancer

And we all were sad, but we also unbroken. And we were together. The bastards had taken some of us. They would have taken us given the chance. But the hell with them. We were the United States of America, and they were sick fools.

That, and those sadly lost, are what I think about today.

And now, questions with yes or no answers:

Q1: With the opening of the 9/11 museum in Shanksville, Pa., has enough tribute been paid to the people who thwarted what would have the final attack of that day, probably on the Capitol?

A1: No!

Q2: Can we ever express enough gratitude to the passengers and crew of Flight 93?

A2: No

Q3: Did the failure of the Senate vote to block the Iran nuclear deal honor the spirit of making the world safer in the wake of 9/11?

A3: Yes

Q4: If I had my way, would I send Dick Cheney and his henchmen to The Hague to face war crime charges?

A4: Yes

Q5: When I do word association, does “vomit” follow “Kim Davis”?

A5: Yes

Q6: Should people with ridiculous hairdos and perpetual snarls on their face say anything, anything at all, about the appearance of any other human being?

A6: No

Q7: Does the New York City Police Department, and police departments around the nation, have a serious problem with officers overstepping their authority and understanding the concept of innocent before proven guilty?

A7: Yes

Q8: Does “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” show signs of promise?

A8: Yes

Q9: Do I have any sympathy at all for Washington Nationals’ fans after my Mets swept three games this week, all in dramatic fashion?

Q9: Yes

Q10: Am I sorry the Mets did what they did to the Nats?

A10: NO!

1. It’s Thursday, September 10, 2015.

2. I haven’t written in a while. Family issues. I’ll post Yes or No tomorrow, then won’t post again until Wednesday.

3. There are, in fact, people who see Kim Davis as a paragon of virtue. They see her as a martyr for not going against her religious beliefs. A defender of the Constitutional right of freedom of religion. A county clerk whose bravery makes her a hero.

Here’s what she really is:

— A criminal – she took an oath of office to defend the Constitution, a Constitution that includes a section about how the U.S. Supreme Court is the ultimate arbiter of what’s the law of the land.

— An opportunist – if she really wanted to make a statement about how abhorrent she believes same-sex marriage to be, she would have resigned. Instead, she knew damn well that if she went to jail, there would be those who would trumpet her cause.

— A hypocrite – she and the dolts who support her, including morons who aspire to be President of the United States, cry about how their religious rights are being infringed, but make no bones about stomping on the religious and spiritual rights of other people.

From a political point of view, it was probably right for a judge to spring Davis from her cell. The longer she stayed there, the more bubble brains like Mike Huckabee would rally support among their species.

But when this all dies down — and people realize that letting two people who are in love get married, no matter who they are, is going to advance rather infringe on general morality — Kim Davis is either going to cash in on her 15 minutes of fame among the braindead who support her or, hopefully, fade into well-deserved obscurity.

Kim Davis can go to hell. In fact, if there’s a just God, she probably will.