The Rabbi’s Hat February 14, 2018 Rumblings that Mike Pence may be working to try to expel transgender troops. If true — hopefully not — then this Stars & Stripes op-ed by retired Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, former Judge Advocate General of the Navy, might be worth his reading. Have you read Michael Lewis’s take on Trump? His visit with Steve Bannon, watching the State of the Union. His visit with Walter Shaub, who resigned as head of the Office of Government Ethics. (“I thought, I don’t want to be window dressing for corruption.”) Riveting, as Lewis’s stuff always is. And now . . . (thanks, Mel!) . . . A rabbi was walking down the street when, suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew his keepa off his head. The rabbi ran after his hat but the wind was so strong it kept blowing his hat farther and farther away. He just couldn’t catch up with it. A young non-Jewish boy, witnessing this event and being more fit than the rabbi, ran after the hat and caught it. The young boy handed the hat over to the rabbi. The rabbi was so pleased and grateful that he gave the young man $20, put his hand on the boy’s head and blessed him. The young man was very excited about both the tip and the blessing. The young man decided to take his new found wealth to the racetrack. He bet the entire $20 on the first race he could. After the races, the young man returned home and recounted his very exciting day at the races to his father. “I arrived at the fifth race,” said the young man. “I looked at the racing program and saw that a horse by the name of ‘Top Hat’ was running. The odds on this horse were 100-to-1, but after saving the rabbi’s hat, and having received $20 and the rabbi’s blessing, I thought this was a message from God. So, I bet the entire $20 on Top Hat, even though he had no chance of winning, but to my amazement, the horse won.” “You must have made a fortune,” said the father. “Well yes, $2,000. But wait, it gets better,” replied the son. “In the following race, a horse by the name of ‘Stetson’ was running. The odds on this horse were 30 to 1. ‘Stetson’ being some kind of hat and again thinking of the rabbi’s blessing and his hat, I decided to bet all my winnings on this horse.” “What happened?” asked the excited father. ” “Stetson’ came in like a rocket. Now I had $60,000!” “Are you telling me you made all this money?” asked his excited father. “No,” said the son. “I lost it all on the next race. There was a horse in this race named ‘Chateau,’ which is French for hat. So I decided to bet all the money on ‘Chateau,’ but the horse broke down and came in last.” “Hat in French is “Chapeau” not “Chateau” you moron,” said the father. “You lost all of the money because of your ignorance. Tell me, what horse won the race?” The son answered, “A long shot from Japan named ‘Yamaka’.”