December 29, 2021

Evening Update:

Tom Hays & Larry Neumeister of the AP: "The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein. The verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14, told by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein's palatial homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Harry M. Reid, the Democrat who rose from childhood poverty in the rural Nevada desert to the heights of power in Washington, where he steered the Affordable Care Act to passage as Senate majority leader, died on Tuesday in Henderson, Nev. He was 82. ~~~

     ~~~ The Nevada Independent's obituary, by Megan Messerly, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ President Biden's statement is here. The AP reports partial statements from other leaders, including Presidents Obama & Clinton.

Maria Sacchetti & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations say they have been kicked out of joint drug operations, shunned by local police departments and heckled at campus career fairs. Their parent agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, carries a stigma that is undermining their investigative work across the country, the agents said in an internal report. The agents say they face a backlash in liberal 'sanctuary' jurisdictions where authorities strictly limit contact with ICE but also in some Republican-led states where oliticians are vocal in their support for the agency. And the toll on HSI agents is 'getting worse,' according to the report that was prepared by a working group of agents formed by HSI to consider changes to the agency's place within the Department of Homeland Security. The HSI agents assembled dozens of these examples to convince DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that they should leave ICE. They say their affiliation with ICE's immigration enforcement role is endangering their personal safety, stifling their partnerships with other agencies and scaring away crime victims...."

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has agreed to delay or withdraw demands for hundreds of Trump White House records at the request of the Biden administration, out of concern that releasing some of the documents could compromise national security. The deal, made public on Tuesday, does not represent a major policy shift for the administration: President Biden still rejects ... Donald J. Trump's claim that all internal White House documents pertaining to the riot be withheld on the grounds of executive privilege. The White House counsel, Dana A. Remus, has been negotiating in recent weeks with the House committee to set aside requests for all or part of 511 documents her staff has deemed sensitive, unrelated to the probe or potentially compromising to the long-term prerogatives of the presidency." An AP story is here.

You Do Not Have a First Amendment Right to Violent Insurrection. Duh. Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "A federal judge is allowing a major January 6 conspiracy case against four Proud Boys leaders to move forward, rejecting their bid to throw out the charges. Judge Timothy Kelly, in a 43-page opinion issued Tuesday, sided with the Justice Department on several key legal questions, giving momentum to prosecutors as they prepare for the first wave of US Capitol riot-related trials beginning in February. Kelly greenlit prosecutors' use of a felony obstruction charge, among several other charges, against Proud Boys leaders Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Charles Donohoe and Zachary Rehl. (They have all pleaded not guilty.) The judge also rejected the defendants' claims that the riot could have been a protected First Amendment demonstration."

Alaska Senate, Gubernatorial Races. A Bizarre "Endorsement." Max Greenwood of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Tuesday endorsed Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy's (R) reelection bid, but only on the condition that Dunleavy doesn't back Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in 2022. 'Alaska needs Mike Dunleavy as Governor now more than ever,' Trump said in a statement. 'He has my Complete and Total Endorsement but, this endorsement is subject to his non-endorsement of Senator Lisa Murkowski who has been very bad for Alaska.... In other words, if Mike endorses her, which is his prerogative, my endorsement of him is null and void, and of no further force or effect!'... Of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict the former president, Murkowski is the only one facing reelection in 2022.

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "... while the White evangelical political movement has done immeasurable damage to our democracy, its descent into MAGA politics, conspiratorial thinking and cult worship has had catastrophic results for the religious values evangelicals once held dear.... [As Peter Wehner wrote in the Atlantic,] '... If the ethic of Jesus encourages sensibilities that might cause people in politics to act a little less brutally, a bit more civilly, with a touch more grace? Then it needs to go. Decency is for suckers.' Understanding this phenomenon goes a long way toward explaining the MAGA crowd's very unreligious cruelty toward immigrants, its selfish refusal to vaccinate to protect the most vulnerable and its veneration of a vulgar, misogynistic cult leader. If you wonder how so many 'people of faith' can behave in such ways, understand that their 'faith' has become hostile to traditional religious values such as kindness, empathy, self-restraint, grace, honesty and humility.... As self-identified evangelicals reject small inconveniences and show disdain for others' lives, [Robert P.] Jones [Public Religion Research Institute] observes, 'there is no hint of awareness that their actions are a mockery of the central biblical injunction to care for the orphan, the widow, the stranger, and the vulnerable among us.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm not sure how true this is. I'm familiar with Southern white Christians. They've never been all that generous to people who aren't, well, just like them. The orphan & the widow had better be white Southerners. Trump is simply exposing ugly truths to people who weren't paying attention.

Jesse Drucker & Maureen Farrell of the New York Times: Silicon Valley investors are taking advantage of a "tax break ... known as the Qualified Small Business Stock, or Q.S.B.S., exemption. It allows early investors in companies in many industries to avoid taxes on at least $10 million in profits.... Thanks to the ingenuity of the tax-avoidance industry, investors in hot tech companies are exponentially enlarging the tax break. The trick is to give shares in those companies to friends or relatives. Even though these recipients didn't put their money into the companies, they nonetheless inherit the tax break, and a further $10 million or more in profits becomes tax-free. The savings for the richest American families -- who would otherwise face a 23.8 percent capital gains tax -- can quickly swell into the tens of millions. The maneuver, which is legal, is known as 'stacking,' because the tax breaks are piled on top of one another.... 'Q.S.B.S. is an example of a provision that is on its face already outrageous,' said Daniel Hemel, a tax law professor at the University of Chicago. 'But when you get smart tax lawyers in the room, the provision becomes, in practice, preposterous.'"

Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "A New York State appeals court on Tuesday temporarily lifted a judicial order requiring The New York Times to turn over or destroy copies of legal memos prepared for the conservative group Project Veritas, in a case that has drawn the focus of First Amendment and journalism advocates. The stay, issued by the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court, followed objections by The Times to an order issued late last week in an escalating legal dispute between the newspaper and Project Veritas, which is suing The Times for defamation. But one major component of that order, issued by a trial judge, Justice Charles D. Wood of State Supreme Court in Westchester County, will stay in place: The Times remains temporarily barred from publishing the Project Veritas documents." Politico's story is here.

BBC News: "Amazon has updated its Alexa voice assistant after it 'challenged' a 10-year-old girl to touch a coin to the prongs of a half-inserted plug. The suggestion came after the girl asked Alexa for a 'challenge to do'. 'Plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs,' the smart speaker said. Amazon said it fixed the error as soon as the company became aware of it.... The Echo speaker suggested partaking in the challenge that it had 'found on the web'. The dangerous activity, known as 'the penny challenge', began circulating on TikTok and other social media websites about a year ago." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Fortunately, the child's mother was supervising Alexa's "challenges" to her daughter. If I lived in a home with minors, including teenagers, or with adults with limited cognitive abilities, I would think twice about buying an Alexa device, or of keeping it if I already owned one. Alexa obviously is programmed to get some of its "advice" from idiots on the Web.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says omicron is now the dominant variant nationwide -- making up an estimated 59 percent of infections for the week ending Dec. 25. However, it also revised down the estimated proportion of omicron cases for the week before that -- a change that suggests the delta variant was in fact responsible for many more recent infections than previously expected. The latest CDC data suggests omicron was responsible for 23 percent of cases in the week ending Dec. 18, a significant drop from its earlier estimate of 73 percent. Also on Tuesday, the CDC released the findings of an investigation into one of the earliest omicron clusters in the United States that indicates the variant could have a shorter incubation period, of about three days, than previous versions of the virus."

Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: "The decision by federal health officials to shorten isolation periods for Americans infected with the coronavirus drew both tempered support and intense opposition from scientists on Tuesday, particularly over the absence of a testing requirement and fears that the omission could hasten the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.... Letting hundreds of thousands of infected people forgo those tests -- even if, crucially, their symptoms were not entirely gone -- risks seeding new cases and heaping even more pressure on already overburdened health systems, experts said in interviews on Tuesday."

Ben Leonard of Politico: "The U.S. logged its highest single-day total of new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, with 441,278 infections surpassing the previous daily record by close to 150,000. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's tally represents a grim new milestone in the coronavirus pandemic and comes as the Omicron strain has quickly taken hold throughout the U.S., leading to long lines at testing sites and sold-out rapid tests at many stores."

Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "Healthy individuals who have been vaccinated, and especially those who have been boosted, appear unlikely to develop severe infections from the omicron variant that would land them in the hospital, say medical experts who have monitored the effects of the newest coronavirus variant since it was identified over four weeks ago.... Factors that might lead to greater risk include an individual's age, the type of vaccine or booster they received, and whether they have underlying health problems, such as heart disease or obesity, said Michael Osterholm..., a member of President Biden's covid-19 transition task force."

Andrew Jacobs of the New York Times: "The latest coronavirus surge sweeping the United States, much of it driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant, has produced a worrisome rise in hospitalizations among children ... nationwide.... But even as experts expressed concern about a marked jump in hospitalizations -- an increase more than double that among adults [[ doctors and researchers said they were not seeing evidence that Omicron was more threatening to children. In fact, preliminary data suggests that compared with the Delta variant, Omicron appears to be causing milder illness in children, similar to early findings for adults.... Much of the rise in pediatric admissions results from the sheer number of children who are becoming infected with both Delta and the more contagious Omicron variant..., experts said, as well as low vaccination rates among children over age 5."

Beyond the Beltway

Michigan. Beth LeBlanc of the Detroit News: "Michigan's Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission adopted three plans Tuesday for the voting districts that will govern Michigan's 13 congressional districts, 38 state Senate seats and 110 state House seat for the next decade.... The commission mustered a nine-member coalition supporting the 'Linden' Senate map, 11 members supporting the 'Hickory' House map and an eight-member group supporting the 'Chestnut' congressional map. Each vote by the 13-member panel included the constitutionally required '2-2-2' majority, or support from two Democratic members, two Republicans and two Independents. No plan required more than one vote to reach a majority. Tuesday's vote marks the commission's first adoption of maps since it was created via a ballot initiative in 2018. Prior to that, the maps were drawn by the political party in power.... Several U.S. House, state Senate and state House candidates and incumbents began announcing where they would run immediately after the adoption of the maps Tuesday. But commissioners are expecting to encounter legal challenges to the maps in the coming weeks."

New York, Where It's Still Legal to Kiss Women Without Their Consent. Dana Rubinstein of the New York Times: "A second New York prosecutor has decided not to pursue criminal charges against former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over sexual harassment allegations that helped prompt his resignation. Miriam E. Rocah, the Westchester County district attorney, said on Tuesday that her office had investigated accusations of unwanted kisses that two women -- one a state trooper -- made against Mr. Cuomo. The women said the episodes had occurred within her jurisdiction. The women's allegations were 'credible' and Mr. Cuomo's conduct was 'concerning,' but his conduct was not criminal under state law, Ms. Rocah said in a statement. The announcement came five days after Joyce Smith, the acting district attorney in Nassau County, on Long Island, reached a similar conclusion after investigating a separate allegation made by the trooper involving an incident at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, N.Y." Politico's story is here.

Virginia. Gregory Schneider of the Washington Post: "Now we know the mundane truth of what literally lay at the root of [Richmond]'s grandiose monument to Gen. Robert E. Lee: Confederate pride, local commerce and a whole lot of Masonic tradition. That was the preliminary message of dozens of items recovered Tuesday from a copper time capsule that had been buried at the monument site in 1887. Chamber of Commerce yearbooks, Masonic bylaws, artifacts from the Civil War, a brochure from a local real estate office (complete with a telephone number: 114) -- all jam-packed into a copper box that did a surprisingly good job of weathering 134 years. The big payoff hinted at in news coverage of the time -- a 'picture of Lincoln lying in his coffin' -- turned out not to be an ultrarare photograph. Instead, an engraved double-page spread from Harper';s Weekly of 1865 depicting a woman mourning at Lincoln's casket had been folded up and entombed beneath the Confederacy's beloved Lee." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So I was right yesterday when I let on that what was of great moment to 19th-century Confederates probably would be of little interest to me.

Way Beyond

China-Hong Kong. Coming Soon to the USA? Vivian Wang of the New York Times: "Hundreds of Hong Kong police officers arrested six current or former senior staff members of an outspoken pro-democracy news website and raided the site's headquarters on Wednesday, in yet another crackdown by the government on the city's once-vibrant independent press. The six were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to publish seditious material, according to a statement from the police, which did not specify the news outlet. But Stand News, a seven-year-old online publication, posted brief video footage on Facebook showing police officers at the doors of one of its deputy editors, Ronson Chan, about 6 a.m. Officers then asked Mr. Chan to stop filming, claiming he was interfering with their work." The Guardian's report is here.

Poland. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Wary of jeopardizing Poland's relations with the United States, its closest ally and military protector, the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, on Monday announced that he would veto a contentious media bill that could have led to an American-owned television station [-- TVN, majority-owned by the Discovery network --] losing its license. The veto frustrated a yearslong effort by more hard-line elements in Poland's nationalist governing party to restrict foreign influence and shrink the country's media space to outlets that share the party's deeply conservative and sometimes xenophobic views. Mr. Duda last year won a second term with support from the governing party, Law and Justice. His veto is likely to strain an already fractious coalition government bitterly divided over how far to push a conservative agenda rooted in fealty to the Catholic Church and the belief that Polish sovereignty trumps commitments to partners in the European Union and NATO, which Poland joined in 1999." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Vanessa Gera of the AP: "Poland's president on Monday vetoed a media bill that would have forced U.S. company Discovery to give up its controlling share in Polish television network TVN." (Also linked yesterday.)

Russia. Coming Soon to the USA? Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "Russia's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the liquidation of Memorial International, one of the nation's oldest and most revered human rights organizations, which chronicled political repression and became a symbol of the country's democratization that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. The decision comes after a year of broad crackdown on opposition in Russia and more than three decades after Memorial was founded by a group of Soviet dissidents who believed that the country needed to reconcile with its traumatic past to move forward. In particular, the group dedicated itself to preserving the memory of the many thousands of Russians who died or were persecuted in forced labor camps during the Stalin era. Over the past year, the Kremlin has moved aggressively to stifle dissent in the news media, in religious groups, on social networks and especially among activists and political opponents, hundreds of whom have been harassed, jailed or forced into exile." The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Comments

[P.D. Pepe]

THE WIZARD OF OZ:

When Olivia Nuzzi (New York magazine) got an hour long interview with Trump in the oval office, no less, Marie and I both said it probably was due to the fact that she was "a looker" as men used to say in the day. She's the kind of reporter that digs deeply and shows no mercy, but obviously Fatty wasn't aware of that. Someone must have told him––since he doesn't read–-that Nuzzi's piece was not flattering and nary a call back was ever given to her.

Today she is doing a deep dive into Dr. Oz–-the quacky quick fixer of any aliment you can come up with who is running for a Republican Penn. senate seat. Here's her ––sometimes very funny–--story of her encounters in that pursuit.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/dr-oz-senate-pennsylvania.html

[Patrick]

We are still reading and writing about DiJiT. He is like our chronic disease which, even when managed, is always creating daily cringes and random shooting pains. We will never be entirely rid of him.

A case in point is his endorsement (above) of the Alaska guber. DiJiT gives his "complete and total" endorsement. HOWEVER, that is conditioned on the guber's behavior.

Is it still entertaining that a guy (DiJiT) can write public statements that are internally contradictory, and for him to act as if they are momentous announcements? I believe it is, that we still can't look away from this wreck on the highway, and so reporters show it to us. That's what DiJiT lives on, so wash, rinse and repeat.

And we feel immensely superior to this idiot, because he's an idiot and we're not.

If you didn't read it before, you may want to look over this NYT article that asserts that we are attuned to recognize danger by our sense of disgust. And in some cases people are strangely attracted to observe the things that scare or disgust them (roller coasters, scary movies, their own scat) if they can remain clean while doing so.
This may partly explain our continuing interest in that walking mound of excreta who lives in Palm Beach. That, and the fact that the tide just won't carry him out.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/27/magazine/disgust-science.html

[Ken Winkes]

Yes, there is a significant difference between the values supposedly espoused by various religious organizations and the behavior of many who claim membership in them.

What to make of this seeming contradiction?

I think it comes down to the large spaces between the head, heart and gut.

Abstract beliefs belong to the head. Love thy neighbor, they tell me, so I will.

I am my brother's keeper is a tenet I can hold close to my heart where it belongs.

But in all of us, fear resides in the belly. We fear death, the dark and the other.

Some religions present themselves as more intellectual, heady if you will. Some are all heart.

But since any thinking would leave Evangelicalism in tatters, it is left to the heart and the belly to fight it out.

For those in whom fear predominates, the belly, caring only about itself, wins hands down, and they end up in an unthinking, uncaring herd, bleating their protests, huddled together to protect themselves from all the things that they fear.

Those would be the MAGA Christians.

[P.D. Pepe]

Patrick: Good show! and boy oh boy do I feel superior! I am terrified of those roller coaster rides–-took one once and prayed throughout––to whom, I have no idea. I hate scary movies that are poorly made scary movies; but perhaps the "scat" thingy doesn't register so diss the superiority and bring back humble pie.

As far as us unable to let Fatty fly off in a distant wind is because HE has not let go of us. It's like a bad boy friend that won't take "NO" for an answer.

Another death reported: Harry Reid–––someone once called him Mr. Milk Toast–-he may have resembled same but this man knew what side his toast was buttered and cooked up some mighty fine legislation.

[Marie Burns]

@Patrick: I think you hit on the main reason we still have to "think about" Trump: "the tide just won't carry him out." I did consider not linking his "endorsement," but besides its inherent ridiculous inconsistency, it does affect both a governor's race and a senatorial contest. So, to that extent, it matters.

As you say, Trump doesn't seem to realize that an "unconditional" endorsement which is null & void if a condition isn't met is not, in fact, unconditional. I think that's a function of his always speaking in superlatives. You and I -- if we were Republicans -- might say that we favor the re-election of Gov. Doodah because he's been a good, solid Republican governor, but we're concerned about some of his associations (Murkowski!) and will discuss those with him. That would be an appropriately measured endorsement.

But Trump can't do that. For him, everything is the BEST or the WORST. So, "He has my Complete and Total Endorsement but, this endorsement is subject to his non-endorsement of Senator Lisa Murkowski who has been very bad for Alaska.... In other words, if Mike endorses her, which is his prerogative, my endorsement of him is null and void, and of no further force or effect!" So capital letters for "Complete & Total Endorsement" but then -- and here he goes everyman's legalese -- "null and void, and of no further force or effect(exclamation point). It's so comical, you expect a pie-in-the-face finale. I still get Trump mixed up with Harvey Korman's politician Hedley Lamarr ("Blazing Saddles").

[Akhilleus]

So long, Solon…

So, Fatty, the giver of laws, lays one down in Alaska, informing the governor there that he can have the almighty endorsement of the fetid Fat One, but only if he does a 23 skidoo on Senator Murkowski, declining to support her run for re-election.

I was particularly drawn to the fetid Fat One’s use of the phrase “full force and effect”, as in the full force and effect of his royal edict would be “null and void” should the guv go to bat for Murkowski (especially since she stood up to Fatty’s treason).

This is a term rarely seen outside legal documents, typically contract law, which is interesting for two reasons. First, the Fat One sees himself as a kind of Solon, handing down the law, and second, because he never signed a contract that he wasn’t immediately prepared to break, and his contract busting is legendary, including, and especially, the contract he made with the American people to support and defend the Constitution, and stand up to enemies foreign and domestic. He demonstrated astonishing fealty to foreign enemies and he himself was the most notable and active of the domestic variety. His defense of the Constitution? Puh-leeese.

So he can take that full force and effect BS and shove it back up the alimentary canal.

[Akhilleus]

Dear Randy, you are invited to take the Intro to Democracy course (known colloquially as Democracy for Dummies), seeing as how you seem to know fuck all about it. Thank you.

The Littlest Traitor’s whine du jour is this: by convincing the electorate to vote for them, Democrats are “stealing elections”. Silly Randy. This is how democracy works.

He’s clearly pissed because Democrats don’t follow the Party of Traitor’s rules for stealing elections.

What a maroon.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rand-paul-ridiculed-after-accusing-dems-of-stealing-elections-by-persuading-people-to-vote-for-them

[Forrest Morris]

Ken mentioned MAGA christians. After the Jan 6 insurrection,
MAGA now stands for "My Ass Got Arrested."

[Marie Burns]

@Ken Winkes: But rational people can talk themselves out of irrational fears. The irrational fears might be innate, but most are probably learned. Ergo, they can be unlearned. But you do have to make the effort. And many evangelicals are unwilling to do that; rather, they exacerbate their fears by telling themselves scary stories about the "others."

That said, I admit I have a greater & greater fear of some animals, including mice, rats, bats & snakes, and it's not a rational fear. There are good reasons to get rid of mice, rats & bats and good reasons to stay away from some snakes. But the good reasons are not the cause of my fears. I don't know what the reasons are exactly & I haven't tried to unlearn them. I guess if you said you've give me $1MM to work in a lab full of mice for a week, I'd get over my fears right quick. But until you send a certified check, you will find me standing on a chair & screaming into my phone while on hold for the Terminex man.

[Marie Burns]

@Forrest Morris: Ha ha. That's "My Ass Got Arrested" for exercising my First Amendment rights to knock the blocks off Capitol police with my Trump flagpole.

[Ken Winkes]

Yes, Marie, we are all a little nuts, but I'm guessing your fears of creepy-crawlies, innate or acquired, while it might cause you to hop on a chair and scream, don't affect the way you vote.

[Victoria]

@Patrick: I think the article that you mentioned about disgust has some problems. First, our sense of disgust at, say, vomit, shit, or pee, can change the very second your darling newborn does any or all at once. Then disgust disappears and becomes transformed into a signal that your darling needs attention. Then there's an absolutely universal profound visceral disgust, say to decomposing human flesh, that no one knows they have til they're on their knees vomiting, not knowing why until they see the corpse, THEN they experience disgust. My reaction to Trump has always been murderous rage. I want him dead. I want him pulled screaming into the fire. Gotta stop; I'm about to start foaming at the mouth.

[citizen625]

For another class of "Christians" and why religions should be taxed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/12/28/lds-church-musical/

[Patrick]

Victoria: I hear you, but I think there may be a difference between the way mothers react to the diaper change than do dads. My wife has a pretty sensitive gag reflex, but I never observed her choke at diaper time. I, on the other hand, wanted to wear a HAZMAT suit when I changed our boys.

Jeez, we're talking about crap, that's the point I was making before about DiJiT! Disgusting, but part of the discussion.

[P.D. Pepe]

Victoria: Pleased I am at your vitriol –-" My reaction to Trump has always been murderous rage. I want him dead. I want him pulled screaming into the fire. Gotta stop; I'm about to start foaming at the mouth" because you usually give us straight info on everything medical. So––good to know you feel as furious as many of us and your fire analogy sounds right up my alley.

Patrick: I always thought if more men changed diapers we'd have more men able to relate to jobs that stink to high heaven but are necessary and worth their weight in gold.