;)
The Commentariat -- June 7, 2021
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Mark Sherman of the AP: "A unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday that thousands of people living in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons are ineligible to apply to become permanent residents. Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court that federal immigration law prohibits people who entered the country illegally and now have Temporary Protected Status from seeking 'green cards' to remain in the country permanently. The designation applies to people who come from countries ravaged by war or disaster. It protects them from deportation and allows them to work legally. There are 400,000 people from 12 countries with TPS status. The outcome in a case involving a couple from El Salvador who have been in the U.S. since the 1990s turned on whether people who entered the country illegally and were given humanitarian protections were ever 'admitted' into the United States under immigration law."
Evan Perez, et al., of CNN: "US investigators have recovered millions of dollars in cryptocurrency paid in ransom to hackers whose attack prompted the shutdown of the key East Coast pipeline last month, according to people briefed on the matter. The Justice Department on Monday is expected to announce details of the operation led by the FBI with the cooperation of the Colonial Pipeline operator, the people briefed on the matter said. The ransom recovery is a rare outcome for a company that has fallen victim to a debilitating cyberattack in the booming criminal business of ransomware." MB: I would not normally be thrilled when a pipeline company gets $5MM, but I'm damned glad the FBI thwarted the hackers.
Pam Belluck & Rebecca Robbins of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the first new medication for Alzheimer's disease in nearly two decades, a contentious decision, made despite opposition from the agency's independent advisory committee and some Alzheimer's experts who said there was not enough evidence that the drug can help patients. The drug, aducanumab, which will go by the brand name Aduhelm, is a monthly intravenous infusion intended to slow cognitive decline in people with mild memory and thinking problems. It is the first approved treatment to attack the disease process of Alzheimer's instead of just addressing dementia symptoms. Recognizing that clinical trials of the drug had provided incomplete evidence to demonstrate effectiveness, the F.D.A. granted approval on the condition that the manufacturer, Biogen, conduct a new clinical trial." A CBS News report is here.
Telling It Like It Is. Chandelis Duster of CNN: "New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman on Monday compared fellow Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and said he is trying to thwart President Joe Biden's agenda after the West Virginia lawmaker stood by his decision to vote against a sweeping voting rights bill and opposition to gutting the filibuster. 'Joe Manchin has become the new Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell during Obama's presidency said he would do everything in his power to stop (then-President Barack Obama)," Bowman told CNN's John Berman on 'New Day.' 'He's also repeated that now during the Biden presidency by saying he would do everything in his power to stop President Biden, and now Joe Manchin is doing everything in his power to stop democracy and to stop our work for the people, the work that the people sent us here to do.' Bowman continued, 'Manchin is not pushing us closer to bipartisanship. He is doing the work of the Republican Party by being an obstructionist, just like they've been since the beginning of Biden's presidency.'"
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a federal law that requires only men to register for the military draft. As is the court's custom, it gave no reasons for turning down the case. But three justices issued a statement saying that Congress should be allowed more time to consider what they acknowledged was a significant legal issue. 'It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Service Act,' Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the statement, which was joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Brett M. Kavanaugh. 'But at least for now, the court's longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue.'" The denial of certiorari & Justices' statement are here, via the Supreme Court. The NBC News story is here.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "Experts are concerned that states across the South, where vaccination rates are lagging, could face a surge in coronavirus cases over the summer." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Monday are here.
"My Lips Were Near His Ass So I Kissed It." -- McCarthy. Caroline Kelly of CNN: "Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney accused ... Donald Trump of having committed the worst violation of a president's oath of office by inciting the January 6 Capitol insurrection -- and taking a jab at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy over his subsequent visit to Trump at Mar-a-Lago. 'I was stunned. I could not imagine any justification for doing that,' Cheney said of McCarthy's visit to Trump during an episode of David Axelrod's 'The Axe Files' podcast, which was taped Saturday afternoon as part of a University of Chicago alumni weekend event. 'And I asked him why he had done it, and he said, well, he had just been in the neighborhood, essentially.'"
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Idiots at Home. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen secured a landmark international tax agreement over the weekend, one that has eluded the United States for nearly a decade. But with a narrowly divided Congress and resistance from Republicans and business groups mounting, closing the deal at home may be an even bigger challenge.... Ms. Yellen now faces the task of convincing lawmakers that large tax and spending increases will not hinder the economic recovery." MB: Should be about as easy as convincing Ted Cruz to vote for a Harris/Ocasio-Cortez ticket in 2024.
Steve M. on why Joe Manchin opposes filibuster reform AND the For the People (voting rights) Act: "I think he just likes being seen as The Last Bipartisan Man -- it serves him well electorally, and it makes him feel heroic when he looks in the mirror every morning.... Mostly this is narcissism -- he cares primarily about preserving his own career." MB: I kind of like RAS's suggestion, offered in yesterday's Comments: "Manchin's problem with the For the People Act is that if it gets enacted most of Joe's friends might not be in DC anymore." ~~~
~~~ SO THEN, Joe goes on Fox "News," but he picked the wrong show: ~~~
~~~ David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday challenged Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who is refusing to support filibuster reform to pass a voting rights bill and other progressive initiatives.... [Wallace said,] '... the question I have is whether or not you're doing it exactly the wrong way?... If you were to keep the idea that maybe you would vote to kill the filibuster, wouldn't that give Republicans an incentive to actually negotiate because old Joe Manchin is out there and who knows what he's going to do? By taking it off the table, haven't you empowered Republicans to be obstructionists?'... '"Sen. McConnell, the head of the Republicans in the Senate, says that he's 100% focused on blocking the Biden agenda. Question: Aren't you being naive about this continuing talk about bipartisan cooperation?'"
Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Alabama GOP Rep. Mo Brooks was served with a lawsuit filed by California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell seeking to hold him partially accountable for the January 6 insurrection, according to a tweet from Brooks and an attorney for Swalwell. 'Well, Swalwell FINALLY did his job, served complaint (on my WIFE). HORRIBLE Swalwell's team committed a CRIME by unlawfully sneaking INTO MY HOUSE & accosting my wife!' Brooks wrote on Twitter. Swalwell's legal team had had difficulty serving Brooks and hired a private investigator to give him the papers, according to court filings."
Gabby Orr & Michael Warren of CNN: "... Donald Trump dashed the hopes of Republicans on Saturday who spent the weeks leading up to his public reemergence encouraging him to keep his focus on policy and Democratic shortcomings, rather than re-litigating his 2020 election loss once again.... Trump's Saturday speech was ... a major test of his ability to be an instrumental surrogate for Republicans as the party approaches a grueling midterm cycle. While insisting that he remains eager to help the GOP retake control of the House and Senate next fall, Trump has recently ignored the advice of aides and allies to tailor his message to the future." MB: Republicans' imagining Trump will work for anyone other than himself is like a six-time bride supposing this marriage will be a happy one. ~~~
~~~ E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump took his campaign against American democracy to North Carolina on Saturday and offered a rambling, grievance-laden harangue that ought to catalyze Republican leaders to repudiate a man whose lies, bigotry and irrationality are turning their party into a moral sinkhole. Fat chance, I know. But Republicans should watch Trump's 90-minute diatribe in its entirety. They might realize that tying their fate to a washed-up demagogue and the extremists he cultivates ... could ... be a colossal political mistake. Most Washington Republicans say they want to 'move on' from Trump.... Sorry, guys, but you won't be able to 'move on' to the responsible governing you purport to believe in until you confront the anti-democratic virus in your party and the vile man spreading the contagion."
Lewandowski Out on a Limb. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Corey Lewandowski, Trump's first campaign manager in 2016 and a loyal sidekick since, told Fox News Sunday Trump 'lost the election'. Indeed he did, by more than 7m ballots in the popular vote and by 306-232 in the electoral college, a result Trump called a landslide when it was in his favour against Hillary Clinton in 2016.... Lewandowski said he had 'spoke to the president dozens, if not more than 100 times since he has left the White House and I have never had that conversation about him being reinstated'. But, he added: 'I know of no provision under the constitution that allows it to occur, nor do I know of any provision under the constitution that allows an individual who lost an election to come back in if a recount is dubbed inaccurate.'" MB: When Lewandowski is the "voice of reason," it means two things: (1) those who are "less reasonable" are flat-out nuts; and (2) he is thinking of his future political career. If (2) is correct, that's bad news for me, because Corey lives in my state.
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Seema Mehta of the Los Angeles Times, republished in Yahoo! News: "Fox News declined to broadcast an ad Sunday about the violence that law-enforcement members faced as they tried to stop the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to the creators of the political commercial. 'We couldn't have fathomed in our wildest imaginations that even a Fox News would reject an ad that simply condemns the insurrection, and condemns people who support the insurrection,' said Ben Meiselas, one of the co-founders of MeidasTouch, the liberal Political Action Committee that created the 60-second ad. 'What Fox has really become is a fascist echo chamber gatekeeper for their base.'&" Here's the ad Fox refused to run (I this I've embedded it before):
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post: "Plummeting vaccination rates have turned what officials hoped would be the 'last mile' of the coronavirus immunization campaign into a marathon, threatening President Biden's goal of getting shots to at least 70 percent of adults by July 4. The United States is averaging fewer than 1 million shots per day, a decline of more than two-thirds from the peak of 3.4 million in April, according to The Washington Post's seven-day analysis, even though all adults and children over age 12 are now eligible.... The slowdown is national -- with every state down at least two-thirds from its peak -- and particularly felt across the South and Midwest.... Thirteen mostly East and West Coast states have already vaccinated 70 percent of adult residents, and another 15 states, plus the District of Columbia, are over 60 percent and will likely reach Biden's goal.... Health officials have already reached the 'low-hanging fruit -- those people who absolutely want to get vaccinated without you telling them anything,' Anthony S. Fauci ... said on a White House-organized call with community leaders on Friday. 'You're left with a group that you may need ... trusted messengers who go out there and explain to them why it's critical for themselves, for their family.'"
Quint Forgey of Politico: "The White House's James S. Brady Press Briefing Room is slated to return to full seating capacity this week, the White House Correspondents' Association announced on Sunday. The WHCA will also reintroduce its pre-pandemic seating chart for the briefing room, featuring a front row of reporters from outlets including NBC, Fox News, CBS News, the Associated Press, ABC News, Reuters and CNN. In addition, press capacity limitations on the White House grounds, including on the North Lawn and in indoor press workspaces, will return to 100 percent, according to the WHCA."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia Republicans Express Contempt for Democracy. Rachel Janfaza & Deanna Hackney of CNN: "Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was booed and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was censured at the Georgia GOP convention Saturday, demonstrating ... Donald Trump's hold over members of the Georgia Republican Party. The reaction from members of the Georgia GOP comes months after both Kemp and Raffensperger refused to help the former President overturn the election results after his loss to President Joe Biden. Trump has endorsed one of Raffensperger's primary opponents, GOP Rep. Jody Hice, who has embraced the ex-President's falsehoods about the election."
Oregon. Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: A video surfaced last week on Oregon Public Broadcasting showing State Rep. Mike Nearman (R) teaching a primer on how to break into the state capitol a week before they did just that while legislators were considering Covid-19 legislation. Then, on December 21, 2020, "he walked out of a special session and opened the door for maskless demonstrators who rushed inside and clashed with police. Dozens eventually entered the building that day, some attacking officers and damaging property.... Nearman, 57, is charged with misdemeanor counts of first-degree official misconduct and second-degree criminal trespass.... The GOP legislator's role in the December security breach led to the loss of his committee assignments and to restrictions on his access to the Capitol building. After Nearman's filmed explanation of 'Operation Hall Pass' drew attention this week, Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek (D) renewed her calls for Nearman to resign."
Way Beyond
Kim Willsher of the Guardian: "On Sunday, the names of 22,442 soldiers under British command who died on D-day and the subsequent Battle of Normandy were engraved in stone as a permanent reminder of their sacrifice as a new British Normandy memorial was unveiled. The ceremony on a hill at Ver-sur-Mer overlooking Gold Beach, where thousands of British and allied soldiers swarmed ashore on the morning of 6 June 1944, heard a video message from the Prince of Wales, the patron of the Normandy Trust, who said he regretted that Covid had made it impossible for him to be present in France.... Today, 77 years on, the surviving veterans of D-day were defeated in their efforts to return to France, not by war or even growing old unlike their fallen comrades, but by coronavirus." (Also linked yesterday.)
Israel. Haven't We Heard Something Like This Before? Sam Sokol & Haaretz: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried what he described as election fraud on an unprecedented scale on Sunday, dubbing the establishment of a government with a slim Knesset majority as an attack on Israeli democracy itself.... Speaking before Likud lawmakers at a party faction meeting in the Knesset on Sunday, Netanyahu said ... that Israelis were 'witnessing the biggest election fraud in the history of the country, in my opinion in the history of democracy.'" MB: Okay. then. ~~~
~~~ Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "The head of Israel's internal security service said that 'extremely violent and inciting discourse' targeting the lawmakers who are seeking to end Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year tenure as prime minister could take a potentially lethal form -- a grim echo of the warnings ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman said Saturday that the spike in vitriol targeting Netanyahu's opponents online and in public demonstrations 'may be interpreted by certain groups or individuals as one that allows for violent and illegal activities that may even, God forbid, become lethal.'" MB: How lovely to see that our former President*'s supporters set an example for democracies around the world.
Nigeria. BBC News: "The leader of the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram,Abubakar Shekau, has killed himself, rival Islamist militants said in an audio recording. In audio obtained by news agencies, the Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) said Shekau died detonating explosives on himself after a battle between the two groups. Shekau was reported dead last month and has been reported killed before. Neither Boko Haram nor the Nigerian government have confirmed his death."
News Lede
New York Times: "David Dushman, who as a soldier for the Soviet Union drove his tank through the electric fence surrounding the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz on Jan. 27, 1945, and is believed to have been the last surviving liberator of the camp, died in Munich on Saturday. He was 98."
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Reader Comments (18)
The quote above that T**** " is like a six-time bride". Picture T**** dressed in drag as Zsa Zsa Gabor: that's a chuckle that works for me.
I remain far more concerned with the Bibi in Israel: he is a slicker version of an Orange Turd, yet just as ugly inside. I bet Mrs. Bibi is every bit as wonderful as Melania and they both must be excellent lunch companions.
Yes, citizen–--the Ladies that Lunch–-what a gas! Perhaps a revised musical is in the offing.
I spent most of the day yesterday at the hospital: My older son and I had to bring Joe to the emergency room because of severe pains and vomiting––a blocked kidney stone problem. He is back home and thank goodness for modern medicine he's back in business but the scare was frightening. You suddenly don't care about Joe Manchin's stubborn refusal or Cyber Ninga's crazy antics or....Suddenly your focus is on one thing––-and I think of how many people during these times have had to deal with something like this. Suffice to say, I'm wiped––at least for today.
I like the visualization of "Zsa Zsa," only with haystack hair, terrible posture, arms dangling and feet shuffling. The Orange Orangutan is full-on nuts. I hope our paper proves correct, that the PA lege needs to back off a "new audit," and finds out who funded the trips those three crazies took to AZ...
NPR-PA had a segment this morning of two sisters, grieving the death of their brother, a Covid-denier, who died a horrible death with his lungs destroyed, while the rest of the organs of his body continued to try to keep him alive. They say he finally agreed that he DID have Covid, and it WAS terrible, not the "flu" or just a bad cold. They wished that the rest of the world had seen him as they did, broken and dying. Too bad stories like this are not "newsworthy". No one outside our area will hear it.
I don't know what it is going to take to vaccinate the rest of the deniers, as the stupid runs deep and long. I guess we will never hit herd immunity, OR herd plausibility either. And I wish Joe Manchin a sudden lightning strike. I hope no one else uses the word "bipartisan" ever again, as it is a myth. He would rather we pass nothing than pass flawed (always--) legislation, so he can always shmooze with the other medium-grade nutcases fouling up the agenda passage. Purity above all, but purity as HE sees it... Personally, I would vote to let rabbits run Congress, if it comes down to preferring talks with Lindsey Graham and the others that we know have working brains. Actually, the brains are the only things working. At least rabbits are furry and cute.
Found this long one deserved some thought, so I gave it a little.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/06/us/aclu-free-speech.html
"Of course the questions surrouding "free speech" are difficult and often have no easy or absolute answers, tho' people of "principle" tend to wish they did.
Free speech as a concept is simple enough. It means just what it says. All are equally free to utter what they will. But practically we know that is not true. We are not all equally free, and when the consequences of speech are also considered even more complications immediately ensue.
Good article. Thanks for printing it.
As I read it, I thought that the ACLU discord reflects the difficult and tangled territory that guarantees of free speech often entail and took that reflection as a sign of the social and philosophic health of the organization.
Lastly, the ACLU did wander down the wrong free speech path some years ago and has never entirely recovered its footing. By not firmly opposing "Citizens United," in fact offering tepid support for it, the ACLU sided with those who want us to accept the absurd principle that "money is speech," a proposition that obviously placed the power of the microphone above the content of the speech it blares.
In short, I am pleased that the ACLU continues to wrestle with free speech's knotty questions, and that like all of similarly well-intentioned people, they occasionally make mistakes, talk about them, and adjust their behavior.
It may be messy, but it's honest---and in this Land of Simplicity where too many live--admirable."
PD,
Glad to hear that Joe is back in the pink. When we was all spring chickens, not much bothered us, and certainly the concept of mortality was mostly abstract. Being older and wiser now provides us with the necessary perspective to make every day count. So, count away, kids. Gather ye rosebuds, and all that sort of thing. And yes, modern medicine is the bomb.
Fatty in drag? Jeez, guys, I’m just getting over not trying to think of him in a Fat Elvis suit. But fatso is doing his best to look a sight. He looks fatter, older, stupider, slumped over. He’s even more of a schlumpf than usual with that wrinkly, boxy suit. Some viewers have been pointing out that the Fat Fascist had his pants on backwards at his NC MAGA moron airing of the grievances.
It does look like he has a My Pillow stuffed down the front of his pants. Do a search for “Trump pants” for a little jollity at the expense of our former dictator wannabe. Under the category of “Only Trump”, you can now add headlines pointing out that “No, Trump’s pants were not on backwards”.
Hey, for my money, he can keep doing these doddering me-me-me screamfests til he drops. The longer he keeps this up, the less oxygen there is for the upcoming dictators like Cruz, Cotton, and Lord Haw-Haw Hawley.
And Joe Manchin…?!?
Sorry. I can’t even go there. I’m gonna walk the dog then go work out. Otherwise I might be emergency room bound myself. All I can say is, if we get a couple more seats in the Senate next year, my fervent wish is for DINO Joe to be given the chair of the committee on hemorrhoid prevention. And Sinema can be sent out for field research.
Marie,
Lewandowski as the “voice of reason” reminds me of that old saw about a stopped clock.
And as usual, pond scum like this thug want it both ways. While he may allow that his former Mafia boss lost the election, so as to try to stay relevant in the political world (although what confederate will dare hire a Trump apostate?), rather than spend the rest of his career posing for paid selfies with the treason crowd, like Junior is now doing, he has also been hard at work stumping for an “audit” (should be odd-it) in Windham, NH, in order to prove that every election which a Democrat wins is ipso facto illegitimate.
Another lying loser stirring up trouble and pissing on democracy for his own benefit.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/05/how-trump-cronies-turned-new-hampshire-into-a-big-lie-battleground/
@ Marie
"My lips were...."
Wonderful!
Don't know if it would fit in the mystery, but it would make a great chapter title.
And PD, please tell Joe he has a bevy of friends he's never met, who all wish him well.
Ah, sanity, at last!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/07/please-hold-panic-about-world-population-decline-its-non-problem/
Everett Eclectic said:
"Those who tout the benefits of ever-rising populations are immured in a capitalist fantasy that is based on two erroneous principles: The economy must alway expand, and to expand it must have a steady supply of cheap labor, which requires more people than jobs, ensuring a state of perpetual economic desperation.
Unfortunately, this is the Kool-Aid we've been quaffing for most of our nation's history. Over the decades it has bent so many minds it's nearly impossible to have a rational discussion of the issue.
Thank you, Mr. Robinson, for your sanity--and for your other fine writings."
@PD - Sorry to hear about Joe's problem and happy about the resolution. You mention how health problems like this can narrow one's focus, and how many of us are dealing with similar situations. It sounds like you're in a position where you don't have to worry about the cost, but there are too many of us who do.
@Akhilleus - We're going to have to differ on modern medicine being "the bomb." What I'm going through now is more like "the rack." And I live just down the road from both the University of Michigan medical complex *and* St. Joseph Mercy Hospital/Trinity Medical/IHA (which, as any local will tell you, is better than UM).
Long story short: April 28 was supposed to be a day of celebration: my second Covid shot, two weeks to full immunization, champagne all around (well, carob bon-bons for the dogs). Until, about two hours before my appointment, I fell while walking my dogs and broke (badly) my left elbow. A friend collected me and we drove to the ER, stopping along the way so I could get my shot. (The EMU convocation center is just across the road from the St. Joseph medical campus.) Eight days later I had ORIF surgery and I now have a metal plate with at least 6 screws holding the remnants of a very bad break together. I'm facing a long, painful road to recovery involving months of physical therapy, with no guarantee that I'll regain full use of my arm.
Did I mention that one week before the accident I received notice that my job was being eliminated due to reorganization following a merger? So I'm now 75, unemployed (I can call myself "retired" by virtue of my age, but I work(ed) because I need the money) and about to be destitute, because Medicare sucks.
I've been reading RC every morning since I first clicked the link under Marie's signature in the NYT comments section on the OpEd page, and I still start my day here. But somehow none of the dog-and-pony politicking matters any more. All the news is bad, all the time.
I return daily for the comments. You guys are the best.
Rose in MI
So sorry to hear of your accident and the attendant recovery ordeal.
I said a couple of months back that I wished you a happy birthday, which followed my wife's and mine by a week or two, as you too reached that three-quarter century mark. I am very unhappy to hear that those wishes went awry.
Have little else to say but platitudes people of our age are only too familiar with, so will leave it at best wishes for a recovery much speedier and complete than you have been led to expect.
"Martin Luther King, Jr. called the filibuster a “tragedy” used by “misguided Senators” to block “people from even voting.”
Senators who use the filibuster “do not represent the majority of the American people.”"
@Rose in MI: So sorry about your fall. If it will make you feel any better (and probably not much will right now), my mother broke her forearm when she was about the age you are. Her fracture was not nearly as complex as yours. She was opposed to anesthesia, so she asked the doctor to set it without anesthesia. He was a big, strong guy. He said he was not as brave as she was, and neither would I have been. I held her other hand while he set the broken arm in one move. Ouch! She barely peeped.
Afterwards, he said she probably would never get full use of her arm again. But she stuck to her physical therapy, followed the exercise routine, and she gained full rotation and all within a few months. You will likely have a harder job of it since your fracture was so bad, but I do think you can beat the odds if, like Elizabeth Warren, you persist.
BTW, your stopping for your shot on the way to the ER is REALLY impressive. And I think it's proof you've got the pluck to eventually get back the full use of your elbow. Best of wishes to you.
@RAS: MLK was right. Until Republicans started using the filibuster to block everything but the naming of post offices, it was most commonly used by Southern Democrats to keep civil rights legislation from passing. Exactly as Joe Manchin (and maybe Kyrsten Sinema & others) is planning to use it. Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) wrote in a tweet, "Manchin’s op-ed might as well be titled, 'Why I’ll vote to preserve Jim Crow.'” Sounds right to me.
@PD Pepe: I hope Joe is feeling well today. I have heard that kidney stones are unbearably painful. Fortunately, as you say, doctors know how to remove them.
Rose:: you are amazing! I just turned 76 myself and I fell two years ago and have been gun-shy ever since. I walk on the neighborhood streets instead of old pushed-up sidewalks. One day in May, a woman in her car screeched “Use the sidewalks!” At me. Idiot. I tripped over a really pointy curb so I look forward to pointing my middle digit at that gold Suburu if I see it again. Our streets are wide and quiet. Stick to your guns and hopefully your elbow will heal.
PD: so glad Joe is better. It’s always something with us at a certain age. Thinking of you and yours.