Around the Block

Palm Beach County: “You’ve come a long way, baby!”

Commentary

20 years after the “hanging chad” debacle, Palm Beach County is doing the election right.

Yesterday was the first day of early voting in Florida. Although Sharon and I vote by mail-in ballot, this year we didn’t mail our ballots but waited to place them in the polling place drop-off box at our neighborhood library.

As we drove up to the library, in a pouring rain, we saw a line of literally hundreds of people, umbrellas in hand waiting to vote. What a thrilling sight!

“You could drive a person crazy, you could drive a person mad.”

Commentary

Sondheim was right – what’s happening now could drive a person crazy.

My therapist has counseled me that this is a particularly difficult time for many people in therapy. That people who suffer from anxiety, apprehension, unease, dread, consternation,…you know, I think she used the more common psychological term, the heebie-jeebies, are agonizing even more.

Will you still need me when I’m, er, 84 (or 85 or 86 or…)?*

(*With apologies to Paul McCartney)

Commentary

Is it time for Congressional age and term limits? The answer is a resounding Yes!!! But can we make it happen?

I’ve received an enormous amount of feedback from Saturday’s column, “Dianne & Lindsey Sitting in a Tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

(https://around-the-block.com/2020/10/17/dianne-lindsey-sitting-in-a-tree-k-i-s-s-i-n-g/)

While some of the commentary concerned Senator Dianne Feinstein’s imprudent praising of and hugging with Senator Lindsey Graham at the conclusion of the Senate Judiciary hearings on the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, many more comments revolved around age-related decline in cognitive functions and Congressional tenure and term limits.

Dianne & Lindsey sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

Commentary

Struggling on how to deal with Senator Dianne Feinstein’s fawning praise of Senator Lindsey Graham? Write a letter.

At the conclusion of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the ranking member, said to Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the committee chairman, “This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in.” Feinstein then went on to hug Graham. Neither were wearing masks.

Feinstein’s actions upset many liberals and progressives across the country, but in particular Californians, constituents who have been voting for her as their senior senator since 1992.

Business Insider: NY Post story that sent Trumpworld into frenzy is riddled with holes and red flags

News with a Twist

In a first, this story contains two kinds of “News with a Twist:” One from the NY Post (which they believe is not “twisted”); followed by another from Around the Block.

With a bit of Commentary thrown in for good measure!

Several news outlets have commented on a New York Post story about Hunter Biden, his computer and a computer repair shop owner. This, from Business Insider, is the most succinct:

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse on “Dark Money” and the judicial system

Commentary

If you watch only one thing from the Amy Coney Barrett charade, Senator Whitehouse’s presentation is the one!

As the Amy Coney Barrett Senate Judicial hearings drone on, there has been not much that was unexpected. There was, and is, little reason to watch the speeches and questions along straight party lines; the Senatorial pontification; the dodging, weaving and obfuscation by the nominee; the general disgracefulness of a sham nomination.

The value of higher education

Commentary

Truth, perhaps. But not always .

A friend of mine showed me this Facebook post featuring Rachel Maddow:

“If you don’t think education matters, then you probably get your news from the dropouts,” says the post, comparing getting “news” from the highly educated Rachel Maddow to “news” from dropouts like Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck.

Kim jung-Trump calls for arrest of Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

Commentary

Criticizes AG Barr, SecState Pompeo, FBI Chief Ray for not taking action

In a departure from the norm, Around the Block will, except for the headline, add no snarky remarks to today’s story. I will just reprint CNN’s commentary of Trump’s two Fox interviews yesterday, the first with Maria Bartiromo, the second with Sean Hannity. I’ll then leave the (on-the-mark) snakiness to CNN’s Editor-at-Large, Chris Cillizza.

Covid-19 Live Updates: Treatment That Trump Called a ‘Cure’ Was Tested With Cells Derived From Fetal Tissue

News with a Twist

Trump administration suspended federal funding for most new scientific research involving fetal tissue derived from abortions.

The New York Times reported today that the antibody cocktail for Covid-19 that President Trump touted on Wednesday afternoon was developed with cells originally derived from fetal tissue, a practice that the president has repeatedly condemned.

The Tale of the Handmaid

News with a Twist

People of Faith, Handmaids and Judge Amy Coney Barrett

With the news this morning focussed almost entirely on last night’s Vice Presidential debate, you might have missed this story from The Washington Post.

“While Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett has faced questions about how her Catholic faith might influence her jurisprudence, she has not spoken publicly about her involvement in People of Praise, a small Christian group founded in the 1970s and based in South Bend, Ind.