Thursday, May 19, 2022

I am not sure when this post will be completed or even if it will be completed in any meaningful way. But it's not that there is not a lot going on in the world. There is a huge amount going on, some of which will have immediate consequences and some of which will not, but could have huge consequences down the road.

I am not a Constitutional scholar. Sometimes I wish I were, and sometimes not. When I was in law school, I always thought the smartest, not necessarily the best, professors taught “Con Law”.

I do know, unfortunately, that what McConnell and Trump did to the federal court system during Trump’s disastrous four years, by my view, will permeate our country for decades and decades.

The impending reversal of Roe v Wade is the most obvious result of packing the Supreme Court with ultra conservatives. Many are now beginning to realize that once the abortion laws change, lot of other things affecting the personal lives of people will change. However, it will not stop there.

Few pay attention to the intricacies of how our government works. It is frightening, but the majority of people cannot list the three branches of government.

Lurking out there, but I bet 99.9% of people have never heard the term, is the “non delegation doctrine”. The issue is whether Congress, our legislative branch, can delegate its authority to the executive branch. Now most of our regulatory agencies are in the executive branch.

Biden is President for at least two more years. As President, he is head of the executive branch. If our conservative court says “No, only Congress can regulate,” that means McConnell and McCarthy, the Republicans, will have even more power than most anticipate.

Please understand that what I have written is very, very simplistic. I am incapable of analyzing the nuances of this area of the law. Ask me about alimony or equitable distribution, where I consider myself an expert, but not Constitutional Law where I only know enough to recognize danger.

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Truly, I never thought I would see an unanimous vote on any nominee named by Biden. However, there was not a single vote against confirming our new Ambassador to Ukraine. I was shocked to read about the vote.

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Lest I get too excited about the prospects of real bipartisan sanity suddenly descending upon our Nation’s Capital, not a chance. Hard to believe, but the House passed a $28 million emergency bill to address a baby formula shortage. 192 Republicans voted against it. Is that unbelievable.?

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Every House Republican voted against the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022. I would conclude that we may have the most dysfunctional government in our entire history right now. And if I had to blame one single person, it would not be Trump, it would be Joe Manchin. I couple him with Sinema, who cannot even decide which sex she prefers.

The Democrats have controlled, on paper at least, all three branches of government. One would never know it. No one has ever done less with more than the present Democrats.

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I am going to save for a later time a discussion of Sweden’s and Finland’s entry into NATO . The Fat Lady has not sung but she better do it soon.

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Marlin’s lost by one run, but it took ten innings.

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I stop here at noon Florence time, 6 a.m in Florida, because I have to get ready to go to the hospital to have my leg evaluated. I know Barbara hates for me to demonstrate any form of weakness, but I confess, I am scared out of my wits.

I have been far sicker than with a minor fracture to the fibula, but I had world class doctors caring for me in a place where I knew everyone I needed to know, I had access to them, and everyone spoke English.

Just getting dressed to go, getting downstairs, getting into a tiny taxi is daunting and painful.

You will know how it goes when I finish this post

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Okay back. On ascale of 1 to 10, whole day was 8.5 and medically 9.5. Go back 5/30. Making progress. Still no weight on left leg, but things are going well.

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Go Ukraine