2/14/2025

Friday, February 14, 2025

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In bed at 9:50, awake at 4:14, and up at 4:38. 3° outside, wind chill -9°.  WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY: between 2 and 5 inches of snow are expected tonight. 

Prednisone, day 299, 5 mg,. day 10, Kevzara, day 10/14.  Prednisone at 4:45 and     .   Other meds and Trulicity injection at  6:15 a.m. 

Valentine's Day.  From last year: "I'm grateful on this Valentine's Day for my wife, my partner in passing through this sometimes Dungeons and Dragons game of middle and old age.  We have teamed up for most of the last 40 years and, though I was sure I loved her when we exchanged vows under Tom and Caela's crabapple tree, I know I love her even more now, so many years later because I know her much better now.   I know why it is so easy for people to like her.  I know why she has so many long-term, really lifetime friends.  I sensed her goodness, strength, practical wisdom and judgment, and all her fine qualities before I married her but I've seen them confirmed in action now decade after decade.  She is my Valentine and for her partnering with me all these years, I am most grateful."

    Another year has gone by.  She has undergone three surgeries on her left knee, the last a total knee replacement on January 16th from which she is still recuperating, with persistence, courage, and grace.  After all the help she has given to me with my bouts with IC, CPP, four (or five?) outpatient fulgurations, trips to the ER, and PMR, it has been my turn to provide some help to her, though only as part of a team of loving caregivers with Steve, David, and Sue.  I was grateful for her last year and am more grateful this year.  An undeserved blessing.

Today has not been a good day in her recovery, up a couple of times last night with knee pain, some nausea and intestinal problems this morning, and more pain in her physical therapy session.

Random thoughts on a frigid morning.  (1) Robert Kennedy was sworn in by Justice Neil as Secretary of Health and Human Services yesterday.  His 3rd and current wife Cheryl Hines, at least two of his six children, the Great Pumpkin himself, and Marjorie Taylor Green were present.  What more need be said?  Kennedy is either a hero, a Very Sad Sack, or a dirtball, depending on your point of view.  I incline towards the dirtball theory, as does his cousin Caroline Kennedy, who calls him a predator, and many other of his family members.  What are we to think of the truthfulness of his statement at the swearing-in ceremony: ""For 20 years," I'm up every morning on my knees and praying that God would put me in a position where I can end the childhood chronic disease epidemic in this country.  God sent me President Trump"?  On the other hand, he did say truthfully to Trump ""I genuinely believe that you are a pivotal historical figure, and you are going to transform this country."  Alas!

(2) The Military Times is reporting that the VA dismissed more than 1,000 employees last night as part of a White House purge of government workers still in their probationary periods, an effort designed to dramatically reduce the size of the federal workforce.  In a statement, VA Secretary Doug Collins, a dyed-in-the-wool Trumpkin, said the elimination of the posts will save roughly $98 million annually, funds that can be redirected into veterans’ care and benefits.  This, of course, is "happy horseshit," the same sort of horseshit we used to hear in Vietnam from coming out of Saigon and Washington.  Roughly 479,000 employees work in department health care, benefits processing, memorial services and program support jobs. Of that total, about 43,000 are still in their probationary period, having served less than two years.  Senator Richard Blumenthal, not one of my favorite guys, accurately said what is going on: "“Make no mistake — Trump is looking to fire probationary employees because it is easy, not because it is good for veterans or cost-effective. In fact, it is a massive waste of taxpayer dollars to fire employees that the department just invested months into recruiting, vetting, and training.”  Last month, Veterans Affairs officials issued guidance exempting more than 300,000 department healthcare posts from the White House’s federal hiring freeze, labeling them as essential to public health and department operations.  But about 35% of department posts could still be impacted by the pause in hiring, so last night's firing of the first 1,000 employees is just the beginning of what will probably be a massive screwing up of VA-administered veterans' benefits, most notably healthcare.  Stay tuned.  And, lest we pin our hopes on the bona fides of Secretary Doug Collins, we should remember who he is. He attended North Georgia College & State University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in political science and criminal law in 1988. He attended the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, receiving his Master of Divinity (M.Div.) in 1996. Collins also earned his Juris Doctor from Atlanta's John Marshall Law School in 2007.  He served as senior pastor of the Chicopee Baptist Church for 11 years.  He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2020 and came in third in Georgia's non-partisan primary behind Raphael Warnock and Kelly Loeffler, whereupon he became one of Donald Trump's personal lawyers.  He was part of the team that defended Trump in his first impeachment trial.   Mr. Trump’s experience fending off impeachment inquiries during and after his first term heavily influenced how he chose political allies. Other House Republicans who defended him in the first impeachment inquiry were also chosen to serve in his cabinet, including Representative Elise Stefanik of New York and former Representatives Lee Zeldin of New York and John Ratcliffe of Texas.  Our new VA leader is a tried-and-true, Evangelical, Georgia cracker, Southern Baptist Trumpkin.

(3) Trump's friendly telephone conversation with Putin yesterday and Pete Hegseth's comments at the Munich security conference reminded me of the idiom about "giving away the store."  Even before any negotiations occurred over a ceasefire and peace agreement for Ukraine, Trump-Hegseth are saying Russia will get to keep the territory it has seized by force and Ukraine will not become a member of NATO, at least during Trump's administration.  I'm also reminded of the many times Poland has been partitioned by powerful empires starting with three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 123 years. The partitions were conducted by the Habsburg monarchy, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Russian Empire,  As usual, Trump'a phone call blindsided both the Ukrainian government and our NATO allies, consulting none of them before picking up the telephone.  He apparently will be meeting Putin in Saudi Arabia and again at the White House, with neither Volodimir Zelenski nor any NATO ally present.  Get out the carving knives.  And, BTW, who is Doug Collins, our new Secretary of Veterans Affairs.  The Partitions of Poland[a] were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 123 years. The partitions were conducted by the Habsburg monarchy, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Russian Empire,

(4) Eric Adams, Emil Bove, 7 DOJ resignations.  Memories of Archibald Cox, Elliot Richardson, William Ruckelshaus, and Robert Bork.  New hero:  former US Attorney for SDNY Danielle Sassoon.