Entry 86: Start in One Place, End in Another in Much Ado About Nothing

So, it shouldn’t need saying particularly but as our nation spins into madness due to a clear take over by the booboisie, we have to cover (and continually cover) 1st Grade Civics. The President cannot unilaterally dismantle or dissolve Government Departments. The Congress, with the power of the purse, is in charge of these things. Just like, allegedly, the President cannot say “THIS IS MY SUPREME COURT PICK” and skip confirmation hearings. AND AS WAS EVIDENT IN 2018, often you needn’t skip the procedural stuff because the GOP is in lock step with Trump! But… he’s refused to obey Government Procedural Requirements and the Courts are starting to call him on it. Just like the Department of Education- his Executive Order attempts to do what he cannot legally do. THE BIGGEST ISSUE is now the disconnect between what The People understand and what The People believe. In recent polling, even 89% of the GOP said that a President Must Follow Federal Court Orders. But, as ever, with opinion polls in politics the question matters more than the answer. Ask the GOP, “Should President Biden follow Federal Court Orders?” you’d likely get over 95% in agreement. Ask specifically, “Should President Trump follow Federal Court Orders?” You’ll get polling results more like what Fox reported on this week. According to their polls (and horrendously rigged questions) Republicans’ favorability for Trump is polling at 92%. Again, I don’t trust their polls to get to the truth of anything anymore than I trust the poll suggesting that “an unnamed, abstraction PRESIDENT” is expected to follow Court Orders. That said, Trump has already violated two separate/different court orders which already puts us into a Constitutional Crisis. But those orders were only about immigration so… play those scenarios out along the same lines as who of Trump’s supporters would rather see Brown People Deported versus The Rule of Law.

And that’s what is most frustrating to me. If any still do, I can imagine the Trump Supporters reading this would proudly and loudly side with Trump despite the fact that he is violating the Constitution. And what remains true and even more frustrating? WE ALL KNOW THAT IF OBAMA VIOLATED THE CONSTITUTION THIS FLAGRANTLY, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPEACHED, REMOVED, CONVICTED AND BE IN PRISON RIGHT NOW but because it is Donald Trump, ‘it’s fine.” The Rule of Law must only be observed by everyone but Trump. For a person with a legal degree, a sense of justice, and a respect for the Institutions of this Country… this is disgusting and fucking wrong. But this is how the Empire falls… destroyed from within by the greedy put there by the hateful, rich, and uninformed.

Though, loathe as I am to accept or promulgate conspiracy theory, after reports of Musk sitting in on Security Counsel “war with China” meetings… there is one conspiracy theory that is sounding more and more true. It was widely known that Trump didn’t actually enjoy being President. His perspective of Executive is to soak up the attention, make staffing decisions, and receive glory.... everything else can and should be delegated. The problem with that is that it means The President as Chief Executive is delegating the powers of the presidency… in practice, making other people the President, if not in name but in power. Considering the power and access Elon has received and continues to? I know people joke President Elon but I don’t think it is a joke. I think Elon, a foreign born man who could never legally be President, found the perfect marriage of circumstances to become President.
Step One: Find an easily manipulated imbecile who loves money more than integrity
Step Two: Buy that person’s way into the White House
Step Three: Broker a deal where he’ll delegate to you the powers and access that you want
Step Four: Operate as President in the areas you want to but not the areas you don’t because technically… you don’t have to, you can always say “Those are the duties of the President.”
Step Five: Use this newfound Pseudo-Presidency to massively enrich yourself and exert power as you see fit and as best serves you.

In other news, I did manage to wrangle and schedule a meet up with Preferred Hinge Girl for Saturday. Hopefully, the foot will be all healed up by then. And I’m trying to fight my inner bullshit. So, last night as we were talking, she was discussing a passion for changing her class’s individual tutoring program to a more broad Neurodivergent Approach to learning… and the more she talked about this passion to help others, the more I was like “Fuck my foot. This person is meeting the categories I used at Speed Dating for a meet up; let’s just do that.” But no sooner do we schedule, then the “reactionary pessimism” blows open. Primarily: The running thought of, “You enjoyed having another conversation going. You’re just going to… blow that up? Like… you know how this works now. 1 Date and then you’ll never hear from them again. Did you really want to end whatever this is that fast?” While simultaneously, I’m trying to tell myself, “A meetup is necessary and due. It doesn’t obligate anyone to anything, but fear should never be permission to keep things text-based. Grow past your own expectations and restrictions.” And then my brain splits into the multiple forks from there. First and best still remains “You’re short and fat. And if you walk in there with a limp? Forget Mad Hatter, Two Face, or Riddler… just change your wardrobe and start carrying an umbrella everywhere, because brother- you’re the Penguin!” And that’s… one of my less controversial internal monologue conversations. But… we’ll see. There are lots of things to do in that town and even if the date is a bust, I can entertain myself. Though, Brother and Family are out of town that day so… these things happen.

As for this evening? I have work I cannot put off no matter how bad my foot hurts. First and foremost, Nala is going a little insane. Last night, when I got home and we didn’t go to the dog park- she ran downstairs (something she doesn’t often do if I’m not going down there). I could hear her running and running around the basement before grabbing the one toy that barely fits in her mouth and bringing it upstairs. When we did finally make it downstairs together, her zoomies exploded so much that I had to open the door to the outside, so she could run the basement and yard simultaneously. So… she needs the Dog Park or something. I also can’t pull off this drive tomorrow without first cleaning my car’s interior. So, that gets priority. Since I’m cleaning my car out, I can/should clean out my kitchen and dinning room. And cleaning the dinning room involves paying certain responsibilities. So tonight needs to be Dog Park and Clean. Saturday will pretty much be eaten up entirely by the Date; but if there is nice weather and I’m back in town before 6 pm- maybe more dog park for Nala. Sunday is… a crap shoot. I need to do laundry at some point this weekend. I need to drop clothes at the dry cleaner. I also still haven’t bought a new mattress, which I need to do. Nor have I updated or worked on my HOUSE list. And I still need to finish memorizing my Audition Monologue for the 28th. But I also can’t guarantee that my body won’t throw a tantrum on Sunday and demand that I actually rest. SO.... this is the thing I kind of hate about weekends. My body and mind know that the weekend is my best chance to rest, to heal, to try to recharge. BUT our society has gone out of its way to make sure the weekend is also the only time to actually get anything done or do anything worth merit. So, we’re in that push-pull of Self Care versus Responsible Adult.

Y’know what’s funny? Yesterday, I came in to work 2 hours late to give my foot some extra time to heal. Last night, much to Nala’s consternation, I decided we shouldn’t do Dog Park to give my foot some extra time to heal. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing what I often do and tax something too much before giving it proper time to heal. But this morning, my hearings are first in the Court Schedule. So… shower, work (after 2 tickets, I’m required to park in the Employee Lot, no exceptions) walk to the office, do my hearings at the Court House and the Jail, do my AM work, go to lunch.... and while the pain is significantly decreased overall, there are still two primary pain symptoms.
(1) moving the toes of my right foot hurts. a lot.
(2) the sole of my foot feels like… well, I’ve come up with two descriptors that are nothing alike so combine them and try to parse them at your pleasure. It feels like the skin has ripped and then heeled, but too tightly, so every time I’m stepping with that foot I’m either ripping or about to rip my flesh again. AND/OR it’s like walking with a big irregular stone in your shoe. It’s too big to not be at the sole or the footpad, and it is irregular so that it is always uncomfortable and always painful but shifting from stubbing to stabbing as though it is receiving its instructions digitally and cannot translate the vowel!
Visually the overall redness has diminished significantly; but the red streak under the toes is still very present and bright and the underfoot, the footpad specifically, is as hard as a rock and a burnt orange color. My largest concern/my biggest need is… I need to be able to either heal or push through it to get my TO DO list done. MUST take care of dog MUST take care of car MUST take care of Bills WOULD REALLY LIKE to take care of the messiest parts of my house. DOING THAT would go a long way to helping my mental state.

Here’s an interesting story out of Iowa Law that went up to the Iowa Supreme Court this year:

In the 1950s, Barbara Steinkraus and her husband, Warren Steinkraus, were struggling to conceive a child. The couple sought assistance from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. They were seen by Dr. John H. Randall, a state employee and head of that department from 1952 to 1959, who suggested that the couple undergo fertility treatment. The treatment was successful, and Barbara gave birth to a daughter named Elizabeth on July 13, 1958, in Mount Pleasant. Barbara and Warren Steinkraus as well as Dr. Randall have all passed away. Elizabeth married and took the last name of Bright. Bright had always believed that her biological father was Warren Steinkraus. However, she discovered through DNA testing via Ancestory.com that Dr. John Randall is her actual biological father. Believing Dr. Randall had deceived her parents about the identity of the sperm used in their fertility treatment, Bright asserted a claim against the State in 2023.

Now, suing for a big payday out of the tax dollars coffers upsets me fundamentally, but because the Perv Doc was a State Employee when did his wrongdoing… there is reason to sue the State. Just like if a truck driver collides with your car, you can sue the trucking company. Provided they were operating within their duties to their employer. The case we study is- “Truck driver was off the clock. Not driving a load to or from anywhere. Driving to a pulloff for the night until he can go back on duty with the log book. On the way to, he falls asleep. The truck slams into a vehicle killing the driver. Can the driver’s estates sue the Truck Driver, the Trucking Company, both, or neither?” And the argument against suing the trucking company would be that he was off the clock, exceeded his logbook, not driving for the company at the time of the collision.
You can imagine a similar argument in this very real case in Iowa. The argument being that it was not a part of his duties to inseminate a patient with his own sperm; therefore, his employers should not be held responsible. HOWEVER a convincing counter argument would certainly be that his actions were not only PART of his duties, but also that but for his role as an Iowa employee at the time, he would not have had access or opportunity to commit this malfeasance.

At the end of the day? Case was tossed on a point of law. The lawsuit would not have even been possible in the State of Iowa but a law passed this decade permits the “wrongful children of assisted-reproduction fraud” to file claim against the individual or organization who committed the tortious act. The case detailed above, however, was clearly before the passage of a 2023 law; therefore, the Plaintiff was time barred from any claims.

And while that ruling is legally correct; I find myself uncertain of where I feel about the verdict overall. My sense of justice stands up and demands that this woman receive some recognition for the wrong that was done to her family. But my skeptical side says, “At present, Plaintiff would be unable to prove conclusively that she was not the product of an extra marital affair between Barbara Steinkraus and Dr. John H. Randall. As the individuals are both long since deceased and their earthly belongings divided, destroyed, or decayed; Plaintiff cannot prove per se assisted reproduction fraud.” All the while, I do feel bad for her and wish that this secret had come out sooner so that she and her family could have properly dealt with it. Of course, the response to that is the law under which she sued was not written until 2023, so “properly dealt with” would not mean “Payday at the Courthouse”. But even to that concept, I find myself morally objecting. One man did something horrendous that was not even discovered until long after his death and the death of his victim. Going after the “deep pockets” of the State seems very much like an upset person with no healthy vehicle for her rage throwing a tantrum screaming, “I’m pissed and I want my big money check!” But if we’re looking at time tables properly? Dr. John H. Randall died in 1959 at the age of 60. This Supreme Court Opinion was from last month. Even were we living in the hyper fantasy world where it would have been possible to sue the man himself, he would be 126 years old!! The man was born in the 19th Century! So this is definitely one of those where… the law cannot and the government cannot redress all grievances or right all wrongs. It’s not capable of that, nor should it be.

And I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but this ability to attack it from multiple angles and sus out emotion, logic, justice, righteousness.. to not just have ONE stupid opinion and demand I SEE IT THIS WAY SO NOBODY ELSE NEEDS TO THINK NOW… my ability to try to sincerely consider the matter is exactly why I should be in politics and exactly why I would never succeed in politics. TRUMP THE BITCH is the level of our current political discourse. Debating the merits of a Hegelian Approach to politics or rhetoric is… too high brow for a citizenry that believes Universities are “dens of inequity, sin, indoctrination, and evil.” Which is always particularly humorous to me because I was surprisingly ABLE to succeed in college and stay a conservative the whole time. I had to go to Nebraska and work in a jail to start changing MY mind. And then that was significantly aided by the bullshittery of Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Paul Ryan, and Donald Trump (To say nothing of assholes like Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, James Comer, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Lindsey Graham, etc.).