Today is Wednesday, August 17, 2022. One day after losing her seat in Wyoming, Liz Cheney was the subject of a very favorable editorial in The Wall Street Journal in which the editorial board lauded her for having the “courage of her convictions” after she lost her Tuesday GOP primary to attorney and Dumpf-backed opponent Harriet Hageman. The editorial warned the GOP is a party that “is narrowing its political and moral appeal” since it demonstrated that it could not tolerate Cheney and voting for the way it did following the Capitol riot.

The paper’s editorial board dubbed Cheney a “conservative by any measure,” but said she lost her Republican primary because she bravely stood up to the stolen-election lies of Donald Trump. The board believed she lost her seat because she alienated too many repugnicans by making common cause with Democrats like Adam Schiff. I don’t agree with the board’s explanation here. Cheney had no other option than allying herself with like-minded Democrats since there were no repugnicans other than Adam Kinzinger who followed her on the committee. The worse House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy only wanted to put Dumpf loyalists on a bipartisan panel in the first place, but was rebuked by Nancy Pelosi who knew that this was a fucking joke on the part of McCarthy.

The editorial, however, also offered a fresh rebuke to Dumpf, calling him “toxic” to a majority of voters even as he retains the fervent support of tens of millions.” Which I will never understand until the day I expire!

The newspaper’s editorial board warned that repugnicans could lose – they’d better! – the presidency again in 2024 if Cheney decides to run, creating what they believed would be a “divided GOP.”

The editorial comes less than a day after the Wyoming representative lost her primary to represent the state’s lone House district.

During her concession speech, Cheney reiterated her vow to do “whatever it takes” to keep the former president from coming near the White House again, saying “now the real work begins.” Let’s hope this most unlikeliest dame of truth and probity will win the war against fearsome foe Donald J. Dumpf.

Talking about that slimy character McCarthy, Rep. Adam Kinzinger slammed this so-called “leader” as a “failed leader” who “resurrected Donald Trump” in an interview with MSNBC’s Alex Wagner.

Kinzinger minced no words in his condemnation of the repugnican, saying, “Kevin McCarthy bears 90% of the weight, I think, for Donald Trump’s return” on Wagner’s show today. He continued, “He is a failed leader who has absolutely nothing more than his own power in his mind, and he resurrected Donald Trump.”

So now we can thank this “failed leader” for the reemergence of an autocrat who should have retired to his golf estate and just play golf all year long instead of poking his two cents into the nation’s business. In the interview, Wagner reminded Kinzinger that he was one of McCarthy’s “proteges.” However, the Illinois congressman now regards him as too cowardly to stand up against the former “president.”

One other interesting development today in Dumpf World was the appearance of Rudy Giuliani behind closed doors in Atlanta to offer testimony before a grand jury investigating his role in overturning election results in the Peach State. He has already been informed that he is a target in the probe into former president Dumpf’s 2020 election subversion schemes in Georgia.

This development into one of the many investigations into the former president’s perfidy is covered in an online CNN article by Tierney Sneed entitled “Rudy Giuliani, a target in Atlanta probe into Trump 2020 election subversion scheme, appears before grand jury.”

The former mayor of New York declined to comment to CNN on his way into the Superior Court of Fulton County just before 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. He provided testimony for a grand total of six hours.

An attorney for the disbarred lawyer, Bob Costello, told CNN he would not provide any details about what Giuliani was asked and how he responded. Who would conjecture that Dumpf’s toady pleaded the Fifth several hundred times during his supposed testimony?

Costello did suggest that his client would definitely not answer questions about his communications with the principal insurrectionist. He declared defiantly, “If you think he’s going to talk to you about conversations he had with his client, you’re delusional.”

The former two-term mayor of the Big Apple displayed the same defense mechanism as his orange-haired leader when he decried Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s probe as a “political stunt” and a sign that “we’re starting to live in a fascist state.” This is truly precious, coming from someone who has wholeheartedly embraced fascism right now in this country!

I’m sure that Donald Dumpf will be terrified of Giuliani’s secret testimony. Let’s hope this brings him more agita while he tries to get some sleep in his Florida compound.

On a more personal note, today Elliot and I brought our soon-to-be 12-year-old cat Jocelyn to the vet because of what Elliot noticed in her last night while we were entertaining our good friend “Mark.” All of a sudden, Elliot believed he saw Jocelyn limping on one leg. I hadn’t noticed this while we were sitting in the living room to watch an old 1972 film starring Burt Reynolds and Raquel Welch called Fuzz which I taped from TCM. During the film after we finished our King Wok dinner, Jocelyn displayed no aberrations. This occurred later in the evening. What concerned us was her hiding under the bed after Elliot noticed the change in her behavior. This was unlike her since she enjoys being out in the open most of the time. The only time she might hide under the bed is when she has to take her daily medication. When she sees Elliot getting her pills ready, she will sometimes run away.

I was relieved when I did see Jocelyn emerge from under the bed to have a late-night snack. I did, however, notice her limping on one leg. When she trotted into the bathroom to take water from the faucet, she hesitated to jump onto the bathroom rim. I knew she was in some sort of distress at that moment.

So when we woke up, Elliot called our Middle Village vet and asked if he could bring her in as soon as possible. We got an 11:30 appointment (because of a cancellation), so we started to get ready to take her in the car.

Before stopping at the vet’s office, Elliot dropped me off at Panepinto Bakery, on Eliot Avenue. Of course, I needed to have breakfast in order to have energy for the day. Just joking, folks!

I was able to finish my breakfast of brioche French toast with bananas before receiving a call from Elliot announcing that he was finishing up at the vet. He had good news: Jocelyn was just suffering from arthritis in the left leg and now had to take more medication to treat it. We were worried that it might have been an indication of something far worse like a cardiology issue, which is something she does suffer from. She’s had heart issues for some time now.

I waited for Elliot to pick me up and when he did, I sat in the backseat to comfort our little furry patient. I petted her in her carrying case and soothingly talked to her.

When we got her upstairs, I opened the top of her case and let her out. She quickly came out and walked into the kitchen where I fed her. She still had a noticeable limp, but she seemed more alert than yesterday. She even walked into the bathroom and jumped up on the ledge, making her way to the side faucet. She seemed more confident this time in getting up and out of the bathtub.

As anyone who has had a pet, the joys and sorrow of owning one are readily apparent. The inevitability of a pet’s passing after just a few years of living on this planet always comes as a blow to a pet owner, no matter how many years a beloved dog or cat lives. I can now see why some people refuse to own a pet because of this outcome. One must fully enjoy our pets as long as they are with us. That’s enough advice from me on this subject. By the way, Jocelyn must have known I was writing about her since she just woke up from a nap and is waiting for me to play with her on the foyer rug.

So if you have a beloved pet, now is the time to cuddle with him or her.

Stay safe and be well.