Today is Thursday, November 17, 2022. This is the best comment made by someone analyzing the yet-to-be-indicted former president’s ludicrous but tepid speech on Tuesday announcing his candidacy for president in 2024. “He looked like he was half asleep,” so said the ex-president’s ghost writer, Tony Schwartz, who helped the “business mogul” write his well-known piece of bullshit called Trump: The Art of the Deal. This was written way before the truth came out about the failed real estate developer and his quest for the White House in 2016. Hopefully, this false god’s 2024 campaign is doomed to fail before it ever gets off the ground because of the lackluster response from his own party.

A particular story that I feel very hopeful about is the move to protect same-sex marriage in a Senate measure that would protect LGBTQ+ rights against a possible rollback by the conservative Supreme Court under the aegis of Mr. “Ginni” Thomas, or Clarence Thomas, for those who know him by his Christian name. Yesterday, the Senate voted 62-37 to move forward with a bill to protect these hard-earned rights ever since a less partisan Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Obergefell v. Hodges case on June 26, 2015, thus legalizing same-sex marriage. This is very welcoming news, given the tenor of the times. This developing news is reported in a Daily News article by Michael Mcauliff and Dave Goldiner entitled “Senate moves ahead on shielding same-sex nups.”

“Twelve Republicans voted with all Democrats to move forward on the legislation, meaning a final vote could come as soon as this week, or later this month.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the bill ensuring the unions are legally recognized under the law is a chance for the Senate to “live up to its highest ideals” and protect marriage equality for all people.

Adding, Schumer said this about getting the legislation through, “It will do so much good for so many people who want nothing more to live their lives without the fear of discrimination.” Schumer later revealed how personal this legislation is to him, as he admitted that his daughter and her wife is expecting a baby in February. I never knew!

President Biden has said in a statement after the vote that he will sign the bill once it is passed. He asserted, “Love is love, and Americans should have the right to marry the person they love.” Amen.

The bill has gained steady momentum since the Supreme Court’s June decision that overturned a woman’s right to choose and the federal right to an abortion. An opinion at that time from Justice Thomas suggested that an earlier high court decision protecting same-sex marriage could also come under threat. What more damage to people’s lives does this cruel man want to inflict before he leaves this planet? Maybe he doesn’t get enough, as someone would proffer as an explanation of why this man is so damn nasty.

The legislation would repeal the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act and require states to recognize all marriages that were legal where they were performed. The new Respect for Marriage act would also protect interracial marriages by requiring states to recognize legal marriages regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.”

What is extraordinary about this legislation coming out of the Senate right now is the growing support from the repugnican party. Their support now stands in sharp contrast from even a decade ago, when many repugnicans vocally opposed same-sex marriages. The legislation passed the House in a July vote with the support of 47 GOPers – a larger-than-expected number that gave the measure momentum in the Senate.

Making it even more personal, Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat who is the first openly gay senator and has been working for gay rights issues for almost four decades, said the newfound openness from many Republicans on the subject reminds her “of the arc of the LGBTQ movement to begin with, in the early days when people weren’t out and people knew gay people by myths and stereotypes.”

Baldwin said that as more individuals and families have become visible, hearts and minds have changed. “And slowly, laws have followed. It is history.” She is so right about this. As gay people became more visible and emerged from the closet, others had to confront the truth that their sons, daughters, coworkers, aunts, and uncles might have been gay all that time.

Another big story today is the announcement of the end of Nancy Pelosi’s run as Speaker of the House for two decades. She announced today that she will not run for a leadership post, but will continue to serve in the House, where conspiracy-loving repugnicans captured the majority in the midterm elections. Her skills as a unifier of her caucus will be sorely missed by her colleagues, but the House Speaker is 82 and is most probably still shaking from the vicious attack on her husband last month by a far-right nut who really set his sights on the House Speaker but who escaped harm because she wasn’t home. This historic news received coverage in an online CNN article by Alex Rogers, Annie Grayer, and Manu Raju entitled “Nancy Pelosi announces she won’t run for leadership post, marking the end of an era.”

Pelosi rose to the top of the House Democratic caucus in 2002, after leading many in her party against a resolution authorizing the use of of force in Iraq. Pelosi became the first and only woman to serve as speaker, where today she indicated that she wants to pass the baton onto the next generation of Democrats to lead the House.

During her long reign, Pelosi guided Democrats as they rode the waves of popular opinion, seeing their power swell to a 257-seat majority after the 2008 elections, ultimately crash to a 188-seat minority, and then rise again.

Of late, she has conducted a string of accomplishments with one of the slimmest party splits in history, passing a $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package last year, and a $750 billion health care, energy, and climate bill in August.

During the Obama administration, Pelosi was instrumental to the passage of the massive economic stimulus bill and the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which provides over 35 million Americans health coverage.

Pelosi has had her share of enemies, particularly those on the other side, who have relentlessly attacked her for her image as a coastal elite since she represents San Francisco and is slammed for her reputation as a liberal from California. The lowest man ever to be House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, has inelegantly announced on Fox News yesterday that “We have fired Nancy Pelosi.” What a prick! I learned from Lawrence O’Donnell tonight that McCarthy wasn’t even in the chamber during Pelosi’s farewell address. As well as many other repugnicans.

Who can forget Pelosi’s act of defiance during a televised State of the Union address by the Orange Blob when she ripped his speech in half after he finished addressing the nation? She was the ultimate foil to the Orange Menace all throughout his one catastrophic term. And we, as a nation, must thank her for her steady and even leadership during four years of turmoil and chaos in the era of Dumpf.

Even though she announced her departure today, Pelosi still had some of her colleagues wishing that she remain speaker. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he had pleaded for her to stay. He admitted, “I told her when she called me and told me this and all that, I said ‘please change your mind. We need you here.”

House Democrats appear likely to choose New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, 52, to succeed Pelosi as leader, though Democrats won’t vote until November 30.

Today marks a week since I underwent my hernia surgery. I am grateful that I’m recovering rather nicely, I think. I’ll know more when I see the surgeon next Tuesday, November 22, at 11:30. But I haven’t had to resort to taking pain medication for days on end. I think I might have ended this practice two days ago. I haven’t taken Oxycodone since Friday of last week.

This morning I did go out to the Austin House Diner, where I met my lady friend “Carol” for breakfast. I walked in about 10:45 a.m. and Carol entered the coffee shop around 11:10. I waited to order until she came in. We sat together in a booth and had French toast in tandem.

Originally, Elliot and I intended to see our first film since my procedure, a new film called The Menu, but Elliot changed his mind in the afternoon. So instead we watched an old film noir from the 40s called Murder, My Sweet starring Dick Powell and Claire Trevor. (I believe no one under 40 would remember these actors.) We thoroughly enjoyed the mystery thriller since it had sparkling dialogue and witty banter all throughout. Powell portrays gumshoe Philip Marlowe in a Raymond Chandler story. There is plenty of hardboiled attitude, quick-thinking dialogue, femme fatales, and characters shrouded in suspicion. Elliot and I were enamored of the slick dialogue used throughout the film. There was a lot of humorous slang, nonstop sarcasm, and glossy metaphors. Some examples of the dialogue include characters as being described as having a “face like a bucket of mud” or a “face like a Sunday school picnic.” As the movie was released in 1944, one has to mourn the state of dialogue written in movies these days as every other word is a curse. This is not true of every film made today, but certainly a large percentage of them.

Stay safe and be well.