Today is Monday, September 18, 2023. Someone who should be in a total tizzy about her reelection prospects is slutty Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert who was recently thrown out of a performance of the musical Beetlejuice on Sunday, September 10. Anyone who indulged in the vulgar acts that this putative member of Congress indulged in – with impunity – would have been immediately disqualified from any kind of public office pronto. In fact, there is a video of Boerbert engaged in groping her male date right there in the theater. This latest outrage from a scorchingly unfit House member is written about in an online Raw Story article by Tom Boggioni entitled “Boebert’s ‘explicit groping’ video response shows she’s in a panic about reelection: MSNBC panelist.”

This kind of scandal involving a sitting congressperson years ago would have doomed a politician’s career when trust and integrity mattered, but in our age of mistrust and mendacity propagated by a former president who is under four indictments and 91 counts of misfeasance, this seems not to matter that much anymore! How fucking sad! But maybe, just maybe, this lying slut of an officeholder might see her chances of being reelected just go poof, as her Democratic opponent will certainly make hay of this latest tawdry episode.

Closed-circuit video from that hot date involving Boebert and her unidentified male escort showed her vaping, acting out, and engaging in groping with her male companion before being booted from the musical at a Denver theater. As a result of obvious fallout from this disgusting display of heterosexual affection in a crowded theater where children were present, Boebert went on the defensive, offering an effusive apology over this weekend because she is deeply worried about her political future.

The controversy over Boebert’s latest outrage was discussed on the Morning Joe program where MSNBC contributor Katty Kay claimed that her apology signaled her intense worry over being reelected. Heck, if I were the dimwitted congresswoman, I would be since she won reelection the last time by only 546 (551 in the article I cite below) votes. This time she could lose by a much larger margin, and I sincerely hope she does!

The apology from this none-too-contrite House member, Kay claims, was just a sign that she knows her latest exploits are not going down well with her constituents, particularly in light of her close call win in the 2022 midterm election.

In light of Boebert’s latest contretemps, Kay quipped, “I’m just glad that I’m not the one being asked to describe what groping means.” Kay opined that it was a change of character for Boebert to come out in anything but full defiant mode as she usually does. Her mouth is always swinging just like her bimbo colleague Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG). Kay said, “I think she realizes this doesn’t go down particularly well with people in her district.”

Joe Scarborough noted that Boebert’s seat is not safe and this comes at a moment when she’s one of the rabble-rousers in the House, along with MTG and Matt Gaetz, and others trying to impeach President Biden and shut down the government.

Another article on the Boebert fiasco mentioned that the Colorado congresswoman initially denied that she was vaping during the show, saying instead that she was “guilty” of “laughing and singing too loud” along with the show. I wonder how good the show was that Boebert would cling to the laughable defense that she was laughing along with the show.

The male she was groping in the show has now been identified as Quinn Gallagher, the owner of a bar in Aspen that holds drag performances! Isn’t that precious? The congresswoman who rails against drag shows as if they’re toxic displays of vulgarity is seen on video grabbing her date’s penis, where this man owns a club that features drag performances. Is that the height of hypocrisy or not? Republicans, especially MAGAts, display hypocrisy all the time and Boebert isn’t any different. This act should doom her prospects of being reelected – and if they don’t, I will have no faith in Colorado voters anymore. Boebert should be sent back to Mack’s Bowling Alley where she should be working as as a hostess, not a member of Congress!

Her Democratic opponent, Adam Frisch, who ran against her in 2022, laced into his dimwitted, vaping congresswoman, saying, “It’s just another notch in the belt of embarrassment . . . She even lied about her lies. So, for the end of the day, the voters are sick and tired of this embarrassment, whether it’s an audience member watching a theater performance.” I strongly hope Mr. Frisch defeats Boebert mightily this time! It’s about time!

Frisch continues slamming his opponent, saying, “But what’s even worse is her embarrassment in the halls of Congress [here, here!] and those committee meetings when she’s not focused on the job. She’s very, very focused on herself, and there’s real issues out there with rural access to health care, reproductive right protection.” Frisch said he’s doing well this time because voters are now rejecting Boebert’s peculiar brand of “angertainment industry” that she has brought to Congress and what she’s so proud of participating in, even in her off time.

A good sign that Boebert’s star might have fallen is her removal from the speaker lineup for the upcoming Texas Youth Summit. The summit had repeatedly promoted her expected presence before deleting all pages and mentions of her from its platforms over the weekend.

On a more spiritual note, Elliot and I are happily back from spending the weekend and the Rosh Hashanah holiday with the brother I haven’t had, “Harold” and his family, in their home in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

We left Saturday morning to have breakfast at our favorite haunt, the Beechwood Cafe, in Jersey City, and to arrive at Harold and “Rachel”‘s house by 3 p.m. And by gosh, I believe we did arrive at the appointed hour. Even though we couldn’t have breakfast at Beechwood since there was a wait of about 15 minutes when we entered the restaurant close to 12:30. We would have waited if not for parking at a street where a sign indicated “no parking” after 2 that afternoon. I had no idea why this was so, but I’ve noticed that the signs in New Jersey are totally confusing and inexplicable sometimes. (New Jerseyans, don’t beat me up for saying this, please!)

So instead of going to Beechwood Cafe, we entered the Lebanese restaurant on the corner, opposite Beechwood Cafe, called Uncle Momo, also located on Grove Street.

Here we didn’t have to wait to get a table, but we did have to linger a long time for our meal to be served. Thus I was a little nervous about being able to finish on time and not having our car towed before we even got out of Jersey City. However, that didn’t happen. We finished our delicious meal in enough time to drive to Cherry Hill and to spend a lovely two days with our hosts.

Once we arrived at my friend’s house, the weekend was on full swing. We had some restful time sitting on the deck before all of the guests arrived for the holiday dinner.

This time we were able to meet Zander and Nalah’s new daughter, Norah. Zander and Nalah are Harold’s son and daughter-in-law who now live in Bayonne, New Jersey. Harold’s daughter, “Gayle” and her boyfriend “Lewis” were there with their new dog, Maple. She is a puppy of about 9 months and was very frisky. The couple brought their own canine enclosure for their new pet. Zander and Nalah also brought their dog, Cupcake; therefore, there were three dogs in the mix, if you include Harold and Rachel’s sweet dog Teddy.

Included in this familial mix were one other couple, “Melvin” and “Arlene,” with their daughter, “Rebecca.”

This couple from the synagogue that my friends attend in the neighborhood came first and we sat with them outside on the deck. The weather was quite good that day.

Then Harold’s daughter and boyfriend arrived with their animated puppy who was a cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a golden retriever. They immediately put together their compound for their dog who would have pranced everywhere in the house if she were allowed to.

Within time, Zander and his wife and daughter arrived. I believe they were slightly late. I was very happy to finally be meeting Nora who was born on April 30 of this year. She was dressed in a flowery onesie and her dark hair was tied up in a ribbon. I even got to hold her toward the end of the evening and pose with pictures with her and her parents.

We finally got to sit down for the holiday meal close to 7. We were treated to Arlene’s wonderful cooking as she brought many side dishes to the feast. Things like a cauliflower pudding, noodle pudding, roasted potatoes, honey cake, shredded beets, and green beans with walnuts. Harold made salmon as the main course.

Harold conducted the meeting in grand Judaic fashion, making us recite prayers over the challah, wine, and what not. Then we partook of the holiday meal.

The next day, I went with Elliot and Rachel to synagogue, while Harold left slightly earlier. This marked the first time I’ve attended services in a very long time, but I have always had fond memories of attending holiday services with Harold all throughout our lives, so why would I disappoint him. Even though I haven’t taken up a prayer book in a long time, I can easily read the Hebrew nevertheless. So it feels comfortable to me, except that the lighting in the temple prevented me from seeing the page clearly. I kept on thinking I have early symptoms of a cataract now.

We stayed for the entire service that ended around 1. The rabbi’s sermon was especially meaningful and relevant, as he spoke about the epidemic of loneliness that has gripped this country ever since the pandemic faded. The statistics on it are not good. As the rabbi stated, loneliness can lead to many physical maladies and, even, suicide. It was noted that, as technological marvels in the twenty-first century the internet and social media platforms have burgeoned, so has loneliness. The rabbi cited the instance of couples sitting at a restaurant table who are transfixed on their phones but not on themselves. How many of us have seen it or how many of us have actually done this? I would guess the numbers here would be strikingly high.

After the services, we went back to the house to rest until about 4:45 when we drove back to participate in the ritual of Tashlich, which is the symbolic casting away of your sins for the year into a flowing body of water. For this ceremony, we traditionally use bread or challah. So Harold brought some leftover challah from Saturday’s meal to the synagogue.

We met up with the congregants outside the temple at about 5 where we started to walk to this creek not far from the synagogue. The weather then was cloudy and overcast, so I feared it might rain at any time.

The members all stood around the rabbi on the grass as booklets were handed out with the traditional prayers that were supposed to be recited. We said the prayers and then we made our way to the creek to throw our sins away.

This time, the synagogue was sponsoring a light dinner under a tent after Tashlich, so we walked back to the building which was several blocks away. There was also a Q&A with the spiritual leaders of the temple after dinner.

The synagogue meal consisted of pasta and salad. There was soda and water. I saw the coffee urns when it was too late to grab a cup.

Just about the time we sat down under the tent, the heavens opened up and it started to rain. Boy, were we lucky! Instead of the Irish, you can say it was the luck of the Jews here!

The people who spoke after dinner were the young, bearded rabbi, his assistant rabbi, and the female cantor. One of the questions asked by a congregant was what made you decide to enter the spiritual profession? All three answered the woman’s query with forthrightness and humor. I think it was the assistant rabbi who gave that moving sermon the day before on loneliness who said he was convinced he wanted to be a rabbi after his Bar Mitzvah.

I have to mention the cheesy sci-fi movie I made my hosts watch that night after we returned from Tashlich and dinner, which was Beyond the Time Barrier, made in 1960 and directed by Edgar Ulmer who was a director of low-budget thrillers in the 50s. I was able to have the film taped earlier before we went to Tashlich.

To set the record straight, I would have preferred to watch Theater Camp instead on Hulu, but I couldn’t get a consensus of opinion on watching this more recent film.

The reason I was interested in watching the first film was that the plot concerned a test pilot who somehow goes beyond the fifth dimension in 1960 and lands in this subterranean place called the Citadel in the year 2024! I wanted to see what the screenwriters perceived 2024 to be way back in 1960. But the movie lacked great acting and the sets looked as if they were made out of cardboard that it was a true dud! Me culpa!

So it’s getting late here; I’ll just say that we were able to wake up later this morning where we were pleasantly treated to a lovely breakfast of challah French toast prepared by my friend Harold. We sat for a little while in the kitchen waiting for Rachel to return from her Zumba session and schmoozed about old times.

Stay safe and be well.

Can you believe this sighting of a deer family on the lawn of someone’s house in my friend’s development when we returned from Tashlich and dinner Sunday evening? It completely blew our minds.