Joelle is in quite a bit of pain today and frustrated and struggling, but we will get through this. Dad was released and is home, and Devon flew down and is working from there for the next week.
I really wish I had time to say more but I have so much shit going on. Remember to take some time for yourselves, people.
Tuesday Night Open Thread
Quicksand
Yes, just as soon as I’m done with this, that, and the other thing.
Barbara
I hope the pain diminishes soon. I think the pain of knee replacement is worse than hip replacement. Not sure which one is in the frame, but either is major surgery even if they now do it on an outpatient basis.
eemom
As mentioned before, I went through this with eedad in July. It is very difficult.
My advice fwiw is she take all the pain meds she needs for as long as she needs them.
leela
John,
I had both of my knees done this year.
If Joelle needs some advice or encouragement, please contact me.
PsiFighter37
Taking more time for myself than I did in the past. The country’s choice to install a felon in office has made it very easy for me to feel free to tell others in no uncertain terms to get bent. It is also quite a nice burden to not give a shit when the poors living in Bumfuck get theirs when the Republicans their billionaires deconstruct the government as it has existed for nearly a century.
Hope you and yours feel better though, Cole.
Ohio Mom
Thanks for the updates.
Maybe ask the doctor for stronger pain meds? Being in pain slows down healing — along with being awful.
Hang in there.
sixthdoctor
Wishing you and Joelle the best.
CaseyL
I had very good news today about my old cat, Oscar.
People may recall me saying that something happened to him Thursday morning, leaving him unsteady on his legs, unable to walk without falling over, tail bent into a downward facing U shape. But, after four days of me tending him and watching over him, he has mostly recovered on his own.
Today I took him to the Animal Medical Center today for a neuro workup – I had made the appointment after taking him to Urgent Care the first day of his injury, when they recommended I do so – and the vet at AMC said he didn’t need an MRI. The upshot is that he mostly likely had what the vet called a “spine stroke,” where the bloodflow in the spine is interrupted/blocked long enough to cause functional damage to the back end – but, sometimes, as with Oscar, the cat can recover from it without much intervention.
His rear right leg is still weak, and his rear end/tail is still canted to one side, but he is mobile, talkative, and mostly happy again.
We’ll just see how he continues to do for another week.
Considering how bad it seemed, and all the worst case scenarios I was coming up with, seeing him recover on his own, and hearing he didn’t need an MRI was a huge relief. They’d have had to put him under general anesthesia for an MRI, and since Oscar is 16+ years old, I seriously didn’t want to have to do that.
Ohio Mom
@PsiFighter37: Every time I have a moment of gloating about what’s in store for Trump supporters, I remember Ohio Family will get hit too. That sobers me up right fast.
Old School
It’ll be worth it in the end for both you and Joelle. We are pulling for you!
Glad to hear your dad is home too.
TBone
@CaseyL: I’m so glad for both of you!
sab
@Barbara: I know people with hip replacements who were up and about almost at once. Not so with knees. Apparently knees are way more complicated in relation to their muscles.
I am 70 with a very twingey knee. I have to remember to consciously point my left foot straight forward going down steps to make sure my knee can handle to job. If I let mey left foot vere more left my knee silently shrieks.
I do indeed feel for Joelle tonight.
Jaybird
If it’s any consolation, the second day after I had my knee replaced was the worst. Hopefully, it’s all uphill from here
eclare
@CaseyL:
So happy for you and Oscar!
I had a kitty with a damaged back leg due to being hit by a car. He couldn’t jump and couldn’t run. Didn’t matter, he was happy. He made great use of the pet step that I had bought years ago to get on my bed.
Wishing Oscar continued healing.
wenchacha
Hoping Joelle can get some relief! Best to you, John, and your extended clan.
PsiFighter37
@Ohio Mom: Yes, that is tough for me too. My stepfather is here on a green card, for over 40 years, and he never bothered to take the citizenship test. It’s a bit late for that now, and so I am very concerned that there is a real push to stop issuing those and using it as a means to deport more people. My mom is about to hit Social Security / Medicare age – which she is counting on – and to have that ripped away would be devastating. My only solace is that my brother and I have the means to help her out if needed. Others don’t have that luxury.
Anyways, it’s back to drinking a craft beer here in Guam. I’m on vacation from work, about as far as humanly possible from the crap that’s going on in the US (while still technically being in the US). I deserve the me time.
twbrandt
I know from others that the first few weeks after knee replacement surgery are the absolute worst. But once people get by them they are so glad they had it done.
All the best to Joelle and you, JC.
MCat
@CaseyL: So happy to hear about Oscar. I hope he will be feeling much better soon and that he will a lot more time with you.
eclare
@Ohio Mom:
I would love to gloat but don’t dare. I have insurance through the ACA, so I will be holding my breath for two years til we hopefully take back the House.
Now rage at MAGAts for putting me and my best friend through this? I got plenty of that.
sab
@PsiFighter37: One of my brothers-in-law has his naturalization ceremony tomorrow after 30 years on a green card. Yay!
Old Dan and Little Ann
I pulled up to my hoops practice last night behind a big, red pick-up truck. There was a trump sticker on it and i said, Oh, no. After practice my wife stood in the rain waiting next to the passenger door waiting to see who got in in it. It was the boyfriend of one of our girl’s mom who plays on the team. He comes to every practice and every game. It just makes me scratch my head.
eclare
Glad to hear about your Dad, John. I’m sorry about Joelle and what she’s going through. All I’ve ever heard is to stay on top of the pain, so Joelle shouldn’t wait til she needs a pill.
I hope she feels better soon.
eclare
@TBone:
How is Josey?
eclare
@PsiFighter37:
Send some photos to OTR! Enjoy your vacay away from here.
eclare
@sab:
Yay!
PsiFighter37
@sab: That’s great! It’s more frustrating because my stepfather stubbornly held onto his native citizenship for esoteric, professional-related reasons (and probably some degree of national pride). Because of the country he is from, he basically has to get a visa to travel virtually anywhere. The number of times he has had to sweat making international trips because the visa gets finalized at the end is absurd – but he never got around to it. And in his mid-70s, it’s probably too late.
tam1MI
Things getting spicy in the lame duck Democratic controlled Michigan legislature:
So, to summarize: Republicans walked out of the session, then a Dem pulled a Sinema and walked, then a bunch of Dems decided that now would be a perfect time to bag on their own Speaker, and this already on top of a lame duck session where virtually nothing was getting done.
Interesting times, in the Chinese curse sense…
CaseyL
I was a bit worried the pain would hit Joelle hard after the nerve blockers wore off. I hope the hospital gave her good pain killers and that she is taking them. No sense playing stoic about post-surgery pain! (Plus, it impedes healing.)
Very glad to hear Daddy Cole is home. Did they send him home with any rehab advice?
tam1MI
@CaseyL: I’m happy to hear that Oscar pulled though! Sending “Get Better Soon” vibes his way…
sab
@eclare: He has had very good reasons not to all these years, but apparently this election convinced him that maybe now or never.
Green card used to make you almost a citizen except for voting. Seems much less of a promise any more.
WTFGhost
Good luck to Joelle and your dad.
RevRick
Had my second Zoom meeting with the United Church of Christ Environmental Justice Ministries today. We are trying to create a network of advocates, called Climate Hope Affiliates, to lobby legislators at the state and federal levels to deal with climate change. Our first meeting featured SamDaley-Harris, founder of RESULTS and author of Reclaiming Our Democracy and today we met with Brooks Berndt, our Environmental Justice Minister who talked about the organizing process. I volunteered to host a Zoom meeting by inviting five to six people in the area who would be interested in undergoing the training sessions.
Our next session is January 8th.
Since I live in PA7, which flipped from Democratic to Republican, and Sen. Casey will be replaced by Dave McCormick, we have our work cut out for us.
PsiFighter37
@tam1MI: Seems unnecessary. Certainly not a great way to send Big Gretch out over her last two years, as undoubtedly Michigan GOPers will refuse to do anything in her last 2 years that would help her during a 2028 run.
PsiFighter37
@RevRick: The fact Casey lost to a rich carpetbagger like McCormick, IMO, reveals just how much he coasted on his family name during his political career. Of all the incumbent Senate Democrats running this year in swing states, he was the one who arguably should have outrun the top of the ticket by the most.
strange visitor (from another planet)
i started PT yesterday. i tore something in my shoulder over the summer but haven’t been able to get my GP to send me until after months of foot-dragging.
one day in, the goddamn PT hurts more than the residual pains from the injury. i’ve got a spider-web of black sports tape across my shoulder and holy shit i’m bruising. mom’s a ginger, so my flesh is more or less translucent. great if you’re a phlebotomist- they can see my vascular structure from orbit, but i’m also turning all sorts of yellow and purple.
WTFGhost
@CaseyL: Glad to hear the good news.
RevRick
@PsiFighter37: He was always kind of a cipher. He loyally plodded away, but never did anything that stood out.
Ruckus
@eclare:
I’ve had parts of me that I had to work on to recover and some medical stuff done, and both took a somewhat painful recovery period. Some of those pain killers are rather addictive, if for no other reason, they can make you feel rather good. One of the things explained to me was not to take too much because it can make it easy to do something that can hurt recovery. Pain is there for a reason and while it’s nice not to feel the full force of pain, there is a reason it’s there. And it’s not to make us feel like crap. It’s to remind us that healing takes time. And yes I’ve had to take pain relievers before and one of my past docs told me the above and I believe he is correct. Because no one that sees me walking or working thinks I’m as old as I am. And I think it’s because every time I’ve had to work through pain I’ve taken the minimum dosage. I feel it but not so much I couldn’t recover or sleep…
VeniceRiley
Tell Joelle my wife tore her meniscus by turning to put the butter back in the refrigerator. Fell like a sack of taters. Worse was we were on other sides of the planet during travel lockdown and she had to cope alone.
What got me through the “this sucks because I cannot help at all.” feeling was her amusing stories of each time she had to voice how it happened when anyone voiced their concerns. Just hilarious for such a badass officer to relate.
hitchhiker
@RevRick: I spent 24 years in a lively UCC church in Seattle — I wasn’t the only atheist in the congregation, but I was probably the only one routinely called on to write and deliver prayers of the people during the main service.
I liked that job. I liked so much about the whole experience, including seeing our kids grow up with a tribe of supportive adults standing right behind them.
I did not like the way it all collapsed, with lots of politics and one colossally wasteful purchase made to please a dozen wealthy members.
Still, it wasn’t wasted time, and I’m still close to those supportive adults. I’m glad you can find it in you to do the work you do.
Sure Lurkalot
Best recovery wishes to Joelle and Pops.
IdahoGoatGirl
I had both knees done about 10 years ago. The best advice I can give is ice, elevate and stay ahead of the pain. I iced continuously, none of that 15 to 20 minutes at a time stuff. The icing system they gave me at the hospital was the gravity feed one…not good enough…she needs the one with a motor that circulates the ice continuously, I got mine off of ebay. The best information I found and lots of great advice is on a forum called bonesmart.org
Kayla Rudbek
@Sure Lurkalot: seconded
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Up since 4am local time to catch a flight to the US. Five hour layover in Brexitania.
glrble.
eclare
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
Ugh.
Jay
So, T had her surgeries today. Both laparoscopic with small incisions. Both seemed to go well. 6 am start, 7 hours in the OR. The second surgeon showed up a bit late, because she went to Royal Columbian, in New West, across the street from her office, (habit), then remembered it was at Eagle Ridge in Coquitlam West.
T’s doing well so far, no pain, (on an IV bag full of painkillers), they think she will be able to come home to recover on Thursday. We will see how it goes. 9cm of her lower bowel removed, uterus and fallopian tubes.
I “have” to bring her a small bowl of spagbolgn tomorrow, no cheese, so fresh pasta is resting in the fridge, Already have the bolgn.
And yea, no “stoma” so far, just a catheter.
Man, I am tired
Fuck cancer.
eclare
@Jay:
Oh gosh that’s rough, a seven hour abdominal surgery. I’m glad she’s resting, I hope you can get some too. And fingers crossed she comes home on Thursday.
It cannot be said enough, fuck cancer.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@eclare: I would have said “blech” but I didn’t want to dishonor Ozark Hillbilly’s memory.
Jay
@eclare: Thank you.
She has some kinda morphine mix w/ Tynenol in a bag, I have an 8.1% beer. Not a good beer, (Cariboo is better, but none on the shelves), but a strong beer. She did fart, and filled her catheter bag, had semi solid food for supper, so, good signs.
MobiusKlein
Patience. Knee surgery is a long recovery, and gotta do the work over weeks and months.
And my rule of thumb on post surgery recovery is the 3rd day is the worst.
Kristine
@CaseyL: happy for the good news about Oscar.
Enzymer
Best wishes to Dad & Joelle. And to you John & sis. After recovery, judging by the folks I know that have had knee replacement, Joelle should be much more mobile than before. My 75 yo brother-in-law has had both knees replaced & is doing very well.
Enzymer
@sab:
@PsiFighter37: never say never. The citizenship exam may be more difficult for him at that age. Still lots of older immigrants do it all the time
Enzymer
@IdahoGoatGirl: agreed on the pumped system. Everyone says they work great
eclare
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
Awww…I bet he would have appreciated it.
eclare
@Jay:
Those are great signs!
Jay
https://www.wonkette.com/p/for-the-ceo-who-has-everything-how
Funny that.
PsiFighter37
@Jay: I cannot wait for Hochul to be primaried. My only worry is that it is going to be from someone pandering to the DSA types and not someone who is going to focus on competent governance and competent party leadership. That is my worry when it comes to the NYC mayoralty as well…someone like Jumaane Williams is absolutely not the answer, and there are already a few of those grandstanding leftist types in the primary as is.
The next couple of years in NY state politics should be interesting…Eric Adams has to be a goner (I would not be surprised if he switches party registrations before the primaries next year), and Hochul has managed to piss off everyone in the state. I am not convinced that Letitia James is the answer. It’s just frustrating that so many somewhat competent NY Dems (Spitzer, Eric Schneiderman, to name a couple examples, and Anthony Weiner, to name one who has screwed us over eternally) killed their political careers because they had serious personal shortcomings.
Ramalama
@Jay: fresh pasta for a 7 hour ordeal? Yeah baby.
Is this the first time since forever that T hasn’t been in pain?
Jay
Somebody needs to find out what this CEO 911 number is going to be and the SWAT the hell out of the zone.
We already learned with the CEO killing that the NYPD et al embrace “just us for us and the Wealthy” suck it and eat cake you commoners,
Ramalama
@Jay: swat it out with children’s voices crying and sounds of gun shots in the background.
Ramalama
@Ramalama: maybe that’s not what swatting is.
Jay
@Ramalama:
Months, but then they “banded” her lower bowels a couple of weeks ago, (killing nerves in the lower bowels), so most of the pain went away.
Aiding in that, is we got better “advise” on pain management, (and I forced that). T was trying to be a “hero” and stick to the 2 a day T3’s.
I got one of her better doctors to convince her* that you are supposed to take the pain meds, when it starts to hurt, (they take time to work and pain lessens their effects), not when you are rolling on the floor screaming in pain, all because they didn’t put “as needed” on the label. Pain generates pain.
“We” switcher her up to fast acting Tylenol 2’s and fast acting Advil, which made a big difference. The “banding” made all the difference.
*when I was 18, I fu”ed my back big time. I exercise to keep it strong, but when I get a “twinge” I take an OTC for back pain. I know what happens if I don’t. When we were in Kamloops and I was building a drift boat in the basement, I ignored the “twinge”. An hour later, I was laying at the base of the basement stairs, with 2 cats and 2 dogs trying to keep me warm on the cold concrete, until T came home, because that was as far as I could crawl.
Jay
@Ramalama:
Nope, SWATting is falsely calling in an “event” that “requires” a SWAT team to respond in force under urgent timelines. With VPN’s and phone spoofing you can do it from any where around the world, like the ruZZian’s do school bomb threats.
So you were right the first time, but rather than children crying, (we know they don’t really give a shit), it should be the CFO crying about how this “fake” armed intrusion will affect their bottom line.
eclare
@Jay:
Absofuckinglutely. I am out of words to express how sick this is. Put David Hogg on it.
eclare
@Jay:
Whenever I get a twinge I take aspirin, for some reason that works best for me. Same with allergies and Benadryl. I don’t wait until I want to stick a rake up my nose.
I’m glad T got better pain management and listened to you.
Jay
@eclare:
She listened to Dr. Vickus, not me. Must be that sultry Cosmopolitan French Accent. : )
Ksmiami
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Heathrow is the worst…
Ramalama
@Jay:
@eclare: Gonna pay attention to my twinges now. I guess I hold out before taking anything, which drives my wifey mad.
I have all kinds of back and hip stuff because walking my dog in Quebec meant falling down some. Fucking dog darted in front of my feet all the time. But slyly. Took me 8 bloody years to figure that out. Wasn’t just the ice or my raquettes. Before starting chiro I think I was walking around with a displaced hip (out of socket) for more than a year. Only when I got an xray with this new guy, did I get it. Dummy dummy me. I now have two different kinds of crampons for varieties of ice. And I had to put my dog down last week. Not sure how much walking I’ll be doing this winter, though I might start grabbing neighbor dogs just cuz.
Jay
Srry you had to help your dog cross the bridge.
It always gutted me every time.
My warranty expired quite a few years ago, and I kept ignoring the phone calls,
even the drones, trying to contact me about my warranty.
Just return the dogs when you are done with them.
Ohio Mom
@Ruckus: You look younger than your years because you walk every day for miles and miles.
Betty Cracker
I’ve been surprised by how little standardization there is on pain management across doctors. I had a (mercifully short) series of incredibly painful and anxiety-inducing treatments at one point, and my sister, a nurse anesthetist, was completely outraged by the managing physician’s stinginess with pain/anxiety meds. Then I had another doctor who was like, “here, have some oxy” when I reported far less uncomfortable effects from another treatment.
May all who suffer find relief!
Liminal Owl
@CaseyL: Great news about Oscar! I’m happy for you both.
Liminal Owl
@VeniceRiley: Thank you for the story! I occasionally like to tell about when I got hit in the head by a car. While standing on the sidewalk.
Best wishes to Joelle for speedy recovery.
I am scheduled for knee replacement surgery on January 15 (rescheduled from December 15 because of office error) and would be grateful for any good energy/thoughts sent this way. Especially dreading it because I’ve learned over the years that the vast majority of pain meds (including OTC) fall into one of two categories: either contraindicated by other medical issues, or completely ineffective. And doctors tend to scoff when I specify this, so mostly I remain unmedicated.
Chief Oshkosh
@CaseyL: Here’s hoping for the best. Cats are weird and sometimes they weirdly come back from injuries like this. I had a cat that lapped up some antifreeze in the neighbor’s driveway. Damned near killed him, but after surgical removal of part of his gut, he bounced back fine. A few years later, he had to have a leg removed due to cancer – did fine, literally “right out of the box” when we got him home. A couple years after that, he got run over by a car (front and back tires!). He looked like a cartoon — squished in the middle and bulbous at either end. The regular vet sent us to his former mentor, an older gent who, after much poking and prodding and long moments pouring over x-rays, announced “there ain’t nuthin’ wrong with this boy that some quiet time in a dark room won’t fix!” Two days later, the cat started moving his leg and tail, and within a week was wobbling around the house, demanding to be let back outside. That cat lived on several more years, and died suddenly but peacefully in his sleep one Sunday morning, laying next to our bed.
I always thought we should’ve renamed that cat “Lucky.”
Here’s hoping Oscar is just as lucky.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I brought Mr DAW home from the hospital late yesterday afternoon. He’s feeling really good. They say he had heart failure, which they define to mean fluid retained where it shouldn’t be because the heart doesn’t pump it out. They’ve changed and added meds. We’ll see how it goes.
One fun hospital moment for me: I stepped out of his room to ask about something, and the nurse, who was different that day, asked if I was the daughter. I laughed. Mr DAW (who is only 3 years older than me) rolled his eyes when I told him
TBone
@eclare: Josey is still holding his own! He still demonstrates great interest in everything, purs, walks around, lays in the sun, and rolls around lovingly in his favorite dirt patch next to the driveway (his every move is supervised as much as possible without too much obvious overbearing as he and we cherish freedom). His propensity toward affection has increased as well. He is eating very small meals at frequent intervals. Thank you for asking after him! I will tell him we are all rooting for him! His days may be numbered, but they are full.
And he still loves music.
TBone
@Dorothy A. Winsor: your attitude has buffeted me and I needed that, thank you for sharing!
Every scrap of good news is life affirming and I’m so glad you have some.
Jay
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I am glad.
rikyrah
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽for Family Cole
Kay
Democrats plan to beat Republicans in two years: completely capitulate to them.
They left every single person who was in charge of losing both chambers in 2024 in charge, so of course there’s no course change or indeed any changes of any kind.
I’m going to have to draw my own lines. I’ll now oppose Democrats and Republicans as they join hands to cut entitlements or cut federal spending to allow more tax cuts for billionaires. A vote to confirm RFK Jr. or Tulsi Gabbard is also a deal breaker. There are standards. This total capitulation approach doesn’t meet mine.
Kay
The plan is to work with Republicans to cut entitlements and federal spending and spend another 60 billion dollars on nonsense walls and ICE agent overtime then run on bipartisanship, that they got “results”.
There won’t be a Democratic base left. No one is going to do anything for these people. They clearly prefer the Republican base.
Chief Oshkosh
@Kay: If this is their “plan,” they are indeed hopelessly out of touch. As someone once said “Who asked for this? Nobody asked for this! That’s just weird!”
Kay
No one elected Democrats to gut federal spending, cut Social Security and Medicare and spend another 100 billion dollars on performative anti immigrant displays at the border and no one is going to reward them when they do these things. It’s like they wake up every morning and say “how can we make this Party weaker and show more absolute contempt for our own base today?”
Then they send out 5000 fundraising emails and call it a day’s work.
prostratedragon
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Heart failure’ll get you if you don’t watch out, but my experience is that it is manageable these days. My diagnosis was 10 years ago. With a good medication regime, including in my case treatment for severe sleep apnea, my ejection fraction worked its way up from near-disabillty to within the normal range, though being still under treatment I’m still considered a CHD patient. Here’s hoping Mr. DAW has similar or better experience.
schrodingers_cat
@PsiFighter37: He should still apply for citizenship. If he is over 80 he won’t even have to take the test.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Ksmiami: All I can say to that is: have you been through Atlanta, Charles de Gaulle, or Newark? I’ll take Heathrow over any of them, which I’ll grant is extremely faint praise.
Kay
@Chief Oshkosh:
Its Rep Susan Beldine’s plan. She loses with this strategy every two years but its soothing to Democrats so she doesn’t get fired.
She’s going to tell voters that Democrats helped Republicans complete the GOP agenda. They’re like the Republicans assistants. Subordinates. Maybe Elon Musk will let them attend… meetings!
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
I have the same problem, and have been putting off knee replacement for years as a result. I’m about an inch shorter these days, and my legs are quite bowed. When the weather changes, I sometimes have to hold on to the furniture to make it across the room. But I watched my husband make it through 2 replacements, making liberal use of oxy. He’s really happy that he had the surgery, but frank about the fact that he wouldn’t have made it through without the oxy. (While you’re in the hospital, ask for IV Tylenol. Oral Tylenol is useless, but IV Tylenol is the bomb)
My doc says he has other pain relief tools available, but I’m sceptical.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@TBone: @Jay: @prostratedragon: Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. I will admit that the words “heart failure” were scary, but he’s doing well. As a matter of fact, he’s getting ready to go to his bridge club.
Princess
@Kay: It’s what you predicted months ago. Biden tried something different, something that would help working people. He was deeply unpopular and the party got beat badly (yes, I know it was close. But given Trump’s well-known record it shouldn’t have been). So the party is retreating, scared, to the old ways, the old people.
Quinerly
@Chief Oshkosh:
I hope we can all wait until after 1/20 to see what actually happens.
Sounds like Trump was up at 3AM on Truth Social basically threatening Liz Cheney with arrest. I won’t go to his site. Just heard a snippet on MJ.
Also woke up to a discussion about how all the previously Blue border counties went Red this go around. People being interviewed who believe they will be deported still say they would support Trump if they could vote because of inflation, economy. “Trump is a businessman.” I don’t have time to look for links. This is just mindblowing.
I want to give it a few months after he is in power and see what he does before I slam my party and balil on the Dems.
I am very upset, though, about the committee leadership battles. I don’t like that Pelosi put her finger on the scale against AOC. Pelosi needs to retire. I know this has been discussed in 2 threads and hope not to hijack this thread……I really like this short, basic piece that outlines where we are on leadership.
https://newrepublic.com/article/189500/pelosi-aoc-oversight-committee-democrats
MomSense
@Kay:
Democrats are learning the wrong lessons from the election. This happens every damned time. People view what happened with the lens of their personal biases and preferences and extrapolate based on little to no data. I have my own opinions based on a fuckton of phone calls and some canvassing and I will want to reconcile those opinions once we get better data.
TS
@Liminal Owl:
Having had a number of friends with knee replacements (I am old), those with the best outcomes spent 1-2 weeks in rehab after the operation. Some of the hospitals in my part of the world have rehab facilities mainly staffed by physiotherapists, with a doctor overseeing the section. They use intensive therapy to help with the knee recovery. They next best option is to have therapy at home – usually if your insurance covers same or you can afford private treatments. I’m told the first week is the worst & things improve after that. Pain meds do help.
Most have said recovery from hip replacements is much easier. Fortunately I have had neither, so no first hand experience.
Once the pain is manageable, riding an exercise bicycle seems to be the exercise of choice for most of them to help get the knee into good working order. Again, no medical or first hand knowledge of same, just as seen with friends.
Omnes Omnibus
@Quinerly: I largely agree with this. Also, we can have an effect. Call your Dem Reps and Senators. Remember, they have been hearing what even people here have been saying, that these things are what the American people vote for. Let them know that a lot of us aren’t okay with that. The other option is to throw up our hands and say we’re fucked.
Kay
@Princess:
Maybe the collapse of the national party is good. All the energy and coherence is with Democrats at the state level. We have excellent governors (some).
This plan will kill any congressional Democrats chances in the 2028 Prez primary so that means we get either state level Democrats running or Biden appointees (Mayor Pete, etc)
They’ve been much better advocates for liberal values than anyone in Congress. The governors of WI, MI, CA and IL will lead the Party – not a bad result in terms of revitalization.
But this is the last federal guardrail that just collapsed, so things just got a little scarier. But “liberalism” will survive. We’re a minority but we’re a BIG minority. Someone is going to see that as an opportunity rather than a burden. Not DC Democrats, but someone.
Quinerly
@Omnes Omnibus:
Good Morning. I refuse to sit at a keyboard anymore so always on my phone hunting and pecking with one finger. You guys don’t get my best word flow because of it. I’m actually a good typist on a real keyboard.
I refuse to chase everything. And never in a 100000000000 years will I believe that the Dems are going to work with Repugs (that’s what my dad called them since they are Repugnant) to gut our social safety net. I hate to even see that bullshit posted here.
We all need to just wait to see how this comes down for the next 2 years. That’s what he’s got and I truly believe the pendulum will swing the other way, at least for the House. If he pushes for imprisoning Cheney et al there will be backlash from these middle of the road voters who swung his way this go around. I think the 2 impeachments and the court cases helped get him elected. It was too much for the average voter to comprehend. And, I’m not saying it all shouldn’t have been brought. I’m saying it probably helped us lose the election.
I do think he won mostly because of the border and the perceived bad economy. We have to figure out our messaging. Biden and the Dems are perceived as wanting to do nothing about the border. I live in a border state and am traveling in one. I hear it from just regular people everyday if I engage on the subject.
I just can’t get wrapped up in every big or little thing he does right now. He is his own worst enemy and likes chaos. If we have chaos, the Dems can come back.
What I really want to do is to get with some old atty friends and discuss preemptive pardons. I know where I lean and it isn’t popular here on BJ. (And, I believe Trump wants Biden to issue stacks of them). Now, wouldn’t it be cool to have a thread with just attys here discussing their thoughts? Certainly wasn’t my area of expertise. I do miss shooting the shit with my old atty crew in St. Louis. Mostly the old guys.
Have a great day. I’m off to the Desert Museum here in Tucson. I highly recommend the Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley. So glad I did the tour.
Liminal Owl
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)): Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, Tylenol is on the list of Very, Very Bad for my body. (Advil and the other NSAIDS are not quite as bad, but still harmful.)
@TS: Thanks also. I have not been offered rehab as an option—probably my insurance wouldn’t cover it, and out-of-pocket is out of the question. I will, however, be getting in-home PT for ten days (and then regular PT for weeks), and I have an exercise bike.
Joelle
@Liminal Owl: welp… it hurts more than expected. But manageable. Better each day. It’s a process.