Commentary
Such is the attitude of American malehood’s favorite band, T-Rump and the Supremes. It’s hard to choose the most ludicrously lewd among the too live crew of all those ammotextuals. You know them, the true believers who rule that anything non-existent in 1789 is unconstitutional.
Thus presages the demise of Social Security, Medicare and U.S. Air Force.
MAGA moonhowlers are already in Mitch the Ditch’s court system trying to “prove” that just about anything but tariffs and the army are not the purview of the federal government.
I took serious heat for saying that the appointment of Neil Gorsuch would become Poison Annie’s Revenge (Barbwire, 2-7-17, 7-6-2022).
Neil’s mom, Anne Gorsuch Burford, was appointed by King Ronald the Vague to head the EPA and destroy it from within. One of her aides went to prison for perjury. Annie resigned in disgrace. Sure enough, no less than Justice Gorsuch hisself wrote the majority decision gutting environmental protection.
Sometimes I hate it when I’m right.
When T-Rump nominated beer-buster Brett Kavanaugh to join the Supreme Court kegger, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford had the temerity to publicly call him out for trying to rape her back in high school.
It was Clarence the Menace vs. Anita Hill part deux.
Spineless Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, refused to make eye contact with Dr. Ford during her testimony. You remember him, right? Like Mitch the Ditch, he accused Trump of treason for Jan. 6 and now kisses T-Rump’s tush.
The good ole boys even called in an independent killer lawyer to grill Dr. Ford because they didn’t want to be caught on camera as were the retros of Clarence’s day.
Dr. Ford and her family had to go into hiding and were under threat for years. Kavanaugh’s defense about the incident was basically “I like beer.”
The law was on his side. There’s nothing in that there 1789 Constitution thing about sexual assault. (See “50 shades of rape”, Barbwire 10-3-2018).
Dr. Blasey Ford just published a memoir of her traumas, “One Way Back.” She received more than 100,000 letters of support from all 50 states and 47 countries. A huge number were from other survivors. Speaking of which…
TURNABOUT IS FAIR PLAY. Czar T-Rump forced his way into E. Jean Carroll’s pants. (It was in a dressing room, so what’s the problem. right?) Now, she’s getting into his pants where it hurts him most. His wallet, for over $83 million. He actually found the P.T. Barnum Insurance Company to post his bail for $91 million so he could appeal.
Ms. Carroll’s not the only one who finds the Orange Crusher’s expandos so attractive. Alas, he can’t find any turkey to guarantee the $464 million he owes the State of New York for fraud and other minor infractions.
But T-Rump never takes anything lying down. He’s bringing back ex-con Paul Manafort to run his campaign of revenge and redemption. You know, the big fund raising promotion to sell tennis shoes and glom millions for his legal fees. Too bad Brett Kavanaugh is otherwise engaged.
MORE INSTITUTIONAL SEXUAL VIOLATION. Gambia, arguably the jumping off point of many and perhaps most of the slave ships carrying Africans to the “new” world, is going back to the future. They want to be the first to repeal their largely unenforced ban on female genital mutilation. Well, there’s nothing about genital cutting in our Constitution.
PROMOTION AND DEMOTION. The Reno Gazette-Journal demoted non-partisan Marsy Kupfersmith to the Republican Party. In its listing of county commission candidates, the Sparks senior citizen advocate was listed among GOP hopefuls.
That’s a correctable offense. But what is appointed incumbent Clara Andriola to do? “Andriola ousted from Washoe County GOP,” the paper headlined on Feb. 1.
But the moonhowlers can’t do that. They had no power to invalidate her party registration, so ousted from what? The party hierarchy recruited one of their own to “primary” Andriola in June.
Meanwhile, the non-partisan Mrs. Kupfersmith automatically advances to the November ballot. The RGJ has not printed corrections.
MYTHOLOGICAL MEDICAL COST CONTROL. The former Sparks Family Hospital, long ago renamed Northern Nevada Medical Center, just opened an emergency room in southeast Reno. It joins two others around the little Valley of the Mucky Truckee in Spanish Springs and northwest Reno. The latter will soon be joined by a “specialty care hospital.”
NNMC also recently opened another full-service hospital in the shadow of Rattlesnake Mountain in the southeast.
The new ER includes all kinds of the latest electronic gadgets. Given the corporate welfare explosion of this little town, it’s probably all well and good. Except no one’s watching the store.
Sparks Family Hospital was approved by state regulators thru political juice in the 1980s. (See “How Renown stole our county hospital,” Barbwire 3-16-2022) So let’s take…
A BAD TRIP DOWN AMNESIA LANE. The Reagan administration was riding high in the 1980s, preaching the gospel of deregulation. The Nevada Legislature had established the Nevada Health Systems Agency to try to control runaway health care costs. The industry made sure their minions killed it after five years. The last thing the NHSA executive director did before he blew town was authorize the founding of Sparks Family Hospital (now Northern Nevada Medical Center).
The facts were clear. A third hospital would only increase everyone’s costs based on this valley’s population. Didn’t matter. The Nevada Legislature passed AB289 in 1987 in another attempt to reduce costs. A report to the 2005 session showed it worked. Lawmakers paid off campaign contributions by killing that, too.
Early on, Sparks Family tried to go into the profitable MRI business. State regulators said it would do nothing but increase health care costs. So the hospital formed a group of doctors to invest in an MRI center connected to the hospital next door.
I’m not arguing the need for these new facilities.
I just remember the words of consumer advocate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA: “Capitalism without regulation is tyranny.”
Vaxx up, stay safe, pray for Ukraine and almost 100 other currently war-torn lands.
Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno.
Andrew Quarantino Barbáno is a 55-year Nevadan and editor of NevadaLabor.com, CesarChavezNevada.com and MississippiWestnv.org/ Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Tribune since 1988. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us
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