After complaining about having an upset tummy, Lil' S1 threw up in his bed in the wee hours of the morning today. He seems to be doing well now, but it's like -- ugh -- why can't we all just get healthy?! Then to make matters worse, S and I both ended up going to the doctor yesterday. She has a foot infection, and I have a shoulder injury. S's malady is probably more serious in the short term; mine is probably more serious in the long run. S got a blister on the bottom of her foot that got infected somehow and caused the upper half of the sole of her foot and middle toe to swell up. It's causing her quite a bit of distress -- it's painful, and it's hard for her to walk -- but she's soldiering on. It's the type of thing that should clear up in a few days with doses of antibiotics, but the first drug the doctor proscribed didn't work, so he gave her something new today. It's a bit worrisome that her body didn't respond to the initial dose of antibiotics, but if the new ones work as expected, she will be completely cured in a few days.
I, on the other hand, am probably in for a long stint of rehabilitation, possibly surgery. There is no way to really diagnose the problem without an MRI, and insurance companies typically don't pay for MRIs unless they absolutely have to, so I have to try physical therapy first. It's probably for the best, anyway, as a doctor once said to me "start with the simplest treatments and work you way up from there." I likely have an injured rotator cuff, and if it's not torn then physically therapy will fix it. If it is torn then either I will need surgery or I will need to live with it. Being that I expect to live at least another 40 years, and I want to do things like throw a ball without discomfort during those 40 years, I will almost certainly opt for surgery. Plus I've had good experience with surgery. In 1995, I tore my meniscus and for months it nagged at me to the point that I forgot what it felt like to be normal. I kept pushing back surgery despite the doctor offering it as an option because I wanted it to get better "naturally," which just wasn't happening. Finally, I relented and had the operation, and within two weeks I was fully recovered and my knee felt amazing. I remember thinking: "Damn! Why didn't I do this weeks ago?!"
My current injury is not putting me in excruciating pain, and I can still lift things (weirdly, rotator cuff injuries don't effect your strength at all), but it's limiting my movement, and worse, it's uncomfortable and annoying. I'm pretty sure I injured it during an exercise class at the gym, but I don't remember anything specific. I just remember it bothering me a little bit. And then like a moron I didn't heed the warning my body was giving me, I didn't change my routine and go easy on it, and so now two months later it's only gotten worse. Yeah, duh. Well, at least now I have a reason for why I've been losing in racquetball. It might not having anything to do with it, but that's my reason all the same.
In other news, I've been loving the Republican primaries. Sure, I won't be so entertained if one of them actually becomes president, but I've blocked that possibility from my head for now. I'm just enjoying the farce. And weirdly I'm rooting for Trump. Actually, that's not that weird because although Trump is the biggest demagogue of them all, he's also the most unpredictable, which means there is a possibility he won't toe the "Conservative Establishment" line if he actually did become president. Cruz and Rubio are serious about their disastrous proposals -- Cruz because he's extremely religious and ideological and Rubio because I think he will literally (and I mean that literally) do and say whatever will further his career in the Republican party. But Trump, who knows? Trump seems to crave adulation above everything else, so maybe he would be a more centrist president to maximize his popularity. (The Arnold Schwarzenegger analogy has been tossed around quite a bit, but I don't think it's very apt. Schwarzenegger was never as despicable or idiotic as Trump.) Also, I could see Trump doing the opposite of what his party wants just because he can -- just to flex his muscle and prove he's in charge. But then again, I could also see him starting a nuclear war. So, you know...
Then there is the other thing about Trump: I think he will get smoked by Clinton in a general election (sorry, Bernie Bros, I like him too, but Hillary's got this). There is a lot of talk about Trump fracturing the party and of a third party joining the race and all that, and maybe that happens, but even if we assume most Republicans do eventually accept Trump (as I suspect is the case -- we're already seeing it happen), he still has an uphill battle. Think about this way: In order for Trump to win a general election against Clinton either (a) he would have to get many more votes than Mitt Romney got in 2012, or (b) Hillary would have to get many fewer votes than Obama.
It's tough to see how (a) happens. Trump is overwhelmingly popular with Caucasians, but Romney already got nearly 60% of the Caucasian vote in 2012, which is already beyond what we would "expect" (white people lean Republican 50%-40%). Is there a huge group -- a clan, if you will -- of untapped whiteys who will vote for Trump that didn't turn out for Romney? Perhaps, but it seems strange that all these new white Trump fans wouldn't have taken the opportunity to vote against the black guy in 2012. Also, it seems unlikely that they are living in swing states, and not in the South where a Republican will win no matter what. And even if he does bring out a bunch of new racist white voters, he is still despised by a lot of white people who voted for Mitt Romney (e.g., Mitt Romney). It's hard for me to see how he does significantly better than Romney with white people. And without white people what has Trump got?
As for (b), this is a legit fear of mine. Clinton is not as well-liked as Obama, and, if my Facebook feed is any indication, she is downright loathed by many Sanders supporters. But if she wraps up the nomination relatively soon, which she might, I have to think (hope (pray)) that Bernie lovers will get over their hurt feelings and vote against Trump in the fall. Negative partisan is actually much stronger than partisanship, and if ever there was a candidate for liberals and minorities to rally against, it's Donald Drumph. I mean, what percentage of the black vote is Hillary going to get? I think all but three -- not three percent, I mean all but three people. Ben Carson, Herman Cain, and Stacey Dash could very well be the only black voters in the entire country who vote against Hillary -- and honestly I'm not even completely sure Herman Cain is still alive.
Look, nobody knows what is going to happen for sure. It could very well be that I'm missing something and that the Trump Train just cannot be stopped, and we are going to be the laughing stock of the world in a few short months. But it could also be that Trump is the catalyst that severely damages the Republican party as we know it. That is in play also. (Or we end up somewhere in the middle of these two scenarios, which is the most likely outcome.) And since I extremely dislike all of the candidates in the Republican party, rooting for chaos and destruction is a rational course of action.
Alright, I'm tapped out on political talk. Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment