Sticking in My Craw

On top of all else, it snowed again last night!

What’s a craw anyway?

Craw [kraw]
noun
1. the crop of a bird or insect.
2. the stomach of an animal.
Idioms
3. stick in one's craw, to cause considerable or abiding resentment; rankle:
She said I was pompous, and that really stuck in my craw.

So then, what’s rankling me and/or wedged in the “crop” of my sparrow?

This to start—seen on one of the Facebook neurofibromatosis2 groups that I belong to (perhaps I'll be leaving this one too):

I just spoke with Dr X on the phone. George is out of surgery and it went great! He said they got the entire tumor out and his facial nerve is stimulating beautifully. He said the hearing test had horrible results but that the pre-op testing of his hearing was horrible as well, so we won't know how his hearing is until they test again later. Praise God!

“Praise God?" Yeah, go ahead and thank the god you believe in but, for fuck’s sake, how about giving the surgeons a little credit too, eh?

Next up, there’s the deranged asswipe, Matt McLaughlin of Huntington Beach, California, who should DIF. Repeatedly. He's the poster boy for why we need real, comprehensive mental health care in this country.

And then there’s the BS with the GOP Insane Clown Posse inviting Netanyahu to speak.

My hero, Senator Elizabeth Warren had this to say:

"I strongly support Israel, and I remain deeply concerned about the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon, which I discussed in detail with Prime Minister Netanyahu when we met in Jerusalem last November," Warren said in a statement, according to the Boston Globe. “It's unfortunate that Speaker Boehner’s actions on the eve of a national election in Israel have made Tuesday’s event more political and less helpful for addressing the critical issue of nuclear nonproliferation and the safety of our most important ally in the Middle East."

Representative Katherine Clark of Melrose:

“Speaker Boehner has poisoned a critical foreign policy discussion with partisan gamesmanship,” Clark said in a statement. “I will continue my full-throated support for Israel, but I will not be part of Speaker Boehner’s attempt to divide our Congress and country over one of our strongest allies.”

And Al Franken:

"This has unfortunately become a partisan spectacle, both because of the impending Israeli election and because it was done without consulting the administration,” Franken said. "I’d be uncomfortable being part of an event that I don’t believe should be happening. I’m confident that, once this episode is over, we can reaffirm our strong tradition of bipartisan support for Israel."

Giving the event a pass in advance were these forthright folk

Mister Charles P. Pierce, as usual, wraps things up brilliantly:

Republicans in the Congress, heedless of the principles on which their party stood 30 years ago, and on their own initiative, invite that same Benjamin Netanyahu to come to the Congress to give a speech aimed at undermining the president's policy toward Iran and sabotaging any deal. This, say these members of Congress, is necessary to maintain Congress's role in helping to manage the foreign policy of the country.

They were fine when it was Reagan doing a deal but not when there's a Democrat in charge. Got it.

A number of Democratic legislators -- including, from the Commonwealth (God save it!), Senator Professor Warren, Congresswoman Katherine Clark, and Worcester's own Congressman, Jim McGovern -- absented themselves from the chamber. They missed nothing more than a performance piece by a desperate politician hanging onto power by his fingernails.

This was about the "right" attempting to fuck up Obama's ability to do his job (sedition—it's what's for breakfast, lunch AND dinner!) AND about getting their buddy in unbridled hawkishness, Bibi reelected. This large scale dog and pony show had nada to do with making the world a better, safer place or protecting America. It was grandstanding, win-at-any-cost politics AKA business as usual for the Republican/Tea Party.

I was hoping, though not expecting, all Democrats to boycott this Look-I’m-A-Big-Treasonous-Swinging-Dick Show en masse. No such luck.

So, yeah, these are the things that wake me up in the middle of the night.