Len Zwelling

It does not state anywhere in the Constitution that the Senate has to hold hearings on presidential nominees to the federal judiciary. Rather it is with the Senate’s “advice and consent” that these presidential appointments take effect. It is the Senate that has decided to hold hearings on nominees to the executive and judicial branches and take a vote on confirmation.

When I was young, I was sure about a lot of things. As I grew older, I became less sure about many things. Usually though, as I matured, I would think a problem through, sift through the available evidence, and come to a conclusion. After all, it was how I was taught to be a doctor.

In an election season like this one, any blogger is going to get a lot of feedback. I am no exception. From what I am reading in my email, there are two big concerns influencing readers and they haven’t gotten enough ink. Until last week.

As far as I can make out, the coronavirus pandemic began in Wuhan, China in December or so of 2019. The precise origins of the virus are still not known (see above article). Was it manufactured or did it jump to humans from bats? Or both? No one is sure.

I consider myself a middle-of-the road voter. I have voted for both Republicans and Democrats in the past and will this Election Day as well. I never vote straight ticket and even if I wanted to vote straight ticket, I would take the time to check each box.

I write this paragraph only to put into context my support for the whole Trump-Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court dance.

It’s official. It’s not the Chinese virus any more. It’s the Republican virus. The news footage of the GOP elite getting together on the White House lawn to celebrate Amy Coney Barrett without masks or social distancing has revealed the source of what is starting to look like a super spreader event that included the president, the first lady, a few senators, the president of Notre Dame and Chris Christie.

My email was active this morning, Wednesday, September 30, the night after the “Cacophony in Cleveland” known as the first Presidential Debate of 2020. Texts were coming in during the debate. People stopped watching it. They couldn’t stand it.

That’s right, friends, there is no Constitutional mandate that your vote for president needs to be counted at all. It has been by convention that the state legislatures have translated the popular vote into the Electoral College numbers. This is not written in stone.

This may well determine who wins. Who actually cares about who wins the presidential race and who does not. You would think everyone cares, but after the debate on Tuesday night, does anyone?

We are about to see the worst of humanity as well as the worst of the American political system following the untimely death of one of my personal heroines, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was a pioneer for women and a Jewish woman who represented the best of America in every way.