• Home
  • Blog
  • Contact
The Screaming Moderate

Of strokes and pillow talk

10/27/2022

2 Comments

 

Two news stories caught my eye in the past couple of days. The Pennsylvania U.S. Senate debate and the story about the My Pillow Guy and Trump supporter, Mike Lindell.

First, Pennsylvania. I won’t even begin to try to dissect the response Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz gave on abortion. That’ll be torn apart enough but let me just say, as a man, I don’t want “local political leaders” involved in a decision on whether a woman gets an abortion. It’s not only wrong, it’s icky to even think about -- I picture a local politician in the room with the doctor and the woman. I trust the woman making the decision, with medical advice from her doctor.

What caught my eye more in that debate is the criticism Democrat John Fetterman is getting for his "awkward" performance, brought on entirely by the after-effects from the stroke he suffered earlier this year.

Let me get personal, I’ve had two strokes, one when I turned 50 that caused no noticeable damage but was a warning about the second stroke, which came five years later. That one, while far from as serious as the one Fetterman suffered, did come with after effects that required speech therapy. I, and any other stroke sufferer I’m sure, can empathize with what he’s going through.

In my case, after a couple of days in the hospital to be monitored, I was released and told I needed speech therapy. I wasn’t sure why since my thoughts were clear as they were the day before I had the stroke. My thinking and thought process were exactly the same. But, I was told I wasn't articulating my clear internal thoughts well to others.

I stumbled over words, forgot words and, when shown flash cards of a horse or a house, in some cases I couldn't pull the word from my memory to identify it. Separate from my speech, I also got exhausted mid-day, so tired I needed to rest and couldn’t work. 

I didn’t go back to work for about six months as I recovered and did the speech therapy. Six months. And I had what is called a mild stroke. It could have been far worse and I’m grateful that even today, almost 20 years later, the only remnants I have from my stroke is a weaker than it was right hand, and difficulty sometimes swallowing.

Fetterman’s was more serious than mine but he looks good and is keeping up a busy campaign schedule. I hurt each time I saw him struggle or repeat words when he responded to answers the other night. But he told us that would be the case. And, clearly, it was the case. Fetterman is a big man physically and a clear presence when he enters a room with his size and his tattoos.

I have no doubt his struggles with clear and easy speaking these days is frustrating to him. It sure was for me. But, after my speech therapy and recovery, I was fine. With work. He’s doing his recovery work in full view and and he is being judged by it from voters and pundits.

So, disagree with his positions on issues, but don’t doubt that his mind is clear and thinking well even though, temporarily, he has difficulty clearly speaking his thoughts sometimes.

The other story that caught my eye is a New York Times piece today on the My Pillow Guy and his continuing not only to spread conspiracy theories especially about the 2020 election but other crazy thoughts. Oh, and continuing to sell pillows.

Let’s remember, Lindell is a very good salesman and marketer, just like his BFF Donald Trump. He is also an equally effective liar. But that’s another story. There was a time that My Pillow advertised itself as being able to cure insomnia and other health conditions. The company was sued over the claims and ultimately settled a lawsuit for misleading advertising.

In those days it was mainly through one of those late-night infomercials, starring Lindell, that his product was sold. You remember them. A pitchman (Lindell) in front of an “audience” that ooo’s and ahhh’s over his pitch and video inserts showing, of course, very happy customers.

Consumer Reports tested the pillow. It found that it was a good pillow but also learned that  “our panel of sleep testers noted that they could feel the foam chunks when sleeping on the pillow, a somewhat unpleasant sensation.”

It also found of the premium and regular versions that “after we placed an evenly distributed 225-pound weight on each of these pillows in a room set to 98.6° F (to mimic body heat) and 80 percent humidity for 96 hours, neither one  was great at regaining its shape, which means you may have to replace a My Pillow often.”   

Don’t get me wrong, it sounds like it’s a fine pillow, but not unlike other pillows you can buy for less. If you bought one and it works, great! Mostly, though, it’s marketing.

My Pillow sells for $49.95 but, good marketer that he is, Lindell offers “promo codes” that can reduce that to $19.95.

Lindell also sells conferences around the country not on pillows but on politics where conspiracy theories are shared, and I’m guessing, expanded on. These sometimes are broadcast by niche networks.

In one such presentation, the Times reports, Mr. Lindell “bounded on stage and said, 'by the way, if you’re watching from home use that promo code: Truth45.'”

That wasn’t political talk, it was Pillow talk.



2 Comments

It's not your daddys's GOP anymore, and never will be again

10/7/2022

2 Comments

 
If you ever entertained any notion that the Republican Party will endure in a democracy, tell me what you’re smoking, please.

As an example, Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s most recent embarrassing issue to cope with is twofold:


  1. A woman claimed to have an affair with him and he paid for an abortion despite saying he is anti-choice no matter what. Walker denied both claims in strong terms, kinda.
  2. After his denials, the woman (unidentified by Daily Beast which broke the stories) said, in effect: Oh yea? Well I also had his baby. Walker denied this too and leads questioners to believe he has no idea who the woman is.

(If I were advising Walker I would tell him: If the allegation is untrue, ask for a DNA test. That will prove who's being honest here.)

It is only the most recent example of the Republican Party rather than seek the truth, accepts his denials as facts. Now, maybe he’s correct about the abortion and the child.  DNA would tell us.

The Republican Party’s response: We believe Herschel!!!

Translation: We really want the Senate majority and he is key to that goal.

There is a series of examples of the GOP’s drifting, uh, running away from its traditional views. The biggest one is former President Donald Trump’s claims that the last election was stolen from him. Most Republican elected officials – and GOP candidates for federal, state and local offices in November –either buy into that lie or say they do to stay in Trump’s good graces and to not alienate his base voters. Polls show, too, that rank and file Republicans think the election was stolen. Trump's election fraud lie is real to a vast majority of Republicans, despite dozens of court cases (some decided by Trump-appointed judges) and recounts showing Biden did win.

Now, you may think that once Trump is gone, however that happens, from the political discussion, the party will return to the Republican Party of old – one whose policy positions you may have disagreed with but you felt was honestly reflecting those core beliefs.

Core beliefs have disappeared from the party. The only core belief is that Trump won the election and Joe Biden is an illegitimate president. Trump and his troops have been so good at pushing that lie that 70 percent of Republicans have bought into it.

Some may find it hard to believe that democracy (lower case) is at stake in the next election and the one after that. But, it is. All Trump-endorsed candidates this year support his lie about the election. Many of those candidates are running for governor or secretary of state, offices that, depending on your location, can affect the denial of legitimate election results.

Democracy truly is on the line and that’s not hyperbole.

If you study autocrats in history, their path to power is the same one Trump is travelling – he is the leader of a push toward destroying American institution including free and fair elecdtions.

Even if you never were concerned about the integrityu of the Supreme Court, that belief has to be rattled, at least, now. 

That belief is in question these days by many people after the court's reversal of the 50-year-old precedent of saying abortion is a choice that women can make.

It no longer is a choice and some states already have gone so far as to restrict abortion even more and impose penalties on medical professionals helping a woman through her decision – which may put her life at risk.

This is the America we live in and it can, and likely will be a more restrictive America over time. Not only is the right to choice in the past, they are banning books too.

And no Republican leader is speaking out against those things. None. And you know damn well many of those leaders, in their heart, don’t agree with banning abortion or books. But they do because they say nothing in opposition, fearful of Trump’s wrath and the base of voters he truly controls.

The Republican Party not only doesn’t exist today, and I don’t see how it comes back in the future. Among the leaders of the party are Florida Gov. (and potential presidential nominee) Ron DeSantis, Senate GOP election chairman Florida Sen. Rick Scott, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and, though he has no formal party role, Tucker Carlson of  Fox television.

The phrase “craven politician” truly describes these “leaders.“ They do not portend a return to traditional Republicanism in the future.

Indeed, they portend a further diminishing of the old Republican Party long after Trump disappears.
2 Comments

    RSS Feed

     
    Follow @bjaycooper

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013

    B. Jay Cooper

    B. Jay is a former deputy White House press secretary to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He also headed the communications offices at the Republican National Committee, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Yale University. He is a former reporter and is the retired deputy managing director of APCO Worldwide's Washington, D.C., office.
    He is the father of three daughters and grandfather of five boys and one girl. He lives in Marion, Mass.

powered by bjaycooper.com