Post 248 - November 14, 2020

Day 248…

Today feels like a strangely calm day.

Even on the news channels. CNN is doing everything they can to try and get me interested in the Master’s golf tournament, but I just can’t engage.

It’s like, as a country, the medication has just started to kick in.

The time after an operation can seem endless while you heal. You are given medication and therapies that move you forward step by step, but it isn’t a straight path. Sometimes it can feel like it’s one step forward then two steps back.

It was months after my prostate surgery before I felt normal again. There were things, thankfully minor, that changed for me forever, but I eventually got back to a completely normal way of life. I’ll spare you all the grisly details, but it was a slow slog at times.

The first time that I went back to work was when I went up to Providence in Rhode Island to check up on the tour of Jersey Boys.

Because of my surgery scars, I wasn’t allowed to lift more than ten pounds, so I had to pack a very light bag on wheels. Michael was dubious about my making the trip, but I figured out how to get all the way to Providence and back without ever having to lift the bag.

At the time, I lived in midtown on the second floor. That morning, Michael carried the bag out onto the street and kissed me goodbye. I wheeled the bag behind me all the way down to Penn Station and took the escalator down to the main concourse. I then took the escalator down to the track and wheeled the bag onto the train, leaving it down by my feet.

Once I got to Providence, I wheeled the bag off and took the escalator up to the street. From there I walked to the hotel and took the elevator up to my room. No lifting at any point.

I then did the same thing coming home. Michael met me outside of our building and carried the bag up the last flight of stairs.

It was several weeks before I could start to lift things on my own and many more weeks until my strength was fully back. During that time there were days that were good and days where it felt that I had lost much of what I had gained.

The last states have finally been called. North Carolina, as expected, went to the President. Arizona and Georgia went to the President-elect giving him a grand total of 306 electoral votes.

This is exactly the same spread that happened in the 2016 election only reversed. In this election five states flipped from red to blue - Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. No blue states flipped to red.

As I am writing this, there is a rally of the President’s supporters happening out on the streets of Washington D.C. The President’s motorcade appears to be driving through it.

They are all having difficulty accepting the inevitable. There is a “Stop the Steal” disinformation campaign spreading online. That it’s utterly baseless does not seem to be stopping it.

Yesterday, nine more of the President’s attempted lawsuits alleging fraud in the key states where he lost were thrown out. As of now, these cases aren’t getting anywhere near the Supreme Court. They aren’t even getting past the first step.

In regard to all of this, the President tweeted something that pretty much encapsulates the ridiculousness of his position. “For years the Dems have been preaching how unsafe and rigged our elections have been. Now they are saying what a wonderful job the Trump Administration did in making 2020 the most secure election ever. Actually this is true, except for what the Democrats did. Rigged Election!”

The President has now put his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in charge of overseeing the remainder of these cases.

I am sure that the good people of Saturday Night Live are already all over it.

In an address about the potential new vaccine from the Rose Garden, the President said, "Hopefully whatever happens in the future -- who knows which administration it will be -- I guess time will tell, but I can tell you this administration will not go to a lockdown."

Reality is seeping in. Slowly, but that’s one of the first times in recent days that he has even allowed a shred of doubt into anything he has said.

That doesn’t mean that he is ready to share intel with the President-elect. Far from it.

The White House coronavirus team is working on a distribution plan for the spring that they will not be a part of. They are not allowing the people who will actually be administering these plans to even be a part of the discussions.

During his address, the President said that every state will receive the vaccine except for New York. Governor Cuomo has been one of the strongest critics of this Administration. He has long said that he will not accept the word of the President that any vaccine is safe without getting it independently verified.

This isn’t the first time the President has tried to punish New York. Months ago, he announced that New Yorkers would not be able to renew their Global Entry statuses when they expire.

None of this will matter in a few weeks. The vaccine, if it is approved, is not going to be readily available until well into President-elect Biden’s term anyway. And New Yorkers don’t need to worry about the Global Entry ban either, the DHS lifted it not long after it was put in place.

The President has moved his permanent residence status to Florida. It appears, however, that his daughter and son-in-law intend to return to New York. Good luck with that.

New Yorkers are not at all a shy people. Anything on their mind? It gets yelled out at top volume. They are in for a rough time of it every single time they leave their multimillion-dollar Park Avenue home. I hope I run into them myself while I’m out walking. I have a few thoughts.

So, we heal.

And we wait.

The infection may flare up again, but the antibiotics will take care of it eventually. We can’t do any heavy lifting until January 20th but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty we can do in the meantime.

Given the past months, I think that today’s relative calmness is probably just a temporary lull.

This morning the tree was set up in Rockefeller Center Plaza for the holidays.

It is a bright and glorious day here in the city.

I, for one, am planning on going out into it to enjoy the weekend. I hope that you do too.