Supreme Court
“Vote shamers” who argue for voting for their presumed “lesser of two evils,” that is, Joe Biden, based on the opening on the Supreme Court created by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death,[1] are having their argument rendered moot as the Republicans appear able and willing to ram through Donald Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, before election day.[2]
Anne Gearan, Seung Min Kim, and Josh Dawsey, “Trump announces Judge Amy Coney Barrett is his pick for the Supreme Court,” Washington Post, September 26, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-barrett-supreme-court/2020/09/26/4a417d60-000e-11eb-b555-4d71a9254f4b_story.html
Admiral Janeway
I’ve been thinking a lot about my dearest cat, Admiral Janeway (figure 1), who, as they put it, crossed over the rainbow bridge, on February 9, 2018.[3]
Fig. 1. Admiral Janeway, photograph by author, October 30, 2017.
I remember waking up that morning, seeing that she was watching me. We gazed into each other’s eyes for the longest time, which was unusual and should have tipped me off. It didn’t of course, and I also didn’t think anything of her seeming unusually spry as we got up. Again, this was a clue I missed entirely. I went about my usual routine, I think her tail might have brushed my calf as I sat at my desk catching up on email and the day’s events, and then I went off to work.
My mother called sometime that evening. She had found Admiral Janeway in the yard, seemingly asleep but somehow slightly awry (I assume rigor mortis). My cat had likely found a sunny spot and gone to sleep there. I have been told since that this is how kidney failure gets you.
I have her ashes. They are to be spread with my own, assuming I manage to finish paying for it, at a redwood tree near Point Arena, California.
But damn, I miss her.
- [1]David Benfell, “On ‘vote shaming,’” Not Housebroken, September 21, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/09/21/on-vote-shaming/↩
- [2]Anne Gearan, Seung Min Kim, and Josh Dawsey, “Trump announces Judge Amy Coney Barrett is his pick for the Supreme Court,” Washington Post, September 26, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-barrett-supreme-court/2020/09/26/4a417d60-000e-11eb-b555-4d71a9254f4b_story.html; Paul Kane and Rachael Bade, “Democrats largely powerless to stop GOP from confirming Trump’s court choice,” Washington Post, September 21, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/senate-trump-court-democrats/2020/09/21/12295b82-fc1c-11ea-9ceb-061d646d9c67_story.html↩
- [3]David Benfell, “Admiral Janeway, rest in peace,” Not Housebroken, February 9, 2019, https://disunitedstates.org/2018/02/09/admiral-janeway-rest-in-peace/↩