Last week, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) underwent stem cell treatment for cancer. He also has subsequently shown up wearing a protective face mask. As has been pointed out at length, Scalise voted against allowing stem cell research and was also outspoken about the use of masks, saying that "This isn't about science-it's about government control." Not surprisingly -- and even not inappropriately -- there has been a great deal of commentary calling Scalise a massive hypocrite. I look at it differently. I am very glad that Steve Scalise got stem cell treatment, and I hope he has a full recovery. Stem cell research has been a major advance for medical science, and the attention brought to it being used is critical. I'm also glad he's chosen to wear a mask. I think that wearing masks still is very important, and seeing him wearing one helps make that point. Indeed, Scalise could have rejected both options, and their messages would have been lost. In fact, if he avoided stem cell treatment and wearing a mask, and the worst happened as a result, it not only would have been tragic, but it also wouldn't have allowed for a convincing "If only he had…" argument, since the loss could have occurred for any number of reasons. So, again, I've very glad he got stem cell treatment and is wearing a mask. And I hope he recovers as added evidence of their benefits. I am also incredibly glad that both options were available to him. Because if Steve Scalise and most of his fellow-elected Republicans had had their way, stem cell research would have been made illegal. And masks wouldn't have been promoted for their safety value. And people would have died. Maybe tens of thousands, maybe far more. What I also hope is that after his stem cell treatment and use of a mask, Steve Scalise has a Scrooge-on-Christmas-Day moment and joyously learns from the three ghosts who visited him in the hospital. I hope he helps Tiny Tim get stem cell treatment so that the little child doesn't die. And I hope he calls out to a boy below his window to buy up the biggest box of masks to send to the Cratchit family. And I hope he surprises employees when they all get back to work the very next day and he gives them a big increase over minimum wage to help assist their struggling families. Keeping in mind that Scalise didn't learn anything about gun control after getting shot (and happily recovered), it's no guarantee that he'll learn anything here. But we'll see. And I hope. After all, he is again recovering now. Out of the hospital. And Yes!, the bed is his own. The room is his own, the high-backed chair is his own. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him is his own, to make amends in. "I will live in the Past, the Present and the Future!" Scalise repeated, as he scrambles out of his chair. "Time be praised for this! I say it on my knees!" And in the end, Scalise was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more. He became as good a friend, as good a congressman, and as good a man, as the good old capital knew, or any other good old capital, city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alternation in him, but he let them laugh, for he was wise now and rejoiced to see that, with good, others had their fill of laughter. And it was always said of him that Scalise knew how to keep the spirit of goodness well and pass scientific research legislation, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. And so, as Chiquita Brooks-LaSure -- current Administrator for Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act -- observes, God Bless Us, Every One!
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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