Although not intended this way when I wrote my article yesterday, today we have another "Things I Don't Get" musing.  Not getting Ron Johnson is one thing -- but Republicans not supporting the Covid Emergency Relief Bill is another.  I just don't begin to get it.

To be clear, I get Republicans not wanting to spend money to help the general public in need.  That's sort of their official branding.  And I also get some Republicans, maybe even most Republicans, choosing to commit political suicide in order to please their base whatever the consequences.  And I even get some Republicans, maybe even most Republicans, not wanting to help Americans during a pandemic because that would be admitting that the coronavirus exists and they've been deadly wrong for the past year.  I get all that.

What I don't get is basically ALL Republicans in Congress refusing to support a bill that 76% of Americans support -- and that 60% of Republicans support!  And which would help all Americans -- Republicans included -- with health measures and assistance for opening schools and support for local businesses and aid to states, but more importantly by giving every American household $1,400.  Giving away money to constituents is Politics 101, the easiest thing a politician has to do in office.  Especially when 76% of Americans think this is A Really Good Idea, including 60% of your own party.  

And again, I get some or many Republicans not wanting to do this because they're Republicans and that's how they roll.

What I don't get is (as far as I can tell) Every Single Republican in Congress NOT SUPPORTING this Emergency Relief Bill -- that gives $1,400 in free money to voters -- in the middle of probably the biggest crisis the country has faced in 100 years.  Every single Republican in Congress.

And to be clear about something:  most issues in politics are very subjective and wide open to debate, full of gray areas, so even when they generally support something, the public has a barrage of conflicting opinions thrown at them, trying to make sense of the detailed specifics at stake.  But pretty much the one thing the public grasps pretty well is when the government sends them $1,400.  They may be uncertain about some of the nuance in aid to schools and businesses and states and coronavirus distribution -- but they absolutely get receiving $1,400.

These are professional politicians at the highest level.  They absolutely know what the TV ads will look like in two years.  Democrats will run ads that say -- we gave you each $1,400.  And money to help open schools.  And money to help open businesses.  And money to your state to help pay for services they needed.  And money to help organize the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine.  And our opponent voted against that, against all of that.  And every Republican voted against all that.  Every one of them.  So, vote for the party that gave you $1,400 and money to help make your life better and normal again and helped organize the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine that helped save your lives.

That's what the ads will be.  Of course, it's what the ads will be.  Republicans know that's what the ads will be.  And still, it appears that ALL Republicans are against the EMERGENCY relief bill.  And against giving voters $1,400.  Every single Republican in Congress.


And we haven't even touched on the insurrection to overthrow the government, and 147 Republican House members voting in basic support of that, and 43 Republican Senators voted to acquit Trump who incited it -- and who lost the White House and left office with around a 39% approval.

No, for now, this is just about the Emergency Relief Bill and giving away $1,400 to those in need during a disaster. 

Yet there was Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) blasting this Emergency Relief Bill as being so socially -- or, I guess, communistic -- that it was "left of Lenin."  And all that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could do was say on the Senate floor with total bewilderment that he didn't know what in the world Mr. Kennedy was referring.  "Left of Lenin???" he asked.  A bill that helps schools and businesses and medical workers and states and the health of the nation??

So, it's sort of like Chuck Schumer doesn't get it either.

I have the sense that Democrats would like to have Congressional support on this Emergency Relief Bill from Republicans because that would be very good for the nation -- but that Democrats are perfectly fine if Congressional Republicans don't support it, because a) they know they have Republican support from Republican officials on the state level, and Republican support of the public, and b) that gives them free sailing in the 2022 mid-term elections.  See above.

I absolutely get the concept of Republicans acting irresponsibly and not helping people in need.  But what I don't get is ALL Republicans committing political suicide by ALL of them refusing to pet puppies while giving you $1,400 for letting them.  Every single Republican in Congress.  They didn't even apparently get together and say, "Y'know, this is a Really Bad Look for the entire party not supporting this.  So, how's about we let two or three of you who represent purple states or purple districts vote 'Yes," because that will be good for you, and good for us as a party because then we won't be able to be painted as ALL being against it."  But they couldn't even do that.  Not one single Republican in Congress.  I don't get it.

By the way, if for some reason in the end two or three Republicans do vote for the Emergency Relief Bill, that still doesn't really help the Republican Party.  Because it will still be their overwhelming brand, and because all those other Republicans who voted "No" will still have to run on that record and face that onrushing ad campaign they know is coming.  It's just that voting unanimously against it -- every single Republican in Congress -- makes branding them oh-so much easier.

That today's Republican Party has become fascist is one thing.  That the entire Republican Party in Congress doesn't want to do the brain-dead easiest thing for any politician to do which 60% of their own party supports -- and 76% of the entire nation -- and which helps helps in proving EMERGENCY relief during the nation's biggest crisis in 100 years is another matter entirely.

I don't get it. 

​But maybe that "brain dead" reference is a good place to start.

And here is Bob Hoskins in that 1982 National Theatre production.  I don't have any video of him singing "Sue Me," but this is from the cast album I have.  He wasn't especially known to American audiences at the time, so honestly I didn't realize that he had even been in the production.  It wasn't until years later when I read about it and then checked the details. 

To be clear, he wasn't unknown.  He'd made The Long Good Friday, and a couple of excellent PBS Masterpiece Theatre productions -- Pennies from Heaven and Flickers.  But I hadn't seen any of those yet, and it wasn't until four years later that he made Mona Lisa and two more years after than, in 1988 when he had his big, star-making breakthrough in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

His interpretation of the song -- most definitely a comic one -- is an offbeat mixture of some lovely sweetness and explosions into pent-up anger.  And it's certain fun to hear him.  And great to have seen him -- even if I didn't realize it at the time...  He performs it opposite Julia McKenzie, who won an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.  (Some viewers may recognize her for playing 'Miss Marple' in -- for my taste -- a dismal reimaging of the character that the producers attempted for a later revival on PBS Masterpiece Mystery, far outpaced by the version done with Joan Hickson 20 years earlier.  But all that's a separate matter.)  For now, here's the point of it all --, 

As a bonus, there is at least some video of that 1982 National Theatre production, and here's an eight-minute montage.  Unfortunately there no footage of Bob Hoskins signing, though he does have an extensive dialogue with with 'Big Julie' than comes around the 4:15 mark, in case you want to jump to it.

By the way, this production was a huge hit -- it ran for four years, which is around 1,600 performances.  The original Broadway production ran for 1,200 performances, about three years.  Also of note, a year into the run Julia McKenzie left the show and was replaced by Imelda Staunton, who has won four Olivier Awards -- including Best Actress in a Musical for Gypsy and Sweeney Todd, and will be playing Queen Elizabeth in the next incarnation of The Crown.  ​Just more Fun Facts to throw into the mix...

I'm not terribly interested to get too deeply in the pathetic sickness that is Ron Johnson, but it's hard to let him pass without at least mention.  Certain shameful people I at least get -- the Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham, Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes, Josh Hawley, Louie Gohmerts of the world.  They're either mean or crazy or boot-licking lackeys or fascist, or panderers,, or idiots, or some combination of the above.  But I just don't get Ron Johnson.  

What I most don't get is that he knows he's up for re-election in Wisconsin in 2022.  And somehow, on top of everything else he's said and done -- like traveling to Moscow over the Fourth of July -- he seems to think it's a winning gambit to suggest that the insurrection mob that tried to overthrow the U.S. government and five people died was just a sort of festive party.  To be clear, I wouldn't get that at any time -- but as a foundation to a re-election campaign, it's just out of my realm of grasping.  Especially in a state that is not solid red, but purple shading to blue.  And voted for Joe Biden in 2020.  And gives Sen. Johnson a very low favorability.

Now, in fairness to Johnson, it possible that he has decided not to run for re-election, which has been discussed, given his deep unpopularity and vulnerability in the state.  And if so, that strips away one layer of the Enigma that is Ron Johnson.  But since that's just the covering veneer, it still leaves the actual "I don't get Ron Johnson" ball that rolls around directionless.

Also in fairness to Ron Johnson, it's possible that when he described the mob insurrectionists as being "festive," he was just referencing the classic episode of Seinfeld that dealt with "Festivus," the holiday invented by George Costanza's father Frank for those who don't want to celebrate the traditional winter holidays.  "Festivus for the rest of us" was his slogan, where you grab the Festivus pole and rant about all the things that make you angry.  The more I think of it and want happen with the "festive" (tm Ron Johnson) insurrectionist mob, the more I think that could make sense, and he just misspoke.  Because no other explanation works.

On MSNBC yesterday, former Senator Claire McCaskill said that she doesn't like to talk out of school about the Senate in terms of what's behind closed doors.  But she said she sort of felt compelled to talk about Ron Johnson, and in as a polite a way as possible seemed to suggest that he was pretty much a clueless idiot who really didn't get it.

That seems to get to the heart of the matter pretty well.  Mind you, that still only confirms what we see.  But it sill doesn't explain the "Hunh, say what???" part of who he is.  I mean, as I said, I get the cluelessness of Louie Gohmert and his asparagus.  He's clueless.  But I get the sense that he knows he's clueless and flails away because of it, trying to make a big noise since that's the only way he'll get heard.  But I still don't get Ron Johnson.  He's sort of the guy who sees an electric socket, knows you're not supposed to stick your finger in it, but sees an electric socket that controls the power grid for his neighborhood, licks his finger to make sure it's thoroughly wet, and then decides to stick his tongue it in the socket, giving himself a life-endangering, massive electric shock and creating a blackout for others.

So, no, I don't get Ron Johnson.  I do get that there's a reasonable chance he won't be around in the Senate after 2022.  God-willing.

Yes, yes, I know I said I'd wrap things up yesterday with that medley by Vivian Blaine from Guys & Dolls.  But after posting it, I wanted to check some information and found this video which I think you'll agree I couldn't pass up.  Sue me.

Guys & Dolls opened on Broadway in 1950.  When they took the Frank Loesser musical, with a book by Jo Swirling and Abe Burrows, to the London West End in 1953, some of the original Broadway cast went along, including Vivian Blaine as Miss Adelaide and Sam Levene, who played Nathan Detroit, her fiance for something like 12 years, the reason she sings "Adelaide's Lament."  And when the show was running there, Blaine and Leven recreated the number "Sue Me" for British television.

By the way, Sam Levene had a long career in the theater, and that included starring in Neil Simon's comedy, The Sunshine Boys opposite Jack Albertson in 1972.  (Happily, I got to see both on stage when they toured in the show to Los Angeles, and I happened to be in town on a short trip.)

This is a real treat.  And interesting to see, since it's a much more tender interpretation of the song than the more big comic rendition it often gets.  And interesting to see from the opening shot of the London poster that since Blaine was from the original Broadway production, she got top billing here.  

 A couple of weeks ago, my dryer went kablooey, which is the technical term.  This is the tale, but there is an addendum at the end about a related matter which is more general for people dealing with such issues.  Actually, there are a couple of addendums.

I found an appliance repair shop on Yelp that had an impressive record, 5-stars and almost all the comments were glowing.  TJ Appliance Repair is based in West Hollywood, though they service throughout Los Angeles.  The owner there, Tony, said that from my description, it sounded like the motor.  Also, because I have one of those washer-dryer mini-combos -- and it's set up in a small closet -- they may have to send out two repairmen.  And if that's the case and if it's the motor, it might cost about $450.  More than ideal, but worth the repair rather than getting a new dryer -- let alone, a new combo, if I decided that.  (The units are probably 13 years old or so, they were here when I bought the place.)  But he'd send out a single repairman on Monday to checks things out and see what the situation was.

One thing that has been bewildering me ever since I did my dryer went out is that I was missing two socks from two different pairs.  I looked and looked, but couldn’t find them.  I looked in the dryer bin repeatedly, but it wasn’t there.  I’ve kept looking all over, but they’re nowhere to be found.  Gone.  Perhaps to Cancun.

On Sunday, the day before the repair tech's visit, I still was thinking about those missing socks, and wondered if possibly they could have somehow been sucked into the dryer and caused the problem, as bizarrely unlikely as that seemed, so I checked once again to see if there was any nook or slot or any way they could have been sucked into – but of course there wasn’t.
 
But on a total whim, since it was the only removable part, I pulled out the lint filter and looked into the compartment.  And one of the socks was there!!  I have absolutely no idea how it could possibly have gotten into the lint filter, but it did.  And I was able to get it out.  Still that left one sock that’s missing.
 
I ran the dryer to see if maybe removing this sock fixed things, but no, it didn’t.  But the scraping, rumbling sound it made didn’t sound completely unlike what a sound might be if a sock was caught somewhere.
 
To be clear, I can’t imagine that a sock was inside the machine.  For starters, I don’t see how it would be even remotely possible.  Any holes are tiny, and any slots are paper thin.  But then, I don’t see how it’s remotely possible that a sock did get into the lint filter compartment.
 
Anyway, the repairman came on Monday.  And it was…the socks!!!!
 
There had been, as I noted, that one sock that got sucked into the lint filter compartment.  But still one other sock that was missing.  But without having to call in a second repairman (which would have been expensive), he was able to pull the washer-dryer out by himself, which was impressive ("Oh, this isn't bad, I do this all the time, I've seen worse"), unscrewed things…and found the missing sock.  And the dryer ran perfectly after that.
 
He said it was one of the cleanest dryers he’s seen, and appeared to be in good shape.  He also said it was one of his favorite models, an LG Tromme, which would run for 25 years.  And said that even if the motor does go out, it’s worth replacing because the model is that good.  The whole cost was not $450 to repair the motor.  (Or $2,000 to get a new combo).  But $180.  Much better.
 
And better, too, because when he first turned on the dryer, it made an awful sound, to which he said, “Not good.”  But then I told him the tale of the missing sock.  And he thought that that could indeed be the cause.
 
What’s weird is that he says he has absolutely no idea how socks get sucked into a dryer.  “It happens.  It’s a design flaw.”  But there’s no space for a sock to get sucked through, so how???  “I have no idea.  It happens.”  I asked what one could do so that this doesn't happen again, and the options are to ball up thin socks when drying them, letting them air-dry, or getting a bag to put your socks in for drying.  But totally weird.  But hey, if a repairman has no idea at all how it happens, I'm not going to figure it out.
 
Anyway, it’s resolved.  For a whole lot less.  And for what it’s worth, the repairman Alex great.  As I said, the company TJ Appliance Repair has a 5-star rating on Yelp, and I can see why.  I called the owner Tony to let him know how good Alex was – and he was also praising the owner behind his back.  (Including that if a customer is clearly struggling financially and in obvious bad shape, the owner won’t charge them but pay for it out of his pocket.)  Good customer service may lose you money in the short run, but in the long run it builds loyalty and word-of-mouth and success

Now, for the two addendums.

The first is that when talking with the repairman Alex, it turned out that he was from Uzbekistan, worked in Moscow for a while, knew Odessa pretty well where one of my grandfathers was from, and came to the United States in 2016.  (Fun fact:  his brother was playing basketball at UCLA -- my grad school,)  Alex was able to get fast-tracked for citizenship because he enlisted in the U.S. Army, and served in Afghanistan, though not in combat.  (Among other things, they taught him various skills, including how to repair appliances!)  The point of this all is that he applied for citizenship in 2016, and the program that he was able to get in under was shut down by Trump a few months later.  If there had been just a few months delay, he wouldn't have been able to get into the United States.  And serve in the army.  And because a terrific addition to the country.

The other addendum concerns those home warranty contract many people have.  I had one that comes with the deal when I bought I bought my place a couple years ago.  I renewed it the next year, and had some benefit from it, though it may not have covered the cost.  But it did cover replacing a disposal unit (which would have been a few hundred dollars) and some small plumbing fixes, and was good piece of mind.

It also covered one other notable expense when my refrigerator went out.  However -- that experience was a mess.  The short version is that it took three months, and I was out a refrigerator for that long, and had to get one of those small refrigerator-freezer devices so that I could at least keep some food.  (The home warranty company did pay $75 towards that, which was about $220 overall.)  

The main reason for the three-month delay is that the repair shops they kept sending weren't working out.  Either they didn't do the kind of work that was needed, or they didn't deal with those kinds of part, or they had to wait for red-tape approvals to order parts or -- in the most significant case, one of the vendors tried to scam.  They explained what part was needed, and that it would cost $250, which would have to come out of my own pocket since it wouldn't be covered by the home warranty company.  And I know it was a scam -- not only because I asked some friends who know these things better -- because when the work was done, it did not entail the part the scammers insisted on, but just the basic $40 part my friends said was needed and was covered.  

The final vendor did do the work well -- though the had a small screw-up which delayed things another week -- but the reality is that I was without my refrigerator for three months.

Which brings me to the point.  When my home warranty contract was up in December, I didn't renew it.  I knew there was a risk, though extrapolated over 10 years, it would probably work out well in my favor, even if there were big expenses along the way.  But after that three-month debacle with repair shops I didn't know, I just decided that I'd rather pay more money (possibly) for a good repair shop whose goal is the please the customer, not to please the home warranty company and save them money, so they could continue to get referrals.

I have no idea how this will turn out over time.  But it worked very well here.  When my dryer went out, my first reaction was, "Agghhh, I wish I'd waited before cancelling m home warranty contract."  A big repair only two months after cancelling it!!!  Of course.  But even then, my next thought was -- that's fine, that was my decision.  I get to choose the repair shop I want, and they'll fix it fast.  And that's what happened.  It was a 5-star shop, they did excellent work, and it was repaired in two weeks.

And while I hope I never have to use TJ Appliance Repair again, I'm sure I will -- and I'm glad to have the piece of mind knowing that they're there.  Hopefully Alex will be, too.

In writing my earlier pieces about Guys & Dolls, "Adelaide's Lament" and Vivian Blaine, I came across this video, and thought it would be a really nice way to wrap this up.  It's Vivian Blaine in 1984, still in good voice 34 years after starring in the show, performing Stephen Sondheim's "Broadway Baby" from Follies, and then a fun medley of her songs from Guys &  Dolls, pretty much singing them in character. And ending with...oh, you know.