Yes, for every chair there is a Ranking Member of the minority party, and committee assignments are readily shuffled. This is true of both the House and the Senate.

Usually it’s not a big deal. But nothing can be done by anyone until and unless there is a formal vacancy. That would be created by either McConnell himself announcing he will not be back, or he is somehow proven dead or incapacitated. That seems to be what his party is trying very hard to hold off.

. . . and projecting it ALL outward, so they personally never have to change while insisting every last bit of what they feel is all someone else’s fault and for others to change.

I know this comes as news to you, but this has all been studied literally since the beginning of time. Anger was discussed by the earliest philosophers. The writer openly describes it himself.

So what’s the diagnosis I’ve provided? Do you even know what an diagnosis is, or is that just a word you threw at me because it sounded smart and – wait for it – you’re angry?

Thanks. I almost wonder if Beshear is thinking along the same lines because anything he does to address the practical absence is going to be litigated far beyond the election itself, so maybe (I don’t know, this is just a guess) he’s doing just enough to be able to prosecute the fraud when the dust settles. It’s as viable a course as any other.

Lol, no. Why would this writer by choice be paying a therapist his time and cash to painfully bare his soul so that the therapist can say idiotic things to him and not just assist him in remaining exactly where he is, but actively make it worse?

Dude, he could get that for free (and probably already is from friends and family telling him he needs to “move forward” like that’s just a decision he can make).

Look again. That person is simply telling the therapist they will not release their anger just because society has said it’s been long enough. That’s just not how it works, and this writer knows it. The writer will release the anger when the anger has served its purpose. That is not accomplished with facile lies, much less casual grief-shaming.

Frankly, a therapist should know what purpose anger serves off the top of their head: that alone would guide them forward. Not everyone does, and that’s okay, just not so much in a therapist.

But when you can’t recognize a overt cry of anguish and grief, and you mistake someone correcting their therapist from that place of inner agony for someone that “wants to stay angry,” all you’re really telling me is that you’ve never had a situation like the writer’s, nor a therapist that could take you through your darkest hour and help you see what you needed to see to get back out of the cave of your grief again.

No, they really don’t. What they want is to feel better, and for their therapist to stop playing “no shit Sherlock” with their pain by pointing out obvious irrelevancies in regard to it.

What they want to hold onto is the very specific, unique truth to their grief that is invariably found behind the anger. When they find it, that very specific point or points fueling the rage, they no longer need the anger: it has served its purpose.

A mental health therapist can and should be able to help a client manage their righteous anger as they work their way through it together. Anger underlies a great many things, and grief is one of them. You don’t just say, “I don’t want to feel angry,” or just decide, “I’m not going to be angry about this anymore,” when the rage is this broad and deep and well-established: in time, that kind of denial and repression is just going to explode in your face, if it works at all.

Instead, because anger is very well understood, there are known ways to deal with it. Anger doesn’t just disappear on its own, nor even very quickly, and a person suffering this kind of grief could use some assistance diving into the anger and the very exact specifics that are causing it. The therapist should be able to navigate this presenting anger with relative ease and guide the client through it, not just with skillful therapeutic inquiries to get to the very specific root of this writer’s unique grief which is where they’d start, but also with coping skills to give the client to be able to self-manage their righteous rage for as long as it takes them to work through it and clear it so that their overwhelming grief can resolve.

This therapist is doing none of that. Instead, they are just offering commentary on the presence and length of the anger as though they’re watching a movie, when they could and should be helping the writer sort it out and work through it. That’s not on the writer, that’s on the therapist.

You can be angry in a healthy way. You can carry anger in ways that do not eat you up from the inside, causing that anger to harden into resentful bitterness, and that allow you to fully grieve your very real and unjust losses – that you will NEVER get back – so that even with the presence of anger and ongoing non-resolution of the presenting loss, you’re still moving toward a better life, daily.

Survivors of things like trafficking have to deal with this kind of human-evil created unjust loss and forever damage as well. Pretty sure that’s what this writer wants help with, and it’s not an unreasonable ask of a mental health professional.

But this therapist just wants to skip all that, apparently, which is not uncommon (many, many people are anger avoidant, even therapists) but this anger avoidance does not help their client at all.

The writer coming back with an extended FUCK YEAH I’M ANGRY (and here’s exactly why) rant is not just reasonable, but a better response than the therapist’s. The writer, by openly acknowledging their anger, is actually handling it in a healthier, less self-destructive way than someone who is afraid to even acknowledge it.

Anger – especially deep anger and rage coming from horribly unjust situations that cause lifelong loss, and even more so situations that didn’t even need to happen except for someone else’s unnecessary actions – can be an incredibly tricky emotion to navigate, even threatening to all involved. Many people have visceral, deeply unpleasant reactions to the expression of anger, their own and the anger of others, and again, some of them are even therapists. But if you want to deal with grief, chances are excellent you’re going to have to deal with anger at some point too.

This writer has a much better start on the whole issue of anger than their therapist does, IMO.

If I knew this person, the first thing I would tell them would be what someone else told me long ago: an abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is absolutely normal. And I’d start there because it sounds like the therapist may not have even gotten that far.

Honestly, I wish they wouldn’t. This motherfucker is not just holding his general Senate seat vacant, he’s also holding a couple of very powerful committee seats he has vacant, robbing the Republicans not just of his floor vote but of his committee votes. He’s chair of Rules and a member of Appropriations, as well as holding a number of lesser assignments that are still important as the orange chancre is actively destroying whatever still allows us to have a functioning government.

Legislation has to go through committee before it ever hits the Senate floor for debate, meaning that McConnell is and has been absolutely crucial to moving forward legislation enabling Trump and stopping any checks on it before it even gets to a vote. Appropriations is possibly the most powerful committee in the Senate anyway, but pay very special attention to the kind of legislation that has to pass Rules first, for example:

• Corrupt practices (this refers to US election law);
• Credentials and qualifications of Members of the Senate, contested elections, and acceptance of incompatible offices;
• Federal elections generally, including the election of the President, Vice President, and Members of the Congress;
• Nominations to fill a vacancy in the Vice Presidency;
• Presidential succession;
• United States Capitol and congressional office buildings, …the Smithsonian Institution (which is under direct fire right now as the Republicans are desperately trying to rewrite American history and erase the record of slavery wherever they can)

Again, McConnell is chair of Rules. You really want that motherfucker’s committee assignments filled? Not to mention that it is the Senate that confirms presidential appointments, such as Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence, both of which are filled right now with incompetent (and worse) men actively seeking confirmation.

So for as many people want McConnell to prove he’s alive, and for as much as I’d like to see his handlers sweat as they continue to enable his fraud of pretending he will ever return to his position, I say let the motherfucker rot. I know Gov Beshear is trying to do right by Kentuckians who deserve to be represented in the Senate, but for myself I’m not entirely sure McConnell ever represented anyone beyond himself.

Let his chairs remain vacant.

I’m not OP but it’s a gift link, opened for me without a problem.

Here’s an archive.ph link (it has the content; use at your own discretion) for anyone who still needs one.

From the start, this woman has been very carefully redacted from the files, more carefully redacted than even the orange chancre, and I always wondered why. But as time has gone on, that reason has become clear: the money.

The individuals closest to the cash are, and have always been, the most carefully redacted of all. And they are still being actively, specifically protected – not just by the Department of Justice but also by Treasury. Ron Wyden, the senator from Oregon, has been working for years now to get Epstein’s specific banking records out of Treasury and keeps getting hard-blocked by Scott Bessent, the secretary of the Treasury and keeper of those records, in open defiance of the law.

This is part of why they are desperate to rig the midterms: if the Republicans lose, everything they have worked so hard to block will be released.

They are all still working even harder to cover the money trail than they are to cover the perps and the crimes against children. Stop for a second and let that sink in: they care less about people knowing the orange chancre rapes kids than they do about Epstein’s banking records coming to light.

But they will come out. Feel free to disagree, but the cracks in the dam are not just there but widening daily. No one thought we’d get this far but we have. And when it all comes out, I believe that we will find that they ALL knew about the kids – only some actively participated, like Leon Black and Jes Staley, but they ALL knew – and just did not care.

And I believe that we will find this specific woman very close to the top of the tower of sick shit, right next to Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, who are both also very carefully redacted out of the publicly released files and who even today control Epstein’s estate. This woman stands to inherit $50 million; Indyke and Kahn stand to inherit $25 million each. She and Epstein were so close that his last call from the Manhattan MCC was to her. There is nothing Epstein did that she did not know about and approve and assist, and I think that’s what the records will overwhelmingly prove, when they finally come out.

Yet for all the publicity, very few even recognize the names of Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn. They are all through the DoJ site because they have both been sued many times, both for their own personal actions and as administrators of the Epstein estate, but you never hear about them in the news. There’s a reason for that, and it’s the same reason that until now most people have not heard this woman’s name: even now they are actively being shielded by the administration and the elite they serve.

For these people, it was never about the kids. The kids were used, disposable, forgotten. For these it was AND STILL IS 100% about the money.

There’s a reason this woman is hiding now, and it’s not because of the publicity. It’s because she already knows what’s behind the curtain.

This is an excellent read, thank you for posting it. I was especially struck by the younger photo of Maria Farmer (about two-thirds down the page) and how in this one, taken in 1996, she looks like she could be Virginia Giuffre’s twin.

I was also not impressed by the efforts to discredit the survivors: seems like every single person on the pedo side that was contacted by VF took a small detail, held it up, called it false, and then just left it there as though that would in itself discredit whatever the survivor said, like Morgan Fairchild insisting there was no radiator in Epstein’s office or the circle jerk over the actual property line on Les Wexner’s Ohio estate.

Yeah, no. They do that for the specific reason that these small details are often what make something provable, and even liars will often embellish a lie with elaborate details, but knowing a survivor myself and having seen directly how this kind of memory recall works, discrediting a single detail out of many tells me someone is very personally invested in discrediting the survivor. And then the question becomes: why?

And you can see it too. If you go back and read it carefully, the people responding on the pedo side are not actually calling the survivors liars. For example, Morgan Fairchild is not actually saying she was never in Epstein’s office. Les Wexner’s wife is not actually saying that Maria Farmer was never there. They can’t, because they have no idea at all what evidence is still out there that could emerge and prove them liars. So they’re just casting shade where they can, hoping some of it will stick as the rest of us bystanders skim through it.

But think about it. When was the last time you needed to personally discredit someone by not directly denying anything they said, but you want to make the speaker less-than-believable in any way you can, so you over-scrutinize one small detail of their recollection? Probably the last time you directly and knowingly associated with a rich pedo and now the heat is on you too, lol.

Anyway, someone I know is subscribed to VF which is how I have access; I don’t know how hard it is for those who are not subbed to get the article, but if anyone needs it here is an archive link. There are known problems with the site but somehow it still has the content when no other archive site does, so use it at your own discretion.

Worse, because movie villains aren’t this monotonously banal: NO ONE would pay to watch anyone do this merely as entertainment. It’s all stupid and boring and pointless, just so the rich can sate their sick hungers on the young of other people.

Which isn’t to say that they’re not getting paid for this justice kabuki at the DoJ, they absolutely are. But it’s not for their acting skills.

Good comment. I agree with every word you said, just thought I’d point out for the random passerby that the Copts are one of the oldest Christian groups on the planet, said to have been introduced to Christianity by the apostle Mark – as in the author of the Gospel of St. Mark – himself.

I have known Copts myself, though not well, and was honored to visit one of their liturgical services many years ago: they are incredibly hospitable and welcoming people, and very kind to this stranger.

More people should be aware that what you are describing is a group of actual, sincere (and not just tediously performative) Christian people genuinely persecuted and dying for their religion by Isis, and also targeted by pseudo-Christians in US government for political expediency. And it goes unnoticed because few even know who the Copts are.

Yeah, that does suck. At least you tried, and there will be no regrets: there’s literally nothing more you could have done. From where I sit it’s their loss: good workers don’t grow on trees, and they’re idiots to let a known good employee walk out the door in favor of an unknown. At least the hesitant ones, if needed, could be approached for a reference should you ever need it.

But in the meantime, you have a great attitude, the kind that sets you up to make the most of opportunities that come your way, and I am certain you’ll do well. That kind of thing comes through when you’re looking for jobs, and it’s a plus when someone can look at a shitty situation in prior employment and hold it in realistic proportion, however unfair it was. And this was indeed unfair. I genuinely wish you every success, and soon.

deleted by creator

Same here. It’s not often my tinnitus matches the visual.

Dude. If you still want the job, you really had no obvious part in the disrespect, and the owner wasn’t part of the immediate rage firing, give it a day, let it cool off, then go see the owner directly.

Just be straightforward and honest, speaking as his equal (because you are): “I meant no disrespect, I really was just there and not a participant, I understand offense was given, but that was not my doing or intent. I liked this job, I enjoyed doing it, I thought I was doing well at it, and I can’t believe it’s gone just because I happened to be in the same room when this happened. Is there any way this outcome can be reconsidered, or is it set in stone?” Professional, straightforward, calm.

If the owner wasn’t a part of the direct confrontation you might be able to change his mind. I’m saying this because if I were your manager, the way you wrote your text would make me at least question the decision, and I’m hard to convince. People do shit in indignant rage they regret later, restaurant kitchens are wild places anyway, and I don’t know this guy and I don’t know you, but if you want that specific job back then it’s worth a shot. Good workers are worth keeping.

But you may not want it back. If not then just ignore this, chill for a day or two, and start looking for the next thing. Whatever you decide I hope it all works out for you.

What the article isn’t saying is that Bannon himself is part of the plan, making sure everyone knows a national emergency is coming, getting in front of it. Bannon’s not talking about election insecurity out of concern: telling the media now is his part in making it happen. This asshole WANTS a third term and everything that goes with it, including ICE at polling stations:

Steve Bannon calls for Trump to deploy ICE and military troops to polling sites - The Trump ally was one of few GOP voices to support the president’s push to nationalize voting – Politico, February 2026

Steve Bannon says ‘there is a plan’ for Trump to be president in 2028: ‘We had longer odds in 2016 and 2024’ – The Independent, October 2025

Steve Bannon Doubles Down on Third Trump Term – Newsweek, April 2026

Also, it bears repeating: before you give this asshole too much credence it’s best to always keep in mind that Bannon was arguably Jeffrey Epstein’s best friend. So close were they that Epstein was on his way to meet Bannon the day he got arrested in 2019. His very last text was to Bannon as he was being detained at Teterboro Airport, telling Bannon their plans are “All canceled” now.

To quote one of Bannon’s texts to Epstein,

Now you can understand why trump wakes up in the middle of the night sweating when he hears you and I are friends

See it for yourself.

Thank you! Will check that out. Much appreciated.