Why My Own Recent PSA Result Led Me To Question That "Decline In Testing Begets More Undiagnosed Metastatic Cancer"

PSA tests came to prominence again in a January 13th WSJ piece citing an American Cancer Society report that decline in PSA testing likely led to "more undiagnosed metastatic disease"  and noting (Cancer Death Rates Dropped By A Third):

"The cancer mortality rate in the U.S. has dropped by a third in the past three decades, a report showed, but an increase in advanced prostate cancer diagnoses threatens to reverse some hard-won gains."

Adding:

"For prostate cancer, rates of advanced diagnoses have risen about 4.5% annually since 2011, the report found. The proportion of men diagnosed with later-stage disease has doubled."

But these conclusions badly need clarification and my own case can serve as an insight point. The bulk of the blame in the ACS report, by implication, can be attributed to a notification in 2012 by The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force which concluded:

 "There is at best a small potential benefit from prostate cancer screening and there are substantial known harms. We need a better test and we need better options. We can do better."

  The reasons were not hard to grasp, mainly that one can get false positives which put the tested person on a track for even more invasive tests including unnecessary biopsies.  These can carry their own risks, including sepsis, impotence. 

The two most critical facts I learned since my latest PSA test result (of 12.4)   2 weeks ago were;

- Two different sets of prostate cancer cells exist: a) those which are PSA-sensitive, and (b) those which are not. A drug or therapy which targets only the first will have little to no effect on the other.

- So a 'one size fits all' approach seldom works because it seeks only to target the hormone (testosterone) -sensitive cells not the others. Especially given the most malignant, "nastiest" cancer cells are generally those which are not PSA sensitive. Hence, a falling PSA after commencing ADT  (androgen deprivation) for example, can have one living in a "fool's paradise".

These insights led me to forego any use of Orgovyz (a more benign form of ADT) for now, given I have not yet shown any symptoms and starting ADT too early is not likely to offer any significant benefits but a number of downsides. ("Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues, either alone or with oral antiandrogen, or orchiectomy were significantly associated with stroke in patients with PC. Other studies also showed a similar association between stroke and ADT.")

That was reinforced when I also learned that (from a Swedish PCa oncology journal) 65% of all deaths for men with metastatic prostate cancer arrive from strokes, pulmonary embolisms and myocardial infarction (heart attacks) mainly from the "comorbidities" arising from ADT therapy. 

My decision is also supported after my urologist gave me an article  ('Delaying ADT Until Symptoms Appear Does Not Impact Survival') which noted: 

"A rising prostate specific antigen (PSA) on its own is not enough reason to initiate androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) a large observational study (with 14,000 patients) has found.   Rather, survival appears to be the same in these patients whether ADT is given immediately or delayed until symptoms appear or a scan shows cancer." 

But Hopkins Oncologist Patrick Walsh (Dr. Patrick Walsh’s Guide To Surviving Prostate Cancer’. p. 338):

 isn't even buying the adverse scan aspect as an ADT determinant, i.e.

"But what if you have no cancer in your bones  and no sign that anything is wrong except a rising PSA level after surgery or radiation - or the presence of cancer in your lymph nodes- and you feel fine?   Many doctors would advise you to start hormonal therapy as soon as possible.  

Others - and I'm in this group - believe that in most cases there is no evidence that starting hormonal therapy immediately, as opposed to later, will prolong life."

What does lead Dr. Walsh to advocate for immediate ADT?

"If you have metastases to bone, bone pain, or a large mass of cancer that is obstructing your kidneys or bladder, you need to start ADT right now. "

In my case, not only are there no symptoms thus far, but a subsidiary test (Alkaline Phosphate) which is generally considered a marker for bone metastases, showed nothing outside the normal range.  Thus, the urologist was ok leaving another PSMA scan for now, until and unless the situation with the subsidiary test result changes.  But I still need to get that tested - along with the PSA- every 3 months, as well as the testosterone which is a hair above "castrate level" at 160 ng/ml  giving more reasons to not start a therapy which will lower testosterone even more.   

The primary potential side effect which caused me to think twice about going to the Orgovyx now, was QT prolongation, or a dramatic slowing of heart rhythm.  This can lead to seizures, fainting or sudden death. For now then, I will bide my time and wait before taking on any more treatments or therapies, fully understanding that 80% of metastatic PCa patients seldom live more than 5 years past the initial diagnosis. (Mine was in August, 2021, e.g. Axumin Scan Shows Unusual Result )

See Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFHUCnwox7o

And:

Understanding the Progression of Bone Metastases to Identify Novel Therapeutic Targets - PMC (nih.gov)

And:

https://www.pcf.org/c/adt-what-you-really-need-to-know/

And:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ4im2WQ75E

A Threat To U.S. Power Grids? Solar X-Ray Flares Presage Active Solar Cycle 25 And Potential Earlier CMEs As Well As Aurora

 

                                     Solar flare x-ray class eruption from 2 weeks ago.

In just the past 2 weeks, three X-class solar flares — the strongest bracket on the scale — have erupted on the sun’s surface. Solar flares are immensely energetic eruptions arising from magnetically unstable regions on the solar surface, usually with one magnetic polarity region intruding dramatically into another (opposite) polarity region, e.g.

              Magnetic polarity intrusion resulting in magnetically unstable region in Nov. 1980
                       

 The instability results in a range of energies associated with the eruption, from visual to x-ray and gamma ray.  These solar explosions travel at the speed of light and can affect radio communications.  The most pernicious effect of such powerful flares is probably the coronal mass ejection or CME.

Such a major solar energy burst has the potential to whack us straight broadside with 1 million amp field-aligned induction currents that have the potential to take out all our power grids in a cascade of failures. Space weather aficionadoes call such maxi-catastrophes "Carrington Events" after the signature original event that transpired in September, 1859, which incepted geo-magnetic currents so large that for days telegraph operators could actually disconnect their equipment from battery power and send messages solely via the emergent "auroral currents".

In our own current situation, we've become a more vulnerable society by constructing mammoth, interlocked  power grids which can crash if the right combination of factors is imposed. While we do have high voltage transformers that connect directly to the ground (zero or earth potential) to neutralize power surges from lightning strikes, these don't afford any protection against powerful geo-magnetic currents that are induced in the earth and flow upward into the grid. Then ...one such mammoth event, could spark calamity. Possibly no electric power for days, maybe longer, over vast swatches of North America.

In addition, if a monster flare hurls a super stream of charged particles along with the CME we could expect adverse effects on all GPS positioning satellites. Bear in mind that GPS, besides providing directions for road users, allows synchronized cell phone conversations, as well as orchestrates air traffic not to mention 'date stamping' most financial transactions and guiding the dynamic positioning of the majority of deep sea oil drilling and gas operations.

The Sun's magneto-physics hasn't basically changed over some billions of years. It still goes through a 22 -year polarity to polarity sunspot cycle and an 11 -year average spot maxima to maxima cycle.  The energy maximum erupting itself is still limited by the amount of magnetic free energy in the CME-releasing region. So this is comforting to know, but doesn't release us from trying for forecast when such impacting events could affect us. Hence, the urgent need for accurate space weather forecasts.

The current sudden flare-up of activity may also be a sign that experts grossly underestimated how busy Solar Cycle 25 — the current iteration of the sun’s magnetic rhythm — will be. The image below shows the solar cycles in the current relative time frame, up to 2026:

At “solar maximum,” which is estimated to occur in July 2025 (give or take 3 months), NASA and NOAA forecasters are anticipating about 115 sunspots per month. But a pair of researchers — Scott McIntosh, deputy director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and Bob Leamon, a researcher at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and NASA Goddard — predict twice as many. So far, current trends are on pace for their prediction, which will include more frequent auroral displays.

A few bold solar physicists have deviated from the consensus expectations, calling instead for a spike of robust storminess on the Sun in the years ahead. This new flurry from 10 days ago shows those outliers may wind up being right.

The number of flares and CMEs that occur is proportional to the number of sunspots on the solar disk. Those sunspots are most common at the peak of each 11-year “solar cycle,” which solar physicists have confirmed is actually a subset of several overlapping cycles on both shorter and longer time frames.  In either case, the number of sunspots, and subsequently flares and CMEs, will increase over the coming two-plus years. It’s a stark change and it almost begs for superior forecasting efforts to avert a CME calamity with our vulnerable power grids.

See Also:

New Solar Research Confirms Why Delta Sunspots Are More Flare Worthy Than Other Magnetic Classes 

And:

Ensemble Modeling of Coronal Mass Ejections - A Superior Means Of Prediction? The Jury Is Still Out 

And:

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2012/01/monster-plasma-blob-headed-for-earth-is.html

Finally, A Plausible Theory For Saturn's Rings - And Saturn's Divergent Resonance With Naptune

 

              A new paper shows Saturn's rings are the residue of moon called Chrysalis

For decades planetary astronomers have tried to solve the mystery of the origin for Saturn's rings. Now, a new paper in the Sept. 15 issue of Science, provides a coherent theory that an ancient Saturnian moon named Chrysalis has become the rings. Jack Wisdom (MIT Professor of Planetary Science) and his colleagues propose that tidal forces tore apart the unfortunate moon a mere 100 to 200 million years ago or so. The scenario could also explain Saturn’s axial tilt, and the somewhat elongated orbit of the planet’s largest moon, Titan.   

In the words of Tracy Becker, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Insititute:

 "It's always nice to find solutions that can elegantly explain multiple different observations."

Which is an understatement, and which lends Wisdom et al's  theory enormous ballast.

Wisdom and his collaborators note that Saturn’s precession — the slow wobble of its spin axis — has almost, but not quite the same period as the precession of the orbit of Neptune. The researchers thus suggest there was once a true spin-orbit resonance between the two planets. Currently, that no longer exists given that there is roughly a 1 percent divergence. But the closeness suggested a hitherto unknown factor might account for the difference. And this turned out to be the moon Chrysalis, for which simulations disclosed that a Titan-Chrysalis resonance made the latter's orbit chaotic.  That orbit was then "pumped" to higher and higher eccentricity drastically altering Chrysalis' distance from Saturn creating closer and closer encounters with the moons Titan and Iapetus.

Then about 100 My ago the exaggerated eccentricity caused Chrysalis to be ejected from the immediate original system causing it to get so close to Saturn that tidal forces ripped it apart - thereby forming the ring system we see today.  Not surprisingly, as Chrysalis disintegrated and became the rings the once fine tuned resonance diminished until there is a one percent difference today - in the resonance between Neptune and Saturn.

Additionally, the relatively rapid drifting-away of Titan (which currently spirals outward at about 11 centimeters per year) might have lowered Saturn’s axial precession period until the resonance locked in hundreds of millions of years ago. That’s when Saturn’s spin axis started to tilt, possibly up to 36° at that time, according to the team’s calculations.  Thus, the disintegration of the hypothesized moon Chrysalis to become the rings also led to the extraordinary tilt of Saturn's spin =axis.

Here we go a tad more "in the weeds":  When Titan drifted outward, Chrysalis became trapped in a 3:1 resonance with Titan, orbiting Saturn once for every three times Titan swung around. But the resonance didn’t last: Computer simulations by the Wisdom et al team show that the orbit of Chrysalis would have become chaotic, with the moon experiencing a couple of close encounters with both Titan and Iapetus before being ejected out of the Saturnian system, or ending up so close to the planet that it was torn asunder by tidal forces.  As was noted earlier.

The elimination of an icy moon (about as massive as Iapetus) would suddenly change Saturn’s precession period, diverging the planet from its spin-orbit resonance with Neptune. Saturn’s axial tilt (or obliquity) would start to decrease again (at present, it’s 26.7°). The earlier close encounters with Titan might explain this giant moon’s relatively high orbital eccentricity. And if Chrysalis was indeed ripped apart, Saturn’s impressive ring system is composed of its icy remains.  

Alas, not all astronomers are buying into this scenario. Luke Dones (Southwest Research Institute, Boulder) says he is “impressed that Wisdom and his colleagues can reproduce both the obliquity of Saturn and Titan's eccentricity. It’s a clever idea.” But, he adds, 

“They take for granted that the rings are young, which is not established. We don't know the dust impact rate on the rings, and we don't understand what happens when dust hits the rings at high velocities.”

But in my opinion this is nitpicking and doesn't do service to the other observed aspects the Wisdom theory can account for. In an accompanying commentary in Science, Maryame El Moutamid (Cornell University) describes the Chrysalis scenario as “a plausible mechanism for explaining Saturn’s close proximity to the precession resonance with Neptune and the seemingly young age of its rings.” 

There are some details of the work that could be improved upon, of course. To estimate how much the computed moment of inertia depends on the assumptions, the Wisdom team used three additional approaches to construct models of the interior of Saturn. These models, however, only matched the gravitational moments J₂, J₄, and J₆ without invoking differential rotation.  

Wisdom admits also they "constructed interior models using four different sets of assumptions". For a range of rotation periods, the corresponding moments of inertia are shown in his paper's Fig. 1 in terms of the normalized angular momentum: the product of the moment of inertia and the rotation rate, normalized by:

M R_e ²   Ö GM/ R_e ³

where G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of Saturn, and R_e is its fiducial equatorial radius, taken to be 60,268 km

To see the full paper by Wisdom et al, including their resonance model and the actual hypothesized mechanisms, go to this link:

``Loss of a satellite could explain Saturn' obliquity and young rings'' 

See Also:

How Much More Have We Learned About Saturn's Moon Titan? 

With Debt Ceiling Breach Now Imminent Will GOP House MAGAs "Shoot The Hostage"? (Cratering Your 401(k))

                                    "It's time to blow up the world economy, mates!"

           FT columnist Luce: Predicted the 'Only damage' GOP House could do is crash the stock market

 "The first rule of political negotiation is never take a hostage you’re not prepared to shoot. That’s advice for House Republicans to contemplate as they gear up for a high-stakes showdown over raising the federal borrowing limit." - WSJ Editorial, January 16th

"The situation is worse than most people realize. McCarthy’s goons really intend to follow through on their threat to cripple America if Democrats won’t go along with cutting entitlements for average working people and regulatory agencies."-  Thomas Hartmann, 'House Republicans Playing With Fire With Our Economy', The Hartmann Report

Baltimore Sun editorial, Jan. 22

Back in early November Financial Times columnist Edward Luce predicted the "only real damage the GOP House could do is send the stock market crashing."   E.g.

FT Columnist Edward Luce Predicts 'Only Real Damage' GOP Could Do: "Send Stock Market Crashing" 

Of course, we now know it can be a lot worse, vastly worse if the U.S. goes into default and its credit rating is degraded given the world economy depends on this country as its most trusted borrower. So failure to pay existing obligations would be a global economic calamity. E.g.

Economic Policy | Republicans

Will Republicans Blow Up the Global Economy? They Seem Eager To Try

by Heather Digby Parton | January 19, 2023 - 8:28am | permalink

 The question then - raised by the Jan. 16 WSJ editorial - is the GOP House going to be ready to "shoot the hostage"?  That would be the rank and file U.S. citizens who depend on government to pay its mandated bills including Social Security, Medicare benefits, VA benefits etc.  For those who think this is all hyperventilation, then consider your 401k cratering - as they did in 2011.  This was after the credit downgrade from just approaching default and the DOW falling 614 pts. So I'd  advise anyone who believes this is no biggie to watch CBS economist Jill Schlesinger's segment from this a.m.:

How the debt ceiling impacts Americans - YouTube

Basically, what the renegades under McCarthy are doing is holding the government (Biden administration) hostage over "too much spending and debt".  Problem is the spending has already been done and now the bills need to be paid. As Jill Schlesinger notes, even halting or delaying Social Security checks can cause a recession, given how much is spent via those checks on the consumer economy - which is already slowing.

First a little known fact:  25% of U.S. debt over a 220-year period was incurred during the 4 years of the Trump administration, via tax cuts and spending.  This is relevant as we  learned last Friday  that Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said that the debt ceiling limit will be reached Thursday and the Treasury Department will begin “extraordinary measures” to ensure the federal government is able to meet its payment obligations.  

However,  it cannot guarantee the United States will make it beyond early June without defaulting.  Yellen was stark and clear in her warning directed at the GOP MAGA terrorists especially when she stated:

 "Failure to meet the government's obligations will cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans and global financial stability."

Adding: "In the past even threats that the U.S. government might default have caused real harm including the only credit downgrade in our history."

Referring to when the GOP also had a House majority and were determined to bring Obama down in an extortion move to default on the debt. Before moving on let's get it straight what the debt limit is.  The debt limit, to put it simply, is the maximum amount the government can borrow to pay for its obligations, i.e. what it has already spent money on (Social Security, Medicare, VA benefits, air traffic control etc.). 

It has nothing, nada to do with spending on future services or goods.   In this venue congress - that is, the House, not the Senate or president - decides what that limit is. If too meager, then it translated to a default - affecting bond holders of U.S. debt (like China) as well as others affected by it.  This is why the House has an enormous responsibility to do the right thing and approve of paying all back debts to avoid default.  Recall the last time the Reeps played this game of 'chicken' in  2011 when Standard & Poor’s stripped the U.S. of its triple-A credit rating for the first time after the Treasury came within days of being unable to pay VA and Social Security benefits.  

In other words, the GOOPs triggered a credit downgrade merely for coming close to default.  Now imagine what an actual default at the hands of Republican terrorists would do this time around when the fiscal obligations are even higher.  

Moody's Analytics is blunt in its assessment that the results would be "cataclysmic" which translated means "burying the country in deep recession, loss of 6 million or more jobs, and much of the world in even higher inflation because of the Ukraine supply chain associated problems" (Including up to one third of Ukraine's grain supply still being held hostage)   Yellen elaborated noting it would cause "irreparable harm" to all Americans as well as global financial instability.  This is not being hyperbolic given bond holders trust the Treasury Dept. when it claims their holdings are backed "by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government."  But if there is a default, those words become merely hollow mouthings worth no more than an ounce of doggie lickspittle.  Again this is given the entire modern financial system is built on the premise that the United States government is the safest borrower on the planet.

But Republicans intend to play with fire on either getting their way with spending prioritization, or bringing the whole house down. Thus, Yellen's warning to McCarthy and the MAGA savages holding him (and the rest of us) hostage to either suspend or increase the debt ceiling. But the Reepo "brainiacs" to use Ali Velshi's term on 'Last Word' Friday night, insist that the debt ceiling "is like a credit card limit"- which it is not.  

It is, instead, credit card debt already accrued by spending which must be paid. Or to use LA Times columnist Michael Hiltzik's analogy: "The GOP House are behaving like credit card holders who've put more purchases on their cards than they feel like paying for.  So they have decided to stiff the card issuer in the belief it will reduce their balances."  Of course, all that really happens is their credit record become delinquent, collection agencies get on their case, and their credit score crashes.   

Thus, in the Republican MAGA terrorists' case they plan to 'stiff' millions of Americans leading to job losses and evictions from homes in the wake of a debt ceiling breach driven by a fanatical austerity mindset.  The patter on FOX is that the GOP "prioritization" plan is going to hurt Biden and the Dems, but the truth is the tactic is targeting ordinary Americans. Millions of us.

The GOP proposal (still in draft stage)  would call on the Biden administration to make only the most critical federal payments if the Treasury Department comes up against the statutory limit on what it can legally borrow. For instance, the plan is almost certain to call on the department to keep making interest payments on the debt, according to four people familiar with the internal deliberations.  House Republicans’ payment prioritization plan may also stipulate that the Treasury Department should continue making payments on Social Security, Medicare and veterans' benefits, as well as funding the military

But such hypothetical proposal that protects Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits and the military would still leave out huge swaths of critical federal expenditures on things such as: food stamps for needy families, Medicaid, food safety inspections, border control and air traffic control, to name just a handful of thousands of programs.

According to Neil Bradley, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

“Prioritization doesn’t work. We had this discussion a decade ago, If the U.S. government skips its payments to America’s seniors or skips its payments to bondholders, both of those things call into question the full faith and credit of the United States government and our commitment to paying our bills. And both of them have pretty catastrophic economic consequences.”

According to Stephanie Kelton, former head of Senate Budget Committee, who appeared on All In last night:

 "This isn't like setting part of the house on fire, the whole house is vulnerable if we were to push the limit. It is really like burning everything down.".  

Hence she's "more nervous this time" than she was in 2011. As for the GOP prioritization plan she noted it is merely "picking winners and losers", but affording no stability. As she stated:

 "These are the people who complain about the government picking winners and losers but it's exactly what they're doing.  Like they say they want to prioritize paying bond holders but where does that leave the rest? Who do you stiff?  Do you stiff health care providers, government contractors, air traffic controllers or veterans who need their VA benefits and seniors who rely on Social Security?  There is no computer system or keyboard where you can go in and program these selections and halt a default. It doesn't work like that, so these guys haven't given it ten seconds of thought."  

Indeed. And so even as the MAGA -led House prepares to set the world's financial system on fire, the corporo-media insists on obsessing about the 'drip, drip, drip of Biden's found classified files. An issue which is not even newsworthy (given even the conservative WSJ admitted they were likely left behind in a 'rush' during the change in administrations in 2016-17). In the words of one Washington Post letter writer:

"Accidentally retaining classified documents happens frequently. So, the mere discovery of such documents in President Biden’s possession was not newsworthy. But, by reporting on Mr. Biden’s retention of documents, newspapers signaled it was somehow newsworthy without extenuating circumstances."

See Also:

Armed Forces

GOP's Farcical Debt Ceiling Ploy Deserves Farcical Response: Mint a Really, Really Big Coin

by Karen Dolan | January 28, 2023 - 6:13am | permalink

And:

Economic Policy | Mitch McConnell

The GOP Is Ready Breach the Debt Ceiling. Congratulations, Mitch McConnell. You Built That.

by Joan McCarter | January 19, 2023 - 8:03am | permalink

— from Daily Kos

Excerpt:

There are lots and lots of reasons why the nation is looking down the barrel of a catastrophic debt default, in which for the first time ever one of the major political parties is actively working to make it happen. There’s also a lot of blame to go around. Most of it goes to the author of this whole political strategy, Mitch McConnell, but he had help along the way.

And:

What happens if the government defaults on its debt? It wouldn’t be pretty.

And:

Economic Policy

Treasury Secretary Yellen Informs McCarthy He’s Pressing His Luck on Debt Limit

by Joan McCarter | January 15, 2023 - 8:03am | permalink

— from Daily Kos

Excerpt:

New reporting from the Washington Post is dire. The House GOP is planning for a breach, ”part of the private deal reached this month to resolve the standoff between House conservatives and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over the election of House speaker.” Sources tell the Post that the proposal would call for making interest payments on the debt, and whatever else they spent on—and what would be allowed to stop—isn’t yet specified.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed congressional leadership Friday that the Treasury is going to start taking “extraordinary measures” next week to keep the U.S. from breaching the debt ceiling. To be clear, we aren’t bumping up against it yet—that’s likely to happen this summer, possibly as late as September. The timing depends on any emergency or unexpected spending that arises, and how much revenue is brought in this spring in taxes.

And:

Economic Policy | Republicans

House Republicans are Playing with Fire with Our Economy

by Thom Hartmann | January 17, 2023 - 7:40am | permalink

Excerpt:

The United States is hitting our self-imposed debt ceiling this Thursday.

Outside of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, it doesn’t seem that anybody in Washington or our national media is taking seriously the House Republican threat to crash our economy if Democrats don’t agree to gut aid to higher education, the EPA, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

But the situation is worse than most people realize. McCarthy’s goons really intend to follow through on their threat to cripple America if Democrats won’t go along with cutting entitlements for average working people and regulatory agencies.

And the consequence, if history is any guide, could well be a worldwide depression that might even throw us into World War III.

The Depths Of Kevin McCarthy's Cave-In: Bimbo Boebert Gets House Oversight Appointment To Go After CIA, FBI, Fauci Et Al

 

In the aftermath of Lauren Boebert barely winning her 3rd district congressional seat here in Colorado (by a scant 510 votes after a recount) she vowed to change her ways. She said the too close brush with losing changed her. She promised to "show more disclipline and focus" to become a more temperate Reep,  That didn't last long, however.  

As reported by Mike Littwin in the Colorado Springs Independent (now renamed the 'Sixty- five Thirty -five, don't ask me why) she "turned the heat up to 111"

"Displaying her classic throwdowns with, of all people,. Sean Hannity", after her "Friday night star turn as Eris the Greek goddess of chaos" :  

"If y'all thought that (House chaos) was good just wait till we take this fight to Joe Biden and the radical left."  

Well, so much for temperance, and the imp proudly bragged about being part of the "Taliban 20" that extracted almost every concession - large and small -  they could from the GOP's most notorious wuss, Kevin McCarthy.  As proof, we now have learned the clueless, bombastic bimbo has been given one of the most plum appointments. On Tuesday, Boebert announced in a tweet, she had been appointed to the influential House Oversight and Accountability Committee by members of the McCarthy-led House Steering Committee. The appointment gives the one-time high school dropout and firebrand bimbo an outsized influence on looming investigations into three-letter agencies like the CIA and FBI .  Those that McCarthy—whom Boebert vocally opposed for the speaker post—had hinted at in the lead-up to Republicans taking the majority this past November (because too many indy voters believed the swill they offered about moderation).

This was on the House floor in the days of chaos before McCarthy sacrificed everything but his dick to the MAGA renegades to get the Speakership. But why be surprised?  The balless wonder also awarded Marjorie Taylor-Greene an appointment to the House Homeland Security Committee—which oversees the Department of Homeland Security.  Not to mention awarding not one but  TWO appointments  to fraudster George Santos - including Science.  Oh yeah, and awarding Chairmanship of the Armed Services subcommittee to accused sex trafficker MAGA mutt Matt Gaetz .  Which was why one beheld Mike Rogers being restrained from punching out Gaetz out on the House floor,  e.g.

After Rogers had learned the worm McCarthy surrendered his promised post to Gaetz.

So we are now seeing - in the aftermath of the weeklong House clown show -  the price McCarthy paid to the 'Chaos Caucus' and the sheer turmoil that lies ahead because of his shameless cowardice.  All his moves have led directly to the MAGA traitors likely holding the nation - and McCarthy - hostage as they try to use the debt ceiling for their extortion to cut spending.  Making things like Veterans' benefits, Social Security and Medicare part of "discretionary" budgetary items rather than mandated ones.

Boebert herself may well be more than this nation can afford because it means not only pushing for a deliberate breach of the debt ceiling but an all-out bogus investigative war on critical agencies.  Again, this is because this derivative offshoot of the 'Freedom Caucus' is only for burning down government not offering constructive legislation.  

Back to Boebert: Within days of McCarthy's concessions she was on the warpath, going after Pete Buttegieg over the grounded flights on account of a software issue in the FAA system. The little cretin roared:

"Every plane in America is currently grounded due to a system error. Mayor Pete, bravo. This is what happens when you hire clueless liberals for jobs they aren't qualified to do!"

But that wasn't all and she should have left things alone after calling the Rhodes scholar out. Despite his two -month old son being on a ventilator at a D.C. children's hospital, Boebert raged about Buttegieg having to "go home and chest feed his brat".  This was too much for social media - and not just the LGBTQ part - which unleashed a volley of backlash on her sorry behind. 

The social media blasts on Twitter reminded one and all that Boebert had dropped out of high school and only got her GED by the age of 30, months before winning her first election.  She was informed by fellow Reeps in Colorado that no one would take her seriously if she didn't at least have a high school diploma.  

Further Twitter blasts reminded people that her gun-themed restaurant 'Shooter's Grille'  which has since closed   left eighty people with food poisoning after selling poorly stored (at the wrong temp) pork sliders at a rodeo in 2017.    

Take a deep breath, folks, and buckle your seat belts:  This is now the cretin we have as part of one of the most critical House committees.  As the Bajans might say - it ain't gonna be sweetbread for the next two years!   

See Also:

House of Representatives | Republicans

It Is Comforting—But Foolish—to Believe the House GOP Inquisition Will Fail

by Jeffrey C. Isaac | January 18, 2023 - 7:52am | permalink

Excerpt:

If you are anyone but a MAGA enthusiast, and you care about the future of democracy in the United States, then you think that what the Republican Party and especially the House Republican majority has planned for the next two years is very bad.

And it is very, very bad.

And yet strangely, many of the same people who talk about how very bad it is also refuse to take it seriously.

And:

House of Representatives | Republicans

The GOP House Brought All the Chaos They Promised in the First Two Weeks of Their Shaky Majority

by Joan McCarter | January 16, 2023 - 8:21am | permalink

— from Daily Kos

Excerpt:

The new, tiny House Republican majority set out its agenda for the first week of the new session on Dec. 30. It was ridiculous in theory, and it was doubly ridiculous in practice only in part because it took until Week Two to accomplish. The Week One display on the House floor from fractious Republicans in even getting a figurehead speaker installed wasn’t enough to deter them from forging ahead with that divisive, unpopular agenda this week. Then to head off early on Thursday for a 12-day recess observing Martin Luther King Day. Yeah, some of us get one day. They get 12.

Here’s what they accomplished in their first week of “legislating.” :

On Monday, Republicans passed a new rules package to govern the House for the 118th session, keeping in place some of the rules from the previous Congress and jettisoning others, mostly in the name of “fiscal responsibility.”

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Republicans

GOP Claims It’s Creating a New Church Committee: The Real Historical Parallel Is Joe McCarthy

by Heather Digby Parton | January 15, 2023 - 7:40am | permalink

— from Salon