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(PEANUTS WIKI)
Good morning! It’s Wednesday, Nov. 12. On this day in 1969, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh sent a shocking story through the Dispatch News Service that was published by more than 30 newspapers: The Army had charged 1st Lt. William L. Calley with deliberately murdering at least 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai, South Vietnam, during a search-and-destroy mission in March, 1968. The later details of the massacre were horrific, as was the revelation that the Army initially covered it up. Another distressing detail? The utter lack of accountability: Calley, the only soldier convicted, was sentenced to life in prison, but served just 3 1/2 years under house arrest.
The sun rose in Boston at 6:31 a.m. and will set at 4:24 p.m. for a measly 9 hours and 53 minutes of sunlight. There’s a half-moon.
You may have seen that the Farmers’ Almanac based in Lewiston, Maine, is ceasing publication; the 2026 edition will be its last. But The Old Farmer’s Almanac of Dublin, N.H. — the almanac that I regularly tease for its quirky suggestions — wants everyone to know that it is going strong. The Maine almanac actually started in New Jersey in 1818. Like its older New Hampshire cousin (older by 26 years), it, too, features long-range weather predictions, gardening tips, natural remedies, cooking advice, trivia, astronomy calendars, and other folky stuff. Here’s a nice tribute by Globe weather guy Dave Epstein.
🌤 What’s it like outside? Jeepers it’s been cold! It will stay cool (mid- to high 40s) and pretty dry the rest of the week, but rain could arrive Sunday.
🚨 Breaking: Convicted — and now deceased — sex offender Jeffrey Epstein mentioned Trump multiple times in emails, including assertions that Trump spent significant time with a woman Democratic lawmakers say was a victim of Epstein’s sex trafficking. Here’s more, if you can stomach it.
🏈 Hey, sport: I’m so anxious to watch the Patriots play that I’m thrilled that they’re on Thursday Night Football tomorrow, hosting the Jets (2-7) at Gillette at 8:15 p.m. on Prime Video. (The Globe’s Nicole Yang has a preview.) But then I realized I’ll have to wait 10 days before I can watch them play again. Globe sports columnist Chris Gasper says that as great as QB Drake Maye has been, this team has found multiple paths to victory. Meanwhile, the Jets are contemplating a QB change.
While the Celtics (5-7) continue to struggle, the Bruins have won seven in a row, and last night David Pastrnak scored his 400th career goal. Nice.
Ah, Democrats.
You just can’t help being Charlie Brown, can you? And now the Lucy Republicans are about to do what they always do: Yank away the health care football and watch as you land on your back once again, bruised, humiliated, and empty-handed.
Oh sure, Senate majority leader John Thune will give you your vote on extending the ACA subsidies. And the proposal will end up in ashes on the Senate floor because the Republicans are already crafting amendments that you can’t stomach. In fact, you could end up voting against extending the subsidies, and wouldn’t that just be a kick in the teeth.
You see, one thing Thune conveniently forgot to tell the eight Democratic suckers senators who actually trusted him was that Republicans are going to demand that the bill extending the ACA subsidies also include a provision placing even more restrictions on abortion access.
I’m sure you know that the Hyde Amendment already prohibits the use of federal funds for most abortions in programs such as Medicaid. When the ACA was created, a similar prohibition was included.
But some states have enacted their own laws that require abortion coverage in Medicaid, private, and ACA marketplace plans, including Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New York, Colorado, Oregon, and others. Some use their own funds to pay for the care. Here’s a rundown by KFF, including a map of state policies.
Well, Republicans determined to control women’s bodies can’t have that.
So they’re now telling Democrats that they won’t vote to extend the ACA subsidies unless Democrats agree to eliminate those state coverage plans.
How can the federal government target abortion care that uses state, not federal funds? By targeting coverage, not care. In other words, creating a law that says if states fund abortion as part of health care coverage that includes federal money, that federal money will disappear.
US Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire has already said that’s a red line for her. Oh, really? You didn’t see that coming? It’s a good thing she’s retiring because she obviously can no longer see beyond the end of her nose. BTW, her daughter, Stefany Shaheen, a Democrat running for Congress from the Granite State, publicly disagreed with her mother’s capitulation:
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Sorry, Stefany, but it’s too late. Your mother and her friends already killed the momentum. Just a few days after Democrats were euphoric over cleaning Republicans’ clocks in state and local races across the country, and polls showed that most Americans blame Republicans for the shutdown mess, and Trump and his bizarre policies continue to be widely unpopular, those eight Senate Democrats came to the conclusion that they had absolutely no leverage.
As a result, tens of millions of Americans who rely on Obamacare for their health insurance will see their monthly premiums at least double. And that will lead to many of them dropping that insurance and praying that they don’t get sick. Or forgoing medical treatment for conditions they now have.
Look, it’s great that federal employees will start to get paid again, although watch for Trump to try to screw them out of back pay. And money should start flowing to SNAP again, although the GOP has already implemented policies that will cut more people off from that benefit. (Can you imagine being a president who goes all the way to the Supreme Court to try to stop poor Americans, many of whom voted for you, from being able to afford food?)
But one could argue that cutting people off from health insurance is worse; it poses a more direct and severe risk to one’s health, leading to preventable deaths.
Yes, Americans do die of malnutrition, but the vast majority are elderly and in medical/nursing facilities or home/hospice care.
On the other hand, a study published in 2009 in the American Journal of Public Health found that nearly 45,000 Ameri