I read Yeah, the GOP Is Evil and Will Win — But the Midterms are Meaningless by Salon writer Andrew O’Hehir early on Saturday, then I read it again. It’s dense and not very clear, but I think I get his point.

Mr. O’Hehir begins by referencing an earlier piece, where he argued that, despite an era of “extreme and perhaps unprecedented executive power,” President Obama cannot get anything done. He tells us the Congressional Democrats have as their mission being “less pathological” than their counterparts, and that the Republicans’ appeal “rests largely on racial panic, xenophobia and anti-government paranoia,” and that their “only visible agenda is obstructionism.”

Congress is flat-ass broken! And I—no surprise here—do believe there’s more fault

Arizona Same-Sex Marriage Ban Declared Unconstitutional!!!

P.S. Contact me at mrubin@mcrazlaw.com or 520.624.8886 for a copy of the court order. I do not know how to attach it to this post.

Laurie Garrett is a public health expert, a former NPR reporter, and the author of Betrayal of Trust:  The Collapse of Public Health and other books. For Ms. Garrett, public health is “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals.” Wait, what? Individuals make the list, but last? Sounds like another “Obamacare defending, Socialist—it takes a village—thinking, “Getting ‘tween me and my Medicare,” G’mint plot to take away my doctor! Because:  freedom!

For better and worse, we live in a nation steeped in individualism. I take care of myself, you do the same, and we can all call

I heard a story, A Phone Call Helped Navy’s First Four-Star Woman Embrace Her Path, on Friday morning’s NPR Morning Edition show. National Public Radio has been running a Changing Lives of Women series, which includes some great stories. This piece featured Admiral Michelle Howard, the Navy’s first female, African-American four star admiral, and its current Vice Chief of Naval Operations (No woman or African-American man has previously held this job.)

I don’t want to steal Admiral Howard’s story—she’s very impressive, and you should listen to the interview—but her comments resonated on several levels. She’s very direct about her belief that being African-American has presented more career challenges than being a woman. She recounts family trips in the

Goodbye is a tough one! I’m talking about big goodbyes, not the ones that come when we’re leaving for work, going home after a party, or even when we send our children away to school or camp.

(Before I go further, I’m well and healthy, and going nowhere anytime soon. Just feeling and writing, truly!)

In the past few weeks I’ve seen a film clip and two essays about saying goodbye. Each touched me differently, but they share the common theme that how we say goodbye matters greatly.

First up is the film clip—second item I ran across—titled Made in New York. It’s a 1:31 commercial for Gatorade, featuring now former New York Yankee star Derek Jeter saying goodbye

Mark Rubin Writes stays away from religion, mostly. (When politics and religion mix, though, staying mum requires effort. And when a certain Supreme Court justice—last name rhymes with President Obama’s oldest daughter’s first name—manages to find in his particular form of textualism religious rights never mentioned in the Constitution, look for steam coming out of a certain person’s ears!)

Anyway, as I write it is Erev Yom Kippur, the start of the Jewish Day of Atonement, aka the Holiest of Holy Days. The one day in the year when I cannot avoid touching on faith, broadly.

What to write, which is not generally a challenge for me? I need to finish quickly as the sun is over the yardarm,

Believe it or not, I used to be a pro football fan. Really! I can still conjure up the image of my dad picking me up in June 1969—I was 12—and telling me Joe Namath was retiring. Devastating news!

The retirement came about when NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle ordered Namath, then 26, to sell his interest in a singles bar. The conversation went like this, thereafter:

Namath:  No!

Rozelle:  Do it!

Namath:  I quit!

A month or so later, Joe Willie sold the bar interest and returned to football.

I recall football pools for years at my old law firm, watching games every week. Yes, I cared about winning money, but I really did enjoy the games.