Opinion

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell froze when speaking to the press again. That’s twice now in roughly a month. Once again, his frightening medical episode is being used for social media fodder.

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been in a relationship for nine years. In that time, we’ve had multiple circumstances that broke my trust with him. He would report to his Marine base once a month (as a reservist), get drunk at night and flirt with girls online constantly; he tried kissing a girl at a party we were both at (thankfully, she had a bit more respect for our relationship); he would secretly text and Snapchat other girls; and he even had the intentions of hooking up with my best friend at our house after our housewarming party after I went to sleep and everyone left (I woke up and interrupted them before anything actually happened, but he did get a handful of her rear). Each one of those instances was obviously devastating, but I worked hard on getting over them and forgiving him. However, the trust is, I think, lost and needs to be built back up on his end.

Although the HHSRecommended Change Would Benefit Researchers and the Cannabis Industry, It Would Not Resolve the Conflict Between State and Federal Marijuana Laws For half a century, reformers have been urging the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana, which since 1970 has been assigned to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the law’s most restrictive category. Although the DEA has always rejected that proposal, it could change course in light of a recent recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services.

When they engage with the national media, Republicans expect that the exchanges will be skeptical, if not openly hostile. The press works for the Other Party. Democrats expect the media to be the wind beneath their wings, and get upset when journalists don’t help them at every turn.

When in Doubt File a Claim Regular readers of this column know that one of the messages I preach is this: “You have every right to file a claim for any kind of Social Security benefit you think you might be eligible for.” Even though I deliver that message often, I sometimes worry that it falls on deaf ears. But two emails I got this week helped me to realize that at least some readers are paying attention.

Dear Annie: I have been widowed for 1 1/2 years. I have well-meaning neighbors who want to include me in many social activities dinners out, movies, parties and meals at their homes.

The U.S. government this week released the list of the 10 medications that will be the first to be the subject of the new price negotiations under the Medicare reform bill, and my arthritis drug, Enbrel, made the list. To make the cut, you either had to be taken by millions of people, like Eliquis, or cost a fortune. Enbrel costs a fortune.

To the gun enthusiasts out there, only 5% of mass shooters have severe mental health issues. So that means, there are 95% other reasons why people decide to shoot others.

Pauline Kael knew she wasn’t a representative American. The onetime New Yorker film critic is famous in folk memory for having said she didn’t know anyone who voted for Richard Nixon in 1972, when he won a 49-state landslide.

Dear Annie: I’m 40 years old and tired of having my siblings always telling me what to do. This has come up recently because my mother has to move out of her home. I’ve lived with her in the past, and she treated me horribly. Now my siblings expect me to get up and help her move and pack her stuff. I’m not a child anymore.