I'm reading that J.D. Vance's reaction to Kamala Harris's swearing in of new Senators today has gone viral.

I don't understand why. It's an interesting situation, the defeated presidential candidate performing this role, but it is her duty as the current President of the Senate (i.e. Vice President), and J.D. Vance looks happy, but it's not as though he's taunting her. He's there, along with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, former U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Cincinnati, to support the new Senator from Ohio, Bernie Moreno:

Some news media are calling attention to this other awkwardness: "Kamala Harris Heads to Capitol to Swear-In Senators Who Won’t Even Say Her Name Right" (Time), "Kamala Harris will give oath of office to GOP senators who couldn’t get her name right" (Independent).

It seems to me that this was a formal, required ritual, and everyone went through the motions with dignity and collegiality. 

"Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) struck down a bill that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors..."

"... preserving such care for residents beyond his state as well, because families of transgender youths who live in states with bans have been traveling to Ohio for treatment.... Ohio’s Saving Adolescents From Experimentation Act, or SAFE Act, would have prohibited hormone therapy, puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgery for people under 18. The measure also would have prohibited transgender girls from playing on sports teams designated for girls and women in high school and college.... While minors who are already receiving gender-affirming care would’ve been allowed to continue, other parents 'would be criminals, if they seek care for their child after the bill becomes effective. It’s crazy,' [said one father of a transgender child]...."

WaPo reports.

DeWine defended his veto in pro-life terms: "Ultimately I believe this is about protecting human life.... Many parents have told me that their child would not have survived, would be dead today, if they had not received the treatment they received from one of Ohio’s children’s hospitals."

"I continue to be concerned about the impacts of the Feb 3 train derailment near East Palestine, OH, and the effects on families in the ten days since their lives were upended through no fault of their own."

Tweeted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, after experiencing some criticism from Republicans for his lack of visibility after the disaster. 

I'm reading  "Drink bottled water, officials tell Ohio town hit by toxic train crash/The derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, released more hazardous substances than first reported, adding to the distrust and fear of nearby residents" (WaPo)

For the Annals of Lateral Thinking: Ohio makes vaccinating into a million-dollar lottery.

Governor Mike DeWine announces on Twitter: 

Two weeks from tonight on May 26th, we will announce a winner of a separate drawing for adults who have received at least their first dose of the vaccine. This announcement will occur each Wednesday for five weeks, and the winner each Wednesday will receive one million dollars.

The pool of names for the drawing will be derived from the Ohio Secretary of State’s publicly available voter registration database. Further, we will make available a webpage for people to sign up for the drawings if they are not in a database we are using. The Ohio Department of Health will be the sponsoring agency for the drawings, and the Ohio Lottery will conduct them. The money will come from existing federal Coronavirus Relief Funds.

To be eligible to win, you must be at least 18 years of age or older on the day of the drawing. You must be an Ohio resident. And, you must be vaccinated before the drawing. We will have further, specific details tomorrow and in the days ahead.

I know that some may say, “DeWine, you’re crazy! This million-dollar drawing idea of yours is a waste of money.” But truly, the real waste at this point in the pandemic -- when the vaccine is readily available to anyone who wants it -- is a life lost to COVID-19.

You could spend $5 million on ads cajoling people — or shaming them — into getting vaccinated. One way or another, it costs money to complete the vaccination project. The great thing about the lottery idea is that it's an effort to reach minds that are not primarily oriented to science — people who are emotional and transrational.

Am I making up the word "transrational"? I had to look it up. I can't credit myself with coinage. There's a whole Wikipedia article, but let's see if it means what I — in my thwarted word-coining effort — had in mind: