Friday Talking Points -- Um... Madison Cawthorn Getting Naked In Sweden?

[ChrisWeigant]

As we write this, everyone inside the Beltway is getting ready for the upcoming White House Correspondents' Dinner, which President Joe Biden has said he will be attending (after a hiatus of presidents attending due to COVID and, earlier, due to Donald Trump having incredibly thin skin). But, as usual, our invitation seems to have been lost in the mail or something. Ahem.

We are excited with a sort of "something good is about to happen" feeling, however, because the House Select January 6th Committee has finally announced a preliminary schedule for public hearings. Here's the story (as it stands so far):

Jan. 6 Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) plans to hold eight hearings throughout June, including some in primetime for television viewers. The first is expected to take place on June 9, Thompson told reporters Thursday.

"We'll tell the story about what happened. We will use a combination of witnesses, exhibits, and things that we have," Thompson said. "We have tens of thousands of exhibits … as well as hundreds of witnesses we've deposed or talked to in general. It will give the public the benefit of what more than a year's worth of investigation has borne to the committee."

Primetime? That could certainly be interesting!

Meanwhile, more and more leaks have appeared, including those from an upcoming book by New York Times journalists Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, which mostly cover Kevin McCarthy's initial reaction to the insurrection attempt (spoiler: McCarthy reacted somewhat sanely, condemning the insurrection and Trump, for which is he now being forced to abase himself in front of the rest of the party for insufficient loyalty to the Dear Leader). McCarthy initially tried to deny all the allegations as fake news, but had to walk that back after tapes were released proving exactly what he had said.

The Republican world held its collective breath for a day or so, until Trump bestowed his blessing upon McCarthy, which saved McCarthy's dream of becoming speaker of the House next year. Once Trump had registered his approval, McCarthy spoke to his caucus, who reportedly gave him a standing ovation.

Just another week in Trumptown, in other words.

However, the prize for most scandalous behavior within Republican ranks this week has to go to Representative Madison Cawthorn. Which led to one snarky article musing about what Cawthorn was actually up to:

The young, right-wing first-term member of Congress has generated so many horrible news stories, ranging from the personal to the ideological, that observers have grown obsessed with locating the unifying thread that explains it all. Is he a secret Nazi? Some kind of sex weirdo? A compulsive liar?

These are all plausible theories. But I am increasingly drawn to a novel explanation of Cawthorn's frenetic generation of terrible news stories: He has made a list of every major political scandal and is attempting to commit all of them.

The Washington Post had the best rundown of what Cawthorn has been up to of late, though:

The 26-year-old Republican congressman from North Carolina was caught bringing a loaded gun through airport security, his second such incident. Police released footage of him getting pulled over for driving with expired tags and being told to surrender his revoked license. The Washington Examiner reported allegations against him of insider trading. Politico published photos of him partying while wearing women's lingerie. And a former congressional aide filed a workplace complaint against him.

Most public figures would call a stretch like that good reason to resign. Cawthorn might just call it "April."

Earlier this year, Cawthorn called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "thug" and his government "incredibly evil." He alleged that his congressional colleagues engage in coke-fueled orgies. He committed the latest of many driving offenses (three court dates are pending). Earlier, four women accused him of sexual misconduct, in a BuzzFeed article; Cawthorn denied the allegations.

All of that is pretty hard to top when it comes to outrageous scandals -- especially the photos of Cawthorn wearing lingerie -- but today Cawthorn managed this feat. Fittingly, it appeared in a British tabloid, the Daily Mail. Here's the story:

New video of scandal-ridden GOP Rep Madison Cawthorn having his crotch felt by a close male friend and staff member is at the center of a complaint calling for an investigation into him and filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics today, DailyMail.com can reveal.

The extraordinary footage, obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com and seen here for the first time today, shows Cawthorn, 26, in a car with his close aide and his scheduler Stephen Smith, 23.

Cawthorn sits in the driver's seat apparently filmed by Smith as he adopts an exaggerated accent and says, "I feel the passion and desire and would like to see a naked body beneath my hands."

The camera then pans back to Smith who says, "Me too" as Cawthorn can be heard laughing. Smith then films himself reaching his hand over and into Cawthorn's crotch.

The video is one of several exhibits filed in support of the ethics complaint drafted by political group Fire Madison Cawthorn.

. . .

Among the many allegations is the claim that representative for North Carolina's 11th district provided thousands of dollars in loans and gifts to Smith, a staff member, with whom, the complaint states, he is engaged in an improper relationship characterized by steamy postings on social media and so close that the staffer joined Cawthorn on his honeymoon to Dubai in April 2021.

According to the filing Cawthorn has provided free housing, travel and loans to Smith, none of which have been declared or repaid.

The complaint also requests an investigation into the nature of Cawthorn's relationship with Smith stating that the junior member of staff lives with Cawthorn.

Um... "joined Cawthorn on his honeymoon"?!? Wow. No wonder his marriage only lasted eight months! And then there were all the Venmo payments. Which came with flirty little suggestive notes to explain the payments, such as:

Getting naked for me in Sweden

For loving me daily and nightly

The quickie at the airport

The stuff we did in Amsterdam

...and one that was more concise, consisting of a single word: "Nudes."

Nothing like the "party of family values," eh? If you're waiting for his fellow Republicans to denounce Cawthorn or call for his resignation, you must have just woken up from a coma that lasted at least seven years. These days, the only thing that Republicans condemn is being insufficiently worshipful to the Dear Leader -- pretty much everything else gets a pass. As Madison Cawthorn seems intent on proving, as many different ways as he can.

This could all fit in rather well with one message Joe Biden has been deploying with more and more regularity: "This ain't your father's Republican Party, folks." Democrats should lean in to the warning that if Republicans take over the House in November, it won't be Kevin McCarthy leading them (no matter what title he has), it will be the likes of Cawthorn, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, and all the rest of the lunatics the GOP not only allows within its ranks but supports and seems to almost celebrate. This is today's Republican Party, make no mistake about it.

It's gotten so bad, in fact, that when a Republican actually lives up to her oath of office to the Constitution, it is such a rare event that she is given a Profile In Courage award for doing so.

What else? Donald Trump had a rather busy week, with some notable ups and downs. He was held in civil contempt by a court in New York, for refusing to provide documents that the prosecutor has requested. Trump will be forced to pay $10,000 a day until he produces them.

But the criminal grand jury in New York dissolved this week, after the new district attorney refused to move the criminal fraud case against Trump forward. So it looks like he's off the hook for any criminal penalties, at least in New York.

The most amusing Trump news of the week, however, came from a deposition Trump had to sit for in a case involving protesters against Trump who are suing him for his security guards assaulting them back in 2015. While being questioned about a campaign rally he gave in 2016, where he invited the crowd to "knock the crap" out of any protesters who tried to pelt him with tomatoes (going as far as saying he would "pay the legal fees" of anyone who did knock the crap out of a tomato-thrower), Trump revealed yet another item on the long list of things that he is terrified of -- killer fruit:

"I wanted to have people be ready because we were put on alert that they were going to do fruit," Trump said in the October 2021 deposition, according to a transcript of the proceedings.

He added that "tomatoes are bad" and that "some fruit is a lot worse."

"But it's very dangerous.... I remember that specific event, because everybody was on alert. They were going to hit -- they were going to hit hard," he said.

. . .

"Yeah, I think that they have to be aggressive in stopping that from happening," Trump said. "Because if that happens, you can be killed if that happens.... To stop somebody from throwing pineapples, tomatoes, bananas, stuff like that, yeah, it's dangerous stuff."

. . .

"It's worse than tomato, it's other things also," Trump continued. "But tomato, when they start doing that stuff, it's very dangerous. There was an alert out that day."

If he's this inarticulate and frightened in a case about his security guards, one can only imagine what he might say in a real deposition into a crime that he was guilty of committing. No wonder he wages such a fierce legal battle to avoid getting questioned under oath!





We've got a lot to get to in impressive Democratic behavior this week, we are happy to report.

Runners-up this week (who all deserve an Honorable Mention) were led off by Elizabeth Warren, who is out there trying to light a fire under her fellow Democrats to get some things done as soon as possible, because she knows that would be the best way to increase the party's chances in the midterms.

Meanwhile down in Florida, Chaz Stevens had an excellent idea. He's the same guy who put up a Festivus pole at the state capitol's year-end holiday display, to show that neutrality in government's handling of religion must be absolute. Now he's trying to make another important point, by sending challenges to 63 Florida school districts, to try to get them to remove the Bible from school libraries. He's doing this to spotlight a new law passed by Republicans which was intended to target books inclusive of L.G.B.T.Q. and Black students, but (as with most laws of this type) was written in an effort to pass constitutional muster by not explicitly saying which books should be targeted. So Stevens filed challenges that they probably never expected:

His three-page petition critiques the Bible for its depictions of bestiality and cannibalism, its "eye-popping passages of babies being smashed against the rocks" in Psalms 137 and its "strong pro-slavery position," citing Ephesians 6:5-7.

"As the Bible casually references... such topics as murder, adultery, sexual immorality, and fornication -- or as I like to think, Date Night Friday Night -- do we really want to teach our youth about drunken orgies?" the petition asks.

Stevens is a political prankster, no doubt. But he's standing on pretty firm legal ground:

Erica Goldberg, a University of Dayton Law School professor who studies First Amendment rights, said Stevens's petitions could showcase that the new law may cause school boards to engage in "viewpoint discrimination," or removing information because of dislike of the ideas it contains, which is impermissible per the Supreme Court.

She noted that the Bible is replete with episodes of violence and sexual abuse, including the rape of Dinah in Genesis, which leads her brothers Levi and Simeon to kill every man in the city of Shechem to avenge her honor; the incestuous rape of King David's daughter Tamar by her half brother Amnon; and the brutal dismemberment of a concubine in Judges. She said the Bible is at least as sexually explicit as some of the books parents are labeling inappropriate, raising the question: Why can the Bible stay in the library when those books have to go?

"This stunt is going to illuminate," she added. "Many of our First Amendment rights get meted out by edge cases or by people looking to make statements."

In what might initially look like a political stunt, Utah Democrats have decided not to back a candidate for the upcoming Senate race, and instead to endorse Independent Evan McMullin. This should give McMullin a much better chance at unseating Mike Lee, and far from being a stunt it was actually a prime example of putting country over party (we wrote about this at length earlier in the week).

And in any other week, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham would have easily won the Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week for the sheer magnitude of what she just accomplished:

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced Thursday that New Mexico will cover the costs of child care for most residents through June 2023. The benefit, which covers families earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, makes New Mexico the first state to offer no-cost care to such a broad range of incomes, officials said.

"It's free, no more co-pays, no more waiting," Lujan Grisham said to a crowd of preschoolers at East Gate Kids Learning Center in Albuquerque. "This is the road to a universal child-care system."

The median household income in New Mexico is $51,243. Under the new program, which begins May 1, a family of four earning up to about $111,000 would be eligible for free child care. The state recently expanded a federal child-care subsidy to middle-class families. On Thursday, Lujan Grisham said it would eliminate co-pays for them, too. Officials estimate both changes will make child care free for a total of 30,000 families.

Advocates welcomed the initiative at a time when families are still recovering from the economic fallout of the pandemic and are grappling with rising prices. "It is hard to overstate the impacts of ensuring that all families can afford great child care," said Amber Wallin, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, an advocacy group. "It helps our families. It helps our workforce. It helps our businesses. It's such an important step forward for New Mexico, and it comes at a time when families are in real need of any economic relief."

Mario Cardona, the chief of policy and practice for Child Care Aware of America, a nonprofit that advocates for affordable child care, called the announcement "the type of thing that we should be seeing across the country."

That is pioneering and progressive and shows that this sort of thing can be done, no matter how many naysayers try to paint it as some radical "far left" idea. Democrats should take note, because this is precisely the sort of thing Congress should be doing (if it weren't for Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, of course). We hope, at any rate, that some other blue states follow suit.

But just for jaw-dropping impressiveness, we are obliged to give the coveted MDDOTW award this week to a candidate for Minnesota state senate, who didn't even get her party (the "Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party," in Minnesota) to endorse her, losing out to another candidate at the party's recent meeting. Why would we find such a losing bid impressive? Well, for one major reason:

For months, a running joke inside Erin Maye Quade's campaign for the Minnesota state Senate was that the candidate, pregnant with her first child, might actually give birth April 23, the day Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party delegates would gather to vote on who would be the party's nominee for the race.

It would be a grueling convention, packed with speeches, in-person campaigning for delegates' support and potentially multiple rounds of balloting.

As fate would have it, at 6:15 a.m. Saturday, the day of the convention, Maye Quade texted her campaign manager, Mitchell Walstad, to let him know that she had gone into labor four hours earlier.

"We weren't sure she was going to make it," Walstad told The Washington Post. Nevertheless, Maye Quade arrived at the convention hall, and her team devised a plan to slowly walk her around to greet delegates, then whisk her back to their campaign room every 15 or 20 minutes when a new contraction would start.

By the time the candidate speeches began, her contractions were intensifying.

"This is our moment to build our future together," Maye Quade told the roughly 200 delegates in attendance, as captured in a video shared on social media. "To unlock the powerful, life-affirming, transformative kind of politics that means we can... create economic opportunity and prosperity, and safeguard our civil and human rights..."

Here, Maye Quade paused for a beat and touched her stomach. Another contraction was starting.

"...and strengthen our human and public infrastructure... excuse me," she said, before stopping again. She doubled over and gripped a nearby surface with both hands, in visible pain.

By now, it was obvious Maye Quade was in active labor. Many in the crowd cheered her on.

The article also notes (with pun almost certainly intended) that she also had to "labor through" a question-and-answer period after her speech:

"It was like 10 questions back and forth," Walstad said. "At one point, they had to switch up the order, I believe, because she was having a contraction in the middle of when she was supposed to answer."

. . .

"Erin had a contraction during her speech in front of a room of 200 people and then again during her Q&A," [political director of Women Winning Emma] McBride told the Post. "While her opponent continued on answering the question, she was bent over in the chair holding her wife's hand -- and then immediately afterward was handed the mic and expected to answer a question, which she did and she did flawlessly."

Personally, we are left speechless (which doesn't happen often, to us). This is a performance no male (politician or otherwise) can ever even begin to understand. For showing such grit and for her commitment to her candidacy, we think at the very least Erin Maye Quade deserves this week's Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week.

And for those wondering, the story has a very happy ending: 12 hours later in the wee hours of the morning, she delivered a baby girl she named Harriet. Who will get to hear that story pretty much every single birthday she has for the rest of her life. She shouldn't mind, though, because the story is so breathtakingly impressive.

[Since she is no longer a candidate, we do not as a rule provide contact information for private citizens, so you'll have to look up Erin Maye Quade yourself if you'd like to offer your congratulations, sorry.]





We're going to return to what has become our default for the Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week this week, by handing it to Joe Manchin, just on general principles.

We should mention in passing that there was one other contender for the award this week, but we don't really consider him a Democrat even though he's running as one for a state senate seat in Michigan (using the party to get on the ballot doesn't really make you a party member, in our eyes at least). But we do have to admit he is odious. Far-right radio host Randy Bishop said this week that the mainstream media is attempting to "destroy the nuclear family," for which he had a rather antediluvian definition: "Can't even watch a college basketball tournament without commercials telling me I have to feel guilty because I think a family should be a White mom, a White dad and White kids." Hoo boy.

But back to real Democrats (or, at least, "Democrats for the time being..." ). Senator Joe Manchin has begun his Dance of the Seven Veils again, teasing the entire rest of the Democratic Party with the slight possibility that he might vote for a reconciliation bill which gets a few things done before the midterms. However, he has cried "Wolf!" far too often for most Democrats to even take him seriously this time around. The White House is attempting to bargain with him, but since Manchin feels no compunction about agreeing to something and then later saying he can't agree to it, this will probably wind up going nowhere. Manchin is also involved with an effort to pass an energy bill with a bipartisan group of senators -- another effort that is likely to go precisely nowhere -- which means oodles of time wasted and no urgency to strike an energy deal with his fellow Democrats in the meantime.

On top of all this, the new book from the two New York Times journalists leaked an interesting excerpt showing Manchin has indeed considered switching parties:

You don't have to join our caucus, [Senate Minority Whip John] Thune told him. Just become an independent and caucus with us.

Thune suggested [Senator Joe] Manchin would likely be rewarded for taking such a step: You could write your own ticket, the South Dakotan told him. Chair a committee, we'll help you raise money for your campaign.

Manchin heard them out and gave Thune a politically deft response.

John, he said, if you were the leader I would do it.

It was not a hard no, but Manchin was not about to put Mitch McConnell back in charge of the Senate.

So the only thing that saved Democratic control is Joe Manchin's dislike of Mitch McConnell. Which is truly disappointing, and is why Manchin can add one more Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week to his growing collection.

[Contact Senator Joe Manchin on his Senate contact page, to let him know what you think of his actions.]




Volume 660 (4/29/22)

These are all kind of loosely based on the same theme this week -- all variations on the first talking point, really. Except maybe the last one, but then with anything dealing with Rand Paul it's going to be so loony that it defies description, really.



Not your dad's GOP

Hammer this one home, because it is so true.

"Joe Biden recently remarked: 'This is not your father's Republican Party by any stretch of the imagination. This is the MAGA party.' He's right. Today's Republicans have forsworn just about everything the party used to stand for, all in obeisance to a completely amoral and narcissistic con man. Donald Trump's lack of human empathy and any moral compass has filtered down to the rest of the party, to the point where they now celebrate the violent attempted overthrow of a presidential election and are working diligently to steal the next presidential election by taking over the machinery which verifies the vote, in state after state. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney summed up the difference between the two parties nicely when he said: 'We're for jobs. They're for mobs. We are fixing your country, and they are fixing elections.' Couldn't agree more. This is not your father's Republican Party, folks. It is now a party morally unmoored and adrift, with no respect for basic democracy at all."



The race to the bottom

There are just so many examples to choose from.

"Republicans are in a real race to the bottom, in fact, as they seem almost to be trying to outdo each other in what used to be universally considered disqualifying behavior for a public servant. Madison Cawthorn is a total Dumpster fire all on his own, and after the month he's had it'll be interesting to see how he tries to top it next month. So many Republican candidates for office have been accused of beating their spouses or children that it is actually hard to keep track of them all anymore. In Idaho, a former state representative was just convicted of raping a 19-year-old intern. Meanwhile, 'one of the most powerful senators in the North Dakota legislature' actually did step down after it was revealed that he had exchanged 72 text messages with a guy who was being held in jail on child pornography charges. This is the Republican Party of today, people. What's most astounding is that as they continue this race to the bottom, with every lurch downwards, within their own ranks they have normalized behaviors which used to be career-killing but are now seen as not as bad as what the rest of them are doing. It is disgraceful and disgusting, and it is indeed today's Republican Party."



Rapists' rights

This used to be an extreme position even on the right, but no more.

"Republicans at the state level are falling all over themselves to pass the most restrictive abortion laws possible, in anticipation of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court. This means we can all see precisely how extreme Republicans have become on the issue. In Ohio a bill was being debated that (it was pointed out during debate) would force a 13-year-old girl who was raped to carry her rapist's baby to term. The Republican who authored the measure agreed:"

It is a shame that it happens, but there's an opportunity for that woman, no matter how young or old she is, to make a determination about what she's going to do to help that life be a productive human being... Rape is a difficult issue, and it emotionally scars the individual... for the rest of their life, just as child abuse does. But if a baby is created, it is a human life, and, whether that mother ends that pregnancy or not, the scars will not go away -- period.

"We think voters should ask themselves before entering the voting booth this November if this is the future they want to see for America. Because if Republicans take control of Congress, they very well could try to pass such abhorrent laws for the entire nation. The Republican Party has become the party of rapists' rights. Think about that when you vote. Because that is exactly where they want to take us all, make no mistake about it."



Book burnings, too

Again, this is not just an isolated example, it is a trend in red states across the country.

"Republicans used to be the party of small government -- you know, 'get the government out of my life,' that sort of thing. But now they're not only fighting hard to force women to carry rapists' babies to term, they're also trying to ban books they don't like -- a category which apparently includes any discussion of Black people or other minorities, or any suggestion that any relationship other than a heterosexual marriage even exists. In Tennessee, one Republican state representative even admitted what his real goal was. When asked what he'd do with all the banned books: 'You going to put them in the street? Light them on fire?' the Republican answered back: 'I don't have a clue, but I would burn them.' So this is what Republicans mean by 'small government'? Deciding what is allowed to be on bookshelves? And then burning any books they don't approve of? This is today's Republican Party, plain and simple."



Big Lie going strong

It's not just social issues, either.

"In state after state, Republicans are running for the offices that control elections with one goal in mind -- guaranteeing that any election which shows more people voted for Democrats than Republicans is thrown out and replaced by just anointing the Republican the winner. This is the inevitable end goal of Donald Trump's insistence on his Big Lie, that somehow (without the tiniest shred of evidence) he won the 2020 election. The race for Georgia governor had an interesting debate this week, where the Trump-endorsed candidate spent the first 23 minutes of the debate slamming his opponent for not just chucking out all the votes and proclaiming Trump the winner the last time around. He's not the only one, either -- there are plenty of Big Lie cult members running for state offices all around the country. And while it looks right now like the Georgia Trumpista is probably going to lose in the primary, some of them will manage to get their party's nomination and some may even win their election in November. Which could spell the end of fair and free elections in more than one U.S. state. This is today's Republican Party, folks -- they believe that if they lose an election, they should still get to rule anyway, and they are actively plotting to make that a reality, no matter what the voters have to say about it."



Profiles In Courage

This is really astonishing, when you think about it. Or it should be, at any rate.

"In normal times, Republican officeholders who uphold their oath of office to the United States Constitution would not be news, it would be expected of them all. But these are not normal times, and there are so few Republicans left that do stand up for free elections and doing what is right that they are being singled out for their bravery. This week the Profile In Courage awards were announced, and not only did Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy get one but also Representative Liz Cheney and three elections officials in Michigan, Arizona, and Georgia -- all for simply doing their duty. When Donald Trump tried to steal the last election, it was people like these who prevented it. And now they are such rarities within Republican ranks that they are fully deserving of Profile In Courage awards. That's kind of sad, when you think about it -- how far the party has fallen, really."



Sarah might have something to say about that, Rand

And finally, in the stupidest thing said all week category (a tough bar for Republicans to hit, these days), we have Rand Paul.

"In a hearing this week, Rand Paul uncorked some prime Russian propaganda while questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Paul seemed rather fine with Russia attacking Ukraine and other countries (Georgia and Moldova), pointing out: 'You could also argue the countries they've attacked were part of Russia, or were part of the Soviet Union.... The countries that were attacked were part of the Soviet Union since the 1920s.' Vladimir Putin was no doubt delighted to hear Paul parroting Kremlin talking points, one assumes. Using Rand Paul's logic, after all, it would be entirely reasonable if the United Kingdom tried to recapture the East Coast of America, or France launched a war to take back the Louisiana Purchase. Or, perhaps more to the point, Russia's next invasion could be launched to reconquer Alaska. Rand Paul seems to be suggesting this would be acceptable, but I would bet that Sarah Palin (and hundreds of millions of others) might have a different take on seeing Russian soldiers land in Anchorage."




Chris Weigant blogs at: ChrisWeigant.com
Follow Chris on Twitter: ChrisWeigant
Full archives of FTP columns: FridayTalkingPoints.com

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. He's not a national security risk

.Just kidding. He'd be easy to buy off, but he's doing a good job of showing the American people his true character.

An interesting story line would be to run a feature on "Who are the top 10 National Security Risks in the House and Senate today."

Maybe that will wake up the sleeping center.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. He's not a national security risk

.Just kidding. He'd be easy to buy off, but he's doing a good job of showing the American people his true character. Frankly,, it would not shock me that he is a nihilist and doesn't really give a fuck about anything.

An interesting near-future journalistic endeavor would be to run a feature on "Who are the top 10 National Security Risks in the House and Senate today?"

Put u[ thr contenders and the core risk(s) they present. Then let DU vote.....but it really ought to get national attention.

Maybe that will wake up the sleeping center.