with DC lobbyists. In a bid to oust McConnell, FreedomWorks backed his 2014 primary opponent, businessman Matt Bevin, who failed spectacularly. The ongoing clash between McConnell and FreedomWorks is one of several fronts in the continuing civil war within the GOP—and the Kibbe memo shows that FreedomWorks considered McConnell a RINO who needed whipping even before the tea party began.

Read the full FreedomWorks May 2009 memo:the plane.

Then the pilot announced that because someone had missed boarding, they needed to offload his bags. Another delay.

And finally, as we moved away from our gate and taxied onto the runway, some guy up front had a heart attack! After attempts at CPR we went back to our gate to offload him, his partner, and their bags.

In retrospect the earlier flight delay probably saved his life. If we had been in the air we would have had to touch down somewhere and wait for paramedics. At CdG the paramedics were there tout suite as soon as the forward cabin door opened.

We finally had wheels up almost two hours after the initial departure time, during which the Air France attendants served me this, our “in-flight meal”:

at least they’re