Sen. Rand Paul announced on Twitter today that part of his lung was removed over the weekend because of lasting damage caused by the blindside attack by his neighbor in 2017:

Unfortunately, I will have to limit my August activities. Part of my lung damaged by the 2017 assault had to be removed by surgery this weekend. The doctors, nurses, & staff at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were great. I should be able to return to the Senate in September — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 5, 2019

Paul’s neighbor, Rene Boucher, claimed the attack had nothing to do with politics but was simply about Paul placing yard litter on their property line. From CNN:

Paul was attacked at his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, by his neighbor Rene Boucher, an anesthesiologist and former colleague of Paul’s, on November 3, 2017, that left the senator with six broken ribs and bruised lungs. Boucher pleaded guilty in March 2018 to one felony charge of assaulting a member of Congress resulting in personal injury. He was sentenced to 30 days along with a year of supervised release, according to a case manager with Kentucky Western District federal court. According to the plea deal, Boucher said he “had enough” after seeing the senator stack more brush onto a brush pile. In statements to the Kentucky State Police and the FBI, Boucher admitted to running onto Paul’s property and tackling the senator when he wasn’t looking.

Boucher may have convinced authorities that his attack had nothing to do with politics (he’d have faced a much longer jail term if it did) but progressives have been celebrating the attack ever since. The most frequent response to Paul’s tweet this morning was to suggest he’s lucky to have health insurance and a close 2nd is the suggestion that he’s a traitor working for Putin:

https://twitter.com/lesch_karen/status/1158360663191883778

Comrade @RandPaul & #MoscowMitch conveniently & suddenly develop “health problems” preventing them from returning to Senate to immediately work on critical threats to America including rapidly growing epidemic of gun violence & Russia’s continued hacking of our elections. Shame. — Empire Storm (@empirestatemind) August 5, 2019

Give the left a simple idea and they run with it:

Did you get this time away from the office approved by Vlad? — Batman (@BatmanResist) August 5, 2019

But really that’s the creative stuff. There were plenty of less creative death wishes and ugly stuff like this:

This is a good reminder that Rand Paul's neighbor is a national hero. — Chris Metcalf (@LOLBeReasonable) August 5, 2019

Anyway, if you want a quick peek at what’s wrong with America, read the responses to Rand Paul announcing he had surgery because of an unprovoked attack.