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(WASHINGTON) With Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-50 tie, the Senate voted by a hair Tuesday to start debating Republican legislation to tear down much of the Obama health care law. The vote gives President Donald Trump and GOP leaders a crucial initial victory but launches a weeklong debate promising an uncertain final outcome.

The 51-50 vote kept alive hopes of delivering on promises that countless Republican candidates have campaigned on for years repealing President Barack Obama's 2010 health care overhaul. It also averted what would have been a blistering defeat for a party divided between fervent conservatives demanding the evisceration of Obama's statute and centrists intent on not pulling coverage away from millions of Americans.

Pence presided over the Senate during the vote, which began after dozens of protesters shouted "Kill the bill" and "Shame" from the chamber's visitors' gallery.

Enhancing the day's theatrics, one pivotal "yes" vote was cast by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who flew to the Capitol just days after revealing he'd been diagnosed with brain cancer and was home considering the next steps in his treatment. With Republicans wielding a narrow 52-48 majority, the 80-year-old's appearance let Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., lose two GOP senators and still prevail wiggle room that would have shrunk to just one in McCain's absence.

McCain entered the chamber 29 minutes into the roll call to a standing ovation from members of both parties and visitors watching from above. Smiling, he exchanged embraces with McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and others, then cast his "yes" vote with two thumbs up.

Before the vote, McConnell declared, "We can't let this moment slip by," essentially lecturing GOP lawmakers to give their party's high-profile legislation a chance to move forward. "We can't let it slip by. We've been talking about it too long."

Moderate Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, were the only Republicans to defect from their party's quest. Their complaints about the legislation had included its cuts in Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor, the disabled and nursing home residents.

Not a single Democrat backed the effort to overthrow Obama's signature domestic legislative achievement. In an unusual move, most of them sat in their states during the climactic roll call, eyeing Republicans as they cast their votes.

Technically, Tuesday's vote meant the Senate would consider a measure the House approved in May eliminating much of Obama's statute. Like legislation McConnell crafted mostly behind closed doors and has since revised it would eliminate Obama's tax penalties on people not buying policies, cut Medicaid, erase many of the law's tax boosts and provide less generous health care subsidies for consumers.

But now, the Senate faces 20 hours of debate and a long parade of amendments, and if a measure eventually emerges it is likely to look quite different. Because the chamber's moderates and conservatives are so riven over how to replace Obama's overhaul, leaders have discussed passing a narrow bill repealing only some unpopular parts of that law like its penalties on individuals who eschew coverage with the ultimate goal being to negotiate a final package with the House.

In the moments before the vote, most GOP critics of the legislation fell into line to allow debate to begin. They included conservative Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah, plus moderates Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.

Paul said he was voting yes after McConnell told him the Senate would debate his proposal to scuttle much of Obama's law and give Congress two years to enact a replacement an amendment that seemed certain to lose.

Trump kept up the pressure on GOP lawmakers, tweeting that "After 7 years of talking, we will soon see whether or not Republicans are willing to step up to the plate!" He added: "ObamaCare is torturing the American People. The Democrats have fooled the people long enough. Repeal or Repeal & Replace! I have pen in hand."

McConnell's bill would abolish much of Obama's law, eliminating its tax penalties on people not buying policies, cutting Medicaid, eliminating its tax boosts on medical companies and providing less generous health care subsidies for consumers. But at least a dozen GOP senators have openly said they oppose or criticized the measure, which McConnell has revised as he's hunted Republican support.

Besides allowing an early vote on Paul's repeal plan, moderates were seeking additional money for states that would be hurt by cuts in Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor, the disabled and nursing home patients. Conservatives wanted a vote on a proposal by Ted Cruz, R-Texas, letting insurers offer bare-bones policies with low premiums, which would be illegal under Obama's law.

With leaders still struggling to line up enough votes to approve a wide-ranging overhaul of Obama's law, there was talk of eventually trying to pass a narrow bill details still unclear so House-Senate bargainers could craft a compromise. That, too, was encountering problems.

"This idea that we're going to vote on something just to get in conference and then figure it out later is nuts," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters.

Had Tuesday's vote failed, it would have been an unalloyed embarrassment for a party that finally gained control of the White House, Senate and House in January but still fell flat on its promise to uproot Obamacare. Republicans could try returning to the bill later this year if they somehow round up more support.

Obama's law was enacted in 2010 over unanimous Republican opposition. Since then, its expansion of Medicaid and creation of federal insurance marketplaces has produced 20 million fewer uninsured people. It's also provided protections that require insurers to provide robust coverage to all, cap consumers' annual and lifetime expenditures and ensure that people with serious medical conditions pay the same premiums as the healthy.

The law has been unpopular with GOP voters and the party has launched numerous attempts to dismantle the statute. All until this year were mere aspirations because Obama vetoed every major one that reached him.

Ever since 2010, Republicans have been largely united on scuttling the statute but divided over how to replace it.

Those divides sharpened with Trump willing to sign legislation and estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that several GOP bills would cause more than 20 million people to become uninsured by 2026. Polls showing growing popularity for Obama's law and abysmal approval ratings for the GOP effort haven't helped.

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Mike Pence Breaks Tie in Senate to Begin Health Care Debate - TIME

It was a fitting end to an exciting series.

FRANKLIN It was a fitting end to an exciting series.

Heading into Game 3 after splitting its first two playoff games, both Franklin and Bellingham had reason to believe it was going to advance in the Central Mass. Senior Babe Ruth playoffs.

And in the series finale, both teams followed a familiar script with the outcome coming down to the wire.

Ian McSweeney of Bellingham and Bryan McGrath of Franklin both pitched complete games, but Franklin plated two runs in the fourth inning to win 2-0 and advance to play Medway in the South division of the playoffs.

Franklin will head to Medway to play Game 1 of the series at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.

This was a mirror of the first time we played Bellingham this season, Franklin manager Phil Chisholm said. We have played these guys more than anybody the last couple years. We have played them in the playoffs every single year and every game is a battle.

Franklin did not have much success against McSweeney overall, but managed to get a few hits in the fourth inning.

Andrew Chisholm had a one-out single before Steve Ferguson struck out. Then Cam Benham singled to put runners on first and second base with two outs.

Cam Lupien then launched a double to center field, allowing both Chisholm and Benham to score what proved to be the decisive, and only, runs of the game.

The two runs came on the heels of Franklin threatening to score some runs an inning prior.

Lupien led off the inning with a single. Ferguson was then hit by a pitch and Matt Dumart walked to load the bases.

Colin Flaherty proceeded to line a ball right at Bellingham shortstop Sean Williamson, who caught it and then tossed it over to third base for a double play. Joe Corsi was then hit by a pitch to reload the bases before Mike Skaza flew out to end the threat.

The story of the game, however, was the pitching from both McGrath and McSweeney.

The Franklin starter struck out nine batters over seven innings while walking three and allowing three hits.

I was tired a little bit, McGrath said. But its a big game and you [have] to pull through especially in the playoffs here and you have to do it for the guy next to you. Thats what I did and got the win.

McGrath had to pitch as well as he did, because on the other side stood McSweeney, who went six innings while walking one and allowing two earned runs off of six hits.

He pitched very well tonight, McGrath said of his counterpart. That double by Lupien was nice, it got me some run support, and that felt huge going out there the next inning.

It was nice that Bryan could go the whole game, Chisholm said. It saved pitchers for the next series, and we also have Cam Lupien, who started Game 1 for us, got the big hit and drove in two runs for us. It seems like every game we have a different kid whos contributing, and when I pull guys off of the bench they are contributing as well. It just leaves everybody with a really good feeling.

Game 1 saw Franklin dismantle Bellingham in a 11-1 mercy-rule game, and then Bellingham bounced back to win a tightly-contested Game 2 by the score of 10-8. It was anyones guess to what would transpire in a win-or-go-home Game 3, but McGrath seemed confident going into the contest.

We know were a good team, McGrath said. We come out every single day and work hard in the infield and outfield, and were always ready to play. So, today, we knew we were going to win, to come in and get the W and thats what we did.

Falling in Game 3 ends Bellinghams season, but Bellingham manager Jeff Dunn was pleased with his teams effort and progress.

Franklin is probably the toughest team we faced all season, he said. Its unfortunate that were on this end. Obviously only one team can win, but I think we definitely progressed throughout the season and got better, and we really put up a tough fight against them

We really set the tone in Game 2 to set us up for this third game, and give us an opportunity to get to the next round.

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Franklin 2, Bellingham 0: Fitting finale in playoff series win for Franklin - Milford Daily News

President Donald Trump's surprise tweets this morning announcing a reversal in the policy allowing transgender people to serve openly in the military is one of his clearest policy moves relating to the LGBT community since taking office.

The move marks a shift in his public stance, after his not taking a hard line against transgender rights during the campaign.

The tweets indicate that the Trump administration is ready to ban transgender people from the military. The president's announcement comes after Defense Secretary James Mattis last month delayed the review of an Obama-era policy that allowed transgender people to join the military.

Trump never specifically talked about the policy during the campaign, instead tending to talk about LGBT rights in relation to news events that were playing out at the time.

He first spoke specifically about transgender rights when the controversial "bathroom bill" went into effect in North Carolina during the campaign.

Though not committing either way, Trump called it a "very strong" move to force people to use the sex indicated on their birth certificate to determine which bathroom they used, while noting that the state was "paying a big price" for implementing it.

Those comments came during an April 21, 2016, appearance on NBC's "Today," during which he also said Caitlyn Jenner could use any bathroom she wanted if she visited Trump Tower in New York.

Despite Trump's earlier comments, his administration rescinded a guidance issued to schools by the Obama administration to allow students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity rather than the sex indicated on their birth certificate.

The reversal was announced in a letter to schools from the Justice and Education departments on Feb. 22, 2017, saying the Obama-era directive led to confusion and lawsuits over enforcement.

In April the Department of Justice dropped a lawsuit filed against North Carolina by the Obama administration, saying the state's legislature had replaced the original law.

After 49 people were killed at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016, Trump said that it was an example of how his more targeted immigration policies against Muslims would help protect the LGBT community.

He mentioned how his policies would help the LGBT community, connecting their protections to the fight against ISIS and terrorism, arguing that he would be more forceful on the issue than his opponent Hillary Clinton.

"Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs," he wrote in a June 14, 2016, tweet.

He included a similar reference in his speech at the Republican National Convention when he accepted his party's nomination on July 21, 2016.

"Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time the terrorist targeted our LGBT community. As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBT citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology," Trump said.

In 2000, when Trump publicly toyed with and later dismissed the idea of a presidential run that year, he was interviewed by The Advocate, an LGBT magazine.

While he was not specifically asked about transgender Americans' serving in the military, he said he would be supportive of gay people serving in the military.

"If a gay person can be a doctor or a lawyer or a teacher or take another position of responsibility, why can't they serve this country in the military?" Trump said.

"'Don't ask, don't tell' has clearly failed. Gay people serve effectively in the military in a number of European countries. There is no reason why they can't serve in the United States," he added.

When it came to his administration, he said he would want "the best and the brightest."

"Sexual orientation would be meaningless. I'm looking for brains and experience. If the best person for the job happens to be gay, I would certainly appoint them," he said in the interview.

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Donald Trump's past statements about LGBT rights - ABC News

I still remember my surprise when Jeff Sessions strolled onto the stage at then-candidate Donald Trump's rally in Mobile, Alabama, in August 2016, donning a "Make America Great Again" hat. It was the first show of support Trump had from an elected official at that level.

At the time, I still believed Trump's candidacy was a joke. Sessions' decision to legitimize him would only make the senator look foolish. But Sessions saw something in Trump's appeal I missed: The lawyer and politician who built a career around disenfranchising the already disenfranchised knew that after eight years of a black president, white Americans were ready to elect one who appealed to their sense of entitled resentment.

He was right; I was wrong. And now he's attorney general of the United States.

Or at least he's attorney general as I write this. It's quite possible by the time you read this column, Sessions will no longer run the Justice Department fired or forced to resign by a president who has so far spent a week humiliating him.

Trump isn't being subtle about it. He hasn't hinted he'd rather see his AG bow out gracefully. He's called him "VERY weak" and "beleaguered." (There's something poetic about calling someone beleaguered when you're the one beleaguering him.)

When other high-profile Trump supporters like Chris Christie, Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani were dumped by the roadside without administration jobs, Sessions ended up with one of the most powerful jobs in the nation and the opportunity to enact the regressive agenda targeting minorities he's always dreamed about. So why is Trump humiliating him now?

President Trump isn't happy about the various investigations ("witch hunt!") into his campaign's possible collusion with Russia and his own potential obstruction of justice, but it's Robert Mueller's independent investigation that angers and scares him the most. It's run out of the Department of Justice; Jeff Sessions runs the Department of Justice. Ergo, by Trump's thinking, Sessions should be able to shut it down. But Sessions' recusal from the Trump/Russia investigation made his firing Mueller impossible. And it's that recusal explicitly driving Trump's fury.

Trump sees the recusal as the ultimate act of disloyalty. Why should he have appointed an attorney general who wouldn't be able to protect him? Forget that Sessions only recused himself because of the heat he faced for lying under oath in his confirmation hearing about his own contacts with Russians. Forget that protecting the president is not the attorney general's job. What matters is if you work for Trump, you give him your loyalty. Take James Comey: He wouldn't give his, and he's out of a job.

Only it isn't loyalty Trump actually wants from the people around him. There's something noble in true loyalty standing by a person who deserves your support and returns it. But loyalty to Trump is never a two-way street. He doesn't return it or even reward it.

Trump doesn't want your loyalty. He wants your fealty.

There's a real difference. When you sign up to join Trump's circle in any capacity, you're signing away your dignity. Sessions is just the latest example. Sean Spicer stood at a podium and lied for six straight months on Trump's behalf. He was a successful and well-liked political operative. Now he's an unemployed national punchline. Trump wouldn't even let the poor bastard meet the pope, just to humiliate him.

That's how Trump treats people who serve him faithfully. No one is safe from the president's mercurial moods. He even threw a passive-aggressive "he's a high-quality person" at his own son. Was it any wonder Jeff Sessions would eventually meet an ugly end?

You can live up to the demands of loyalty by always doing what you think is best for a person. But you can never live up to the demands of fealty set by an egomaniac like Donald Trump. You'd have to be telepathic and clairvoyant, knowing both what Trump is thinking and what all his future moods will look like. You have to anticipate every obstacle, real or imagined. You have to do more than just lie for Trump. You have to honestly believe his distorted, constantly shifting vision of reality. That's an impossible standard to meet.

I have no sympathy for Jeff Sessions. He's a terrible attorney general because he's a terrible human being. Since taking office, he has encouraged police toincrease asset forfeitures, told federal prosecutors toput people in jail as long as possible, spoken to ananti-gay hate group, ended an effort toraise standards of forensic science, ramped up enforcementagainst undocumented immigrants, shut down reviews ofabuses by police departments, threatened to take DOJ grantsaway from sanctuary cities, went all Reefer Madness, stopped a DOJ fight against a Texas lawrolling back voting rights, and moved backward ontransgender rights.

Of course Sessions should be fired. Our nation's top law enforcement officer should be someone who fights to restore the rights and power of Americans who lack both. But at every opportunity, Sessions fights for the powerful and against the oppressed. He has no place in a department named Justice.

But somehow Trump has managed to find the one bad reason to fire Sessions. The only thing he's done right since becoming attorney general was recusing himself from the Russian investigation (and that was only half-right he should have resigned), and Trump is on the verge of sending him packing because that action was inconvenient to Donald Trump.

To anyone out there considering joining this administration: This is the fate that awaits you. You can do what Comey refused to do and pledge your undying loyalty to Trump. It won't be enough. You can do everything he asks you to do. It won't be enough. It will never be enough. Only one person on earth shows President Trump the fealty he demands, and he sees him every time he looks in the mirror.

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Donald Trump Doesn't Want Loyalty He Wants Fealty - RollingStone.com

He keeps telling us that hes president and were not. Does he know that hes president and shes not? Does he realize that most Americans can go a whole day, an entire week verily, a month! without picturing her at a rostrum, hearing the melody of her stump speech or repeating, Im with her?

At least they could if Trump would shut up about her. I understand that he misses her, but, sheesh, send some Godiva chocolates and move on.

Many political observers have been marveling at recent tweets of his that blasted Jeff Sessions, his attorney general, for not reinvestigating and potentially prosecuting Clinton for supposed crimes. He ripped into Sessions anew at a brief news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

But the other half of that equation is Clinton, and its just as remarkable that more than eight months after Election Day, Trump is still hauling his vanquished opponent out for public ridicule and marching her toward the stockade. Did Barack Obama do that with John McCain or George Bush with Al Gore or Bill Clinton with the previous George Bush? No, no and no.

Many political observers have noted Trumps hyperconsciousness of Barack Obama, who was also mentioned in those remarks to the boy scouts, which were so inappropriately political and self-centered that parents actually lodged complaints.

But Clinton is more precious to him. While he merely itches to erase Obama from the history books, hes desperate to keep her at the center of every page. Beneath all of his braggadocio about the genius of his campaign strategy and the potency of his connection to blue-collar Americans, he knows that he made it to the White House largely because many voters didnt want her there and he was Door No. 2.

So he reminds them of that. Over and over again.

It would be one thing if he had amassed a trove of accomplishments and watched his approval ratings climb. But the opposite is true, so he depends on a foil who flatters him, a fork in the road that he can portray as rockier and swampier. Thats Clintons role, and its more important than Jareds and Ivankas and the Moochs combined. They whisper sweet nothings. She saves him from damnation.

Dont look at his campaigns relationship with Russia. Look at hers with Ukraine! Dont focus on Don Jr.s incriminating emails. Focus on her missing ones! And while youre at it, tally up how many of her donors are on Robert Muellers staff and take fresh note of her big-dollar speeches. Seldom has a scapegoat grazed in such a profusion of pastures.

Hes more or less back to chanting lock her up, as if its early November all over again. He has frozen the calendar there so that he can perpetually savor the exhilaration of the campaign and permanently evade the drudgery of governing and the ignominy of his failure at it so far.

Nov. 8 is his Groundhog Day, on endless repeat, in a way that pleases and pacifies him. That movie has a co-star, Clinton. If he dwells in it, he dwells with her. He can no more retire her than Miss Havisham, in Great Expectations, could put away her wedding dress. Clinton brings Trump back to the moment before the rose lost its blush and the heartache set in.

During the second of their three debates, he was accused of shadowing her onstage, but that was nothing next to the way he pursues her now. His administration slips further into chaos; he diverts the discussion to her. Shes the answer to evolving scandals. Shes the antidote to a constipated agenda or so he wagers. What stature he has inadvertently given her. And what extraordinary staying power.

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Donald Trump's Dominatrix - New York Times