Thanks for Caring About My Healthcare

It’s crunch time or the Obama Healthcare plan and concerned politicians and industry groups are running amuck in attempts to make our lives healthier. I’d just like to thank them for that.

Thank you Americans for Prosperity. You warned that If government takes over health care, recommendations that women not have mammograms till age 50 could become the law of the land. Turns out that’s a big lie according to the Truth-O-Meter, but it’s still nice that you care. BTW, I went to your website and have to wonder ‘Who’s prosperity are you actually concerned with?’ Don’t you think I would be a little more prosperous if I didn’t have to pay more than $400 a month for my healthcare insurance? Just a thought.

Thank you AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans). You point out that health insurance companies' costs are only 4 percent of all health care spending and that far larger proportion goes to doctors and hospitals. But, I’m wondering, what exactly do you mean by “insurance companies cost?” Wasn’t it once the case that if you got sick and went to the hospital, your insurance would take care of it and pay everybody? That would be 100% of my cost and that’s the only percentage I care about. Of course, last year when my wife tripped and broke a couple fingers, despite our insurance, we got separate bills from Bayonet Point Hospital, the ER doctor who set her finger improperly, the x-ray technicians, the guys who own the x-ray machine and everyone else we bumped into that day. Next time something like that happens, I’ll bypass the hospital and go straight to one of those emergency care clinics. What a rip! Something’s definitely wrong with the system. How could anyone say it doesn’t need an overhaul?

And, what about the people with no healthcare? Shouldn’t we care about them? I’m not so self-absorbed that I can turn my back on people who can’t afford health insurance, people who are forced to spend long hours in line at clinics or in hospital ER’s when illness strikes. The acrobatics these people are forced to go through are ridiculous. What would be the harm in bringing something resembling a normal package to them?

Yeah, I have health insurance, but I can’t help wondering what’s going to happen in a couple of years. Will my doctors still accept me if I drop my current health insurance? Will a new provider accept me with my “prior condition?” – I’m a diabetic. Will I have to opt out of some kind of treatment because I can’t afford it? I worry about this stuff. That's what being an American means to me.

Joe Wilson: Another Hired Goon

I couldn’t help myself. After hearing about his “You Lie” outburst during President Obama’s speech last night, I had to find out a little more about Addison Graves Wilson, Sr., a/k/a Joe.

For one thing, he was born in 1947, about 5 weeks after yours truly. Had he grown up in northern New Jersey, we might have gone to the same schools, chased the same girls, bonded, been buddies for life… No, that’s not very likely. I probably would have beat him up and sent him home crying. I wasn’t a very nice little kid.

Probably, more to the current point, is the fact that the number one group on his list of campaign contributors, according to maplight.org, is health professionals. His lack of enthusiasm for Obama Health Care could be an offshoot of this warm relationship.

As a former real estate attorney, it’s not surprising that number two among his contributors is the real estate industry. One can only imagine what lengths he’d go to in order to help out his old pals.

In summary, this guy’s bought and paid for – he’s a whore.

Are You Tweeting? Are You Tweeting?

Dorme vous? Dorme vous?

I couldn't resist that.

I’ve been tweeting. Or twittering. Whatever you want to call it. Don’t ask me why. Guess I’m just curious.

There are some serious tweeters out there. I’ve run into guys and gals with tens of thousands of “followers.” That’s code for twitter connections. At any given moment I can go to my twitter home page and find scores of messages.

Wikipedia describes twitter as “a social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 bytes in length. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends (delivery to everyone being the default).”

Is there money in tweeting? I wish. Still, there are scores of self-promotion gurus who are trying to drum up business for their investment, real estate, self-help, etc. websites. Some of them link to souped up web pages that present 90 minute infomercials. I ain’t kidding. I’ve accepted invitations to follow some of them, others, the most nauseating, I’ve rejected. I, along with 569,000 others, am even following Barack Obama though he hasn’t tweeted since he’s been in office. Secret Service probably cracked down on that - national security.

Anyway, right now, I’m following 76 tweeters, 59 are following me. When some of those followers find out, and I’m sure they will, that I’m not following them, I’m sure they’ll delete me from their networks. Tit for tat.

My tweets? Just spur of the moment flashes I come up with when I think I ought to post something. Will it drive tweeters to my websites? I doubt it, unless someone thinks they might be able to trap me into signing up for one of their site-improvement scams. Yeah, right, I’ll sign up for that. To tell you the truth, I don’t have much time for tweeting. I’m too busy with other stuff.

Rod Blagojevich – The Most Dangerous Man In America

This guy is so dangerous I’m surprised he hasn’t been assassinated. Dangerous, not because of alleged crimes he has been accused of. Dangerous because he could very well reveal that what he did is what all politicians do, use their offices to promote personal gain. I mean, I’ve long been convinced that all politicians -- Republican, Democrat, Independent -- are crooked. But there are millions of people out there who believe all the hoo hah about land of the free, blah blah blah. They’re probably still praising god over the election of Obama. Spare me, please.

Certainly, the Illinois Senate voted unanimously, 59-0, to remove him from office. Of course, that vote left me thinking about the hypocrisy displayed by some of the most corrupt lawmakers in this great land of ours. Those 59 voted, not out of disgust, but out of fear and panic.

But, this could go far beyond the locals and, already, the Blagger is threatening to bring down some of those Washington tight asses. Obama’s cabinet is already losing the integrity battle. I believe more revelations are in store, especially, as regards the senate seat auction.

The Buck Stops Here

I’m not a Republican. I didn’t vote for Barack Obama for other reasons. First, I was a fervent Hillary Supporter. Second, I didn’t like the way she was treated by the Democratic Party. Third, I didn’t like the influence on the nominating process given to the superdelegates. As a result, I’m no longer a Democrat.

Still, though I was not personally invested in the fantastic dreams of his supporters, I still wished our new president well and hoped for his success. Unfortunately, less than two weeks into his presidency, reality has set in. In Washington, as always, it’s politics as usual.

The Republicans, you know, those people who spent us into a stupor during the Bush years, are once again, just as they were during the Clinton presidency, dead set against spending. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started clamoring for a balanced budget.

Politicians appear daily on the morning news show and are never asked meaningful questions or forced to face reality. The media are treating the Governor Rod Blagojevich situation as though it’s some kind of aberration. It’s not – he’s just the latest crook to get caught. So, in the spirit of truth in journalism, I’m going to come right out and say it: politicians are crooks. Surprise!

From Unreal To Surreal

I heard an ultimate fighter the other day comment that his experience was "surreal."

I guess a pretty good sign that a catchword or catchphrase has slipped into the morbidly overused status is when an ultimate fighter uses it. Like the “Been there, done that” of a few years ago.

Personally, when I hear the word “surreal,” I think of Dali’s melting clocks, or his Crucifixion which, btw, I’ve seen face-to-face, not the bloody and sweaty entanglement of arms and legs. But, that’s just me.

Anyway, I was driving to the pool room on Tuesday, listening to Aretha Franklin singing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” while stopped at the traffic light at Little Road and Highway 52 where three characters, two women and one man, dressed like the Statue of Liberty, the man in a bluish mask, were dancing around on the northwest corner, hawking the Liberty Tax Service, when the descriptive term “surreal” popped into my mind.

I had considered delaying my departure for a few minutes so that I could watch Obama take the oath of office on TV, but my desire to play pool had won out. At that point in the program, the actual swearing in, I was heading west on Highway 54 stopped at the light at Seven Springs Boulevard with my radio still tuned to WUSF, our local NPR station, and blasting. I thought of rolling down my windows to share the moment with my fellow drivers, but thought better of it. The reality that their minds were focused on a whole range of matters while the swearing in ceremony was going on was what make the moment “surreal.” Jeez, it’s almost embarrassing to use that word, but, feeling like I was in a Dali painting, it was somehow apropos.

No Emmy for Emmies

Are the writers still on strike? I mean, from beginning to end, that was the worst Emmy Awards Show ever.

If you were looking for a flat opening, you couldn’t possibly have generated less excitement than you did by playing the Oprah card? Along with the 5 reality show hosts, the show was quickly relegated to the basement of the all-time award show standings, just behind Letterman’s fabled Oscar catastrophe. Not even Heidi Klum’s klumsy strip down could derail this train wreck

Of course, Oprah’s appearance was a subtle endorsement of Barack Obama. Sublety seemed to be the dictated policy. Otherwise, everybody would have wasted the uncaring public’s valuable time plugging their favorite African American savior. Laura Linney was bursting with pride when she referred to our founding fathers as “community organizers.” I like the kid, but when it comes to politics, she’s in a league with Lindsey Lohan.

Among other moments that didn’t thrill me, was the presentation of best comedy show to “30 Rock” by Betty White and Cat Woman. I also discovered sadly that Tommy Smothers isn’t funny any more.

As far as the winners go, I have no arguments there. I don’t get the cable channels. Having grown up with free tv, I just can’t see paying $60 a month. I amuse myself with the basic networks. If I want to see a show like the Sopranos, I get it on DVD. In fact, I just added season 2 of Dexter to my Netflix Queue.

The Lopsided View

If you missed John McCain’s appearance on the view on Friday, September 12, you didn’t miss much. As you might expect, Whoopi, Barbara, Joy, and that new fat-girl-in-need-of-a-breast-reduction, Sherri, displayed attitudes and temperaments much more malignant than those bubbly facades they presented to his holiness, Mr. Walk-On-Water, Barack Obama and his lovely wife when they appeared on the show. This difference would be understandable if John McCain had been responsible for slavery, the holocaust, Pearl Harbor, and 9-11. But, my research indicates he wasn’t. The good Senator’s only offense is that he has the audacity to run against their beloved boy Barack.

Historically, the view’s proscribed treatment of guests has been deliberately non-offensive. Obviously, Barbara Walters is afraid of offending anyone she might someday want to interview on one of those specials she makes that I have never been inclined to watch. This time, however, the head Viewmeister, the woman who used to cringe whenever Rosie O’Donnell said anything negative about anybody, threw caution to the wind and grilled presidential hopeful McCain with all the tact of Detective Andy Sipowicz.

And, really, despite her constant claims of being the first female anchor woman (the only thing that has been more often repeated are promos of her recent book, which I will not name, but which supposedly details her appetite for men of African lineage – surprise, surprise), at this stage can anyone honestly consider her even an approximation of a journalist? I think not. As for the others on the panel whose absurd rationalizations and defenses of all things Obama has been the overriding theme of all recent shows, they have yet to prove that they have a minimum of intelligence. Last season’s behind-the-scenes show revealed that even Joy Behar’s apparent ad lib jokes were written by the show’s writers.

The Boston Herald reported that during a commercial break, Barbara Walters asked the audience if “The View” cohosts were being too rough on McCain. Allegedly, the crowd stood in unison and shouted “No.”

She should have asked my neighbor, Helen Murchison. A lifelong Democrat and a Hillary supporter, she told me that after she saw the show she went online and contributed $25 to the McCain campaign.

I doubt that’s the kind of reaction Whoopi and company were hoping for.