• McCain v. Reid – TIME

    McCain v. Reid – TIME

    In this piece, John McCain (and the author) engages the enemy at home… the 70% of American citizens also known as “defeatists.”

    “He derided ‘the fanciful and self-interested debates about Iraq that substitute for statesmanship in Washington.’ And he suggested that the Democrats had decided ‘to take advantage of the public’s frustration, accept defeat,’ and hope that ‘the politics of defeat’ would benefit them.”

    I’m not so naive to think Democrats aren’t staking a position on Iraq that is politically expedient, but I hope Mr McCain doesn’t really believe the public at large is “fanciful and self-interested.” (And it’s a good thing Republicans have never politicized the war.) The war in Iraq may be the most “convenient” war in U.S. history. How often has the U.S. military been deployed overseas in combat operations without some kind of draft, or rationing of resources back home? Were it not for the enterprising work of the various news organizations, we might not know there’s a war going on at all. Opposition to the war is hardly a matter of self interest for most Americans. We’d have to have some sense of consequence to be self interested. For most of us, life is completely unchanged.

    I don’t often give the public a lot of credit, but it seems to me that the American people are frustrated because Republicans had a stranglehold on the Federal Government for six years… and screwed the pooch. Six years of Republican domestic agenda can be summed up in two words: “tax cut.” Six years of Republican foreign relations can also be summed up in two words: “cowboy diplomacy.”

    As for the “fanciful” part… well, Mr McCain may be right there. Who can blame Americans for daydreaming about our prospects for the next election?

  • EPA Warns Human Beings No Longer Biodegradable

    EPA Warns Human Beings No Longer Biodegradable | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source: “WASHINGTON, DC—The Environmental Protection Agency issued a bulletin Tuesday warning the bodies of American citizens, with their large concentrations of artificial, synthetic, and often toxic substances, have been reclassified as industrial waste.”

  • Bad to worse

    The ill-conceived placement with the assisted living facility came to an abrupt end this morning. We got a call from the facility reporting that our family member was “out of control,” wandering the halls breaking lamps, overturning furniture, and upsetting the other residents. My dad left straight away, telling them he’d be there soon to pick her up, with no idea where we were going to take her next.

    When he got there, a police car was waiting outside… with my mother in the back seat.

    I am at once depressed, discouraged, tired, and enraged. What the F&%$ was the hospital thinking when they placed her at such a facility? Weren’t they listening when we brought her into the emergency room? Were they taking notes of ANY kind while she was there? And what the F&%$ was the ALF thinking taking a patient that so clearly needed more care than they could give? Didn’t they see from the first night that she was going to require too much care?

    What the F&%$ are we going to do now? The psych ward beds are no less full than they were six days ago. She’s still too old for the major non-profit, inpatient psych facility in the area. Her F&%$ing psychiatrist is still not returning our calls. F&%$ing health insurance is still useless (until next year). My prescription for Xanax may need to be refilled… that or I may need to take up drinking.

    I think a politician against universal heath coverage should be required to take her in for a week.