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But to quell our fears, the poet laureate in chief adopted his thousand-yard stare and intoned that we will "squeeze the heart" of ISIS, making it "harder to pump terror." At which point we're assuming Lt. Col. Ralph Peters (temporarily banned from Fox News for over-accuracy) probably machine-gunned his own television.
Because what the hell kind of threat is "heart squeezing?" It sounds more like the description of a Hallmark movie of the week about a blind orphan and the dying dog who gives him hope at Christmas. And speaking of the holidays...
GIFT WITH A BOWE ATTACHED
By wild coincidence, the president timed his ISIS speech in such a way that it would push another interesting story out of the news: accused deserter Bowe Bergdahl is now officially facing court martial and a possible life sentence behind bars.
As you will recall (unless you happen to be a Democrat or a member of the mainstream media), Bergdahl was swapped for five high-value Taliban members who were released from Gitmo. Of whom, "at least three" have resumed "threatening activities."
Remember too that Bergdahl's release was treated as a great patriotic moment by B. Hussein, albeit a weird one considering it involved the deserter's father reciting an Islamic prayer in a Rose Garden ceremony. And does anyone recall that one of the reasons the White House cited for the awful deal was a "frightening decline" in Bergdahl's health? It's never been mentioned again, and Bergdahl appears to be the picture of health - unlike the soldiers who died trying to find him after he abandoned his post.
Frankly, we think Bergdahl's trial should be aiming for a firing squad (no pun intended) rather than another prison which could become grist for another deal by Obama. And while on the subject of prisons (and who should be in them)...
We don't even really need to explain this one, right? And finally...
Not long ago we reported on the absolutely nightmarish process of trying to get a new insurance policy through Healthcare.gov after Blue Cross Blue Shield killed our existing plan and - in a letter to the medically homeless - specifically blamed Obamacare.
But we eventually did get a crappy, overpriced HMO policy on Healthcare.gov, and on Monday our proof of insurance cards arrived. Which is when the trouble started.
The two cards (one for each of the senior Jarlsbergs) had the names of two different PCP physicians on them (in an HMO, your "PCP" is the alleged doctor who becomes the gateway to either allow or deny all other healthcare services). Despite the fact that we'd named another doctor during the application process - indeed, we were required to pick a doctor - the new physicians were complete strangers whose names indicated they "weren't from around here," nudge-nudge wink-wink.
A quick online search showed that both doctors had pretty dismal reputations. One of them only had office hours two days a week, and only for five hours each of those days. Good luck getting an appointment! The other doctor required a 45-minute drive and ran a combined "family practice and low-cost lasik surgery" center in a strip mall.
A panicked call to Blue Cross put us on hold for 50 minutes before ever speaking to a human. Finally, we were told that we could absolutely change our PCP doctors because the ones shown on our cards were "dummy doctors."
Say what?!
"We can't process the new applications unless there's a PCP doctor, and so we just put in any doctor within driving distance," said the helpful (honest!) woman on the phone.
"But what about the doctor I was required to choose on my application?"
"Healthcare.gov doesn't share that information with the insurers."
Let that sink in for a moment. You can't get your HMO policy through Healthcare.gov without specifying the PCP physician you want, but afterwards the government discards that information and the only way for the insurers to meet their deadlines is to make assignments completely at random. This despite having multiple years and billions of dollars to design a system in which the information that is laboriously collected would actually be sent where it needs to go.
And then consider that these are the listmakers who can't keep track of how many immigrants have overstayed their visas. Who can't make meaningful terror watch lists. Who want to take away our second amendment rights based on new lists which will be compiled in secret and maintained by bureaucratic poltroons at best, and malicious political operatives at worst.
Sadly, if you liked you country...it may already be too late to keep it.
28 comments:
@Stilton it appears that you are getting that old “catch 22” on Obamacare and we all are getting it on terrorism.
But on the other hand, we do have the best government that money can buy.
Wish that we could buy less of it.
It would really be nice if I could convince myself that Øbama is merely a clueless bumbling buffoon, but when I realize that his office comes with access to the greatest military and political advisors on the planet, I have no choice but to believe that the destruction of our country from every conceivable angle has been his plan all along.
God save us from his evilness.
One last chance to stop the plunge into the abyss and allow the pendulum to swing the other way, and it's just a little less than one year away. Let's not screw up this one.
I am reminded of that wonderful cinematic masterpiece Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I'm digging into the depths of my feeble, soggy memory here. During the fight scene when King Arthur fights the Black Knight, the Black Knight keeps fighting in spite of losing all of his limbs. Kind of reminds me of obammy and his speech. And "Frank the Historian", the dead body who keeps claiming not to be dead, is the perfect metaphor for the whole clsterf**k that is the current administration.
And is not the obammycare like the Trojan Bunny that got sent into the castle but forgot to include knights within? And then the castle defenders send back assorted animals via catapult. That's what is happening with our marvelous health (non)care system. Carly Fiorina hit the nail on the head when she mentioned the fact that the administration spent gazillions on software that doesn't work when all they needed to do was contract the folks in Silicon Valley who have all the knowledge and experience in the world to write the software correctly. And it would have probably cost 10% of what it cost Michelle's friends to provide it. And the beat goes on.
Oh, where's my 140 proof????!!!.........
There was an OpEd in the WSJ a few days ago on the looming failure of the Colorado version of Obamacare and imploring readers not to let its failure open the door to a single-payer system, i.e., nationalized health "care", which many including myself believe is the hidden agenda behind Obamacare.
But to take a contrarian view for a moment, there are aspects of our healthcare system that does need reform. Specifically the availability of medications. speaking for myself, I am stuck with a mediation which while effective, is not as effective as a newer medication my doctor recommended, which under my insurance coverage (not Obamacare), is prohibitively expensive to switch to. That is not right and does need fixing.
lamont and his ilk WANT lamontocare to be an abject "fustercluck" because single-payer was ALWAYS the objective! lamont doesn't give a "airborne coitus" what the American people WANT... he wants to be the DICK-tater of this country and FORCE us to obey, (or pay a fine)!
Just ONE! Let me play just ONE game of "pick-up b'ball" with lamont. I will foul him so effectively that Sashay and Malaria's great-grandchirren will be born with bruises!
The MOFO gotta GO!!!!!!
Well, Stilt-- I would say 'What did you expect?', but even I can't do that anymore without throwing up in my mouth. I'm afraid I've been bludgeoned into insensitivity.
One thing you might try is something like a 'healthshare ministry--' like Liberty Healthshare (http://acaout.org)-- it's people-to-people healthcare expense sharing.
AND it's a legal 'loophole'(oh how the gummint hates it when WE get one!) to HAVING to sign up for 'Big O care.' Lots cheaper too!
@JosephET- I love "Catch 22." Reading it, that is - not living it.
@Geoff King- Barry isn't stupid, and the damage he's done (and doing) to our nation is not accidental or unintentional.
@TrickyRicky- A lot is riding on this next election. Wish I could feign greater hopefulness that it will go the right way, but we're living in wacky times.
@Fred Ciampi- How I love Monty Python and the Holy Grail! Your comparisons to the film are apt. I feel like the old fart saying "I don't want to go on the cart! I'm happeeeeee!" just before the Obamacare truncheon cracks my skull.
@Fish Out of Water- I don't actually see your viewpoint as "contrarian" at all. The Healthcare system did - and does - need reform. But Obamacare had nothing to do with "reform." Changing tort law to make it harder for ambulance-chasing lawyers to file lawsuits against doctors would immediately lower healthcare costs by 10% or more (by some estimates) across the board without costing taxpayers a nickel. But Obama said that any state that instituted tort reform would lose federal healthcare funds (in order to protect the flow of donations from trial lawyers to the Democrats).
Genuine healthcare reform should address the cost of, and access to, medicines. It should have alternatives to the emergency room for the uninsured. It should make it easier and more affordable for those with preexisting conditions to be covered.
The use of the word "reform" when attached to Obamacare is criminal fraud.
@Bruce Bleu- Yes, Obamacare was designed to break our health insurance system (as well as our medical system) so that the Lefties could pick up the pieces afterwards and say that "single payer" is the only remaining choice.
@Bear Cat- As dismal as my view of Obamacare is, I'll admit I did not expect them to simply throw my doctor's name in the trash and substitute it with a name they pulled out of their hat (notice how tastefully I avoided the word "ass").
I'm familiar with the Liberty Healthshare plan and have good friends who are either on that or something very similar. It's great and (bonus!) it annoys the government. Unfortunately for me, you need to be a person of faith to participate and I'm not one of those - and I have too much respect for those in the program to fib about it for my benefit.
I see similarities between Obama and Nebuchadnezzar II. Both in a position to do great things and both so self-exalted that failure would follow. Nebuchadnezzar conquered the known world at the time, which included the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This defeat was allowed and even prophesied because of the turning away from God by the Jewish people. God raised up Nebuchadnezzar for the captivity of the Jewish people.
Our country has turned away from God, in schools, government and morals. I don't recognize our Supreme Court anymore. So....we get Obama and all of the bad changes that he has made.
Back to Nebuchadnezzar, he looked out on all that HE had done and patted himself on the back (sound familiar?) At that point he lost his mind and wandered around out in the fields eating grass like an animal, while his hair and fingernails grew long. After seven years of this, he came to his senses and gave God credit for all of the accomplishments that he had formerly taken credit for. This is not only in the Bible, it is recorded in ancient history. http://www.ancient.eu/Nebuchadnezzar_II/
I am waiting to see what is going to happen to Obama. What so ever you sow, that shall you also reap.
ISIS: Once again, they all keep making the same mistake. ISIS is no more the real enemy than "terrorism" was. ISIS is just the latest manifestation. If we were to destroy ISIS, it would simply be replaced by something else just as hideous, if not more so. We are fighting a ideological enemy that transcends the traditional tools used to conquer enemies. Fighting this enemy will likely prove harder than fighting cancer. Few wish to publicly admit this. And I don't have a good answer as to how to do it.
Bergdahl: Well, that was a surprise. In response to pressure from the White House, I had expected the Army to bury (metaphorically) the embarrassing "served with distinction" Bergdahl until long after Obama was out of office. After all, this single case encapsulates a lot of the insanity that is Obama policy regarding. You really couldn't write a believable novel about this whole story, and yet it happened. Clearly, there are still some people in the Army with balls who care more about what is going on than their long-term career prospects. I salute those people.
Another ObamaCare Success Story: Another true story that as a novel nobody would ever buy. It's as though @Stilton has been teleported into the movie Brazil. And yet, instead of a dystopian fantasy flick, it's a reality now shared by millions of hapless Americans. Having personally experienced slices of this, I honestly feel for him and the millions of other Americans who have systematically had their personal freedom and wealth taken from them in this way.
During the pre-ObamaCare debate in 2009, when conservatives such as myself were pointing out the dysfunction of nationalized health services such as they have in Britain, New York Times's Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman boldly and famously said "In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors. We’ve all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false."
Today, apologists for Obama are telling us that ObamaCare is working just fine, and people are thrilled with it. After all, people who couldn't get "coverage" before can now get it for "$47 a month"! And many get it free!
First, I don't personally know anyone who's getting health care for 47 dollars a month, and I'd question what they really were getting for that price. And well, I guess that if I was getting something I didn't get before for "free", then I'd be happy. But for the rest of us who today pay thousands of dollars a year more for coverage that is a fraction of what we had pre-Obama, we're not happy at all.
But I do have to agree with Obama's spokesholes about one thing: ObamaCare is a success; a success at destroying what is left of private insurance and care in America, setting us up for the nightmare of "single payer" and the horrors that rich elites like Paul Krugman will never have to personally experience.
"...then consider that these are the listmakers who can't keep track of how many immigrants have overstayed their visas. Who can't make meaningful terror watch lists. Who want to take away our second amendment rights based on new lists which will be compiled in secret and maintained by bureaucratic poltroons at best, and malicious political operatives at worst."
Ah, democracy. "[T]he theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
@chef621- Barry did have the potential to do great things; instead, he did large things that were good for his ego and bad for our nation. Frankly, I'd love to see him wandering mindless in the wilderness and eating grass for seven years. Unfortunately, it's more likely that he'll simply go back to being mindless by smoking grass again.
@John the Econ- You're correct that fighting the cultural war we're now engaged in will be "harder than fighting cancer." What can we actually do to dissuade people from radical fundamentalism? The State Department's Marie Harf seemed to think that we could do it by giving them all good jobs flipping burgers, but I'm more skeptical. Radical Islamism transcends logic; indeed, it celebrates the individual's desire to kill and die for his/her faith. When your enemy considers it a "win" to be killed, you've got a very long and difficult battle ahead.
Regarding Bergdahl, I'm delighted that there are still some people in the military willing to prosecute him fully - no doubt at significant personal cost in retribution from the White House. Every story about Bergdahl's desertion and court martial should include Jay Carney's statement that Bowe served "with honor and distinction" because everyone who's worn the uniform served "with honor and distinction." Presumably including Nidal Hasan, as I pointed out in a cartoon a year or two ago.
On Obamacare, this is just a nightmare - and even this will soon be looking on as "the good old days." Despite the attempt to shuttle my wife and I off to second rate doctors, I don't have a cheap policy - it's north of $1000/month (not all of which I have to pay, but SOMEone does). I got the cheapest policy I could find which would include our local hospital, figuring that I can then simply pay cash for us to see our "real" doctors. But it's getting complicated; will I need to get two annual checkups in order to keep both doctors current? Who'll write prescriptions? What do I do if my cash doctor says I need a procedure, but my HMO doctor disagrees?
This idiocy will cause duplication of services (hey, there's a money saver), confusion in my records, negative relationships with my service providers, and a lot of stress and wasted time on my part.
But as we've both said many times, Obamacare IS doing what it was meant to- redistribute wealth, make people knuckle under to an unavoidable bureaucracy, and destroy our nation's insurance and healthcare industries to soften the ground for a socialistic single payer plan.
@Tucci- Truer words were never spoken.
Excuse me?
I'm sorry; what did you say?
Could you repeat that?
After years and years of using those sentences (and wifely encouragement, i.e. gentle nagging) I finally agreed yesterday to go to a hearing specialist. After being tested in what appeared to be a foam lined abandoned refrigerator, I was fitted with "hearing appliances" I believe they were called. My first full day of use has revealed things I haven't heard in years, or never heard in the first place. I truly believe this will change my life for the better.
Now, the point of this missive, lest you think this is completely off-topic. (Okay, it mostly is): When it came time to pony up the benjamins (a truckload by the way) I asked if the cost would be covered under my private insurance and/or Medicare (which sets me back $109.90 per month). I was told that it likely isn't, but Medicaid does cover hearing aids!
So, I worked my ass off for years and will likely get no benefit from Uncle Sam, but if I were a drug addled mope on Medicaid I could clearly hear when the doorbell rings when my EBT card and/or drugs arrive.
@NVRick- Welcome to the "stick it in your ear" club! I've been wearing hearing aids for about 3 years now owing to hearing loss and tinnitus- a fun one-two punch in which I don't hear what is there, but DO hear what isn't there. And the hearing aids are a significant help.
Even when I had decent insurance before Obamacare, hearing aids weren't covered - so mine were cash out of pocket. But isn't it interesting that they're covered under Medicaid? Not that I have a big problem with that: people need to hear. But why are people on Medicare or private insurance less deserving of their critical sense of hearing? Especially now that it's known that untreated hearing loss can increase the risk of dementia.
By the way, since you're spending your own money let me recommend PowerOne hearing aid batteries (from Germany) available inexpensively on Amazon.com.
As long as we're off topic (just a wee bit) NVRick, you have my complete empathy. I have been wearing hearing aids since I got out of the Marines over 50 years ago. I was a radio operator and it done in my hearing. (Well, that and a bunch of loud bangs). I was lucky in my chosen field, engineering, and could afford hearing aids. When I retired that all changed. For some reason, my income went way down. I went to the VA for a hearing test a couple of years ago and found out I was due for new hearing aids. Well, for once the VA came through. They had just started supplying them. And at a cost of $7,000.00 (yes seven thousand dollars) I could not afford them myself. So, for all you veterans out there, One thing I have discovered is that the VA does a terrific job of diagnosing hearing loss and all its varying nuances, but they finally provide the aids and batteries as well. Batteries can run to $300 per year.
@Fred Ciampi- Wow, you came by your hearing lost honestly and honorably, not like those of us who didn't believe our mothers when they said we could go deaf listening to porn.
For those not covered by the VA, I'll mention that you can save a few bucks getting hearing aids at Sam's Club for just over $1000 per ear (for their low end model). You still need to do the hearing exam and have the hearing aids fine-tuned for your individual needs (both are done at Sam's and included in the price).
"...but if I were a drug addled mope on Medicaid I could clearly hear when the doorbell rings when my EBT card and/or drugs arrive."
Welcome to socialism. A large part of the reason that my private insurance that covered absolutely nothing before my deductible costs nearly $2,000-a-month is to make up for the money lost by providers on both on-and-off Medicaid people who pay basically nothing.
This is how "trickle-up poverty" works: It continuously nibbles away at the bottom of the middle class to convert them to being "poor". And remember, the more "poor" we have is the justification for more government, and government programs to address them. Added "sweeteners" like paid-for hearing aids and other goodies make doing so more attractive. Over time, more and more of the middle class will choose to be "poor", because they'll figure out that they're much better off there than they were tying to be "middle class". Remember, when you're "poor" and start making more income, that means loosing the "free" benefits that are incrementally far more expensive than the meager increase of income that you are making. (After higher income taxes)
After being assimilated, the establishment expects that we'll all be faithful Democratic voters. This is why the Democrats have become the party of the mega rich and the poor.
As long as we're on hearing aids. I received my hearing loss and tinnitus from my time in the Army artillery and then working the helicopter flight line. I filed my claim with the VA in 1968 and they gave me a zero percent disability on hearing because they said I could hear ‘most’ speech and tinnitus was not recognized as a disability. I filed this claim on and off for years. In 2005 a coworker advised me that the VA was now recognizing tinnitus so I filed my claim again. I did better this time because they gave me a 10 % disability for tinnitus, which also qualifies me for VA health care if I want to use it. They also provided a nice set of hearing aids, but still a zero percent disability for hearing loss. Go figure! The last tech that tested my hearing seemed to have some kind of negative attitude, like maybe she didn’t like being there. Don’t know what her issue was. Afterwards I sent a FOIA request for the records of that exam because I wanted to see the results, especially the test where they have you repeat words that you hear. That information was not provided, which makes me think they are hiding it to avoid adding to my disability. It’s my understanding that the word test is a major test that’s considered for a disability.
It’s always a battle to get anything from the VA because it has an adversarial posture, and treats Vets like we are malingerers!
I don't use VA Healthcare because I have to have Blue Cross to cover the wife. And when I use the VA they bill my Blue Cross. Might as well get mt care closer to home.
@John the Econ- Succinctly put, and I wish I could force every liberal to read this. Or, as long as I'm making wishes, understand it.
@Joseph ET- Hearing "most" speech means one hears a significant amount of speech poorly if at all. After awhile, you get tired of asking people to repeat themselves because it irritates them and they look at you like you're hard of thinking instead of hard of hearing. And then you try bluffing when you can't hear - making noncommital remarks and hoping you're not saying "that's great" to someone telling you they've been diagnosed with cancer. And after awhile, you start withdrawing just to avoid the whole mess.
And tinnitus can be a killer, sometimes literally. When I first got mine (and it was, and is, pretty bad) I asked the audiologist what could be done about it. "Well," he told me for $400, "some people put a bullet in their heads." (Note: there ARE things that can be done, and more all the time. So screw that guy.)
I spent over a year in desperate panic before I learned to live with the tinnitus (I use a lot of masking sounds) and actually get a little relief as a side benefit of my hearing aids.
Regarding your suspicions about the hearing test the VA gave you, I'd recommend going to a Sam's Club (I don't think you need to be a member) for a full hearing evaluation - complete with the padded, soundproof room, tones, and words to repeat. You'll get a printout of what they find, which might be useful when talking to the VA. I'm pretty sure that the workup is free, too.
"Afterwards I sent a FOIA request for the records of that exam because I wanted to see the results... It’s always a battle to get anything from the VA because it has an adversarial posture, and treats Vets like we are malingerers!
Thanks @Joseph ET for another preview of what we have waiting for us once we achieve the Progressive nirvana known as "single payer". Imagine having to file FOIA requests for your own medical records! The future is now for the people the left pays lip service to caring the most about.
@Stilton, unfortunately most of the rich don't care because they see themselves as immune to it. Many of the poor who have been assimilated for generations are fine with it because any notion of aspiring to anything more than what the government steals for them has been beaten out of them. That leaves the middle class, most of which will not believe it until they are forced to live it. And even then, they won't give us credit for so concisely predicting their future.
Stilton Jarlsberg: "Regarding your suspicions about the hearing test the VA gave you, I'd recommend going to a Sam's Club (I don't think you need to be a member) for a full hearing evaluation - complete with the padded, soundproof room, tones, and words to repeat. You'll get a printout of what they find, which might be useful when talking to the VA. I'm pretty sure that the workup is free, too."
I contacted the pharmacy at the nearest Sam's Club, and was informed that (to the best of the pharmacist's knowledge) hearing tests are not performed as in-store services. It was suggested that such tests might be available through Walmart stores in various areas. I didn't follow that up.
John the Econ: "...another preview of what we have waiting for us once we achieve the Progressive nirvana known as 'single payer'."
Back when it was Bubba getting his blowjobs behind the Resolute desk, and only female White House interns had to equip themselves with kneepads, there was Hitlery's agitation for single-payer ("Hillarycare") and my observation that the Clinton Conspiracy already had a nationwide health care system - the Veterans' Health Administration - in their control, Surely those arrogant lawyers could use this as an exemplary instance of what political control of medical management could do in the way of improving standard-of-care while keeping costs under good control.
Of course, nobody in the legacy, leftard, luser lamestream media (also known as the Democrat Party Audiovisual Club) bit at that bait, did they?
Back to hearing aids. Like I stated previously, I have had hearing loss and tinnitus for 50+ years, ever since my discharge from the Marines. (Radio operator and thundersticks, also called M1s). After I retired I put in for disability and got lucky. It took two years but I did get 10% and a check from the time when I first applied. I also got lucky with my local VA. Most of the nice folks there are assholes but the audiology department is the tops. Salem, Virginia.
JosephET, keep trying. I have been to a zillion audiologists across the country and most companies will give a comprehensive hearing test for no charge. I have an 82% hearing loss with only 30% comprehension. So, yes, it's "eh", "what?" about 86.5% of the time even with my hearing aids. And another bonus; I was provided with a bluetooth that I wear around my neck and the lanyard is an antenna that broadcast my cell phone into my aids. For the first time I can hear the telephone; and in stereo. Another bonus, the VA provided a device called TV Link. It plugs into the TV and broadcasts the TV audio into my hearing aids. Wahoo, I can hear the television without the neighbor a quarter mile away hearing it too. To say nothing about my poor wife wearing a pillow around her head.
And another thing. Every VA has an advocate office. There you will find kind folks who will listed to your complaints about the not-so-nice workers therein.
And Joseph, keep trying for that disability and when you finally succeed, you should be entitled for compensation from when you first applied. It will be worth the battle.
Non illigitamus carborundum.
@Tucci, it's also salient to note that HillaryCare was one of the primary reasons that the Democrats lost total control of Congress in 1994 for the first time in generations. (I was one of the very few people who actually read the plan at the time, so I feel a certain moral authority to speak on the matter well beyond that held by the majority of talking heads of the time) The vast majority of Americans wanted no part of what the Clintons had in store for us back then any more than they wanted ObamaCare in 2011, which also led to a purge of Democrats in Congress. Unfortunately, the Obama had learned the lesson of 1994 and got ObamaCare passed before the voters could have any additional say in the matter. Now, the damage is done and the GOP has no viable alternative because the reality is that repealing ObamaCare isn't possible. We only have one way to go now.
The most glaring (to me, anyway) aspect of HillaryCare was that the vast majority of verbiage of the plan didn't have to do with actually providing care than it did with punishing people who didn't conform to what the plan said. For example, your brother the doctor giving you an aspirin off-the-books was worthy of jail time.
I really had to question a system that spent more time discussing how to punish people than how to actually take care of them. This is a foretelling of what a 2nd Clinton Administration is likely to be like; Overt punishment for those who resist conforming to the queen's vision. We've already seen how the Progressive bureaucracy behaves (IRS, EPA and other attacks of conservatives) under Obama's implicit desires. It doesn't take much of an imagination to understand what it will be like under Hillary's explicit commands.
It's not too much of a surprise that we hear so little of Hillary's fascist tendencies right now. Interestingly, Hillary's distant competitors for the Democratic nomination don't seem interested in bringing any of this up, which suggests that they either approve of her positions and actions, or don't want her excessively damaged should she be the inevitable candidate. Pretty much all media attention has been and will remain on the Trump-driven GOP nomination. It will ultimately be up to the GOP candidate to lay Hillary bare; and as you suggest, he or she should expect no help from the media for that.
@ Fred Ciampi Yes, after I finally received my rating for tinnitus, I applied for retro pay. It took around 18 months and a teleconference with a judge. They didn’t go back to when I first applied, but to when they first started to recognize tinnitus. Still a nice check. I learned many years ago to keep some white noise on at all times. The wife had to adapt and bless her heart, she did. The hearing aids help, but they mostly make sounds louder. When I first got the aids I was still working as an Electronic Tech for the Post Office sorting center and on the workroom floor they just made the machines sound louder. In their offices I would hear echo’s off the walls, so I gave that up at work. I still have difficulty when people are looking away from me or have their hand in front of their month when talking to me. Oh well! I’m retired now and I don’t want to battle the system anymore and I could be gone before I won. The reason we have so many Vets living on the streets or doing suicides is because it takes months or even years to receive what one is due or need. That has never changed! I remember going to the VA in LA California in 1970 taking a number and waiting about three hours only to learn that they still can’t find my file. That went on for six months. Finally, I went up to the top floor and found the director’s office and demanded she do something and she had my file in her hands in about 20 minutes. I was ready to go to jail that day because I was about to be evicted for not paying my rent. At least jail would be a place to sleep and they would feed me too. And NO I was not armed with any weapon.
/rant
@Tucci- Sorry the Sam's Club thing didn't work out. All I can tell you is that the service is definitely offered in my neck of the woods (north Texas) and at more than one location. That's where I got my hearing aids and get them serviced. And I'm probably overdue for another hearing check.
@Fred Ciampi- My hearing aids are the (relatively) cheapo ones, so no bluetooth or doodads for me. Sounds like your hearing loss is more profound than mine, so I'm glad your devices help!
@John the Econ- One of the things I seem to recall from the Hillarycare debacle is that she never consulted any actual physicians when crafting the plan, which goes right along with your observation that her plan was less about delivering healthcare than consolidating power and punishing her enemies. I hope the GOP's eventual candidate is equal to the task of revealing her for what she is.
@Joseph ET- Your story about being shoved around by the VA until you shoved back makes my blood boil. And then I think of Obama making the deal for Bowe Bergdahl's swap and offering it up during the height of the VA scandal as if it were proof that he really cared about our service people. The bastard.
Regarding hearing and tinnitus, I always have masking noise turned on. I even have white noise MP3s on my phone so I can play a nice, soothing hiss when someplace too quiet (like waiting in a doctor's exam room). When I take out my "hears" (as I call them) at night, the whistling in my ears really kicks up - which is why I go to sleep each night wearing headphones and listening to a recording which mixes vacuum cleaner, oscillating fan, rain, and thunder. Music to my ears, but it would probably be considered torture at Gitmo.
John the Econ writes: "The most glaring (to me, anyway) aspect of HillaryCare was that the vast majority of verbiage of the plan didn't have to do with actually providing care than it did with punishing people who didn't conform to what the plan said. For example, your brother the doctor giving you an aspirin off-the-books was worthy of jail time."
What I had found ominous - even before the venom and the vitriol of HillaryCare became a matter of public knowledge - was the process by which it was devised, in Star Chamber proceedings from which medical doctors (even those few who were wholly sympathetic to the cause of "Liberal" fascism and the Clintons' machinations) were entirely excluded.
They did not want ANYONE with actual experience of rendering medical care to participate in the formulation of this grotesque scheme to conscript about 18% of the republic's Gross National Product under the direct command of the federal executive branch.
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