Oh good grief....

Well...at least I got the heel turned and stitches picked up. Not a very productive day and tomorrow doesn't bode well either. I have got to get my decorations up which means I have to clean first. Ugh.
The DH has been keeping me posted on the latest goings on with the Office of the President-Elect. (how pompous is that?). There was some stuff on the newswires about a $30,000 ring His Highness was going to give the First Whateveryouwanttocallher as a thank you for her support. I thought spouses were supposed to support each other anyway but that's another topic. What makes this interesting is the timing and type of gift. First let's be clear on this. I don't give a rat's ass what people do with their money--that goes for number of houses, cars, or whatever. As long as they didn't steal it I don't care. What does strike me about this is here's a guy whose made giving back a linchpin of his campaign. Spread the wealth and all that rot. So he goes out and buys the missus a ring worth more than many make in a year made of materials from another country. Not something made here in the US mind you but something made from materials found only in South Africa. More proof that this guy is so bloody arrogant. Marie Antoinette had nothing on this unqualified tool. If he wants to buy whatever for that shrew of a wife that's his business but for this to get out in the news is such a slap in the face to all those 'middle America' people he sucked up to in order to get elected. You know, those Main Street folks that are losing their jobs as a direct result of the Dhimmicrap Congress and the social welfare programs they forced on the mortgage industry. And yes there is a direct link because all segments in the economy are intertwined. But that's a digression...Back to the main point.
Now I understand his official spokestools are saying he hasn't bought it, that it's a rumor, blah blah blah. I smell damage control. These nouveau riche twits know they've stepped on it and now their sychophants are stepping up to protect him. Not.Buying.It. It's going to be a delicious couple of years watching this incompetent fool try to govern. He couldn't govern his way out of a paper bag. There's your change.
Good news though, Chamblis may pull out a win in Georgia and things aren't looking good for Franken's attempt to steal MN. None of these races should be that tight tho. We need to clean house in the GOP. Get rid of these useless old fogeys like Lindsey Graham (SC) and get some more aggressive, true conservatives in there. I heard an interview between the above and Claire McCaskill and I swear I think I heard him say 'Ah disahgree with mah wuthy ahponent' on some point. What century does he reside in????? I'm a southern gal through and through but this freakin' Colonel Sanders routine makes my skin crawl. No wonder liberals have made such giant strides in the south. I'm willing to bet that if you put what the GOP stands for side by side with the Dems on a sheet of paper without listing them as such and asked any number of people to read through and check which they believe in they'd pick the GOP points. But somewhere along the line they get turned off by the people we have in leadership. Give 'em the boot or our party is toast.

Personal responsibility

I'm big on this. Maybe it was how I was raised but also the result of experiences that made me believe that I had to do for myself and relying on others often had unpleasant consequences. Like Barry Goldwater said, 'a government strong enough to give you everything is also strong enough to take away everything you have'. Or something like that.

Take my knitting. If I go out and buy the yarn, I can't expect anyone else to do the project for me. If I'm slack, as I have been on the socks, then it'll be my fault that I don't get done by Christmas. All of which leads me to a story about a woman who because she was moved to part time lost her health benefits from work. She then gets a cough and doesn't go to a doc. Self medicates and all that. At some point she finally goes for help. But here's the tragic part. She dies because it's really some lung disease and although the paperwork for Medicare was filed, since it's the government it was too late.

The comments to the article are a smorgasbord of whining and calls for universal health care. What's missing in all this is what did the 34 year old woman do to help herself? Did she disconnect her cable or sat TV? Clip coupons? What was more important to her--her health or her luxuries? I don't know what her situation was. The article does not indicate if she tried to get insurance or not on her own. But this brings me back to the personal responsibility thing.
It is a fact that a young person can get basic health insurance for around $100 per month. But when polled those informed of this said they'd rather party, go out to eat and the like. One cheeky woman bragged that she uses health departments and never pays for anything. She's right of course. She's probably not paying even in taxes. But someone is. A gainfully employed neighbor or relative. That's a big problem with that age group. The same age group that probably voted for Obama. Clueless and stupid. And their stupidity is going to cost us all dearly but that's another subject. One poster said this is why we must have universal health coverage. No it's not. What is needed is for people to take responsibility for their own health. Insurance is available. You just may not be able to get that 60 inch flatscreen like you want. You may even need to cut back on partying or eating out. Do I feel sorry for the woman who died. Until I know the whole story I can't say. But if her death was the result of bad decisions she made the answer is no. And none of us should have to suffer for those decisions by the implementation of government health care.