Aging Bohemians

OneCareNow.org is the grassroots movement for a single payer plan in California, my home state. Granted that “Sicko” is a portrait of hand-picked facts made to strengthen his case, but I have long hoped for an overhaul of our health care system.

OneCareNow.org is supporting state Senate Bill 840, also known as the Kuehl bill after its sponsor, state Senator Sheila Kuehl.

I have been on the fence about a single-payer plan for years, you know, going back and forth between “the government screws up everything”, and “what an expensive mess private healthcare is”. I couldn’t firmly decide until the last year. Here’s why.

My wife is a massage therapist. She worked as an employee for local spas, but after our children were born, she decided to work privately for a while. This required her to get a massage license from the city we lived in at the time. Because of the stereotypical reputation of MT’s, she had to go to the Sherriff’s department and prove that the could actually do a massage, and she had to submit to a blood test for STDs. Turns out she had Hepatitis C. She had been jaundiced after birth and had gotten a blood transfusion. This was before the blood supply was screened for Hep C.

We were on my health plan at the time, so we decided to go thru the cure, a 6 month regimen of Interferon and Ribavirin. Much to our good fortune, she cleared the virus, and has been virus free ever since.

So far, so good.

Since then, we’ve moved, and I’ve been trying to work freelance. We used COBRA to maintain our insurance. Very expensive, but with a family, necessary. COBRA lasts 36 months, max, so when we had about a year left of benefits, I started looking into private insurance plans.

Turns out, my wife is uninsurable.

Now, get this, she’s healthy. Virus free. No liver damage. None. But, she is uninsurable. So here’s a person who was given a potentially fatal disease by the medical establishment, later helped by that establishment to cure the diesease, who is now cut off from any services by the private medical insurance industry. And this is the industry that is supposed to deliver our health care?

No, I don’t think so. I support the OnceCareNow movement in California. I suggest that other Californians do the same.

This is not a perfect solution, but it is better than either the current state of affairs or the current plan as put forth by our governor.

I’m interested to hear what other people think.

Dear Senator Feinstein,

It is with great regret that I read about your support for H.R.2206.

There have been times in our history when supporting our troops meant buying war bonds, rationing, money for weapons and supplies. This time, however, supporting our troops means bringing them home as soon as possible. It is morally indefensible to support the pre-emptive warfare policies of this administration. It is morally indefensible to support the commitment of vast amount of our resources, and the blood of our fellow citizens in such a flawed and badly executed policy.

The so-called “war on terrorism” must be re-thought, and the way we engage this enemy must be different from the nation-state wars of the past. The real war in not in Iraq, and we must withdraw and regroup as soon as possible.

Your vote yesterday was to support the failed policies of the Bush administration. President Bush as much as admitted this in his speech to the graduates at the U.S. Coastguard Academy this past Wednesday. In an attempt to generate support for this war, he pointed to intelligence that the Al Qaeda group in Iraq is now able to plan and carry out attacks outside Iraq.

But, if you think about this statement, what the President said means that Al Qaeda in Iraq has been able to grow in strength from nothing (remember they had no significant presence in Iraq prior to 9/11) to its current level of strength in spite of the occupation of the country since 2003 by the most powerful army in the world.

Can there be a clearer statement of failure? And yet, this is the policy you have just voted to support.

One of the first times I ever wrote to my congressman was to ask you not to vote for this war back in 2003. Although I was dissappointed, I have continued to support your work in the Senate. So, I am asking you: in light of what I have just written, can you give me an understanding of why you (or any other Senator for that matter) voted “Yea” on this bill? Until, I get a satisfactory answer, your vote in the Senate has lost you my vote in the voting booth.

Okay, now I read about this speech by the President: Bush Blames Iraq Violence on Al-Qaeda covered by the Washington Post. Using information already disclosed a couple of years ago, Mr. Bush claims that the Al Quaeda organization in Iraq is in a position to foment attacks outside Iraq.

Does anyone remember that none of the 9/11 criminals were Iraqi, that Mr. S. Hussein had no ties to Al Quaeda? Remember that?

Now, we’ve been at war there, what, 4 years now? So we’ve gone from no Al Qaeda in Iraq to an Al Qaeda organization funded and supplied enough not only to operate there, but to carry out operations beyond the borders? And this while arguably the most powerful army in the world is occupying the country?

I don’t what Mr. Bush was attempting by his speech, but it seems to me to be nothing less than an admission of failure. In his own words, we are far worse off than we were when this war started. I wonder what the graduating class was thinking?

Part of the reason I enjoy Antsy McClain is that I love his name. That he happens to be a particularly good songwriter is the other part. I heard him this afternoon on NPR. I like songwriters who write with humanity, especially when it’s all too easy to stick to one dimension, one point of view, one stereotype.

Open Culture has a sadly accurate entry commenting about the lack of integrity on the part of what is now called the “mainstream” press. I’ve seen it also as “corporate” press. Anyway, I hadn’t seen the wonderful Daily Show interview linked there. It was very entertaining. Open Culture: John Stewart: When Comedians Start Asking the Tough Questions.

I suppose elections aren’t that important, anyway. We don’t need to see all the candidates.

So MSNBC no longer ranks Mike Gravel. And why not? I quote: “Were not ranking Mike Gravel… This guys not just a third-tier longshot, he might be a little, um, off. Seriously, he was downright rude. Why should anyone agree to appear on stage with him? And why should any mainstream Democratic group invite him?” White House 2008 rankings: The Democrats - National Journal - MSNBC.com

Yeah. Rudeness. And he might be a little “um, off”. Um, off? This is national reporting, mind you. Hmm, let’s see, NBC is a national broadcaster of shows that consist of people submitting humiliating and/or embarrassing video footage, reality TV where people allow themselves to be fired in a humiliating fashion while coworkers look on contribute to the debacle. It seems that rudeness is “in”. In fact, rudeness sells. So, why don’t we see Mike Gravel? Why don’t you ask MSNBC?

Oh, wait, you know, there’s no byline on that story. At the bottom, it says “Copyright 2007 by National Journal Group Inc.” Maybe ask them. Oh, wait, more research (God, I love the Internet). Contact Marc Ambinder “The Hotline’s Associate Editor”, or Chuck Todd “political director of NBC news”. Their names appear to be associated with this.

I’m getting old. Here’s a guy who makes sense. He hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in Hell, but right now, he’s the best candidate I’ve heard from. But you listen to the press as they question him. They’re not really listening. They’ve slotted him into the “eccentric longshot” character. You know, to add some color to the campaign. Even the Digg post I found is all about his comment about legalizing marijuana. I mean, yeah, that’s interesting. But, from Digg, I followed the YouTube link. There are several video snippets of Gravel (pronounced “Gra-velle”, with the accent on the 2nd syllable) there. You should take a listen. He’s
good.

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