Neurotic Thoughts on a Monday

It's possible I'm about to emulate the late Andy Rooney and his gripefests on 60 Minutes.  Just having a variety of unsettling or irritating thoughts: 

 

After the President spoke in the Rose Garden this morning, I wondered:  What if all the tabulated visits to the healthcare.gov site were actually a far smaller number of people and the number is high because those same people made multiple visits trying to apply?  God, I hope not.  Another thought about the ACA:   For it to work as intended (to work period) a certain number of people need to enroll in the program, right?  It's assumed that a certain percentage of those seeking coverage for the first time will be young people.  I'm wondering whether it was a good idea to allow young people to remain on their parents' policy until they're 26.  Might have been better to lower the age to 22 or even 23 to up the chances of greater numeric success?  Time will tell.   One thing's certain now:  I'm with the President on thinking it's time for all Americans to pull for the ACA to succeed rather than pulling for it to fail.  Way past time.  Just saw a great piece by (are you ready) a Fox News contributor who has signed up for "Obamacare" and is delighted about it.  Here's the link:  http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/10/21/was-obamacare-guinea-pig/

 

New subject:  Been seeing Dick Cheney on your telly lately?  He's mighty proud that he championed "enhanced interrogation" (torture).   On his book tour this shameless man is  slamming President Obama at every opportunity, talking about uncontrolled spending and debt.  Geeeez.  That computer in his chest that passes for a heart has kept him alive, but he needs some help with his memory.  Has he forgotten the invasion and occupation of Iraq he orchestrated?  Not paying for it, I mean.   And the other Bush administration war that this President is in the process of ending? Not paid for by the previous administration.  And the tax breaks for people in his income bracket?  And and and—  When he goes out to dinner, I'll bet he pretends to be surprised when someone else finally picks up the check; he probably says "I'll get it next time."  Of course he's also talking up daughter Liz's candidacy (for US Senate/WY), saying the Tea Party "uprising"is a good thing.  A good thing.  Liz Cheney recently said she admires  Republican Tea Party Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee.  The Cheneys don't know squat about subtlety or diplomacy, for sure.  And they don't worry whether what they say has anything to do with the truth.  When the late dictator Hugo Chavez said he could smell the "stink of the devil" on President George W. Bush, what do you want to bet he was getting a whiff of the Cheneys?

 

Okay, no vitriol.  I might have just broken Lucy Left's rule on that.  We call Donald Trump "the Donald"— so shouldn't we honor the former VP in the same way? 

 

Did you see the interview with Lima, Ohio Tea Party members on ABC's This Week ?  The general idea was to ask whether they, as individuals, thought the government shutdown was "worth it?"  Of course they all did. Think it was "worth it."   Some things they said clearly showed ignorance of government and reality.  I've been thinking it's absolutely mind-boggling how Ted Cruz is being venerated as a hero by the Tea Party—by any human, period.  I mean how could anybody not "get" that he was at every microphone he could find— slamming government for closing various monuments and programs when he was the primary cause of the shutdown?  But then I heard what these seven people had to say and was reminded all over again that some low-info voters are more like no-info voters.  In other words, they are Fox watchers, as I feel sure most Tea Partiers are.   

 

Actually I just trotted out some neurotic thoughts instead of doing the Andy Rooney thing.  As far as Ted Cruz goes, one of my liberal elitist friends, Audrey in Austin, is excited about Ted Cruz.  Excited to think about the possibility he will be running for President— and about helping Hillary take Texas in 2016.  Yeee haaa!  And Wendy Davis for governor!  I'm on board with both.