I just spent an hour and twenty minutes on hold with Mass Health—twice in one day—only to be told by some automated bitch that "we are experiencing high call volume. Please call back later," and subsequently hung up on.
Why, you might ask?
Because my health insurance lapsed. No one informed me. No one called, no one sent me a letter. I found out because I showed up at a doctor's office where I typically have no co-pay, and the receptionist said, "Okay, for this appointment, that'll be $80."
And why, exactly, did this happen?
Well, someone at Mass Health arbitrarily decided on June 6th that I make too much money to deserve government-assisted healthcare. Despite the fact that I am on government-assisted programs because I cannot make enough money for health-related reasons. (Not to mention that I am now going to have to pay a fine for this past month for not having health insurance.)
If I do not get a hold of these people, tomorrow I will have to drop at least $100 on asthma medication. ASTHMA MEDICATION. Which I have needed and been using since 1995. Twenty-two years.
I know I am fortunate to live in Massachusetts and therefore have a state health plan. I am a fortunate American right now. But if this is the best-case scenario, then dear God, what is the worst?
The only thing I feel grateful for right now is the fact that this didn't happen two months ago. Because if it had, I would've had to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for a major surgery and the five days I spent in the hospital. Never mind that even with the health plan I had, it still cost me thousands for the treatments designed to keep me out of the hospital, because it involved pain in my uterus and the treatments "weren't necessary."
What do we do with this? Who is on our side? Who wants this for other people?
About a year ago, I wrote this post about the primaries and how frightened I was, and how Hillary Clinton was the lesser of two evils. The year before that, I wrote THIS post on why "all lives matter" is not productive, and how ashamed I was about saying that phrase and meaning it.
Listen, I get that people change their minds. People grow, they truly do. People learn. That's clearly evidenced in these past few writings I've done annually. I still regret saying "all lives matter." I still regret being staunchly against Hillary. I still think that Bernie Sanders was the better option, but Hillary has always been a better option than people—including myself at one point—give her credit for.
But today, I know this much is true.
If you voted for Trump; if you didn't vote at all; if you voted third party: you better realize that you voted to put people's lives at risk, in more ways than one. You voted to put my life at risk. And this is why "we all can't just get along." Because not having a female president is more important than the actual lives of the people of this country. Because having an openly racist leader is more important than the other people who live here. Because emails were more important. Because money was more important. Because standing by Bernie Sanders in the end on "principle" was more important.
Let me tell you this: there is nothing more important to a country than the well-being of its people. If you don't take care of a country's people, you don't have a country. Period. This includes healthcare. This includes global warning. This includes gun control. This includes immigration. This includes same-sex marriage. This includes all of the social issues there are.
If you're reading this, you likely know me. If you don't know me, I guarantee that you know someone else in this position, or worse. If you did any of the above, you made a mistake. You put my life at risk. You put millions of lives at risk. You knew this would happen. Do you regret it yet?
Do not call yourself my friend. Do not talk about how we should all just learn to get along. There is no peace here.
This blog summarizes the left and why Trump will win again in 2020. It also provides the precise reasons I don't consider myself a liberal anymore. Hillary lost for a lot of reasons but being a woman wasn't one of them. She lost because she defended child molester Thomas Alfred Taylor and never apologized to Kathy Shelton (the victim). She got rid of Taylor's underwear that had Shelton's blood on them and then when confronted falsely claimed she was required to take the case but didn't really want to. She lost because she viciously attacked Bill Clinton's rape victims and went everywhere she could claiming that these women had merely affairs with her husband despite the countless witnesses, the payout settlement, the physical evidence, and claims of rape stemming from women while Bill was still in college all the way to well into his presidency. Juanita Broaddrick who was raped by Bill when he was the gov of Arkansas was a target of Hillary's. She lost because she, against the advice of the Obama administration, took intelligence from Sidney Blumenthal who had never even been to Libya, and it left to 4 dead Americans who Hillary ignored. She lost because she kept lying. She used bleach-bit to destroy emails relating to Benghazi. She kept claiming to have turned over all emails when in fact she didn't. Anyone who watched the C-Span testimony when Hillary was being questioned, could easily why she was unfit to be president. As for healthcare, our system is broken, but socialized healthcare doesn't work. Canada's healthcare system is so broken that people die on waiting lists. Canada's healthcare system is so broken that there is a second privatized healthcare system that wealthier citizens buy so that they don't have to wait for appointments. If we taxed the top 1% of America 100% of their wealth, it wouldn't fund Medicaid for 3 years. Your health situation sucks, so does mine. The difference is that I don't expect the government (a.e. other Americans) to work so I can get something for free. If you were in Canada you'd still be waiting for that surgery that you had to pay out-of-pocket. There are people I know who believe they have diabetes but because there is a 3 year wait on a PCP and only PCPs will conduct routine blood-work, is waiting. Bernie had zero answers but was the Santa Claus candidate who promised you everything for free. Someone has to pay for it. As for you regret regarding the statement "all lives matter," you've bought the hype. Look into who began the BLM movement. They were terrorists who created a false narrative of "hands up don't shoot" that they were forced to take back.
ReplyDeletecontinued: Try reading Sheriff David Clarke's new book Cop Under Fire. The men and women in blue go into the neighborhoods no one will drive through to stop gang violence and rioting and every time they banish their weapon they have to worry that someone will cry brutality. And if there is a bad apple or an officer who makes a bad decision, well liberals will have a field day claiming systemic racism even though study after study has shown that to be a myth. The issues with liberals is they refuse to see the big picture. That's why I loved Jon Stewart. He saw the big picture and he understood what was going on and didn't make everything into this "good" "bad" nonsense that liberals want it to be. For example, the transgender ban in the military is a good example. Did Trump ban transgender soldiers to stick it to the LGBT community or was it because the co-morbid mental disorders and percentage of suicidal tendencies and thoughts among the transgender soldiers put the military's objectives in jeopardy both financially where the medical costs and time off was eating away at the budget and on the field where a depressed soldier could mean failure? If you honestly believe it's the former and that Trump just thought "hey why not mess with the transgender community?" There is no talking to you. I am not transgender but I do have co-morbid personality disorders. I can personally tell you that having those disorders makes one unfit for military duty. This holding onto victimization has pissed off enough of Americans where they have opted to vote for conservative candidates, and I'm one of them. I voted for Obama twice, but I voted for Trump and I am so happy he won. The economy in whole, our GDP and the DOW are in better shape than they have been for decades. Our strides with infrastructure are impressive and the permanent jobs the administration (specifically Trump) have helped bring to America not only inspires the average American, but also foreign allies who want to invest in our country. Many already have! Unless, liberals stop virtue signaling and start debating the issues within the big realistic picture rather than an idealized-All-is-Free world, they will continue to lose elections. Your post will probably get a lot of praise from your friends, but that is only because you're preaching to the choir; the same choir who voted for Hillary; and the same choir who will join you in losing in 2020. By the way, the only reason I am keep this anonymous is because I don't know who you are. I saw an acquaintance put a link to this blog on Facebook and I was curious by the title if any rational liberals were trying to genuinely trying to open door rather than slam them shut. Sadly, this is the same unhelpful divisive rhetoric. If I were to post who I was it wouldn't be difficult to trace the acquaintance and it would be unfair for them to be singled out and tormented from the tolerant left. As for me, I don't care. I say the same things under my own name on Twitter and on FB everyday.
ReplyDeleteHi— I appreciate you taking the time to voice your opinion. I rather feel as though the content in your comment is what creates the divisive rhetoric you're referring to. I'm not sure that I have much to say to you other than that, but if anyone else wants to jump in, please feel free. Thanks!
DeleteYou're welcome. You ended your blog with "there is no peace here" and for one not to consider you their friend if they disagree with your view on healthcare. Now, I consider that divisive, but I would love to know which statements of mine encouraged divisive rhetoric. I watch Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper and at once in awhile I'll even venture into Rachel Maddow territory. Though, I disagree with much of what he says and how he delivers it, I never miss Last Week Tonight with John Oliver because he's funny; and even if I disagree with someone I can still find them funny. I saw Amy Schumer and Jim Jefferies within days of each other last year, and though both lost quite a bit of themselves and because of it their act, when their hatred for Trump manifested, I still find their older stuff funny. I wonder if you ever tune in to Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity or Ben Shapiro. Among the books I own that were written by Ayn Rand, Russell Kirk, Charles Krauthammer, Dinesh D'Souza, etc., I have every book Noam Chomsky ever wrote, Daniel Ellsberg's books, William Blum's Killing Hope, Huey P. Newton's work, etc. Hell, I even have two copies of Al Franken's Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot & Other Observations. I think it's important to be well-read and to be able to back up any argument you make with facts. I fact-check everything and am not satisfied unless I have at least 3 sources, none of which from the same origination. I'm willing to say the right gets it wrong sometimes, but the mainstream left has gone bonkers. I disagreed when President Trump executed the airstrikes against Syria, but the left was so hellbent on creating a Russia/Collusion story that they somehow ended up connecting Dr. Jill Stein to all of it (which was quite hilarious). When I say people didn't vote for Hillary because of her handling of the Kathy Shelton case, I know it to be true because I talk to Kathy and her attorney; and I'm one of those people who didn't vote for her because of that. As an incest survivor, I know it takes a certain type of evil to not only condone but cover up for that type of behavior. After the election, some friends on the left disappeared; but I never broke up a friendship because of politics. My best friend who I've been friends with for 15+ years and who was/is a Bernie Supporter, I talk to multiple times a day. My husband is far more liberal than I am, but we've been together nearly a decade and never had a fight. We converse, we disagree and we vote differently but we never fight. We respect one another. The mainstream left is now backing Anti-Fa and Linda Sarsour & think Russia is a bigger threat than North Korea. At some point, most people I know have put their hands in the air and said, "I'm Out," and they (like I) abandoned the left.
DeleteHi—sure, I absolutely know that my final statement is divisive, but I guess a better way to say what I'm thinking here is— a lot of what was in your comment is the same reasoning that drives a lot of liberals to take these stronger positions. I think this is definitely worth further discussion, but I'd like to give it the time and thought that it deserves...which I cannot do this week because I'm moving. (We all know how THAT goes.) I'll come back to this once I get to the West Coast and settle a little bit/sleep for 12 days straight, and then if you're up for it we can continue! Sorry to not currently be able to be more responsive.
DeleteThanks for your patience!
DeleteOkay, so there's a lot going on here, so apologies in advance cuz I know I'll miss something...
1) As far as Hillary goes, her being a woman is definitely part of why she lost, even if it's not obvious. Sexism can be insidious. You listed a lot of points, but for every single one, there is a corresponding mess that Donald Trump has created himself. In terms of this particular one: Trump is openly and unapologetically guilty of sexual assault. That's far beyond a double standard, and it's definitely gender-related. I'm also a sexual assault survivor, and to me, yes, it takes a certain type of evil to commit these atrocities. But our current president actively commits the kind of behavior that you're blaming Hillary for defending. If a woman has defended such behavior and yet recognized it and done better since then, I will happily vote for her over a man who actively has committed and continued to commit and BRAG about sexual harassment. Donald Trump got involved and it became news because it made Hillary look bad, not because Trump cared about Kathy Shelton. As far as Bill Clinton's atrocities, Hillary is not responsible for the things that he did. We put her in a rock and a hard place: either she was horrible for not defending her husband, or she was horrible for divorcing him. She chose getting ahead. It sucks morally, but it would've meant the end of her career—and the end of her career isn't just important to her, it's important to the underrepresented contingent of the American people that she is willing to stand up for.
I'm not saying she was right to defend the Kathy Shelton case by any means, but I AM saying that at the end of the day, in terms of experience, Hillary Clinton is one of the most qualified people in this country to run it. She's been a politician since 1970, when she worked for Mondale. She knows our history, she knows the rules, and she knows how to play the game. Being a businessman and a TV show host is not adequate preparation for running the country.
2) I'm really curious as to why you think Black Lives Matter is hype, and why exactly they—we—are terrorists. I haven't bought the hype. I fully agree that Black lives matter. It's encouraging inclusivity instead of taking exclusivity and discrimination lying down. That's it. That's what's it about. "All Lives Matter" is an obvious statement, especially to the whole bleeding-heart-liberal contingent, because it's true. The statement "Black Lives Matter" exists because all too frequently, Black lives garner less consideration than white lives, especially when it comes to police brutality. We're not asking for priority over white lives, or over anyone else's lives. We're asking—even demanding—to be treated equally. Black men get shot and incarcerated far much more than white men do, and it's not for nothing.
3) It's great that you've done so much reading, and I'll need you to trust that I've done equal amounts, if not because of my major, then simply because of the fact that I've been working in bookstores and writing for a living since 2003. No need to delve into that.
4) I'm glad you've had successful relationships with people of other political beliefs. I haven't. All that Black Lives Matter—and indeed, the left—asks is, "Is your life more important than mine?" The answer is no. No, it's not. The Constitution says it. "All men are created equal." There's no "except" involved. When people think that question, that "Is your life more important than mine?" is hype or exaggerated, or if they think they answer is yes, then those people are not my friends. There is not peace in that.
(more in the next comment...I didn't know there was a character limit here!)
There's a quote from SonofBaldwin on Twitter: "We can still disagree and love each other unless your opinion is rooted in my oppression and denial of my right to exist." It's true. I have no obligation to validate an opinion that causes harm to myself or others. People who voted for Trump found their economic opinions and displeasure with Hillary more important than helping shut down racism, denying rights to the LGBTQ community, dealing with global warming, denying rights to the Native American communities here, denying healthcare to women and to the citizens of this country, and so, so much more. That quote is brilliant. It doesn't cover everything that minorities and women are going to lose or encounter under the Trump administration because of status—like overt discrimination instead of covert —but it's a start.
Delete5) I don't just expect other people to pay for something just so I can get something for free. Being liberal is not about wanting stuff to be free. I pay taxes just like everybody else. I'm okay paying a few extra bucks—especially collectively—if it means that someone else gets to have better health. Trump voters are not my friends, but people are people, and in order to be part of a functional community, people should contribute.
My point is, there truly is no peace here, and there is no standing down. Trump is blaming the "alt-left" as much as the "alt-right" for a peaceful protestor's death and multiple injuries in Charlottesville. The alt-right he's talking about is the KKK. THAT'S terrorism. The alt-left are the people who believe that, say, I should be treated as fairly as the white people I live with. It's not a false rhetoric, and it's certainly not hype. I don't imagine the threatening looks I receive here in Oregon, and I definitely don't imagine that white nationalists are distributing KKK newsletters to the residents of Belchertown (the town next door to where I live). POC didn't fabricate a Puerto Rican's car that was keyed with the words "Go home" in West Springfield next to a place I work. We're not making up the swastikas and hate slurs on Mount Tom or the vandalized Holocaust memorials all over the country. This isn't just a thing that's randomly taking place in various cities we've just hearing about—these are things that happen in what is one of the safest, most inclusive areas in the country. All of these things are terrifying, all of them involve the safety and well-being of other American citizens, and all of them are really, really real.
I look forward to the conversation and hope the move goes well!
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DeleteAgh sorry. Trying to edit it for a typo, deleted it, made a mess. Oy.
DeleteThank for your very good article! i always enjoy & read the post you are sharing!
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