Obama wants to close Gitmo. He wants to get rid of drones. He wants to stop NSA spying. But it’s so hard! Maybe the Ghost of Pre-9/11 has the answer.
The Ghost of Pre-9/11
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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Would that be Clinton?
I notice that, much more than with previous presidents, the public gives this one credit for things he didn’t do. A $10.10 minimum wage? Now that sounds good, doesn’t it? (Not great, but hell, better than what it is now.) Except it’s just for federal contract workers. And just for those who aren’t making that much to begin with.
So how many is that? (I haven’t been able to find the information.)
Recall the “accomplishment” Obama managed of giving children up to the age of 26 coverage on their parents’ insurance policies? And again, the question that wasn’t raised: “Wait. Wait. How sick does a 26-year-old get in the first place?” How can this be called an accomplishment? It’s the worst kind of sleight-of-hand. It’s like passing a law making it lawful for the poor AND the rich to dig through trash cans looking for food.
On the subway, the announcements go off all the time. One tells you to be on the lookout for unusual behavior. If you see something strange, “don’t keep it to yourself. Tell a police officer or an MTA employee.” You’re then told to have a “safe” day. That’s right. Be as afraid as they can possibly make you. The guy sitting next to you could be a terrorist. It’s you and the disembodied warning voice against everyone else. Are you scared to death yet? Another announcement informs you that “Backpacks and other large containers are subject to random search by the police.” Why? No one has yet come up with any competent argument to defend this. But no one looks shocked, or outraged, or angry about it.”
Each year, the number of people who don’t remember what the world was like before 9/11 grows.
Each year, the number of people who do remember what the world was like before 9/11 drops.
I think we’d better all cross our fingers that nothing happens at the Sochi Olympics. Because The One will not waste One single second to use it as an excuse to make a speech about how “his hands are tied” about door-to-door warrantless random searches.
@ alex_the_tired –
I agree with the majority of what you’ve stated, but I believe you’ve missed the mark on the 26-year-old covered by his parents’ policy. One doesn’t need to be “sick” to require medical attention. Accidents do happen, you know. 🙂
Children 21 to 26 are not covered ‘for free’. Parents must pay to put them into the group plan. Group plans provide decent coverage (unlike many individual plans, the ones the Obamabots say people are lucky to have had cancelled and replaced by an ACA plan that really covers everything), but they cost the parents, and the costs charged to the parents exceed, on average, the amount that must be paid by insurers for those children that get seriously ill or have an accident.
What’s not clear is why the plans banned 21 – 26 year old children before.
Right. A 25-year-old can break a leg. But so can any other age group as well. The point I was trying (and failing) to make was that, on average, no one associates people who are barely a quarter-century old with having huge medical expenses in the first place. Sure, if you have something really serious, you can run up enormous medical bills at an early age.
Obama’s “rescue” of the 22- to 26-year-old crowd is pretty much the lowest-hanging fruit available. The insurance companies make a big profit, a group that is least likely (en masse) to need health insurance in the first place gets coverage, O’s supporters scream themselves hoarse about how much he cares, but the real problem, medical care has been turned into a for-profit industry, continues.
And why not? Obama, his wife, their kids — the only four people who matter — will never, ever deal with the sort of health problems the rest of us have to contend with: long lines in an overcrowded ER with too few doctors, heartless corporations deciding what to approve, co-pays, paperwork, hassles, etc.
@ alex_the_tired –
“Obama, his wife, their kids — the only four people who matter….”
Don’t forget Dick Cheney. He now has a heart. 😀
That 26 year-old-add-on feature doesn’t help a kid get on his parent’s plan if his parents don’t have a plan.
Ha Ha. Joke is on the Dupes again.
At least you’ve acknowledged that Republican’s stand in the way of closing Gitmo. Progress comes in baby steps, but apparently it does come. Thanks for that.