Don't bother looking for a deeper meaning in today's cartoon - it's really just a matter of venting related to the fact that, when we look around at the news and the world lately, we genuinely feel like we're drowning in assholes. And while we can't claim to have any theological insights, we think that the scenario shown above is plausible at the very least.
On a macro level, we're feeling stress from all of the insanity associated with the election, the pandemic, politics in general, and the media's growing comfort with being all propaganda, all the time. Actual facts are no longer in vogue, and actual harm may come to those who keep trying to share them.
To be sure, we're pleased that Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed, but we're concerned that her appointment may be historic by virtue of being the last time the "ninth seat" will be filled, as well as being the last appointment before the Supreme Court officially transforms into a legislative rather than judicial body. Not to mention ending up with more members in robes than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
On a micro level, we're dealing with frustrations like fighting with a frigging insurance company to allow Mrs. J to get a necessary medicine related to her recent health woes. She's now been without the medication (which should be injected each and every day) for over a month, because of that biblical plague of assholes which we mentioned above.
Side note: the medication, for osteoporosis, is impressively expensive. Like, "ugly but running used car" expensive or "a weekend of crack for Hunter Biden" expensive. If one lacks insurance, the manufacturer has a plan to give it to you for next to nothing. But if you have Medicare (and guess how many people with osteoporosis fall into that age category) you get no discount at all even though Medicare refuses to throw in a nickel. Being punished financially - and blocked medically - just for having Medicare doesn't really increase our desire for more governmental bureaucracy in healthcare.
But enough griping. Life is good overall, even on days (like this one) when the grumpies get the better of us.
I think I'd rather have the good old-fashioned flood of water. But I suppose we're stuck with the 2020 version...
ReplyDeleteAs to the SCOTUS and packing, I've heard suggested on multiple fronts that when DJT is re-elected, he should approach the Democrats in a spirit of bipartisanship, and expand the Court to at least 11. (I don't agree, but then I don't think it's any more than a snide dig at the Dems. The Justices should not be labeled "conservative" or "liberal," the only labels should be "constructionist/textualist" or "originalist.")
FYI, I was informed today (when I mentioned in a music coversation that we enjoyed listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) that it is now called the "Choir at Temple Square." Not sure why the choir had to be renamed, except it might have something to do with the official (shorthand) name of the church no longer being "Mormon."
As the late Robin Williams said, "It's not the end of civilization, but you can see it from here!"
ReplyDeleteTry going to Pfizer. I am on Medicare and do not have drug coverage. The doctor prescribed a very expensive medication for me which I couldn't afford, and Pfizer provided me with the medication I needed. You will need a doctor to write a prescription for the medication.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who's dependent on the goodwill of my (really nice) doctor for samples of two rather vital medications, I, at the risk of sounding like Don Guglielmo of the Clinton Crime Family, feel your pain, Stilton...
ReplyDeleteAnd don't think of it as drowning in assholes. Think of it as a target-rich environment. :)
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ReplyDeleteYour experience with your spouse's medication mirrors mine. Due to incredibly bad maternal side cardio history and cholesterol levels which won't go down to acceptable levels(a side note, as to what these acceptable levels should be, the goal posts seem to be moving downwards all the time), my cardio guy wanted me to use an injectable medication, which is too eye popping expensive for a single dose.
ReplyDeleteAfter 4 try's/2 years by the physician who wanted to prescribe this, I was 'approved' taking the medication and hopefully there'll be improvement.
The point, moral of the story is, as much as I loath Obamacare and the people who authored it and rammed it through, we are yoked with it due to abuses like this which pushed the federal government towards believing it can run our healthcare system better.
And Big Insurance is partly responsible for that.
And to top it all off, facebook (it should be f**kbook) has deleted ALL accounts having to do with militias, anyone on the administration of said accounts, without reason or warning. That is the worse kind of censorship since the Third Reich. Grrrrrrrrrr. I will stop ranting now and go hide until after next Tuesday or so.
ReplyDeleteSorry for your problems with insurance. I don't know which medication your wife was prescribed, and don't want to but in, but wanted to pass this along for what it's worth. Several years ago, I was given a prescription (don't remember the name) for osteoporosis or osteopenia but before I started it, I had an appointment with another doctor - one I had a lot of confidence in. I mentioned it to him and he said "Don't take it!" The reason being that it would actually over time weaken my bones. That may sound crazy, but there are other examples of medications actually causing the problems they are supposed to cure. Maybe your wife would be better off without that medication, or with a different one. I think Comfrey is good for bones, if you can still get it, and so is weight-bearing exercise.
ReplyDeleteThere are not enough locusts in the Us to cause a problem, so he sends US ill educated , arrogant democrats. They have infested our civil service,our local, state and federal governments and the support networks like health care and many others. It is why you have to push 1 for English and get to talk to someone that does not speak it. It is a twist on the story of Babble.
ReplyDeleteWe are not the same. We speak the same words but the meaning is reversed. Their democracy is designed to kill other governments. The piece they call for is not peace.
Their call for JUST-US is not Justice. Their racism is a call for total anarchy against the moral and civil. Each thread stolen from our civil and moral society bring US closer to the entire fabric coming apart. they hope to burn it to the ground and rule the ash.
I'm not so sure that God tests us in this manner. I think God created the playing field and then we test ourselves. Either way, it's not pretty. We are suffering a plague of assholes, largely because we've made it profitable to be one.
ReplyDeleteThe Supreme Court: Am I the only one who remembers 4 years ago when the left was all apoplectic because they were saying that Trump was a fascist who was going to pack the Supreme Court? So today multiple Democrats running for office are on the record for actually doing it!
During the last debate, I wish Trump had pushed Biden on this, and then responded with "Then why shouldn't I nominate 4 additional justices in addition to ACB?". The response to that would have been amusing.
Medicare for All!: Just another fine example of how all the youngsters who think that Medicare for All is such a wonderful idea. They are in for a very rude surprise, sooner or later.
Feel your pain with insurance. Currently trying to get RA script renewed. local VA can't do it as special(read expensive) RA med. RA doc can't prescribe as authorization expired and new one not processed.
ReplyDeleteSooooo .... now they want meto get the clinic notes from RA doc so PCM can prescribe the med they just said that the PCM couldn't prescribe.
For this I gave 24 years and various body parts!
That was a good one, Stilt. I laughed out loud!
ReplyDeleteI understand that drug companies invest huge amounts of money to develop new products and need to recoup that somehow, but the issue of seniors and injured vets not being able to afford those drugs is not a new problem, and is just getting worse. Both political parties have complained about the other not solving this, but neither has offered a viable solution.
ReplyDeleteI certainly have no answers either, but there has to be a way to get state of the art drugs to folks like Mrs. Jarlsberg, M. M. M., and Fish outta Water without them needing a second mortgage to pay for it.
Concerning court packing, I wish someone would explain to the libtards, and libtard "news" outlets that a President filling one of the nine SCOTUS seats with someone of like mind is NOT "packing" the court.
@ Hagar - Jarl of the North,
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to leave you out, and I knoe there are others here who served. Thanks to all of you, and I pray that 110% of everything you need can be free of charge to you.
@MMM "target rich environment!" LOL!
ReplyDeleteHere's something else hilarious to hopefully lighten your day (gotta wait for it):
https://video.parler.com/5S/u0/5Su0T3NU7JZr.mp4
Not sure if you need a Parler account to view it but i think everyone on here would like Parler anyway. Sometimes i share Stilton's post there and they are always well received.
Stilt,
ReplyDeleteStealin' your 'choir' joke,
but you'll get credit
(Yeah, lazy but honest)
Sioux and I just emerged from our 48 hour ice storm. No tv, internet, or heat. Come to Oklahoma and freeze your galloping ass off. Now it's warmed to just raining at 38 degrees.
ReplyDeleteIt's an AK kind of day. Ready on the left. Ready on the right..........
@Pat Cummings- If Trump wins a second term (I pause to knock on wood), I think it would be funny if he added a bunch of new conservative justices to help (ahem) "balance" the direction the court has taken in recent years.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know Mormons don't like to be called "Mormons" anymore, but "Choir at Temple Square" sounds like a mall Karaoke club.
@Fritzchen- And God bless that marvelous soul. Williams was a genuine genius, and the reasons he took his own life are sadly understandable.
@Anonymous- We're looking around everywhere we can. The good news is that we can afford the medication even without help if we have to, but I'm darn well going to beat the bushes to find the best deal that is legal and ethical.
@Fish Out of Water- In all the years I railed against Obamacare (you can check it out in the Hope n' Change archives, I never argued against reforming the medical system for the benefit of patients. Reform was, and is, desperately needed. But coming up with a worse plan and calling it "reform" does no one any favors. Well, other than the powerbrokers...
@TrickyRicky- I'm so sorry to hear about your mother, and offer you long distance manly hugs. That's a hard pain to deal with...and it doesn't help that the rest of the world is looking so grim at the moment. When I lost my own mother, several years after losing my dad, I learned that you're never too old to feel like an orphan. But you're not alone, brother - especially here.
@Fred Ciampi- The blatant hiding and distortion of information is genuinely scare at this point. Should the Dems take full control after the election, I think it's safe to say that blogs like mine will disappear. Hell, the people who WRITE blogs like mine may disappear, and not of their own volition. I take all of this seriously enough that after years of foot-dragging, I've now armed my household. Good times.
@Linda Lee- Your advice and experience are very welcome! Mrs. J had previously tried a drug called Fosamax and had really terrible side effects from it. Other "bone building" medications sometimes steal calcium from other parts of the body - like the jaw, causing it to dissolve. Not cool. The injectable drug she's SUPPOSED to be on is Teriparatide (brand name Forteo), but the insurance company prefers Tymlos because it's A) slightly cheaper and B) apparently unavailabe.
@Anonymous- Hard words, but sadly accurate.
@John the Econ- Yes, I certainly don't believe that God would deliberately flood the lands with assholes. On the other hand, He gave us free will and had to know that we'd end up with that result. Regarding the Supreme Court, neither side really stands on principle anymore and they just do whatever is advantageous in the here and now. See "plague of assholes" above.
Finally, Medicare ain't what people think it is, and it's not going to come as a pleasant surprise to them.
@Hagar - Jarl of the North- It's jumping through all of the bureaucratic hoops and still getting nowhere that drives me to distraction. And it especially pisses me off to hear about ongoing problems with the VA system. You, your brothers, and your sisters deserve the best our country has to offer.
@udaman- Kind of you to say! I felt badly about just plain BITCHING today, but some times a man has got to do what a man has got to do. And so do I.
@Colby Muenster- Like you, I don't reflexively demonize "Big Pharma" for high prices - it really DOES cost a lot to develop and test drugs that are safe and effective (side note: Remdesivir is questionably safe, and absolutely NOT effective - so screw those guys). But yes, reality needs to kick in at some point.
ReplyDeleteThe bone building drug we're looking at runs about $50k/year (we're hoping to bring it down to a quarter of that out-of-pocket) and only reduces your risk of breaking a bone by about 4%. That's not a great return...but at a certain age, that can mean the difference between a bruise or complete disability. But still, the price needs to come down.
Regarding court packing, Trump absolutely operated within the system. The Dems, on the other hand, want to (ahem) "rebalance" the court by adding many more member to assure a liberal ideological bent rather than being bound to that darn old Constitution.
Regarding your remarks to Hagar, Amen to that.
@JohnF- I had already felt the warm glow of good humanitarianism before your video got to the punchline. I laughed out loud, which is rare for me!
@DougM- Aw heck, you can't "steal" anything from here. Take it with my blessings - unless you're trying to offer Busty Ross a better paying job.
@Sortahwitte- We retrieved our daughter from Oklahoma just as the pandemic hit, and we're glad she wasn't in that ice storm. Those are NO fun!
Ahh, JohnF! Loved the "pointer"!
ReplyDeleteI suppose that asshole is another way to describe an unelected administrator or faceless bureaucrat. The problem is a problem as early as the first governments. The number of administrators grow until they become their own political entity and the government must serve the interests of the hordes of bureaucrats over the interests of the people.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to know why the cost of education is so high for such poor results. Look at the number of administrators. The same applies to healthcare. We are being overrun by assholes, excuse me, administrators.
Strange as this may sound, I believe the solution is more government. We are told that "Lean" is good for our businesses then we need a fourth branch of government, the lean branch, to seek out redundant, outdated or ineffective government programs and remove them.
The Lean branch will have no budget; it's budget comes from the programs it defunds. Lean will grow when pickings are easy and shrink as the government becomes leaner. Whether the government becomes more agile & responsive to the people or not is immaterial. There will be less people to afflict us on a daily basis.
My suggestion for a first target is FDR's Interstate Commerce Commission. It's regulatory powers were removed during the Reagan administration but the agency still exists, ostensibly gathering data for the day that they will once again be granted regulatory powers.
I propose a sunset law on all federal agencies not specifically required by the Constitution.
I propose term limits on all elected government officials and also all appointed officials above a certain level including Supreme Court justices.
Finally while many states have voted themselves into problems with initiatives & referendums, recall has worked passably well. I propose a recall amendment where a plurality of states can recall any hired or appointed government bureaucrat, any law, any regulation and any Supreme Court decision. This bar needs to be set purposefully high.
@Stilton- Thanks for the encouragement! And you really defined my somewhat different reaction to when my Dad passed decades ago. Never too old to be an orphan indeed.
ReplyDelete@Jay Dee- Great observations and suggestions throughout!
ReplyDelete@TrickyRicky- When I lost my Dad, my priority became trying to help my Mom. So when she died, the full weight of BOTH of those losses hit...and a foundation which I had always taken for granted was ripped out from under me. I feel it every day.
Actually, Stilt, you have raised a theological question:
ReplyDeleteDoes God ever use the other finger?
Good question DougM!
ReplyDeleteI think that answer would be a resounding YES!
@Jay Dee said... We are being overrun by assholes, excuse me, administrators.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! In the interest of a little humor (very little perhaps)I am reminded of a story my father told me many decades ago. Perhaps a bit off topic?
All the parts of the human body got into a very heated argument about which body member should be The Boss (administrator) of the body. The brain spoke up claiming the right as it was the brain that did all the thinking and processing of information. The eyes disagreed and claimed that without them the body could not see, so they should have the position of authority. Each body member in turn made their argument for being The Boss. The hands claimed that without them nothing could be felt or handled, the arms claimed the hands could not function without arms, the legs shouted that without them the body could not walk, and the feet said they carried the weight and without them the legs would be useless. The heart made the point that without it the body would die. Finally the asshole spoke up and said that IT should be The Boss. All the body members laughed and ridiculed the asshole, so the asshole quit working. Soon the body became ill and nearly died until the body members caved in and decided the asshole could be The Boss.
The moral? One doesn't have to be intelligent, far-sighted, strong, active, or even vital for life to be a good boss. All one has to be is an asshole!
Friend of a lifetime had prostate cancer 4 or 5 years ago. Surgery, radar, chemo; they said they got it all. They didn't. Friends doctor says he needs a bone scan to see where the 4-5 mm tumors are. Doctor says imperative, must have ASAP. Insurance company (Medicare and supplemental says no. Three times. Doctor doesn't know how to proceed, where to look, or how bad things are without the scan. Some paperwork wonk, working at home WITH NO MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE aside from what forms need to cross his/her computer screen, is saying it's "not medically necessary."
ReplyDeleteThere is an actuarial chart that all insurance companies use, called the Cohort Life Expectancy Chart. It lists average life expectancies for men and women based on a lot of things. You can look up your date of birth and see what your "fresh date" is.
Friends problem: procedure is expensive, and he passed his "pull date" back in July.
Best regards to Mrs. J, Stilton.
ReplyDelete