On Death and Dying

"Why would any member of Congress, especially those of us who are grandmothers, want to pull the plug on Grandma?" So sayeth Rep. Maxine Waters (D).

Valid point, one I would think many in Congress could agree on, these aren't exactly young whipper snappers, guiding our fair nation.

Meanwhile, the lion of the Senate is gone, healthcare is no further along than it was two months ago (although perhaps their is a faint light ahead, dare I dream?), and as one older, African American woman at a recent town hall, who had lost her job and had no insurance, queried the gathering only to be booed, "Aren't I an American too?"

Yes ma'am you are, and we are all deserving of care, unless you buy what the CEO of Whole Foods recently shared in an OpEd.

But I digress, a 35-year-old woman is dead of breast cancer, and more like her will die today and tomorrow. If we fix our healthcare, maybe we can save one or two of these people who are loved by so many. Maybe we can't, but isn't it better to try?

With Interest

If you want something cheerful, I hope you skipped President Obama's first press conference on Monday night. He was informed and deliberate and thoughtful, and depressing as hell. But as serious as things are, I guess I would rather hear the truth than the lies that we have become so accustomed to over the previous eight years.

Things just seem to be unraveling all over (like the time the spawn pulled the needle out of my knitting . . .), but I might be projecting some other things on the political arena as well.

Back on topic. Maxine Waters is my new hero. At least for the moment. She gave the bankers a talking to yesterday that in my opinion is long overdue. First she expressed her disapproval of the bankers in general. Next she lined up her first shot, asking them to raise their hands if they had raised interest rates on credit cards since receiving their portions of last fall's $700 billion bailout. Hands were raised all around. She followed up, asking if they reduced people's line of credit for shopping at certain stores. No hands were raised on that. I wished if she had just asked if they had lowered the lines of credit. Because I know they have done that.

Olbermann did a nice bit on this whole thing last night, highlighting Barney Frank's question as to why these yeah-who's need bonuses and what they would do differently if they didn't get them. Waters is interviewed about half way into the interview.

Waters may be a bit of a nut, but Olbermann is right, she raised the issues that REAL Americans care about. Yes I hate these jack asses have private jets and desks worth tens of thousands of dollars, but what I hate more is that they are fucking with our lives everyday through our credit cards, our mortgages, our lending. And I want it to stop. And I want them to be charged interest.