It's Not _Your_ Fucking Medicare

This is a rant. This is only a rant. For the next few minutes, you will be experiencing a rant. If this were an actual political-action item, the rant you are about to read would be followed by official information, news, or instructions.

Every time I hear somebody at a town-hall shoutdown meeting say something like: "Keep your hands off my Medicare!", I want to scream the truth into my computer monitor:

"It's not your Medicare! It's not my Medicare! It's our Medicare."

Every time I hear a right-wing pundit going on about how seniors are rightfully concerned about the fact that the "boomers" are about to retire and threaten the security of the health care of current Medicare beneficiaries, and, a moment later, hear that same pundit groan about the terrible financial burden we will pass on to our grandchildren if we do something like make sure that everyone has access to the health-care that their grandparents currently enjoy -- I want to shriek:

"Why doesn't that supposedly left-wing newsperson across from you tell you that you are an elitist, selfish pig who embraces the I've-Got-Mine mentality so thoroughly that you would niche perfectly in the aristocracy of pre-revolutionary France!?!?!"

Don't get me wrong. I love that my 80-something parents are covered by Medicare. I'm thrilled that my Dad was able to go in last week and get his defibrillator completely tuned up without having to worry about a thing beyond the risk of the procedure itself.

I'm not even bitter about the very real possibility that by the time I'm 65, both the medicare and social security benefits that I've paid into every year of my entire working life will be gone (if no one fixes health care or social security).

But I am truly sick of hearing about how we don't need health-care reform from any and all of the following people and groups of people:

1. Insurance Companies and Their Paid Representatives, including "Grass-roots" Organizations That Are Funded by Insurance Lobbyists and PR Firms
   
2. Congressional members and political figures who are covered by one of the best health benefit plans in the country (or their spouses, who often remain covered even after divorce).
   
3. Any of the more than 96 million people who are covered by a public health plan such as Medicare or Medicaid, or the nearly 8 million people covered by VA health care.
   
4. Anyone who receives health care coverage from their employer, but who has no idea what that would cost them out of pocket if they for paid that coverage privately.
   
5. Dick. Fucking. Armey. -- who is currently suing the government to try to get out of medicare without losing his Social Security -- because he wants to keep the benefits he had as a member of Congress.
   

Will somebody please get some End-Of-Life counseling for the G.O.P. already!?!?!?!

-- because I'm pretty sure their Advance Directive reads:

"Keep attempting to resuscitate the Republican Party even after it has putrefied to the extent that it stinks up the entire galaxy."

This concludes this test of the PortlyDyke ranting system.