Posted by
William D. Dannenmaier on Monday, December 28, 2009 4:12:08 PM
In “Roughing It” Mark Twain describes the joy he felt when he found glittering nuggets while panning for gold, only to discover that they were worthless, glittering, mica. He said that he learned that only the ignorant are fooled by glitter, that true gold is dull. He expands this to society saying, “like the rest of the world, I still go on underrating men of gold and glorifying men of mica.” Somehow, I thought of President Obama.
Obama has given TWO BILLION dollars to Brazil to assist in off-shore drilling, something he won’t permit done off the United States shorelines. By agreement, all oil discovered will go to China. Why we are providing money, and jobs, to Brazil may be explained by the fact that Mr. Soros is a major stock holder in the company doing the drilling. Soros, of course, is a major contributor to Obama and the Democratic Party.
Page A5 of the Wall Street Journal (November 14-15) had a headline “War-Zone Counselors in Short Supply” which speaks to a shortage of mental health professionals to work with the troops in combat areas. War has certainly changed. In my day, the only counseling we were provided came from experienced Sergeants on how to stay alive.
During O. J. Simpson’s trial there was a general belief among people I knew that any Black on the jury who voted “guilty” would be unable to again live or walk in a Black neighborhood. Now we have Islamic terrorists, or, to be politically correct, human disaster providers, on a public trial for the murder of over two thousand people. How would you like to be on a jury that found these killers guilty? In the past few years, we have had Islamic radicals in the United States who indiscriminately killed innocent peOople from California to New York to the Carolinas – anywhere they chose. The jurors and their families would be promising targets.
Considering Obama’s expected cuts to Medicare and the establishment of a board to determine the “value” of medical treatment I look at other members of the Cardiac Club and wonder how many of us would have received treatment as persons “of value” to society. My heart surgery cost a combination of Medicare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield approximately two hundred thousand dollars. To date, that has given me three additional years of life. During this time, I have participated in community events and supported a family. How many years must I do this to justify the cost? Worse yet, I have been surprised by the number of our members, mostly in their seventies and eighties with one couple in their nineties, who have had replacement knees and replacement hips. These are expensive also. Are they worth the cost? But there is also a cost in not doing surgery. Nursing homes would be required for those persons whose knees and hips no longer operate. They could live for years. That would be very expensive to society. So how does this balance? On one side of the scale we have years of nursing home treatment. Perhaps the surgery is cheapest.
Each day, I tune in to Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity to hear what they have to say. Today one of them, I believe Hannity, said that our Democrat controlled government’s plans will take away the money of the wealthy. He was wrong. It won’t. The wealthy, the Kennedys, Pelosis, Clintons, Soros and other multi-million and billionaires have so much of their money tied up in tax exempt “foundations” and other tax exempt situations that the government could take away all of their salaried income and they would still be wealthy. The plans our government is making will only PREVENT others from becoming wealthy in addition to impoverishing the middle class.
President Obama has made his decision. He will send thirty thousand additional troops to Afghanistan (instead of the forty thousand requested by his generals) and withdraw them in three years. Great! All the Taliban and Al Qaeda have to do is lie low for three years and then take over. It is an extended dithering. In the meantime thousands of American soldiers will have their lives up-ended or destroyed, to go with those who have had that happen during the six months before this decision. There is certain to be criticism following these three years, whether for not sending the needed fighters or for not withdrawing immediately, I don’t know. But I do know it will be Bush’s fault.
I like Sarah Palin, I like her background and her history, my sole problem concerning her is that she is the only conservative Republican taking leadership at the this time. We don’t need one, we need many. Where are the others?