CURRENT MOON

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

My New Name For A Blog


What the Rude Pundit Said.

Jacqueline Kelly died yesterday in Jersey City, New Jersey, of ovarian cancer. She also had emphysema. She was 61 years-old, a woman who was a stay-at-home mom to her six kids and a supportive wife for 44 years to John Kelly. John, 68, worked for fifty years as a truck driver and was old enough to get on Medicare when he retired. His wife could not, since she was 61.

She was told she didn't qualify for Social Security disability benefits because she had never "worked." They didn't qualify for welfare assistance or Medicaid because John's pension checks were too high. So, instead, most of the money went to paying for Jacqueline's medical expenses, as much as they could, until it became a choice of chemotherapy or food. As John put it, "I worked all my life. She's being penalized for staying home and taking care of her kids." Kelly died because of a lack of health insurance, pure and simple, cause and effect.

Think about that: John and Jacqueline Kelly were like apple pie, they fit so perfectly into the mold of ideal Americans that conservatives propagate. John was able to support his family doing a job that he stayed dedicated to. Jacqueline chose to stay at home and raise a large family. This is also death by sexism in that we live in a nation where full-time motherhood is not valued as a job and never has been. The myth of the American dream is always, always revealed as the lie it always was, and those who continue to foist it upon us are the ones least willing to make it be true. Where were all the alleged Christians, who are now so ready to kill health reform legislation? Where was the charity that's supposed to take care of such things? There was some, but not enough to get her the medical care that might have saved her.

You know who stepped up to help the Kelly family? Professional wrestlers. Yeah, Total Mayhem Pro Wrestling held a fundraiser for Jacqueline about a week ago, raising $4000 for medical expenses. That money will now be used for a funeral.

Pulls at your heartstrings, no? Really gets that lump in your throat going, this story of love and failure? Jacqueline Kelly was one of millions of Americans who would have qualified for help in just about any of the health care reform measures that actually seek to insure people. She'd have qualified for the public option. She'd have qualified for Medicare buy-in. In almost any other country in the developed world, and even in some in the undeveloped part, her care would not have even been an issue.

We are overwhelmed, yes, by tale upon tale of the sadness and horror brought on by this country's willful neglect of its citizens because we need to please some mad god of capitalism. And because we need to soothe the vanity of politicians, like Joe Lieberman.

We focus our rage on Lieberman out here in Left Blogsylvania not just because he is the kind of man who sucks his own cock in public and then grins, his semen-slicked teeth shining in the klieg lights, to the delight of Aetna and Wellpoint executives just before they shove his ass full of cash and tell him he can have it after he shits it back out. That would be enough. But it's that Lieberman actually takes pleasure in dicking over the Democratic caucus. Motherfucker said he supported the Medicare buy-in and then bailed? What kind of fuckery is that? That's just doing shit for the sake of doing shit. He's Shylock with less motivation. And that just makes us wanna go Berlusconi on his face. (Rhetorically, of course. Of course.)
. . .

Lieberman's gotta be punished, or they gotta get rid of Reid. There's gotta be consequences for Lieberman. He's gotta lose his Homeland Security committee chair, maybe even be ejected from the caucus. He's gotta be publicly defiled. If there was any kind of justice right now, Lieberman should be locked in a glass room with the ghost of Lyndon Johnson. Motherfucker would be on his knees after five minutes, begging to give LBJ a rim job for mercy's sake.

Or, instead, Lieberman should be forced to eat the body of Jacqueline Kelly. He should have to taste her diseased organs and mutated cells. He should have to stare at her dead face as he ingests her faded skin and deteriorated muscle. And if he can't do it on his own, he should have her bones shoved down his throat until he fucking gags. Then maybe he'll understand that we're not talking about abstract numbers of people dying. We're talking about real corpses.


I'm just out of patience with these narcisists.

*****

Update in response to comments: Yes, the Rude Pundit is a bit of an acquired taste (and, believe me, this post was mild. I've seen him perform and, trust me, it's "worse" and, somehow, the dildoes involved always wind up in the hotel bar at an ungodly hour. At least, that's what I hear). As to his desire to persuade, his only audience, for that purpose, is, I believe, the nice, polite Democrats (you know who you are, and in the words of my G/Son, "I am giving you a look") who think that civility and bipartisanship are goals, not only in and of themselves, but also, goals for which it's appropriate to, well, in this case, allow good Americans to die. He's a bit of a performance artist, and the point of his performance is to shine some light on the fact that we often, shall we say, get our panties in more of a wad over "incivil" language and the use of dry powder than we do over actions such as torture or murder that would, in a rational universe, be deserving of significant amounts of scorn. Every other civilized nation on Earth, and some that aren't so civilized, manages to provide basic health care for its citizens. And, then there's us and Uganda. If I've offended my readers, I apologize. I value each and every one of you.

8 comments:

Chas S. Clifton said...

"he is the kind of man who sucks his own cock in public and then grins, his semen-slicked teeth shining in the klieg lights,"
Wow, what rhetoric. Cicero is envious, I am sure.

Does the writer want to change people's minds or is he/she/it merely venting?

Not that I am impressed with the current process, which is neither a free-market solution nor a single-payer solution but some godawful monster in between.

Thalia said...

He, I imagine. It's got that dudely vulgar-for-the-sake-of-intimidation nastiness to it. I mean Lieberman is being a real asshole with the crap he's pulling, and I agree there should be political consequences, but 'defiled'? Really?

Terraluna said...

So the rhetoric is a bit over the top, but is the message here really that "The Rude Pundit" used bad words in criticizing a cold-blooded killer?
Maybe it's time that anyone who gives a damn about human (or any) life stops worrying about being nice and not rocking the boat.
We have been robbed, raped, and murdered by monsters, but somehow we've been made to believe that it would be bad form to mention that fact. Let's all just agree to disagree in a gentlemanly sort of way and then laugh about it over a cold one. You know, like civilized people.

Thalia said...

I personally have no objection to foul language, not at all, and I certainly don't think we don't all have a right to be really fucking angry and express exactly that; what I DO have a problem with though is the idea of violent sexual assault as punishment. Because that goes (and comes from) all kinds of nasty places. So, no thanks.

Terraluna said...

Thalia, on that point, I agree - but I didn't read the word "defiled" as necessarily sexual, in spite of the gross sexual imagery in Rude Pundit's post. It can also mean to have one's reputation "sullied", or to be made "unclean", and I read it as removing the "civilized man" mask and showing this disgusting thing for what he really is.

At some point I understand the images used in the original post, because language fails us at coming up with words to describe just how foul a creature we are discussing. And it's a very telling shame that the most disgusting words in the American lexicon are sexual.

Teacats said...

We are Canucks - now U.S. citizens -- without any health insurance nor the money to pay for it. (oh! I forgot -- the recession is now over!) Being told how to die by wealthy people who have health insurance (from We The Peasants) and a pension (ditto) too! Appalled by the easy manipulation of politicians who are bought and paid by drug and insurance companies. What will We The People say when Mr. L. ends up on the Board of Directors or The Lobby of one of his sponsors in the coming years? Just capitalism? Just desserts? Justice is really blind. I believe that We The Peasants should NOT pay for health insurance nor pensions for any elected member of the Congress and Senate.


Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Anonymous said...

Er... The Rude One basically got tired of hearing how RUDE those horrible liberal bloggers (like Atrios or Kos) are. So he decided to show what rude commentary would actually look like. He may be an acquired taste. Just sayin'...

And *twinkles* to Terraluna's observation, "We have been robbed, raped, and murdered by monsters, but somehow we've been made to believe that it would be bad form to mention that fact."

Would that it were not so...

Nancy Green said...

Intemperate words maybe, but the story rings true to me. I was a visiting nurse to a couple in a similar situation. She was terminally ill and had no benefits --she was a housewife. He was doling out every cent they ever saved, no state help until it was all gone. I also had a co-worker who gambled on staying well till Medicare-- she died. I wrote about her here..

http://kmareka.com/2009/12/16/for-mary/