Holy ____ Week, or Elections, Cars, and IEPs, Oh, My!

Palm Sunday is my favorite weird holiday. On Monday, BB was working on his math. He read me a problem that began, "Peter gives his parents 1/6 of his monthly income..."

"Aww," I interrupted, "What a good son!"

He burst into tears. I assured him that he did not have to give me 1/6 of his income to be a good son. He regained his composure and continued. When he calculated that Peter gave his parents $400 a month, he began crying again. I assured him that if Peter was making $2400 a month, he was much older than 13, and  that I would rather have a son who did good work than one who gave me a lot of money. Then I began inquiring about his health.

GL will actively deny pain when you ask him. Even post-surgery, he insisted he had no pain. BB will not deny pain if you ask him, but he won't report it unless you ask. He'll just get upset over every little thing, usually taking it out on everyone around him. Turns out he had a sore throat, headache, body aches, chills and, later that day, a fever. Since it was PT night at CAP, he decided he'd rather stay home. I went because I had a class to teach.

Tuesday was the presidential primary, along with several local races. I usually vote absentee because, between being GL's primary caregiver and school liaison, home schooling BB, and not having a car during the day, it's difficult for me to get to the polls. Because of the new voter ID law, I got a very confusing letter last fall saying that I would have to fill out a new voter registration form and provide a photocopy of a valid ID every calendar year, or they would stop sending me an absentee ballot. Since the next election wasn't until this calendar year, and my driver's license was due to expire in December, I figured I'd have to wait until after the first of the year to send in the form. In January, I got a second letter that was even more confusing. Things had been rather hectic here, so I still hadn't filled out the form in March, when I got a ballot in the mail. The instructions had changed. As usual, the village clerk had highlighted the parts I needed to fill out. But she had Xed out other parts, presumably those I didn't need to fill out, while still others were Xed out in highlighter! Whisky Tango Foxtrot? And the instructions about who was or was not required to present a photo ID were even more ambiguous.

I had taken the time Sunday afternoon to read up on the various candidates, so as to cast an informed vote. That's the other reason I prefer to vote absentee. I get a list of all the races and candidates several weeks before the election, so I have time to gather information and make a decision on each. Especially in local races, if there hasn't been much news coverage, how is the average voter to decide? By who has the most yard signs? By who has the nicest-sounding name? Some people like to vote straight party, but most local races are (officially, anyway) non-partisan.

I could mail my ballot Monday, and it should still get there in time to be counted, assuming I had interpreted all the instructions correctly. Instead, after dropping GL at school, first I stopped at the library and made photocopy of my driver's license, in case I needed one. Then I sealed my ballot in the provided envelope, and carefully filled in the blanks on the outside. I've heard stories of election workers opening a ballot, noting who the person voted for, and then looking for reasons to disqualify the ballot if the person voted the "wrong" way. I walked to the village hall with my ballot. I stopped at the voter registration table and explained my situation. The election worker was only too glad to assist me. I filled in the blanks she told me. I'm glad I had already sealed my ballot. I have an acquaintance who is an election worker in this town, and she says all of the other election workers are of the other party.

No ID was required. Two separate judges, on March 6 and March 12, 2012, have issued injunctions preventing the Government Accountability Board from enforcing photo ID requirements in 2011 Act 23. The Wisconsin Department of Justice has appealed those injunctions, and the appeals have been certified to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Wednesday, I looked at cars. We've been driving our car, a 1998 Crown Victoria since 2001. It had 97,000 miles on it when we got it, and now it has 308,000. The floor has completely rusted through in places. In the rear passenger side, there is no floor, only a vinyl mat between you and the road. We replaced the transmission at 200,000 miles. It had been getting about 20 miles per gallon when we bought it but, despite regular maintenance, it has gradually fallen to about 15. At today's gas prices, that's a real strain on the budget. We spend more each month on gas than on any other expense except rent.

It wobbles and vibrates when it goes down the road, and if the road slopes to the left, the car leans left. If the road slopes to the right, the car leans right. Don't get me wrong, this car has been very good to us. It has been the most reliable car I've ever owned, and has cost very little in repairs for the years and miles we got out of it. We should have replaced it last year, but Mama Bear had lost her job, and I didn't have a job to lose. We got nearly another year out of it, but much more than that, and we'd be walking. With MB starting her CNA course in couple of weeks, I didn't feel safe with her spending so many hours on the road in it.

We managed to scrape together $3,000, but it was going to be difficult to find a good replacement for the cash we had on hand, and a car payment was out of the question. From everything I've read,  Cash for clunkers cost the government a great deal of money and made little or no measurable progress toward the program's ostensible goals. What it did accomplish was putting those of us who depend on used cars in older, less fuel-efficient, more dangerous, less reliable cars. If the goal was to force more of the poor to depend on the bus, it succeeded. The rural and small-town poor are out of luck. There is no bus service in our town. But I think Washington wants the poor confined to cities, where they are easier to control. Anything but more independence and mobility.

I'm no mechanic. I can change my own oil, but anything beyond that, and I'm quickly in over my head. At least I know not to attempt a repair when I might do more harm than good. Because of my lack of mechanical knowledge, I've bought some cars that turned out to be very good deals, and others that turned out to be very bad deals. A friend of MB's is dating a mechanic. He offered to come look at cars with me. This was a welcome development, but it meant working around his work schedule. I spent every available moment for the last several weeks searching online for cars to go look at. I found very few cars in Wisconsin in our price range that would be an improvement over what we were already driving. We would have to drive to Illinois. I printed out information on several cars, and MB called the dealers to find out which of them were available.

Jon and I went looking at cars Wednesday. We drove as far as Romeoville. We saw some strange things and some strange people. He pointed out some problems I would have missed, and steered me away from a minivan that looked good at first glance, but would have required at least $1,000, and possibly as much as $3,000 in repairs and, assuming no other problems developed, would still be a 2004 model with well over 100,000 miles on it.

I ended up buying a 2004 Ford Focus. It's not perfect, but it's mechanically sound, and the body is in good condition. Should be easier on gas, and it takes regular instead of premium. The dealer was on the south side of Chicago. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown kept playing in my head. After buying the car, we stopped at the Subway on the nearest corner for lunch. We had to order through bulletproof glass. I had to put my credit card on a carousel divided into sections with bulletproof glass, which rotated so the cashier could take my card and swipe it. Our sandwiches came through the carousel, too. A police officer came in and bought his lunch while we were there. We must have seen a half dozen police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance go by while we were eating. Remember, I live in a town so small it doesn't even have its own police force. The sheriff's department provides deputies as needed.

I needed to put gas in my new car to get it home. We stopped at the nearest gas station, where we found we had to prepay at 2 p.m. Gas was $4.50 a gallon. That seemed to be the going price in Chicago. $4.19 was the cheapest we saw in Illinois. Instead of prices for regular and midgrade or regular and premium, most stations displayed two prices: in large numerals the price for regular with a car wash, and in much smaller numerals the price for regular without. Of course, the words "with carwash" are so small as to be nearly invisible.

I followed Jon, since he had a GPS. Just as we were pulling onto the freeway, my cell phone rang. I don't normally answer my cell when I'm driving, but I did this time because I thought it might be Jon with important information. It was GL's Specially Designed Phys Ed teacher. She couldn't be at his IEP meeting on Thursday, and wanted to know if this was a good time to go over her plans for his PE class next year. I said that this wasn't a good time, but anytime Friday would do. She said that would be fine. I forgot there was no school on Good Friday. I think we both did.

In all my copious free time, I'd been preparing for GL's IEP meeting. Wednesday night, after I got home, Mama Bear took the car for a spin and we went to Walmart for such essentials as seat covers to cover the holes left by the former owner's cigarettes. Then we went over what I planned to bring up at the meeting the next morning. The things I wanted to bring up:

1. GL has a vocational goal: he wants to make sandwiches at Subway when he grows up. He talks about other things, too, but he keeps coming back to this one. Ambitious, but attainable. We want to work on connecting his school goals to his vocational goal. 
2. He needs a full school day. I know we requested starting him with a partial day, but that was to help him adjust. He's as adjusted as he's going to get. He has a right to a FAPE; he shouldn't have to earn it. And without a full school day, I just don't see that happening. 
3. He needs academics. This means SpEd English and SpEd Math. He hasn't been getting these.
4. He's supposed to be getting PT. It's in his IEP. His insurance cut off private PT because the school is supposed to be providing it. With his limited schedule, AFAIK, he wasn't getting it.
5. The same for OT.
6. Despite what all the textbooks say, in his case, foreshadowing is BAD. He lives entirely in the future. He doesn't care what's happening now, he only cares what's next. Giving him too much time to anticipate an event only increases his anxiety, leading to behavior problems.
7. As we said before, LCD screens are safe. When he had a 24 hour mobile EEG, we saturated him with videos on a CRT screen. Not only did they not detect any unusual activity, he did not have the behavior problems afterward that we'd seen in the past. (A half-hour video would trigger a week of violent behavior.) Now LCD screens are standard, and CRT screens are disappearing, but he's been exposed to CRT screens on several occasions since, with no ill aftereffects. (Not that the school had ever followed through on their promise to keep him away from CRT screens. There's a  CRT TV and DVD / VHS player in his classroom, and when I pick him up, he's watching it right along with everyone else.)

Wednesday morning before the meeting, I took a few minutes to write a short letter thanking the staff and students for all the'd done to make GL's transition to PS such a positive experience. On the way to school, as usual, GL asked about his schedule. I told him he had a choice. He could go to his IEP meeting, or he could go to his regular class. He has a right to participate in his IEP meeting, but I didn't know if he would want to. He decided to attend the meeting.

We got to the room, everyone found a seat, and his teacher asked everyone to introduce themselves. Introducing himself is one thing that GL is very good at. The only person at the meeting I hadn't met before was the new school nurse, who had only started working there the week before, but it was helpful to be reminded of everyone's job titles because, although I see most of them frequently around the school building, it's hard to remember sometimes exactly who does what.

Then we went around the table and each person reported on GL's progress in their specialty, followed by recommendations for next year. I was able to ask each of them questions and give input when I had any. His OT reported that he had, in fact, been getting OT services once a week for some time, and had reached all the OT goals in his IEP. She will continue to evaluate him once a quarter to determine if he needs any further services. His PT reported the same thing. I don't know when this started. Communication has never been this school's strong suit.

His PT also had a report from his SDPE teacher. I knew he was getting PE, because he comes in first period two days a week for it. The rest of the week, he doesn't come until second period. She listed his accomplishments this year, and goals for next year. Every time someone mentioned one of his accomplishments, GL thought he was in trouble. I kept reassuring him he had done well and giving high fives.

The nurse had a question about his meds, which had changed mid-year. I promised to get her a current list.

The SLT said his speech was fine and his language skills were far beyond his cognitive development, which is true. In fact, that was what what she had reported after testing him for his current IEP. He'd had a monthly SLT consultation this year, and she recommended they drop SLT entirely for next year. I agreed.

His teacher reported on his progress this year, particularly on behavioral issues, in which she highly praised him for his progress and recommended a full school day, including SpED English, SpEd Math, Vocational skills, living skills, community participation skills, and field trips. He begins full days, five days a week when he returns from Spring Break a week from Monday. His guidance counselor asked a couple of questions about his schedule and made some notes. Then it was my turn.

I explained his vocational goal, and they all thought it was a good one, and were enthused about connecting it with the goals already in his IEP. I explained about CRT screens. Not that it changes anything, but they were glad to know it wasn't a problem. I decided not to beat my head against the foreshadowing wall. It's something professionals just don't get because it goes against their programming. They seem to be learning to work with him quite well, even if they do insist on learning by trial and error. Then I read my thank-you to them:

We would like to thank the staff and students of _____ High School for making [GL]’s Freshman year such a positive experience. The high school years can be a difficult time for anyone. Add his special needs and the fact that he was transitioning from home school to public school, and you can understand our concerns.

Everyone, both students and staff, have gone out of their way to be friendly, helpful, and kind, not only in Special Ed, but throughout the school. [GL] can’t walk down the hall or even down Main Street without meeting one or more students who greet him by name and take an interest in what he is doing. He loves school, and is disappointed when he has a vacation, a day off, or even a two hour delay. 

It hasn’t always been easy. He had a difficult time when his meeds weren’t working properly, but that’s life with [GL].

We look forward to working with the staff and students to make the rest of his high school years equally pleasant and productive, giving him the best possible preparation for his life after high school.

Again, Thank you all,

[Mama and Papa Bear]

 Everyone was pleased and moved by my letter. His teacher even cried. She said that the number of student helpers allowed to work in the SpEd classroom had been cut back, and she was working to restore it to the previous level, and this showed the effect the program had on the entire student body. Other staff members asked for copies to share.

After the meeting, I took GL to join his classmates for the rest of the day. One of the aides mentioned that there had been a schedule change. Spring Break was to begin Good Friday, but had been moved up to beginning with an 11:30 dismissal Thursday. There was supposed to be a phone call or email to all the parents, but I never got one. Lack of communication strikes again!

I went to the pharmacy and the grocery store to pick up a few things. and returned for GL at 11:30. As usual, we stopped at the library on the way home. That's when I realized that the hectic week I'd just had would be followed by Spring Break, the bane of autism parents everywhere. I planned to come home and blog about the past week. When I got home, I sat down and fell asleep for an hour. When I awoke, I was in such a fog I couldn't write or even think of the next thing to do. The fog continued the entire afternoon and evening. I went to bed early. This morning I got up and made a list of all the things I needed to do. At the end of the day, this post is my biggest accomplishment. My plans for this weekend are to rest! And that's the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.

I voted today. Did you?

Just wait until they start pretending not to ration care

GL saw the orthopedist yesterday. He sees him every year. It's always a difficult visit for GL because he is afraid of the x-ray machines, with their cold tables, big, mysterious moving parts, and strange noises, and because he knows this is the doctor who uses the "s" word: "surgery". He also refuses to believe that there is any such thing as a doctor who doesn't give shots in his office, and is sure every doctor is secretly planning to stick needles in him.

His hip is fine, but we had actually moved this visit up because his ankles had got so much worse in the last months. He's walking on the inside of his feet again, and the medial malleoli nearly touch the floor when he stands without shoes. When we took him to have his orthotics adjusted, the orthotist said it wasn't the orthotics, it was because the insides of his shoes were worn down. So we replaced them, and he wore down the insides again. He's worn out four pairs of shoes since January. So I was hoping for new orthotics, maybe even going back to AFOs, if needed, and a new scrip for PT because he is obviously losing ground here, and his prior authorization ran out about the time his ankles took a turn for the worse.

I always get anxious preparing for a doctor visit. I feel like I have to gather all the right information, present it in exactly the right way, and present my kid and myself in exactly the right way, or my kid won't get the care he needs, and it will be all my fault. Yes, doctors are supposed to be observant, and treat everyone the same, but there are times when that just doesn't happen. And there are times when the doctor has obviously made up her mind before she even examines your kid. That doesn't keep me from second-guessing myself. "Maybe if I had said... or not said... Did she that think he's a malingerer? or a spoiled brat? Or that I'm some kind of a nut?... Is she jumping to conclusions about... and refusing to consider...? How could I have explained it differently?"

Like the first time I took him in for his ankles. They had looked fine, but as soon as he began to walk, there was obviously something wrong. The more he walked, the worse it got. At the only clinic Medicaid would pay for (I was a student at the time) a different doctor saw him every time. I booked an appointment. When the doctor walked in the room, she asked him a question. He refused to answer, so she immediately diagnosed him as nonverbal. (Like Donkey, sure, he talked, it was getting him to shut up that was the problem. Except around people he didn't like.) She insisted there was nothing wrong with his ankles, and wouldn't even let me take off his shoes to show her. The next week, I managed to get another appointment. I'd done some homework on the subject, but it wasn't necessary. Sure enough, we saw someone else.  She took one look at his ankles and referred him directly to the orthopedist. And he talked to her.

We had the usual anxiety at the doctor's office yesterday, plus more than the usual yelling and screaming. But we managed to get him on the x-ray table despite his protests. When, instead of a high, whistling whine followed by a shrill beeeeep, the machine made a boodeloodeleep, he actually giggled. Then it was back to the waiting room. Every time another patient was called, he would jump up and yell, "No! No! I won't go back there! You can't make me!"

When he was called, he put on a similar performance, and added, "No shots!"

The assistant who called us back wanted me to confirm the list of meds he is on. Sounds easy, with only one med missing from the list, but the list was all brand names, and his insurance only pays for generics. We could list his meds but, not being a nurse, she had no idea which  brand names they were equivalent to. We finally figured it out, but it took some detective work.

Another assistant performed the exam. She never introduced herself, neither by name nor by title. She could have been a doctor, a nurse, a receptionist, or a cafeteria worker who borrowed a white coat. We never did find out who she was. She asked a lot of questions, but we had to fill her in on the case, including surgeries that should have been in his records. When she was done, she left us waiting in the exam room for over an hour. Then the orthopedist showed up with a third assistant. This assistant performed an abbreviated exam while the orthopedist stood off to one side and announced that GL did not need surgery or new orthotics; he just needed high-tops. I showed him GL's orthotics and the wear pattern on his shoes. (In less than a month, the inside of the heels has completely worn away.)  He said that he doesn't want to put him in something more restrictive. I thought more restrictive was the point of high-tops, but I asked if PT might help to strengthen his ankles. He said that no, this was not a muscle problem, it was a ligament problem, so PT wouldn't help. So if his current orthotics aren't working, strengthening the muscles won't help, and AFOs are too restrictive, what will hold this kid's ankles off the ground so he can walk on his feet and not his ankles? And a month from now, when he's chewed up a pair of high-tops that aren't working, how long will it take to get another appointment, and what will he do then? Heavy sigh.

GL has been seeing this orthopedist for the last five years. Until now, we've had a good working relationship. He's always been happy to prescribe whatever GL needs. And I might be willing to trust him if I hadn't seen the same pattern with all of GL's doctors lately. They're afraid that if they prescribe or refer more than the insurance companies want, the insurance companies or the government will limit their referrals and prescriptions. Insurance companies don't make money by providing health care. They make money by collecting premiums and then denying as much care as they possibly can. So the doctors self-limit care to what they think will satisfy the insurance companies, who then set that level of care as the new standard, and try to cut claims even further.

Obamacare is going to be worse, not better. I'm not opposed to providing care for the poor and the disabled; I've just seen what kind of care the government provides. The poor and the disabled get Medicaid. Medicaid treats providers so poorly that it's almost impossible to find a provider who accepts it. Single-payer would have put everyone on Medicaid. "But doctors would have to take it," you may argue, "if it were the only game in town." For anyone with the brains and ambition to become a doctor, medicine is never the only game in town. They keep playing because payments haven't yet been cut to what they could make doing something else, but cut payments enough, and they will begin to retire earlier, go to law school, or go to work for insurance companies and lawyers, cutting claims further, and helping sue the remaining doctors. Medicine will become the province of the dedicated and the incompetent.

Think leaving practice for a second career is too big a move for an established physician? Based on population trends alone, for the next twenty years, we will have more physicians retiring or dying than entering the profession. Cut payments enough, and enrolling in med school begins to sound like a sucker's bet.

So, if we can't cut payments to physicians without cutting the quality of care, wouldn't it be a safer bet to put the government in charge than private insurers? No. If a private insurer cuts claims enough, customers will switch companies. There is at least that check on their power. A company that refuses to listen to its customers will eventually go bankrupt. If you're on a government plan, and they won't pay, what are your options? 1) Go outside the plan, and pay out of pocket, like many Canadians do, coming to the U.S. If you can afford this route, why bother with the government plan? 2) If you can't afford to go off-plan, you can settle for second-rate care. If you've never been on Medicaid, you don't understand how bad government care can be. 3) Lobby for legislation to force the plan to provide preferential coverage for people with your condition. With Boomers reaching retirement age, there simply won't be enough money to treat everyone for everything. Every disease will become a political football. Of course, by the time you have a condition, it is unlikely you can get the law changed in time to help you. You will suffer with poor treatment treatment or none at all, and either get well or die first.

With all the above-mentioned pressures on the medical and insurance systems, isn't it best to keep private insurance, but under close government supervision? No. In that environment, there would be two possible outcomes: 1) the government guarantees the insurance companies the right to make a profit, making them even more powerful, (that's why the insurance and pharmaceutical companies were competing to cast themselves as good guys and each other as bad guys in the healthcare debate) or 2) under heavy regulation, private insurers go out of business one by one, leaving the remaining insurers more powerful and less affordable. If insurance is mandatory, but costs more and more while providing less and less, many of us will be forced to buy some sort of minimum coverage until the government comes to rescue us from the situation it created with some sort of single-payer plan. Eventually, only the very rich and powerful will be able to opt out. The rest of us will be forced, one by one, into some sort of single-payer system, just like Obama wanted in the first place.

There. I vented about several things that were bothering me. I feel a bit better. If you want to leave a comment, feel free, but remember it is my policy to reject all anonymous comments. If you leave an anonymous comment, it will be rejected, not because I disagree, but because it is anonymous. And don't be the moron leaving an anonymous comment objecting to my right to reject anonymous comments.

Good on Ya!

I'm don't know if I'm the only one who does this, but sometimes when I leave a comment on a blog, once I get going, I have so much fun, it grows into a post of its own. So I put it on my blog. I just left such a comment on Joy and Gladness:

Just wanted to stop by and say that I do read your blog, but I usually don't show up on your site meter because I read it through Google Reader. I just caught up on the last ten posts, which I enjoyed. I am now only 538 posts behind on the bogs I read.

To all that happened in the past couple of weeks, I say, "Good on ya!" (I think that means, "You done good, Congratulations, Good job, Hooray!, Thanks be to God, Good luck, Good show!, Hallelujah!, Whew!, Wow!, Mazel Tov!, Amen, Salud(a), A votre sante, Bless your heart, Skoal!, here's lookin' at you, here's mud in your eye, Score!, Go---al!, Swish! it may be, it could be, it's outta here!, take a bow, take a victory lap, take a load off, this Bud's for you, Gesundheit!, Praise the Lord, the Lord be with you, You Rock!," and, "You deserve a break today," but all in a "Boy, am I tired, and I'll bet you are, too!" kind of way. In certain contexts, I think it can also mean, "You may kiss the bride." Shalom and aloha have got nothing on "Good on ya!" But I could be wrong.) Hmm, that was so much fun, I think I'll steal it for my blog.

P.S. I *don't* have high-speed internet, so have fun with all the gadgets, but please don't let them keep the page from loading for those of us who can't use them anyway.

Arby was right

In a recent post, Arby commented that students could learn without the political recruitment going on in some public schools. A public school teacher posted a snide comment, "God forbid that any student actually learn anything at a public school, right?" essentially accusing him of saying the opposite of what he just said. That's the problem with Democrats: when they come up with these non sequiturs, I can never tell if they're just trying to change the subject and doing it clumsily, or if they really are so stupid they actually believe what they're saying.

I was tempted to reply with a sarcastic comment of my own, but didn't for two reasons: 1. It's not my blog. Why turn the comments into a flame war when that might not be what the blog owner wants? 2. My mama always said, "Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference."

Arby let it lie for about two weeks, but it was bothering him, too, so he finally posted a rational response. It showed up in Google Reader, but when I went to comment, "Right on!" it had disappeared from his blog. So, while respecting his wishes on #1, I'll post my comment here. #2 doesn't apply because the commenter doesn't read this blog, and if she does, she can take a flying leap. If that offends you, you deserve to be offended. Now go away.

Essentially Arby's post pointed out (much more tactfully than I would have done, and with supporting data) that while individual public school teachers are talented and caring people, as a group, they don't seem to have time to teach reading, writing, and math, let alone science, history, and civics, but they somehow do find time (as a group) to recruit and train young socialists. With the word socialist, I leave Arby's well-written commentary and head off into my own editorial.

Yes, I said socialists. Look at Obama's agenda, then look at the policies in Europe he is trying to emulate. European politicians adopted socialist policies long ago, and are unashamed to call themselves socialists. But the Democrats know that Americans spent 50 years defending their country from attack by governments that practiced communism, the most virulent form of socialism, and that communism collapsed under its own weight. Communism has been so thoroughly discredited that no one believes in it any more except in Banana Republics and American universities. Yes, China is still Communist in name, but as they become more economically productive, they have had to adopt more and more capitalist policies. They have a draconian view of personal freedom, and they still persecute political and religious dissenters, so they are more nearly fascist.

Most Americans are still vaguely aware that there is some connection between socialism and communism, but the public schools have dumbed enough of them down enough that they only know these words as words. If you take all the principles of socialism and rename them say, "Steve" or "racial equality" or "casual Fridays", most students coming out of the public schools these days can't tell that they're still the same principles. Abraham Lincoln once responded to a question by asking, "Supposing you call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?" "Five." was the answer. "No," said Lincoln, "calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."

Socialism is where we're headed because it's what the Demagogues want, and Baby Boomers counting on retiring en masse at 65 will betray their country for anyone who promises to protect their Social Security checks. And they have the votes to do it. (For the next twenty years, we'll have more people leaving the work force than entering it. That's when the real economic fertilizer will hit the fan.)

This is when the Demagogues start wringing their hands and claiming that all this Obama-bashing makes me a racist, and they really should be allowed to decide who does and who doesn't deserve free speech. No, to paraphrase another famous African-American, I voted against him based "not on the color of his skin, but on the content of his character."

Now before the Republicrats* get too smug, they are just as much to blame. The Demagogues have principles, no matter how shoddy and wrong-headed those principles are. The Republicrats don't. They make a big show of playing His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, but the closest thing they have to a principle is to automatically believe whatever the Demagogues believed ten years ago. Quislings.

*Re-public-rats. Double public rats. I like the sound of that.

Of all the Dumb Things for Congress to Decide on...

I think voting is kind of a dumb way to choose a champion, but I'm not a college football fan, the teams seem to like it that way (except when they lose), some of the fans agree, and those that don't seem to go along with the system, so I guess that's their business. Other leagues and associations are free to adopt their own rules. So why, in the name of freedom, to we need a congressional committee, and the House Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee at that, to decide these things for us?

Can't the people be trusted to decide these things for themselves? Has a young congress-critter (congressperson might not be inclusive enough these days) finally got invited to a subcommittee meeting, and the power has gone to his head, destroying all sense of proportion and justice? Ah, I just spotted the answer, about halfway down the piece:

Shortly after his election last year, Barack Obama said there should be a playoff system.

And we can't let one of Fearless Leader's words fall to the ground, however minor, silly, and ill-advised.

Of course, the toadies at Associated Press have to emphasize the "steep odds" the bill faces: one "nay" vote in committee so far, and the apparently mistaken impression some of us have that "surely Congress has more important issues than spending taxpayer money to dictate how college football is played." Fortunately, we have the assurance from subcommittee chairman, Rep. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, that, "We can walk and chew gum at the same time."

Asking whether the Government can micro-mange GM, college football, and every last detail of our personal lives purposely avoids the question of whether it should. This is not only another blow for Big Government and against freedom of choice, it will do nothing to improve Commerce, Trade, or Consumer Protection. Is College Football really such a threat to Truth, Justice, and People for the American Way?