Verbal Diarleah (The Diary of Leah)

I wish more elected representatives had the, frankly, balls to stand up to wingnut constituents like this. It is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while and absolutely fantastic. Well done Barney Frank, well done!

Maybe Arizona should – and I’m just throwing this out there – consider regulating assault rifles? If a man shows up at a Presidential rally – hell, any rally for that matter – with an assault rifle slung over his shoulder, perhaps, just perhaps, it’s not a simple carrying of arms but a statement about what that individual would like to do with that weapon? Just a thought, really.

It’s not as though a gun, especially the assault rifle, is this season’s newest fashion accessory. I don’t think you’re going to get Vogue magazine devoting a shoot to the latest in gun fashions. ‘This season, don’t forget your assault rifle. Swing it over your shoulder at a jaunty angle. Decorate it with polka dots or tweed. Make it as individual as you are!’ Uh uh, isn’t going to happen.

I mean, come on! I don’t care if there are technically no laws against carrying the weapon in public, there is a sense of what is acceptable, isn’t there? I certainly think so. I don’t want to be ‘conditioned’ to the carrying of weapons in public as the Arizona gentleman suggests. The statements this man and the man in New Hampshire are making are very clear and, in my opinion, frightening.

Please, PLEASE my American friends do not believe the hype on healthcare and the British NHS that the right-wing nutjobs are launching at you from every angle. The NHS does not put a price on life. It does not allow people to just die. It does not consider old people not worth saving. It has its problems as much as any other system but it is not as bad as the right-wing campaigners would have you believe.

For starters, all prescriptions on the NHS are only £7. That’s only $10 or $12. Birth control is free and many elderly and lower-income individuals are able to have free prescriptions. Think how expensive drugs are in the states. Imagine that cost going down, way down.

Waiting lists. Yes, sometimes you have to wait just a bit for a procedure or to see a doctor. I had a procedure and had to wait about six weeks; but the thing is, it wasn’t an urgent procedure. If you’ve got cancer, you’re going to be seen pretty darn quick. Yes, my doctor’s office is busy and I stand a better chance of getting an appointment by going there in person at bang on 8.00am; but I’ve always gotten an appointment. And if I were that ill and phoned up, they would put me in straight away. It’s all about severity. The more severe your case, the quicker you are seen. That’s the way it should be. Little six-year-old Suzy with her sniffles should not go before 65-year-old Jim with his shingles no matter what little Suzy’s mother pays.

It’s all about fairness in the NHS. Everyone has an equal opportunity to see a doctor. It’s far from Orwellian and it’s certainly not evil. In fact, there are times when I prefer living with the NHS than I did living with American pay-for healthcare, honestly. Think how you want to think about Obama’s healthcare plan. I don’t care if you are still against it, but please, PLEASE do not believe everything you are hearing about the British health service. It is a lot better than the right-wing nutters would have you believe. From one who has experienced both systems, trust me, it is a good system.

Hillary Clinton must be just a little bit irked with the fact that Bill was able to turn up in North Korea and negotiate the release of the journalists. She surely must be thinking ‘but that’s my job’ or ‘here we go again, I’m just the wife, my contributions mean nothing.’ I’d be very interested to be a fly on the wall in their marriage.