Mon AM

 In more ways than one, it was a tough weekend.

I know it was the right thing to do, and Karen and I probably waited far too long, but we finalized our "living trust," along with our estate plan, last will and testament, etc.  It's all necessary, but it's very sobering to consider our own mortality.  I found the entire process very educational and enlightening; our lawyer was very, very good.  But it was hardly a cheery experience.

And I turned my ankle, if only slightly, again this weekend out running on the increasingly rutty roads.  The weather cold and wet and warm and cold and......  It's not been a winter conducive to good running, at least not for me. It's been a winter of sprained ankle, recovery, sprained ankle, recovery......  But it was really really great to get out on my bike for most of last week--gee, a week's worth of bike rides in the middle of February.

There's more, but......

I didn't watch the Oscars and had no intention of doing so.  I really don't do movies and likely would not have recalled the names of 90+% of those films and people on the show.  I am not at all interested in what dress so-and-so is wearing and don't find many of the jokes funny, esp the insider ones that require some knowledge of Hollywood.  If some folks want to watch all this, that's fine with me.  I prefer not to.

But Karen was watching her AM television show and there were clips after clips of the host, the presenters, and the recipients of giving their seemingly obligatory condemnations of the current administration.  (More about that in a second.)  It's as if the Hollywood-types must make some sort of anti-Trump comment or they'll be drummed out of the business.  It must be trendy.  "Oh, your anti-Trump diatribe was so, so, so......"  Give us a break.  Most of Middle America doesn't care what the Hollywood-types think.  Most of them live lives we could only dream about.  They have no idea, or have forgotten, what it's like to struggle with the storms and stresses of everyday life here in the Middle.  Again, I question their commitments; I think many of them are hypocrites.  Gee, if they had given up half, only half, of their incomes, lived in houses not quite so lavish, etc. maybe they could have bought health insurance policies for all those they claimed were "uninsured."

And, I repeat, where are the Establishment Republicans in repealing Obamacare. Oh, they were big talkers and maybe even doers when their repeal bills were doomed from the start by the inevitable prospect of an Obama veto.  Now, without the safety net of a veto, they have really backed off.  Is it all right if I call that political cowardice?  How about selective indignation?

Many are decrying that repeal of Obamacare will cause millions to lose their coverage.  First, I hardly think that will happen.  There are safety nets all over.  If those don't work, a repeal can include more safety nets.  I don't often hear anyone (OK, well I do, but few from the Establishment.) express much concern over the high costs--premiums, deductibles, co-pays, worse coverage--of health insurance to those in the Middle.  Did I recently read that the average cost of health insurance for a family exceeds $10,000?  We're not quite that high, but could have been very close had we not opted to change policies, gambling, I guess, on our health and accepting higher deductibles and co-pays.

"Empowerment."  I have never liked that word, esp not in the context it's been used over the past few decades.  But I was reminded of it the other AM, when, of all things, passing a pick-up truck with a "Trump" bumper sticker on it.  It seems, like so many things, "empowerment" is only "good" if a certain agenda is concerned.  Women can be "empowered."  Blacks can be "empowered."  College students can be "empowered."  And more "power" to them.  Aren't many folks selective in this, thpough?  The man I saw driving the pick-up surely felt "empowered" by Trump's victory.  I'm guessing, but don't know, he wasn't really enamored, not deep down, with Trump.  But it was his way of sticking it to the Establishment, one that has thumbed its collective nose at him and his Middle for years and years.  Instead of celebrating his "empowerment," he is derided as "a deplorable," as "ignorant," "stupid," "racist," "bigoted."  Maybe if the Establishment hadn't ignored and marginalized the concerns, the lives of the Middle there'd have been no Trump??????  There really is a divide in this country.

Speaking of Trump, when is he going to grow up?  I suspect never.  I keep waiting for some adults to come into the room, but so far they haven't shown.  Is there not enough work for Trump to do as President?  He keeps that tweeting or twittering or whatever it's called.  Grow up, man!  Why is he going after the LameStreams?  That isn't necessary.  He won; they (and Clinton) lost.  Most of America doesn't believe the LameStreams anyway; they have lost our trust and deservedly so.  I keep waking up thinking, when I hear "President Trump," I'm still deep into a bad dream.  (And remember, always remember, I think I'd have the same nightmare with Clinton!)  This is rapidly turning into a Clown Show.  I thought I'd only be able to use "Clown Show" in regard to our local school board and administration.  I guess not.