piddyprints
piddyprints's JournalIt's hard to stay positive.
Seriously. I live in a very red area. Most of the time, the republicans run unopposed for every local office. I vote in every election, but have never and will never vote for a republican.
I write to my "representatives" ... if that is the correct word for them. I can't tell you how many messages I sent to them regarding Kavanaugh. Then I got canned emails back about the orange one's Russian summit. WTF???? Just last week, I got 3 identical emails telling me how qualified the K-perv is and why they were so proud to vote for him. I could just as easily have written to them something along the lines of "white gravy isn't food" and would no doubt get the same canned response. These people do NOT represent me and don't even pretend to anymore.
To top it off, my adult kids don't vote. I have talked with them until I'm blue in the face, but they refuse. I've heard everything from "both sides are the same" to "it's all fixed anyway." One of them is a graduate student and has NO idea how close she came to having to pay income tax on the value of the tuition that she gets for free because she's a TA. I tried to explain it to her. She's over 40 and has never even registered to vote. Now it's too late in this state for this election, as registration ended on October 9. She gets irritated when I bring it up and says I'm just trying to upset her.
I've talked to other adults who "just don't care about politics." But they're happy to blame their woes on "the government." Yes, I take that opportunity to explain that "the government" is who we elect by voting. If they're unhappy now, it's because the republicans are in charge and they have the opportunity to try to change it, if only they would vote! How can I persuade strangers to vote when I have no influence over my own kids and friends?
I am majorly pissed off at Bredesen for his statement that he would have voted for Kavanaugh. Still, this state is RED and I understand him wanting to appeal to the rural voters. But I fear he may have shot himself in the foot because he pissed off his base. Yes, I still voted for him, but not everyone will. Non-republicans simply will not vote, and Democrats may or may not. You can bet your ass that the deplorables will come out in huge numbers to vote for mini-Trump Blackburn.
Still, I'm really trying to stay positive. This nightmare has gone on too long already. I'm afraid to trust the polls at this point.
Does anyone here do Beachbody?
I know this is a strange place to ask ... but it seems like all the Facebook groups are full of fans-of-the-orange-megalomaniac-pretend-president and/or pervs and/or religious nuts. The programs are good, but the groups really suck. So I figured if I wanted to find a group that at least leans more liberal, someone on DU might know. Anyone?
I like the "Welcome back!" banner.
Silly, but I don't want to dismiss it. I missed DU when I needed it the most.
Just sayin'....
Why did we lose?
I was going to reply to a thread that has now been removed. I went to all the trouble of writing my reply, so here it is:
She lost because of whiny-assed people who didn't get their pony and completely ignored the consequences of electing the orange fascist. She lost because of white people who really, really like racism. She lost because the churches in our country preach to their sheep that Democrats will go to hell over abortion and gay marriage. She lost because Putin, Comey, et. al. interfered. She lost because somehow emails were more important to people than bigotry, Islamophbia, sexual assault, bullying, and all the other deplorable things he-who-must-not-be-named stands for. She lost because people were too fucking stupid to realize that the reason that our government doesn't work is because of THEIR obstructionist Congress, which they largely voted back in. There are a lot of reasons why she lost. Mostly because of us, the voters, not her.
I was for Bernie. But I have read enough to know that they would have slaughtered him in the GE. They were going to hit him with shit after the primaries, and it would have stuck. The polling during the primaries meant nothing to the GE. I also watched every night of our convention and every debate. I learned about all the good that Hillary has done and would continue to do. I went from wanting to maybe vote for her, in a state that didn't matter, holding my nose, to enthusiastically casting my historical vote.
I am so over the idea that our candidate has to inspire people to vote. Vote for the country, damn it! The hatred for her was a result of decades of smears. Trump was teflon. Ridiculing the disabled reporter should have been the end of him. The real truth is that the horrible people voted for him and the not-so-horrible people who could have swayed it our way stayed home sucking their thumbs or decided that all the vile things he stands for are acceptable. Stupid white women (I'm a white woman, so flame away...) who relied on their neanderthal men to tell them who to vote for cast their ballots for someone who made sexual assault acceptable. They are the worst, in my opinion. They know nothing about trade deals or the economy and couldn't give a rat's ass about any of that. It's a sad commentary on our country that such shameful attitudes and behavior, coupled with absolute ignorance of governing beat an historically dedicated and qualified candidate.
I honestly don't know what the formula for us to win is. What I do know is that the things that won in this election are not things I will ever be able to get behind. Hillary was our only hope and we squandered it.
I just voted
For Hillary! Yes, I was a Bernie supporter and wasn't too excited about having to vote for Hillary. That all changed during the convention, which I watched all week. It got me excited. Then I watched all the debates and read everything I could get my hands on. Bernie supports her, and so do I. So today I proudly cast my vote for Hillary and Tim Kaine.
I live in Tennessee, so it won't do a thing to change the outcome in this state. Still, I feel good about it.
Help with Medicare?
It doesn't look like this group is very active, but I'll try anyway.
I am disabled and became eligible for Medicare years ago. However, I opted out of Part B because I was covered under my husband's employer's group plan. His most recent employer closed up shop suddenly and unexpectedly in January, causing us to lose our group coverage. He signed up on healthcare.org, but I am not eligible to do that because I am disabled and eligible for Medicare.
I immediately went to my local Social Security office, which takes applications and faxes them to Social Security, to apply for Medicare Part B. After waiting 3 months, I called the national number on Monday and was told that my application was denied. The only reason given was "not an enrollment period" and was told to re-apply. When I called the local field office, they said I need to appeal.
It was my understanding that I am eligible for a special enrollment period because I have maintained group coverage all these years and lost coverage unexpectedly. There is a form to be filled out by the employer stating this. I was able to get the form from the most recent employer, but could not get one from the previous one because they had been bought several times during the course of my husband's employment and the final buyer/employer does not keep employee records that far back. Social Security advised me to submit letters of creditable coverage from the insurance companies, which I did. There was no gap in coverage at any time.
As fas as I can tell, I did not do anything wrong. But they never sent a letter of denial or information on what they need. I have been without healthcare, except for Medicare Part A, since February 1 and have since run up some bills at some Doctor's offices. Now it looks like it will be another 3 months, after a I figure out what I need to do, before they will start coverage and hopefully backdate it to February. Even if they do that, I could be charged a stiff penalty if they don't accept the letters from the instance companies as proof of group coverage during all that time.
Does anyone know what to do? It's not like you can talk to anyone who makes the decisions. I wish they would just pick up the phone and call if they see a problem, rather than inefficiently requiring another long process involving paperwork and lots of calls to the call center.
On a side note, this is a perfect example of why Republicans hate government. Yes, I have Republican friends who could only reply, "yeah, that's the government for ya" when I told them about it. It would be great if we could do something to streamline this process, as well as all the other processes that seem to be so bogged down in bureaucracy that they waste a lot of taxpayer money.
It's this easy to be banned from a group?
I rarely post anymore because of the vitriol. This morning, I was encouraged to read an article if I don't read anything else. I read it and responded with this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1107&pid=62593
I was immediately banned from the Hillary group for giving an opinion in the most polite way I could. I realize that the group is for Hillary supporters. But please, people, if you want to change people's minds, a response to the post other than immediate banning would be appropriate. Don't want to enter into a dialog? Don't be surprised when people just can't pull the lever in November. I would really like to like Hillary, but right now her supporters are as much of a deterrent as she is herself.
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Gender: Do not displayCurrent location: TN
Member since: Fri Aug 19, 2005, 10:23 AM
Number of posts: 14,648