I was born with some birth defect making me pretty much blind in my left eye and not so hot vision in my right. Lucky for me, the Lions Club and some doctors tested out some experimental procedure with lasers that allowed me to be able to see. Over the years as I’ve gotten older and my eyes stopped growing and whatnot, my vision has settled to not horrible but not awesome either.
Moral of the story? I need to wear glasses. I’m just glad they aren’t those nasty BC frames with thick coke bottle lenses that had me mocked throughout elementary school these days. Huzzah! Hey, a girl has to find the silver lining. I’m just glad that we have a wealth of great and cheap choices in specs.
So here’s what happened this year. I needed to get my eyes checked. I needed a new RX. I only wanted to make it through the Summer of Health Doom and go in. Unfortunately, I’m really dumb and destroyed the right lens of my glasses in the end of July at the Boy Scout National Jamboree. Ooops. Bad!!
Due to the issues with my eyes, I have serious issues after receiving an exam so it took about a week to make it in. Afterwords, I expressed concern about the diagnosis because of how bad my left eye acted during the actual exam. Turns out, I was concerned for a reason. After an awful "adjustment" phase to my new specs, my left eye just did not seem to experience clear vision. It was so bad that at church this week I couldn’t see more then a few feet in front of me and I had a raging headache. Mostly, I looked down hoping that then I could maybe not walk into a wall.
So here’s why I say kudos to great customer service. The place I ordered my glasses from? Handled things supremely well. Frankly, so did my doctor.
I went to her last week and explained the weirdness with my eye. She sat me right down, did some checking, and sure enough! I need a new RX. She whipped it right up for me. She actually put my glasses on me, threw a lens that would adjust me to correct in front of my left eye and I kid you not, my eye relaxed. I mean a noticeable reaction. I mean I sighed with pleasure. Yeah, that’s pretty extreme.
Now came the tough part. What would the rock bottom dirt cheap website do for me? I have to admit I doubted them. Seriously, we purchased four specs from them for a total of $60. Two of those were darkly tinted sunglasses. My regular glasses had a vanity tint. Both of us got clip on shades for our regular specs. (That was Sir Megabyte’s idea, not mine.) That’s a whole lot of product for a not a whole lot of money. Roughly, we spent about $15 a pair. Give or take.
I actually expected them to just say that because the error was on the part of my optometrist and not them, I was tough out of luck. That I’d have to order new glasses and get refunded nothing.
Surprise! No!
I called. First, I didn’t have to go through a nightmarish phone tree or was asked what language I wanted to use. Kudos. I hate phone trees. And blahblah English as a second language blah blah. English speaking country. Want English! Second, while on hold, I received a very polite message at frequent intervals informing me of my status in the queue. Excellent! The queue moved quickly. Not bad considering I’m in the East Coast calling somewhere on the West Coast during the height of day throughout all of the country.
The supremely personable customer service agent expressed sorrow that my glasses were not working out for me. Once more, not their fault at all. As far as we know, these specs are PERFECT. Just perfect for someone with a different RX. She then stated I was within the 30 days of receipt so they would refund half my money if I sent the two pairs back. When I explained about needed to order new glasses and my old ones sported a broken lens, she even put a note stating that I was given permission to keep my specs so I could have SOME modicum of vision during the interim.
All things I completely did not expect in any way.
So thanks to my great optometrist and thanks to ZenniOptical.com !! I’m going to continue to sing Zenni’s praises. I can’t wait for my new new glasses to come in the mail!
I hate that people spend their lives complaining about things and never give props where props are due. I like to give props. So I expressed heartfelt gratitude to the customer service tech, told her I was exceedingly happy with the company, and decided I should really write a blog. Anything to promote awesomeness!
–Lady O
Lady Ozma's Journey 
ozma914 said:
Are you sure the phone tree wasn’t in India? 🙂 But seriously, there’s a lot more good about our medical system than there is bad, and it’s too bad more people don’t give them credit.
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Lady Ozma said:
Oh no
There’s a lot wrong with our medical system. The problem is that there are so many things wrong in so many areas that a bandaid over the gaping headwound that has been attempted over the last couple of years isn’t going to even touch the problems let alone make them better.
I strive to just not need to go to mainstream doctors.
It does seem your best bet is specialists. I’ve found that on the whole, optometry seems to escape the majority of the issues that our medical system is rife with. Yay.
I’ve had enough bad experiences/had friends or family with bad experinces with medical issues that I like to highlight when things are done right. And it’s not just insurance woes. It’s doctors who treat you like a number, the failure to take a decent patient history and then the doctor’s blatant disregard of whatever that history contains, the overworking of our medical students, the ludicrously high costs of medical school, the frivolous lawsuits that drive malpractice insurance costs through the roof, the over prescription of antibiotics and other drugs, and about 100 other things.
I stick with specialists. When you are lucky enough to be able to get into one, then they seem to do a lot better at helping you. I hate the nightmare that my friends in the medical field have to put up with. There are just so many issues… 😦
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
Well, maybe it’s just something around here, but I’ve had nothing but good luck whenever I’ve come into contact with anyone in the medical field, specialists and GP’s alike. Certainly there are problems, but compared to most of the rest of the world and any other time in history we’re doing pretty good — for now. Certainly there’s also lots of evidence that we’re starting to slide, as you can attest.
Sadly, the so-called “Obamacare” does nothing to solve most of the problems that do exist, and is promising to bring a lot more additional troubles in on top of them. If you want to fix a problem you should go to people like you, who encounter and have to deal with it, not to paper-pushing Washington insiders making six figure salaries.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
More likely, you’ve just had good luck. I’ve moved across the country and seen the same issues everywhere. Not enough doctors to meet the needs, interns overworked with 100+ hours a week requirements, the overuse of certain types of drugs, and the treating the patient like a number instead of as a patient, misdiagnosis due to a doctor not wanting to take a proper patient history, and so on. There are a lot of problems in every aspect of medicine that in order to alleviate the problems would take an entire paradigm shift that no one is willing to even contemplate.
The more recent health legislation is not without its flaws, I’ll give you that. It is like any other legislation out of Washington. It has a few good things, a lot of bad things, and a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with the price of tea in China.
However, there’s a lot of good that the recent legislation HAS done. First and foremost, getting rid of the pre-existing condition clauses that insurance companies cripple people with is probably the best thing legislation has done… ever. It is horrible to know that even if you get insurance your basic needs will not be covered. It is sad that it took the federal government to fix this problem. Secondly, opening up the government employee medical insurance to the public is good. You may get annoyed at the paper-pushing Washington insiders making six figure salaries, but the vast majority of the Washington insiders are making far less then six figures or are barely at the lowest of the six figure numbers. Living in an area where you need at least the lowest of the six figure numbers to scrape by and then hoping that nothing major happens this month. They do at least have access to a fantastic health package. This is nothing more then the Geico Gecko sharing medical as well as car insurance. No one complains about the Geico Gecko, but people sure want to rail against opening up the medical insurance. I’m not sure why it’s OK for the government to share car insurance but not medical insurance, but whatever.
Of course what the legislation has not addressed is our nation’s ignorance on how the health insurance in this country truly works or how to fix many of the problems inherent in the health insurance system. Sure it helps with providing an alternative choice and gets rid of pre-existing conditions, ,but there’s more then just that wrong with insurance today. Once more, it’s a band aid on the gaping head wound. It’s a good start but in the end isn’t going to do much. We need to start by better educate our citizens on their choices and options. Including the actual importance of having insurance. I’ve had people tell me that insurance is not important. Not a good thing to tell the lady who had a kid with cancer. You’re just opening yourself up to a lecture on how you never know what could happen. You don’t want to get that $98,000 bill from your surgeon to cover the removal of a kidney and not have it winging its way to your insurance company. I’m just saying…
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
I believe the good is far outshadowed by the huge amount of bad in this bloated, power grabbing (and unconstitional) Godzilla of a legislation, but we sure do both agree that there are huge problems that needed fixed. Too bad it brings so many new problems, and only fixes a few of the old ones, but at the very least maybe the controversy will show the crowd of clowns and incompetents in Washington that just ignoring a problem won’t make it go away. In any case, debating Obamacare is pointless: Nothing is more sure in Washington than that once enacted, a new federal program just never goes away.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
I think the major bad in the bill is that it just doesn’t help truly solve the biggest problems. Unfortunately we need to overhaul the entire system, all aspects. And that takes a desire for a paradigm shift that Americans nor the industry are ready to truly commit to. It’s a shame. I’d like to see true change, not just putting a band aid here and a band aid there.
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
I think the major bad is all the new problems it brings with it, but you’re right — it doesn’t solve the biggest problems, either.
Do you know, the whole time I was on the EMS we always carried a box of regular bandaids in our equipment box — but we never used ne. Sometimes a bandaid just doesn’t cut it.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
I don’t doubt it. Bandaids are good for the little cuts and scrapes of life. Unfortunately, there’s a lot more then just little cuts and scrapes.
The unfortunate thing is that the new legislation is just like 99.9% of legislation coming out of DC in the last few decades. It doesn’t fix anything, creates a bunch of new problems, and is just bloated and fairly useless.There’s too much posturing and backstabbing going on in DC instead of true working towards the betterment of our nation. You know… the job these men and women were elected for? Yeah.
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
Word. Or, as they same in England, That.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
It’s why I have a solid dislike of anyone who’s been in office more then about ten years. And ten years is sort of pushing it for me. I like the idea of one term. Two terms max. I’m iffy on partial terms counting in on that. I can tell you I am morally opposed to people like Joe Biden and John McCain who’ve been in DC for decades. On the bright note, while icky Joe Biden is STILL there and possibly there for another six years… at least after that he will be ousted. Thank goodness. Now, how can we get McCain outta there?????
You spend decades upon decades and you do lose sight. That whole Power corrupts… bleh.
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
I don’t think there’s enough room on LJ for me to list all the politicians who’ve been in Washington long enough — don’t even get me started on Teddy Kennedy, and I’m thinking we need to change that lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, too … after all, when that decision was made most people didn’t live past their fifties. I’m okay with two terms, but that’s it.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
I’m with you. I’m not sure why we only limit the presidency. I mean in the greater scheme of things, the President is but one person with limited ability to do anything. He’s mostly just dealing with whatever nonsense Congress sends his way. Sure we blame him for everything under the sun that generally isn’t even said President’s fault, but a good half of that was from outside 1600 Pennsy. Economy? Well Presidents Clinton and Bush both ran on changing the poor economy. War? The President can only commit our troops for no more then 90 days. To actually go to war? That comes from Congress. Actual economy? Generally the financial happenings take years for the public to see so at best a president deals with the economical decisions of the previous administration. Laws? Those are written by Congress and without line-item veto, the President really has two choices, pass or veto. Sometimes things are needed so badly that he has no choice but to pass and hope the crap in the law shakes out OK. But let’s face it, we see the games Congress plays with the President and the nation all the time. Keeping the federal budget secret until the very end of September when then they run around with the panic of “If this doesn’t pass all work will grind to a halt”. Writing two thousand page bills that no one in their right mind or any semblance of a life has the time or patience to slog through. Putting writers into a bill to squeeze in completely unrelated items hoping to get pet projects taken care of.
I’ll never understand why we let Congress get away with this stuff. It’s ridiculous and NOT what was initially intended for our country. Our elected officials have taken the Founding Fathers ideas and stomped on them and defiled them.
Did you know in VA we actually have a term limit for Governor? Once. You get to be Governor once. I kinda like that idea. 🙂
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
The Presidency itself was unlimited until the 40’s, after FDR was elected to four terms in a row in conflict with the self-imposed two term limits of the past. People were afraid it would lead to a President becoming dictator — but they didn’t take into account the possibility of a small number of dictators taking over Congress, which is what has happened with the Speakers and various long-term committee heads. Most people don’t realize that the average Congressman never even gets a chance to vote on most of the legislation that’s put forward in the Capitol building.
The worst part is, it would be easy to fix the whole situation: All we have to do is vote for someone else.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
I know that, but we limited the presidency and no one else? I agree on all the little dictators in Congress. Sadly, we can easily fix that but no one will rise to the occasion. People do not educate themselves enough before elections so they go in and either vote for the name they know or they just blanket party vote. You should never just blanket party vote. If you do not know who someone is, you have no way of knowing their ideals or plans. How many democrats in VA voted for Webb? Webb was a Republican. He only ran on the Democratic ticket because there was an incumbent already on the Republican ticket. It was blatantly obvious. He then felt the need to try to kissy bootie to democrats on their issues but really just came off looking like an idiot. But he’s also a pervert with woman issues so you know… whatever. I’m just saying.
Of course, I’m only talking about the small fraction that vote in non-presidential elections. *SIGH* This is the other problem. We could change things by just voting for someone else except that so many people just don’t even go out to vote. How can we effect anything in Washington if we do not vote? Voting, even if you vote for the losing party, sends a message. At least warns the winning party that they are there only at the kindness of their constituents and they can lose their cushy little office at any time.
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
I remember standing at the polls when I was about 20, waiting to vote, when they led in this elderly guy who had to be about 90. The lady was trying to explain to him how the new machine worked, and he just kept muttering, “Just show me the Democrat button. I just want to vote for the Democrats”. Yep, straight ticket — he obviously had no idea who was even running.
We also had a case here in which the coroner’s son ran for his position. The coroner is limited to two terms, and at the end of his 8 years his son just put all his dad’s campaign signs up — which had only the last name on them. Hundreds of people thought they were voting for the former coroner for another term … *sigh*
I’ve heard the argument made that maybe it’s best if people don’t vote, if those people aren’t going to bother to educate themselves, and maybe there’s something to that.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
Urgh. Are you serious? I mean sheesh. Though I’m not surprised. I’ve seen people do that. I was talking to someone and this guy near us says, “All you need to do is vote for anyone that has a big R next to their name. They are the Republicans and they are the only people worth voting for.” I was appalled.
Yeah I think there are people who get it on name alone. For crying out loud. Just a shared name doesn’t mean anything. I could change my last name to Kennedy and people would recognize my name quite well. Doesn’t mean that I’m worth voting for.
I’ve heard the same argument. On the one hand I sometimes agree. But on the other hand I think everyone should vote. It’s just hard to think positively when you hear people being completely stupid about their voting habits. *SIGH*
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
Not only would people recognize your name if you changed it to Kennedy — they’d automatically vote for you! Hmmmm … I think I just figured out how to insure my next Council election.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
I meant my whole name. 🙂 take the hint for what it is. I actually don’t use that name. I use my full name. But whatev. HAHA But yeah, I could totally get voted for with that name. But that doesn’t tell you anything about me. What if I went into office, raised taxes by 25%, outlawed guns, and said every Thursday was burrito eating day and anyone not eating burritos was going to be hunted down? Well, obviously I’m crazy. But you voted for me because i had a name you recognized. Silly examples that won’t happen… but I know people react as though that’s what happened when they vote without being educated.
What i don’t get is it isn’t like it is hard these days to educate oneself. Read the local paper. Visit candidate’s website. In the case of someone in office, see if you can find a site that posts voting records. (There is one for feds…)
But hey, change your name to something super obvious and see if you win. 🙂 I bet you would!
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
But I know people in Washington who *have* suggested legislation just that dumb (although it doesn’t usually get to a floor vote) and they still get reelected! Well, maybe not the burrito, thing, though … although really, would a burrito every Thursday be so bad? 😉
Sometimes it can take a little extra effort to find non-biased sources of news, but not that much — besides, as you say, it’s pretty easy to find voting records.
In any case, I kinda like my name, so I think I’ll stick with it! 🙂 I have no intention of running for political office outside of Albion, and the voters here know me pretty well from my column. Well, it’s a small town — they know me pretty well just from living here!
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
Oh yeah. You’d be surprised at some of the legislation that doesn’t get press time and most thankfully doesn’t get floor time… I’m like… what on EARTH were you THINKING? As for a burrito every thursday… as long as it is from Chipotle I might cope. I’m not a huge Mexican food fan. Especially out here on the east coast where people probably couldn’t make a decent Mexican meal if someone held a gun to their head.
I think the problem with finding unbiased is news is that people don’t know what to look for. And they seem to misunderstand what is biased and what is unbiased. So people listen to pundits for news which is really not a good source of news. Pundits have their place, don’t get me wrong, but they are not a reputable news source. They are PAID to be swayed. And yes, they are biased. Glenn Beck would be doing a poor job if he reported on the GOOD things the democrats do. And yes, there’s gotta be some somewhere. Just like somewhere the republicans have good things they do. Likewise when you go to something that is just regular news, people believe it is swayed when often it is not. Because they put their own personal feelings into things when they read the article. My best example is that when a journalist reports on abortion, their job is to write the article about what it is, not pontificate on the rights or wrongs of abortion. However, because say for example, they aren’t railing against abortion and calling it baby murder… they are seen as liberal. You laugh, but I’ve seen this kind of article and just that response. It does not matter if I think abortion is right or wrong, if there’s a new abortion clinic or a protest at an abortion clinic or whatever it would be my job to go and say, here’s the facts. Abortion Clinic. Here. Hours are this. Services supplied are the following. Protest was by so and so. Here’s some quotes. The End. Likewise I have an acquaintance at Church that is running for office. I told him he needed to improve his website and he toyed with having me write for it. Do I agree with his political stance? Depends on the stance, quite honestly. But let’s just say I’m glad he’s not on MY ticket. He’s supported some far out stuff. However, if he wants me to write for him I would do my best to write what he asked to the best of my ability. Ok, so there’d be no money involved, but really? It’s what I’d be “paid” to do. I just believe in doing a job well. Kind of like how I always rail against the travesty that has become the Sci Fi Channel. I get that the lady in charge hates sci fi. she’s said as much. But if I were put in front of the Soap Opera channel I’d make it the best dang soap channel I could even though I’ve never watched daytime soaps nor do I ever care to do so.
I like my name as well. No need for me to go changing. Like I’d want to? I’ve had this name for sixteen years and it’s kind of grown on me. 🙂 I don’t care to run for office. I don’t think people would vote for me. I tend to be a little in your face. I’d tell someone like say our corrupt and scary Vice President to put a sock in it and get back on that train for Delaware.
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
The most fair pundit I’ve so far encountered is Dennis Miller. He freely admits to being socially liberal and conservative on fiscal and foreign policies, but unlike most commentators he’s open to new ideas and willing to change his mind if new facts come along, and he’s the first to admit he doesn’t have all the answers. Also he’s funny, which helps.
Now: Can someone explain to my how a person who hates science fiction got put in charge of the only channel on cable that was originally devoted *to* science fiction? It’s like putting Karl Marx in charge of the free market system.
As for our Vice-President … well, he’s why, every night, I pray for Obama’s continued good health.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
Dennis Miller surprised me. I guess I didn’t peg him for being a conservative the way he is… but he reminds me of myself. I tend to fiscally be very conservative and socially very liberal. Which is part of why I don’t claim a political party. Well the original reason I wouldn’t claim a party. Now I’m just so disgusted with both parties I wouldn’t want to claim either one.
I have enjoyed watching him. But once more, I wouldn’t consider him “news”.
Don’t get me started on The Hammer. She needs to be fired. Or she needs to suck it up and do her job right. I remember doing the grunt work as a teenager to get that darn channel started. I’m really annoyed with her more and more each year. Excellent analogy with Karl Marx. WAY EXCELLENT! Like kudos and a brownie sundae to you.
Yeah I happen to love our very healthy president because as long as he is healthy and active and whatnot, it means our VP is not taking over. Of course, that’s how I felt when Bush was in as well. I’m not sure who I hate more, The Dick or Biden. Though to give The Dick props, I must respect a man who can shoot his friend and get his friend to apologize. What a cranky old fart. I personally consider Biden and The Dick as presidential babysitters from their respective parties. I mean really?
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
Miller says he was liberal all over — until 9/11. Then he started paying more attention to foreign affairs and goings-on in Washington, and took a turn toward the right. Having seen life from both sides, he tends to be more even keeled than those who started out one way and stayed there.
Ooh … brownie sundays …
There’s no question in my mind, between Biden and Chaney, who I’d rather have in the White House. I may not be a fan of his personality, but at least Chaney’s intelligent, while Biden’s just as much a dim bulb as Pelosi but without the innate ability to shut up. I think Chaney could actually handle a crisis, plus can anyone who shoots lawyers be all bad?
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
I didn’t know that about Dennis Miller. I don’t watch him regularly enough to catch things like that. OK, I haven’t watched him in several years. I’ve never been a huge follower of pundits. But he’s definitely more even keeled than some of those out there who shall remain nameless.
There’s no question in mind, I want NEITHER of them in the White House. They both scare the living daylights out of me. As for Biden, he’s not so dim. But I’ve watched his antics in Washington and the things he’s tried to do to strip us of any semblance of freedom. As for Dick Cheney – *shudder*. I might give him props but really? What kind of man can get someone to apologize for walking in front of a bullet? That’s scary. Cheney always seemed rather Godfather like. And not in a good way.
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
Actually, Miller is the only pundit I follow with any regularity, and that only because I get snippets of his program by podcast. I listen to some others every once in awhile if I happen to be in the car alone when they come on, but that doesn’t happen often.
We’ll have to agree to disagree about Biden — he’s a complete dunderhead whose only real talent seems to be convincing people who should know better to keep reelecting him.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
I really don’t follow any pundit with regularity. I suppose I’ve probably seen more Miller than anyone else. After that it’s probably Beck and then Imus. Is Imus even still around? I remember he had some drama…
I guess because I’m from the DC area I’ve heard Biden’s name linked with a lot of things. Never anything good. So I guess that’s why I don’t think he’s a dunderhead, but instead think he’s an egomaniac freak bent on world domination. Or at least, US domination. GRRR That man scares me. But I suppose Obama followed the good example of several Presidents that came before him that we won’t name and their obvious life insurance plan of creeper VPs no one wants to see ascending to the Oval Office. Just saying. Obama may have his problems, but getting Biden to scare away some of the crazies with guns? Not a really bad plan.
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
I’ve heard Imus is still around, over at Sirius radio — I guess that means you have to have satellite radio to pick him up.
Hm … for the first time it occurs to me that taking on Biden as V.P. may be the smartest thing Obama ever did. :->
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
Hmmm, him and Howard Stern… I think I’ll stay away… LOL
I’m telling you, seems these days the VP is the life insurance policy. No one is gonna off a president when Crepper McCreeperston is going to take his place. It’s sad when you look back and think “I think Gore was the pick of the litter.” I mean really?
Though I’m not so sure if Palin was a suck up move or life insurance. As much as I despise and hate and did I mention detest McCain the woman hater… was he worse than Palin the wishy washy inexperienced crazy lady? I swear that duo was a sign that the Republican party knew they weren’t going to win and just weren’t even going to try.
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
I like Palin as a person, and certainly think she’s far from crazy (not to mention she was far more experienced than Obama at running anything). But McCain, like him or not, ran a horrible campaign that probably did more to get Obama elected than anything else. Since I’m *not* an Obama fan, that certainly leaves me with bad feelings over McCain’s efforts.
This is why I’m not on the “We’re going to throw Obama out in 2012” bandwagon. Okay, so I don’t like his policies — but I’ve got to see who’ll end up running against him before I’ll guarantee my vote to anyone, or make any bets over who’ll win. I mean, some people have advanced Gov. Jeb Bush as a potential candidate in 2012! He seems like a decent guy overall, but nobody with that last name stands a chance at winning a national election in the near future.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
I think the republican party just failed. But I think they failed at the outset because they just didn’t even try. I get that “the nation” was “tired” and “wanted change”. But really? They could have done better. Far better than a misogynist woman-hater. As a woman, I could not in good conscience vote for a cretin like McCain and hope he would win. Sadly, the Dems didn’t do much better. I think they realized they could put a trained slug on the ticket and they would have won. So they got Obama. Who wasn’t exceptionally well liked in the District to begin with. And honestly? I think the Dem party thought they could control him. Maybe they can pull his strings, I don’t know. But blargh.
As for 2012, well it’s all about who runs against him. There’s something about the devil you know. I mean look at what happened in 96. Seriously? Clinton was a butt and needed to be ousted but Dole? For reals? I mean what if the Republicans pull up another Dole? Or worse. They do put up Palin? *SHUDDER*
My hope is someone will run that’s worth voting for. I’m watching this whole Donald Trump thing. So far as I can see, he’s better than anyone else. Not that I like him, just comparatively? At least we know he’d kick butt. I’d love to see the reality show. 😉 “You’re FIRED!”
Jeb is OK. I don’t mind Jeb. But he’s going to have a killer time with Bush for a name. Which is a shame. Bush had a bad rap IMHO. He wasn’t as bad as everyone thought. He got a super raw deal to boot. But people didn’t see that and so Jeb’s gonna have a heck of a time. Jeb should NOT run in 2012. He really should hold back at least another election cycle. Or possibly go Veep next time. KWIM?
I honestly don’t know who to REALLY look for in 2012. I’m a bit sick of the game. Why can’t you people out there in nation send us some decent people? I am just trying to figure out what’s going to happen in a month… (FYI, that was NOT intended to you personally, just the 50 states as a whole)
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
Well, I’m willing to give the Republicans another chance, mostly because I can’t stand what the Democrats are doing, but the Rep’s had better realize that at this point they’ve become the lesser of two evils. If they don’t straighten up and fix some problems, you’d better believe we’ll be looking for someone better the next time around, no matter which direction they come from.
Honestly? I really like Bush, I think he’s a decent guy — way smarter than he’s given credit for, and someone who really did put his office over himself. Not that he didn’t screw up from time to time! There are other people I would have voted for over him, but he was head and shoulders above both of his Democratic opponents.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
Republicans have their place in politics. As do the Democrats. I think that some people lose sight of this. I don’t think the Republicans did all that bad during Bush’s term. I just do not understand why so many people in our nation held so much animosity. A great deal of things that Bush dealt with were out of his control or clean up from the previous administration. The sad thing is that both political parties have strayed from what they are supposed to be doing and have focused on other things. I suppose that’s the corruption that comes with power.
I will stand by my belief you do not become president by being stupid. Can you become president and make really stupid choices? Sure. We ALL make really stupid choices. And if we can make really stupid choices about things that really do not matter very much, imagine making decisions for an entire country.
I’ll give that Bush was a horrible public speaker. Especially if you compare him with Clinton and definitely if you compare him with Obama. Those two men could capture a crowd. I’d like to point out, though, that Moses stuttered. He was a real poor speaker and look at what HE accomplished.
I don’t think Bush saw any… well… burning bushes. But he did well and he carried this nation through some truly horrific things. He made some mistakes along the way, but that’s all right. Our politicians do not need to perfect. I wold like to see them own up to their mistakes, but they don’t need to be perfect.
I have no idea where I’m going in 2012. I think that in 2008 both parties did the people a great disservice. They threw their weight behind people that really were not good choices. It left us with “eh” and “ugh”. Never good. I think there are truly fantastic republicans out there. I also think there are truly fantastic democrats. I’m sure somewhere there are people in the ill-named Tea Party but they are going to have to really shine and be clear if they want my vote because I have disliked the Tea Party from the start. Any group that cannot concisely put together words to explain what they were about and instead relates themselves with something that barely has to do with what they are doing just because of the catchy and historical name? Annoys me to no end. I should really go and see if they have improved this. All I know was the first six months I could not find a good concise explanation of what they were about other than just wanting to whine. At least with Republicans I know I get gun love, anti woman’s choice, and fiscal conservation while with democrats I get serve the people to a fault, woman’s choice, and make love not war.
So here’s hoping that the republicans find us someone worth voting for. It seems that is not typically the case with an incumbent president candidate these days. I mean really? Bob Dole? No way. And don’t even get me started about Kerry. /headdesk. We know the Democrats are going to feed us Obama, which makes sense. The question will be, will the Republicans serve us something better than Obama? They sure failed at that in ’08. Sadly. They even had promising choices that I think would have fared better than McCain. I do not support a mormon for president, and I don’t think the nation would either, but even Mitt Romney had more to offer and IMHO was more electable than McCain. (I know that sounds odd with me being a mormon an dall, but I just think back about Kennedy and catholicism… and the insanity there. I do not understand why people make such a big deal about the religion of the president. And why there are religions that are politically correct and those that aren’t. Sarah Palin should have kept her faith instead of abandoning it for a more PC faith. Kennedy wasn’t going to let the Pope move into the White House to run things. And by golly a mormon’s not going to have the Prophet dictating every signature or veto stamp.)
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
“A great deal of things that Bush dealt with were out of his control or clean up from the previous administration.” That pretty much says it all, right there!
I’ve also made the argument that you can’t become President if you’re stupid — and I liked Bush partially because he *is* such a horrible public speaker. To get that high in a political career when you’re not good at speech giving — that’s remarkable.
You have to understand, when it comes to the Tea Party, that they didn’t name themselves at all, it just happened — it’s one of the few times in history that something just arose, without any nationwide organization or anything more than a sense that people who ordinarily want to just live their lives have to rise up and do *something*. I admire those people tremendously for actually wanting to take action without having a personal ax to grind. They have no platforms of ifs and maybes, designed by pollsters and lobbyists. Their aims are very clear: Elect commons sense people who understand that, just as with the original Tea Partiers, common citizens have to rise up when the government stops working toward their interests and stops representing them. Their beliefs are simple and concrete: Shrink the overwhelming bloat of government, make it responsible to the people again, go back to Constitutional rule, and protect individual liberties. The media only covers the crazies advancing their own agendas by taking on the Tea Party name, but the mass of people themselves are amazing, refreshing — and terrifying to the Washington elite.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
We’ve had people talking about going to the bulletbox (in a speech basically calling for us to go to war with Congress, and a real bang bang shoot the guns as opposed to like the upcoming elections), calling Obama Hitler, and a great many unproductive and terrifying things that we just won’t go into. Makes me sad because really I think that there’s a lot of good that the movement COULD do.
I have to tell you, ❤ that icon. Too funny!
I think it’s pretty impressive that Bush could make it as far as he did being the very uncharismatic guy that he is. I mean let’s face it, politics aside, Gore and Kerry totally beat Bush to the ground. No competition. The fact that Bush could get past that, says something. Especially in our vain world that is swayed by charisma more than political platform.
From what I saw, the tea party dude threw the name out there. Then made a website. In which nothing was explained. I remember the first tea parties and trying to figure out exactly what they were griping about. I couldn’t even tell if there’d be actual… you know… tea throwing. It was very confusing. They seem to have finally come together and are starting to better express themselves. But it’s pretty sad when the people putting on the early rallies cannot explain themselves and are actually fairly articulate people. (I’ve known some of them in the greater DC area.)
Sadly, because of being the greater DC area, we tend to not get the better side of the Tea Party people. I know several rather sane, rational people who just want change and consider themselves Tea Partiers. Unfortunately they get lost in the miasma of fruitbats and whackjobs. It saddens me. Every group has their fruitbats and whackjobs. It’s just the way that it is. But we seem to attract them.
But then I look at Glenn Beck who put together that fantastic 9-12 thing last year and he 1. Gave it a DECENT name and 2. Very clearly outlined what the 9-12ers were all about. Near as I could tell they were pretty much a pack of TP-ers, or at least, there was a lot of crossover. But I would look at the TP movement and just couldn’t figure out a fricking thing about what it was other than a bunch of disgruntled Americans standing around and basically complaining about everything and then I looked at the 9-12 site and could tell you all sorts of things.
It was just better. Say what you want about Glenn Beck, but the man does know how to put words together and express himself. I know some people hate him or think he’s a whackjob, even on the conservative side of the spectrum… but he really can put things together in a way that makes things very clear. The TPers should have just put him in charge to begin with. We wouldn’t have the horrible history pillaging name AND we’d have something people understood what was about. from the get go.
Now, if you go to the TPers website you have a very nice mission statement. It lists three major things that they stand for. It’s just better. If they are going to be out there, they need that. They failed by not having that from the get go.
And they need to bring some of the sane people to DC. Because I just can’t take many more coverages of people calling for war on congress. I don’t like congress. I haven’t liked congress since… um… I don’t think I’ve ever liked congress. But I do not think that threatening to declare war on them would do much good. Especially since they can declare war right back and I just have no chance against the Marines, the Army, the Air Force, or the Navy. Especially since I have to pass both the Marines and the Air Force to get to DC. LOL
I don’t know what it is about this area that attracts the crazies. But the news can’t ever show the sane and rational people. No they want the person with no teeth, no shirt, wild hair, spouting insanity. I’m pretty much of the opinion they have one weirdo they can film and put up over and over again no matter WHAT the subject is in regards to! LOL
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
Maybe it is a location thing! The whole Tea Party thing kind of sprung up all over the country at the same time, it could be their very outlook started out differently from the beginning. Also, I didn’t gain awareness of them as soon as you did, so I may have missed some of the growing pains. In any case, their grass roots origin helps explain the confusion and disorganization they started out with.
As for crazies being attracted to Washington … well, maybe they’re catching a “bring on the crazies” vibe from the Capitol building!
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
DC will always attract the wingnuts out there. It’s just a fact of life. Mostly because in order to be brave enough to stand with a sign and get spit at in crappy weather and have to either starve, bring a sandwhich that will get nasty, or pay $8 for a street vender hot dog… you have to be pretty darn dedicated to your cause. And let’s face it, there’s a proclivity for the people that dedicated to be heading toward extremism. Sometimes that is good, sometimes that equals – crazy. Crazy like trying to declare war on Washington. Hello history books, that didn’t work out so well last time, I’d really like for my town not to get burned again.
I do think the TPP are starting to finally congeal into something that makes sense. People can choose for themselves, and far easier now, if the TPP movement is on the money or crazy-crazy. It just took forever to get there. Way too long for how quick they started screaming, hitting the news, and unfortunately the internet.
It wasn’t growing pains, now they have growing pains. It was a eternal PTS inducing birth of doom after the longest, hardest pregnancy on record. Where you name your kid something like Adolph Hitler Campbell. I mean it was months and months. And months. On 9-12 last year, I STILL had no real idea what the TPP were all about other than just being miffed at life in general and they’d been around since the end of January? Their website was completely useless. Meanwhile, here i had Glenn Beck, and I was pretty darn sure he was TPP all the way and I learned more from his 9-12 project website. Of course after the rally, people were promoting it as a TPP event, though he was calling it 9-12 and speaking as though it were kind of separate. But at least it started to clue me in, even though it could have been construed as cross over but not TPP.
Check this out: http://www.the912project.com/the-912-2/
That was all I was looking for from the TPPers. Especially after so long. I’m glad that now that a year’s gone by, things have improved over on TPP website land. It seriously needed to…
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ozma914 said:
Re: Oh no
Dedicated, yes, and there’s also the fact that the more extreme among us tend to have more free time: The more centrist people in the country are usually more busy working or searching for jobs and looking after their families.
Of course, the Tea Part as a whole can’t have a website — one group of them might, but not the entire movement, that’s prevented by the bottom-up organization.
Great 912 website! Well put together, and common sense stuff.
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Lady Ozma said:
Re: Oh no
Holy crap, do I hate DC even more now. I was lost driving around from like 11:45 to 12:45. Stupid city. That is SO going to need to be a blog entry! Maybe that’s why the wingnuts come… they were halfway sane before they got DC and then the roads sent them off the deep end. Or the rats. Definitely the rats could have something to do with it.
Yeah the extreme do seem to have this wealth of time. Why don’t I have the time to go research and come up with these complex conspiracy theories and plots to do things and whatnot?
I think the centrists are just too busy attempting to stay employed and keep their house. That’s just the way the economy is going. The extreme’s don’t mind if they lose their jobs and their house because it goes right into their whole aforementioned conspiracy theories.
If this all seems a little discombobulated, it’s due to the lack of sleep. Stupid DC.
But there is a tea party website. There has been since it sprung up.
See, 9-12 Project? Awesome. I give them props. THAT is what a PAC needs ot have. I gotta say, Glenn Beck can string words together. 🙂
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