"It is time we rethink our heroes"

By GottaLaff

It's L.A. Times letters to the editor time:

Roosevelt then, Obama now

Re "Roosevelt was right — we need more Americans ‘in the arena,' " Opinion, April 23

Bob and Elizabeth Dole remind us of the words of Theodore Roosevelt: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena … who does actually strive to do the deeds."

As I read this, I could think only of our president, who is striving so valiantly to solve our problems. And the critics: the Rush Limbaughs, the Glenn Becks and, yes, many in Congress — the small men who, for power and money, do nothing but criticize, tear down and attempt to destroy him.

Sadly, too many Americans admire the critics, whose negativity serves only to destroy, rather than the doer, "whose place shall never be with those cold and timid souls" but who "spends himself in a worthy cause" because that is what brave men do.

It is time we rethink our heroes.

And our priorities. And our approach to "news". And the way we communicate. Feel free to add other rethinkitudes in Comments.

"The mainstream media have been complicit in legitimizing" Tea Baggers

By GottaLaff

Via an L.A. Times letter to the editor:

People of color who've observed the ascent of the so-called tea party movement didn't need a poll to tell them that this spasm is merely a racist backlash to the election of the nation's first African American president.

By failing to critique the tea party's Obama-as-socialist/illegal alien/terrorist rhetoric, the mainstream media have been complicit in legitimizing these canards.
The "anti-government" propaganda that the tea party spews about the healthcare overhaul was never in evidence during George W. Bush's massive expansion of government spending. And the privileged all-white tea party mobs who storm the Capitol in "outrage" over the Wall Street bailout have never felt motivated to challenge the GOP's welfare-for-corporate-America, free-enterprise-for-the-poor platform.

That just about covers it.

With Jerry Brown running, maybe "the ‘60s will return and spoil the Mad Hatter's tea party"

By GottaLaff

Every so often, the L.A. Times letters to the editor are worth a post. This is one of those times:

Jerry Brown, then and now

Re "Brown calls for debate with rivals," April 18

As a Republican, I applaud Jerry Brown's call, delivered at the convention, for a debate with all the candidates. I want to know what they are going to do if they become governor. I do not care how many unflattering photos of their opponents they can find. If that's the best they can do, I suggest they go back to their old high schools and run for class president instead of governor of this state.

****

Perhaps with Brown again running for governor and Cheech and Chong back performing (as The Times reports), there is a chance that some of the idealism and hope of the ‘60s will return and spoil the Mad Hatter's tea party.

Click on red button:

"Maybe now I can get back on my medication"

By GottaLaff

Via L.A. Times Letters to the Editor:

As someone working in the trenches, I want to tell you what it was like for me the day after the health insurance reform bill passed.

I am a registered nurse working in a community college health center in Orange County where most of the patients are uninsured. Tuesday I heard "Thank goodness it passed!" and "Now I will be able to get back on my dad's insurance!" and "So, you mean that even though I have asthma, I might actually be able to get health insurance?" and "Wow, that is so great!" and "Maybe now I can get back on my medication" and "How do I sign up?"

Not one patient was worried about Soviets coming into their living rooms.

I've been looking over my shoulder since last night. I have yet to hear from a terrorist Nazi liberal fascist... other than close relatives, I mean. Not a peep.

Without BushCo, "Hurt Locker" wouldn't have won Oscars

By GottaLaff

Via letters to the L.A. Times Calendar section:

"The Hurt Locker" was a good movie and well written but I find it strange that no credit was given to ex-President Bush and Vice President Cheney for starting the Iraq war. Without their orchestration, "Hurt Locker" and Kathryn Bigelow would not be holding those Oscars.

That's some honor, eh BushCo?

"500,000 or more homosexual men in uniform" during WWII

By GottaLaff

Via the L.A. Times letters to the editor:

A veteran's viewpoint

Re “Not quite ready to end ‘don’t ask,’ ” Feb. 24

Perhaps Times readers would like an opinion on the matter of gays in the military from a Navy veteran of World War II.

Looking at the numbers, we must have had 500,000 or more homosexual men in uniform during the war.

I served as an officer aboard two troop transports, each with a crew of about 600 men, and as a senior officer on a floating dry dock with some 500 enlisted men. Everyone showered together and slept in three-tier bunks, 40 or so to a room.

Sodomy was a crime under all military codes, but never did any of us hear of a homosexual incident or a complaint from any enlisted man. I'm sure that there were a few prosecutions, but any such cases were negligible in number.

The current rules are unnecessary and wasteful of talent.

This is the same point I've made in previous posts. Why does anyone assume that gays in the military have some strange uncontrollable lusty urge that they must and will act upon... and straights don't? Why are they more of a threat?

They don't.

They aren't.

"Are we going to forgo... providing medical care to millions of seniors and the disabled?"

By GottaLaff

Via the L.A. Times letters to the editor:

Thoughts on a GOP 'tea party'

Re “The ‘tea party’ dance,” Opinion, Feb. 21

I read with interest Jacob Heilbrunn's article on the delicate attempt the GOP is making to recruit "tea party" members with a conservative manifesto, the Mount Vernon statement.

I always find one of the main points both groups make to be incomprehensible: the need for small government. How is it possible for a country of more than 300 million people, with the world's most advanced military and with millions of miles of interstate highways, sewers and interconnected electric grids, to be overseen effectively by a small government?

Are we going to forgo educating children? Scientific research? Policing our streets or putting out fires? Building roads, power plants and providing medical care to millions of seniors and the disabled? Are we going to remove our troops from all corners of the world?

I have no interest in aligning myself with the inchoate rage of the tea party or the GOP, but I would like to know how they really think they can run our county with a small government. I fear they know they can't and are using this simplistic but appealing pitch for cynical political gain.

****

I wonder how many of those implacable foes of government have ever received benefits in the form of Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, farm subsidies, education grants, etc.?

Why can't the Obama administration's message be as clear as this?

"I am an immigrant; I voted for Obama; and I know how to spell that word: v-o-t-e."

By GottaLaff

Via L.A. Times letters to the editor (bolding mine):

Re “ ‘Tea party’ convention a forum for woes, worries,” Feb. 6

Hey, Tom Tancredo! Giving the opening speech of the National Tea Party Convention, you told an audience that "people who could not spell the word 'vote' or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House -- name is Barack Hussein Obama."

I am an immigrant; I voted for Obama; and I know how to spell that word: v-o-t-e.

I brought my children with me and raised them in this country. I am sure that they know how to spell too: They attended Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA and Harvard. (By the way, they also voted for Obama.)

Reading about your past and present activities, I learned how to spell some other words: h-a-t-e, o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d, b-i-g-o-t-r-y.

It is your turn to learn some English words such as "democracy" and "civil rights." You might also listen to a popular Spanish-English phrase: "Hasta la vista, baby!"

********

Re “ ‘Put your faith in ideas,’ Palin tells convention,” Feb. 7 The Republican Party, starting with Ronald Reagan, has systematically thrashed the economy and the federal government.
After each Republican administration, the Democrats were left to clean up the mess, which under George W. Bush had grown into an unbelievable catastrophe.

Now Sarah Palin is rallying her troops by ridiculing President Obama for not cleaning up the Republican mess fast enough, and Republican candidates are lining up to dog-pile Democrats across the country. What is wrong with this picture?

There were no letters to the contrary, which tells me that nearly 100% of the letters were like this, if not all of them. And for good reason.

The illogic of the angry voter

By GottaLaff

A letter to the editor from the L.A. Times:

The angry voter comes in various flavors:

* The leftist who wanted Obama to undo everything the Bush administration had done in the last eight years.

* The right-winger who wanted to be able to run on a platform that blames Obama for the years of financial damage that preceded his administration.

* The person who has health insurance, hasn't (yet) been hurt by the current system and doesn't want to help pay for those who have.

* The voter who may not have liked the imperial presidency of Bush/Cheney but resents the messiness of having Congress' constitutional responsibilities returned to Congress.

* The Social Security and Medicare beneficiary who thinks there won't be any curbs on those programs unless the healthcare bill passes -- even though there will be more limitations if nothing changes and the country can't pay for the escalating entitlements.

But the solution the angry voter seems to have chosen is to return to power the party that caused all the problems Obama hasn't yet been able to fix.

Will someone explain the logic of that to me?

I sure can't.

Let the majority rule

By GottaLaff

A couple of letters to the editor from today's L.A. Times caught my eye (The blog title belongs to the Times.):

Re “What’s the deal?,” Editorial, Dec. 22

Your editorial rightly finds fault with the legislative process and implicitly with senators who extracted special deals as the price of their vote for healthcare reform.

But who is really at fault? Republicans, who offer no real alternative but insist on filibustering ad nauseam to make their political points. Without their filibuster, none of the Democratic senators would have had the power to extract those special deals.

With the Republicans' united front of "No," Congress has become as unwieldy as the California Legislature. The filibuster has outlived its purpose. It should be discarded in the simple name of "majority rules."

*****

If Sens. McCain et. al are really upset about the special deals needed to get the 60th vote, and not just trying to score political points, all they have to do is to pledge to end the filibuster and let the majority rule.

Then the special deals will crumble like sand.

The other Joe

By GottaLaff

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is in a class all by himself. Here are three posts that will fill you in on who this guy is:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Forces Woman to Give Birth While Shackled

VIDEO: Sheriff Joe Arpaio could be next Arizona governor?

Sheriff Arpaio Watch: Activist's Letter of Disgust to Eric Holder's DOJ Investigators

Swell guy, isn't he? What a role model.

I opened my L.A. Times letters to the editor today, and found these:

Re “Crusading sheriff takes on his foes,” Dec. 12

I had to read this article twice.

Arpaio's dubious tactics include ordering investigations of officials in Maricopa County and others simply because they do not agree with his tactics. He shows a lack of respect for federal laws.

I initially thought I was reading the story of a Third World dictator. To my amazement, I learned Arpaio is a sheriff in Arizona.

****
Because it's common knowledge that The Times has strong feelings of sympathy toward the plight of illegal aliens, it comes as no surprise that your recent article covering Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio would portray him in a negative light.

Say what you want about the guy, but I love him. I wish he'd run for president. There must be other people who like him as well, because your article mentioned his reelection victory last year with 55% of the vote in Arizona's most populous county.

If this nation had about 500 more Joe Arpaios, the illegal alien problem, and its associated chaos, would be nonexistent. He's unique among politicians: one of those who refuses to have his better judgment clouded by political correctness and bleeding heart liberalism.

Maybe Lou Dobbs can be his running mate in 2012. They'll have my vote!

Yes, Arpaio/Dobbs, that would work out well.

"Why are Democrats throwing women under the bus...?"

By GottaLaff

Via letters to the L.A. Times editor (emphasis mine):

Re “Bishops’ role in health debate,” Nov. 16

Why does a group of male bishops, representing a religion that I am not a member of, have more input on how I receive healthcare than I do?

Why are Democrats throwing women under the bus for an interest group that sometimes supports them?

I always stand with the Democratic Party, but if the Stupak amendment makes it through the Senate, the Democratic Party will be telling me, and millions of women, that we are less important than religious doctrine, and that to vote for the Democrats is to vote against our interests.

Healthcare reform should expand access to healthcare, not make women's health worse off. Our leaders in Congress need to stand up for women and kill the Stupak amendment.

****

The Catholic Church built a level of trust that other antiabortion groups could not? This has gotten it a "seat" at the lawmaking table? Where in the Constitution does it cover buying a seat at the table?
I am 76 years old. I am a mother and a grandmother. I have voted as a Democrat since I was 21. I have been elected to my county's Democratic central committee and to the Democratic state central committee. I have served on the board of the Democratic Women's Caucus. I am a member of the National Organization for Women, NARAL and other women's organizations.

I am old enough to remember the days before Roe. I've seen an illegal abortion in a public restroom.

I am a citizen of this country -- and oh yes, did I mention that I pay taxes? Paying taxes is what buys my "seat at the table." When did the Catholic Church (or any church) start paying taxes?

I have been a Democrat my whole life. No more! I am now an independent voter who is pro-choice. What this country needs is a Women's Party. I'll join.

There are a lot of frustrated pro-choicers out there, they're asking a lot of good questions, and they make a whole lot of sense.

"...how far astray the so-called conservative movement has drifted"

By GottaLaff

L.A. Times letters are often better reading than the articles:

Dither or blather?

Re “Ditherer in chief,” Opinion, Oct. 18

It took President George W. Bush a number of years to put us in the difficult global position we now face. And, of course, as with so many others, John Bolton wants to conveniently blame this entire mess on President Obama by disingenuously asserting that by now the president should have all of his global chess pieces in place.

By his logic, Bolton seems to think that the president, in less than one year in office, should fully understand all of the nuances of each world leader he deals with, and in turn, they should acquiesce to any pressure he should want to exert.

This ignorance and arrogance is what has stymied recent American foreign policy goals; the rest of the world has come to resent such strident hubris.

As a failed ambassador to the United Nations, Bolton's attitude should come as no surprise to anyone.

*****

I am all in favor of reasonable debate and expression of opinion, but the published opinion by Bolton concerning the Obama foreign policy is a nonsensical collection of rambling gibberish.

I believe that there is a legitimate debate to be had concerning U.S. policy, but you are doing no side or perspective any favors by airing uninformed emotional outbursts by this seemingly unbalanced individual.

I assume that you are merely allowing him to embarrass himself and those who take a similar view. Or perhaps it merely represents how far astray the so-called conservative movement has drifted.

*****

Bolton's "Ditherer in chief" is good. A "decider" like George W. Bush is just what we need. Look how well all those quick, decisive decisions worked out.

"In the battle of wits, our enemy is only half-armed"

By GottaLaff

I posted about the article in question. Here's an L.A. Times letter responding to original piece. I especially love the last line:

Politics as religion

Re “Armageddon politics,” Opinion, Oct. 2

Gabler could use some Prozac. I agreed with everything he wrote except his abysmal conclusion.

Enlightenment has always defeated the forces of ignorance and darkness, and this time is no exception. Despair is our enemy, and it is exactly what the opposition would like us to succumb to. We won't.

So buck up, Neal. In the battle of wits, our enemy is only half-armed.

Equipment burned, nurses fired... hospital administrators got new cars

By GottaLaff

An L.A. Times letter to the editor:

Re “Conserva-care,” Opinion, Sept. 20

What nonsense. William Frist wants to "incentivize" folks to live a healthy life, thereby shrinking costs. OK -- but try getting couch potatoes to do it. And those like me -- living the healthiest of lives, yet I've fought back cancer twice only because Medicare authorized the right tests.

David Frum wants non-state-regulated insurance companies that will "squeeze" their suppliers. If doctors like my son are squeezed any further, most will quit medicine.

And Richard Viguerie: "Don't discourage profit ... [it] drives better prices, service and products." Ridiculous. When our local, nonprofit hospital became for-profit, all the best nurses were fired. Their incompetent replacements burned up equipment in the autoclaves. However, within weeks, a dozen administrators had new cars.

Brought to you by the Department of Driving while Rome Burns.

L.A. Times readers: 9/12ers "take to the streets like -- gasp -- Democrats"

By GottaLaff

The majority of L.A. Times letters to the editor about the 9/12ers were like these:

Let me get this straight. During the Bush administration, Republicans took the position that you were a patriot only if you supported Bush and his policies. Protesters were bad.

Now the same people clamor that you are a patriot only if you denounce Obama and his policies. Protesters are now heroes.

Let me simplify this whole situation: Republicans don't like Democratic politicians; Republicans do like Republican politicians. These protests are a testament to Republicans' waning political influence. Now they are forced to take to the streets like -- gasp -- Democrats.

****

Where were all these angry protesters over the last eight years? We went from a budget surplus to the biggest deficits in U.S. history, and our economy was on the verge of collapse, and yet all these protesters were silent. Now, when our president wants to help the unemployed and the uninsured, the conservatives become "angry."

It seems the only way to annoy a conservative is to care about those other than yourself.

****

Nice tantrum, conservatives. You want freedom and smaller government? How about allowing people to marry who they wish, providing women their own reproductive choices and letting those who are able and willing to serve in the military to do so?

You want fiscal responsibility? Only when it doesn't involve war or impeachments, apparently. You don't want government involved in your healthcare? You have complete faith in big business? Only those who can afford it deserve to be healthy?

When you've calmed down, come meet the rest of the nation to work together to make this country great again.

****

And finally, this one, which mirrors what I've been saying on Twitter and in TPC posts for some time:

The Times featured the angry right-wing crowd in Washington, headlined above the fold with a color shot dominating the front page Sunday.

The Times regularly ignored or downplayed the huge peace marches that filled the streets of Los Angeles before and after the start of the Iraq war. Your bias is showing.

Newt Gingrich's op-ed gets slammed by L.A. Times readers

By GottaLaff

Letters to the editor can be so gratifying:

Re “Healthcare rationing: Real scary”:

There are 1,300 insurance companies in the U.S., according to Newt Gingrich, all intent on making a profit with healthcare. They claim to do a better job because private industry works better than government programs.

Why are they afraid of a government option then? Don't they believe in competition anymore? A little competition should force insurance companies to do better.

And if they disappear, I don't think we'll miss them. How many people on Medicare or Medicaid miss them?

*****************

In the late '50s, I played football with Gingrich. As military dependent kids in Germany, the former speaker of the House and I were teammates at Stuttgart American High School. If either of us was ever injured, we'd get immediate and free medical care from military health providers. In fact, all of our medical and dental needs were taken care of by the military healthcare system.

I believe Gingrich's article is disingenuous because he himself benefited from a government-paid healthcare system in his childhood and, of course, later when he became a congressman. Unfortunately, his public attacks against President Obama's approach to healthcare reform never mention this.

*****************

The article by Gingrich misses the point.

Corporate models of competition are not the answer to reform. Unlike business, healthcare is a public-health and safety issue. Just as the police department cannot refuse to help me because I cannot afford to pay for safety and the fire department cannot refuse to help me because my house had a prior fire, healthcare should not be based on private corporate interests and profit.

Like the fire and police departments, healthcare should be taxpayer-supported and equal (as much as possible) for all Americans.

*****************

What's "real scary" about the article is how wrong Gingrich can be. I don't know where he has been lately, but the health insurance companies ration care right now with no oversight.

Want a liver transplant? Sorry, that is experimental. Want that new cancer treatment? Sorry, also experimental. Are you costing the insurance company too much money? So sorry, you forgot to tell us you had a high blood pressure reading years ago. Or we deny payment for the surgery we authorized last month after you have been paying us for 30 years.

I worked in healthcare for 10 years and know how difficult the current system is for doctors, hospitals and patients. We now have a chance for real reform, not to just put Band-Aids on the current system, as proposed in the article.

*****************

I did a double-take reading Gingrich's article warning against healthcare rationing. He first argues that the current plans to reform healthcare will give the government unprecedented and unaccountable control over your healthcare, and then goes on to argue that proposed reforms could lead to cuts in Medicare benefits. The last I checked, Medicare is itself a government program that was passed despite the same arguments against expanding the role of government.

If Gingrich believes that government control is a threat to individual freedom, then why is he defending Medicare?

******************

I wish Gingrich would explain why he thinks I have less freedom with my Medicare and more freedom with my private dental insurance plan.

Based on my experience, just the opposite is true. But then I'm basing my judgment on my own experience in the real world, and Gingrich is mouthing the platitudes of a political ideology.

******************

I have practiced medicine for over three decades, caring for children with catastrophic medical conditions. I have been heartened by remarkable discoveries and innovations and saddened by the loss of public trust in medicine as a profession. I welcome a vigorous debate about national healthcare reform.

Sadly, there's nothing new in Gingrich's attacks on healthcare reform. There is now a possibility for progress and change. Yet opponents like Gingrich would rather fight the same old partisan political battles.

Gingrich says the crucial test of any reform package is whether it will "empower individuals or impose on them." I agree, but let's have a reality check here also. Failure to reform healthcare has imposed huge financial burdens on every U.S. taxpayer. We're now on the verge of substantial reform. And it's legitimate to raise questions about where we're headed. But beware of the attempts to derail progress with scare tactics, personal attacks and bogus claims. Our nation has backed away from reform before, and our system is worse for it.

I'll tell you what the truly scary option is: It's doing nothing.

The writer is the dean of the school of medicine at Stanford University.

I posted every letter. There were none supporting Newtie's op-ed, not one.

L.A. Times readers: Health care is in critical condition

By GottaLaff

(via)

L.A. Times readers have something to say about the so-called health care debate:

Re "The sick status quo," Editorial, Aug. 13

I was one of many nurses, doctors and dentists who volunteered to provide basic medical care to the public at the Forum in Inglewood. Remote Area Medical started out providing services in Third World countries. Now it has set up shop in one of the largest and most affluent urban areas in the country.

Among those seeking care were people who had insurance but couldn't afford the deductibles and those who needed services that their plans didn't cover. Several patients with asthma, diabetes and/or high blood pressure had recently lost their jobs. They brought empty containers for prescriptions they could no longer afford.

Charity events are no substitute for comprehensive reform. We need a healthcare system that doesn't leave patients at the mercy of private insurers. Single-payer legislation is the only plan that would make this a reality.

***************

I am ashamed that our nation has so many sick people who must rely on charity for nonemergency care. In what other industrialized nation does such a situation exist?

Yet there are many Americans who do not want reform. They are being fed distortions and lies, leading them like dumb sheep to clamor vociferously for no change to the status quo. With a few more years of the status quo, most of these people will be vociferously demanding reform. It will happen when enough of us are unable to afford health insurance, or have policies canceled by insurers, or are forced into bankruptcy because of a catastrophic illness, or watch a loved one die for lack of medical care.

What we see now at the Forum is just a preview of what we will see in the future.

*****************

Thank you for finally printing a pertinent view on the current healthcare debate. We have become a nation of sensationalists who crave the drama of actors and frauds over the plight of real people. The media are guilty of choosing to report the events unfolding at these town hall meetings, which are merely a venting forum for a disgruntled minority of our society.

The real issue at hand is as you state: people needing care that they cannot get.

Do something about this instead of just reading about it. Go here for phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

Jonah Goldberg blasted for being pro-health care... for his dog

By GottaLaff

Jonah ::shudder:: Goldberg wrote one of his regular columns in the L.A. Times that got the usual response (his columns consistently get extremely negative feedback, along with requests to rid the paper of his ridiculousness). Another day, another Jonah cur-fuffle.

He wrote about how our canine pals are apolitical and swell and stuff, and how he took his to a neurologist, and how that makes Jonah nearly as warm and fuzzy as an apolitical dog, and... well, follow the link and read the letters. They have a real bone to pick and gave him a bit of a r-r-ruff time:

Re "Dogs don’t care about dogma,” Opinion, Aug. 11

I'm happy to read that Jonah Goldberg loves his dog, Cosmo; it somehow makes him more human. But does he realize there are millions of Americans who don't have access to the expensive and easily accessed medical care that Goldberg is able to provide for his pet?

I'm sure he and Cosmo did not spend an entire day sitting in some free-clinic waiting room, nor did they anxiously seek care at an emergency room. And of course Cosmo, regardless of any preexisting doggy conditions, was not denied medical treatment or the battery of tests necessary for these treatments, nor did he lose his coverage if he lost his job chasing balls in the doggy park. I begrudge Cosmo none of these advantages.

I like dogs very much. I just can't help thinking of the millions of Americans who would sure envy Goldberg's dog.

***

What a guy! Isn't Goldberg wonderful? How loving of Goldberg to take his dog to a neurologist. How wrong this liberal could be to think that a conservative doesn't have a heart.

I'm nauseated.

Goldberg's sweet column about taking his dog to a neurologist even though he is a conservative only shows how unfeeling he is. What about the parents who are told by their insurance company that they are not covered for a CAT scan for their child? What about the people who do not have insurance?

If true conservatives can think lovingly only of their animals and not of people, then we can only equate them as being heartless and uncaring toward people in need.

Once again, Jonah's in the L.A. Times dog house. He may have to flea for his life. Life's a bitch, ain't it?

35 Cent Health Care

By GottaLaff

I found an excellent letter to the editor in today's L.A. Times:

In 1967, on the first night of spring break in the Bahamas, I slammed my rented motorcycle into a telephone pole midway through a hairpin curve. Every other day for the next two weeks, I spent a couple of hours sitting on benches at a clinic with dozens of locals, waiting until a doctor could inspect my huge leg abrasion and change the bandage. It cost me, a visiting foreigner, 35 cents a visit.

Today, the richest and most powerful nation in the world still cannot bring itself to rise to the level of healthcare offered 42 years ago by a tiny nation. I don't know whether to laugh or cry at our foolishness.

For less than the cost of a postage stamp...