It is impossible to comprehend the magnitude of the ACA as the COVID-19 rages. However, one thing is not quite immerging in the never-ending media surge of deaths, infections, and vaccines — namely the costs of hospitalizations from Covid and the more insipid aftermath…insurance coverage.

Covid-19 is going to create havoc financially to households and insurance companies (not that I have much sympathy for insurance companies). Clearly, the medical establishment will have bills going out to the fortunate who survived as well as the families of those infected who have tragically passed away.

No one can quantify the economic impact…

Historians often remind us (because we clearly need reminding) that once there was ‘A Greatest Generation.’ The men and woman of all races and creeds took to the South Pacific Seas, the Normandy Beaches and the White Cliffs of Dover to dismantle murderous regimes.

But there was so much more to fix here at home and abroad. From FDR to JFK to Nixon and Reagan and Obama, there has been a ceaseless march to form a ‘more perfect union.’ …

Just in case you missed it, on the campaign trail President Trump let out a sound that only someone paying close attention could decipher. Mr. Trump said on Twitter that “people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream” would “no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood.” He went on to proclaim [without any proof], “Your housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down.”

That is a dog whistle…more like a screech. Let’s translate: You white folks in your white picket neighborhoods don’t want any brown or black…

Metaphor Café Lesson #1:

This is the first in a series of lessons I used to teach in my classroom: aka The Metaphor Café. Today is a reminder of theme — what is being explicitly or implicitly expressed in a work of art. I hope this resonates.

Winston Groom, the author of Forrest Gump, explained why he wrote the novel to NPR’s correspondent one morning (as I drove to school). Groom was so happy that the interviewer asked him directly for the theme of the book. He replied, “We all can’t be rich or smart. But we all can treat each other with dignity.”

…

*Let me assume two important events occur: Biden wins and a transfer of power occurs peacefully (exit Trump stage way right…perhaps to another country that will not extradite him…Russia/ Saudi Arabia). If I do not assume these things, then there is no point in having any discourse about rational American goals. Actually, America will be under minority rule with a fascist leader and everything listed below will matter. (Part 2 of 2016 Priorities)

1. Climate Change / Global Warming : David Attenborough gives us 10 years (2030) before vast portions of Earth are no longer livable due to the temperature…

It is always intriging to look back in time to see what America faced four years ago.The original date of this essay — November 2016. Mr. Trump was President-Elect and Americans had ‘ campaign promises’ of his priorities. Here is a look back and my grades on his performance: October 27, 2020.

The Updated Top Ten Issues Facing President-elect Trump in 10 Days and Counting…

In a matter of weeks, President-elect Trump will be a reality; he will need to address all of these issues. This is the most popular blog I have written with over 400 page views, and…

I could have titled this essay ‘Trump Being Trump,’ but that would imply that the my theme is limited to one phony reality television show acting as carnival barker, utterly unqualified and far too ignorant to have plausibly be considered for the position of the most powerful leader in America. Actually, I hope to never have to write another essay about him. Instead I decide to use the generic X (and a play on letters with Y being ‘why.’ First, let’s consider this tragic year.

Irony is the buzzword of 2020. So much has happened in this topsy-turvy year that…

I do not take Trump, the person, seriously. That’s not to say the nation should not take the threat that his presidency has created as a serious matter — 200,000 and climbing serious.

Merriam Webster explains that in the theater a farce is “an empty or patently ridiculous act, proceeding, or situation.” These four years of the Trump Troupe has elevated foolishness to an art. Trump is the lead actor in this theater of the absurd. He does not care about anything but his ego, terrified at the prospect of being a ‘loser’ or the parlance of the Broadway boards…