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It's a rare day when Hollywood celebrities invoke God or His blessing on any thing or anyone---but it has happened.
Rosie O'Donnell, Cher and a number of others are asking God to bless John McCain.
Personal note. Yesterday morning on our live radio program, I mentioned that I felt Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci was going to be a major problem---not a solution for the Trump administration. We mentioned that we feel he is self centered and self serving. We were apparently not the only one who felt that way. Almost immediately following retired Marine General John Kelly becoming Chief of Staff yesterday morning---Scaramucci was fired---10 days after he had been hired. Great decision.
Rosie O'Donnell, Cher, and others are actually asking God to bless John McCain, and are showering him with love and affirmation for casting a decisive vote as one of 3 Republicans who joined all the Democratic senators in killing the attempted repeal of Obamacare.
Rob Reiner, Billy Cyrstal and others are calling him a "hero."
This is a link to their tweets.
There are many ironies in this.
Interestingly, it was John McCain who repeatedly called for the repeal of Obamacare after it became law in 2010, yet when given the opportunity to actually repeal it, he and two of his Republican colleagues killed the opportunity to kill Obamacare.
This is a video of some of McCain's dramatic appeals to repeal. If it wasn't so sad and didn't affect so many people's lives, it would be humorous---but in light of its gravity---it's pathetic.
What has changed? Is John's personal dislike for President Trump such that it justifies these kinds of actions? Has McCain "evolved toward socialism?" Is his physical condition affecting his judgment?
Who knows? Only God knows his heart.
However, we do know that Congress' inability to act on health care is going to have ramifications that reach far beyond the political aspirations of the "public servants" we have elected.
According to recent data from the Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Health Insurance Exchanges Issuer County Map in 2018, 1332 counties in the US will have only one health insurer operating on the Obamacare exchanges and 49 will have none.
The map currently shows that nationwide, 49 counties are projected to have no issuers, meaning that Americans in these counties could be without coverage on the Exchanges in 2018, the agency says.
They are projecting that 1332 counties---over 40% of counties nationwide---could have only one issuer in 2018.
The data also shows that at least 27,660 Americans currently enrolled for health coverage on the Exchanges live in the counties projected to be without any coverage in 2018.
CMS is predicting that because of lack of options in the health care market, more than 2.3 million Obamacare participants may not be able to receive the coverage they need.
Average premiums between 2016 and 2017 rose by 21.6%, while participation in the Health Insurance Exchange has declined by 31.2%.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma told the press, "I am deeply concerned about the crises situation facing the individual market in many states across the nation."
It's unfortunate that our elected officials can't find that level of concern.
It was John F. Kennedy who popularized the phrase, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
Perhaps that's a thought that could be re-introduced--- not necessarily to the youth of our country, but to those mature folks whom we have elected to look out for the best interests of we the people, rather than their own aspirations regarding their next election.
Self-service vs public service is not new to our generation.
Founding Father Samuel Adams got fed up with it today, August 1, back in 1776 when some were trying to please both the King and the colonists:
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the
Tranquility of servitude better than the
Animating contest of freedom, go home from
us in peace. We ask not your counsels or
arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which
feed you. May your chains set lightly upon
you, and may posterity forget that ye were
our countrymen."
~ Samuel Adams, speech at the
Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776