It always concerns me when I see something, ANYTHING, from Fox Not-News I agree with. I worry my brain may be rotting. Fortunately, for me, they made this one a no-brainer. There’s a group out there that ranks ex Presidents. They call themselves the Presidential Greatness Project and self-describe as the, “…foremost organization of social science experts in presidential politics.” The 154 respondents to the survey included “current and recent members of the Presidents & Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association…as well as scholars who have recently published peer-reviewed academic research in key related scholarly journals or academic presses.”

That all sounds fine, like they might know a thing or two. I was still having trouble with the source, though. Fox Not-News is infamous for bringing on “experts” who know nothing and talk a lot anyway. But this particular team seems to have gotten it right. So, why did I read something from Fox Not-News? Because I wanted to know where they put the MAGA Precious. The source being the source, I suspected they’d have have him number one or two. Of course, Murdock got mad when Donny cost him $750 million dollars so, there was that. And THAT seems to have been the deciding factor in Fox reporting the story.

The Presidential Greatness Project placed Donny at dead last. Frankly, I think they STILL have him ranked a little high. We had one President who refused to wear a coat to his inauguration despite the wet weather and then gave the longest inaugural speech in history – in the rain. He caught pneumonia (just like your mom always said you would) and died about 30 days later. He never did anything as President, STILL higher than Donny. And that’s perfect. Doing nothing was FAR better than all the damage Donny did. Dead last. Perfect.

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I’m not a fan of Presidents Day. I think it’s kind of a slap to George Washington, making him share time with the likes of Reagan, 43, and the Precious. George Washington, I would celebrate. Reagan? The tool of Charles Koch, who introduced and popularized so-called “trickle down economics” and tricked people into believing in “welfare queens?” No. 43? The guy who lied the US into, not one, but TWO wrong-way wars that cost thousands of lives and billions (trillions?) of dollars, all for nothing but oil profits? Absolutely not. The moron MAGA Precious? The guy who lost more American jobs than any other President in history, killed more Americans than any President in history, committed more crimes than any President in history? Oh, HELL no!

I’ve never liked Presidents Day because it’s wrong to “honor” the failures along with the successes, just because of their job title. I’ve tolerated it – because I don’t have a choice. But Donny ruins everything. Now that HE has to be included on the list, I move we go back to Washington’s Birthday and leave the others aside…

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Donny finally got politically pressured into saying something publicly about Navalny’s murder at Putin’s hands. As you can imagine, it was stupid. He never mentioned his overlord and handler, Putin. He mentioned Navalny, then launched into how Navalny’s murder made him “more and more aware of what’s happening in this country.” Not yet, Dumbass. And if we can keep you out of the Oval, never. Pretty simple, really…

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Okay, so Gavin is trying something to put some lipstick on this pig but it’s actually just a waste of taxpayer dollars. He said he was going to provide tiny houses throughout the state for homeless people. Lots of city leaders resisted the idea. They cited zoning laws and “neighborhood resistance.” NOW he’s just sending money for the purpose. $30 million dollars for 1,200 tiny homes. Hyperbole alert: I’m not sure 1,200 tiny homes would solve the problem in my home town, let alone all of California. But he gets to say on the campaign trail that he tried things, and that seems to be the important part.

There is, and continues to be, exactly ONE WAY to reverse homelessness: Stop Wall Street from buying single family homes. Period. Nothing else will work. Everything else is window dressing – and a waste of resources…

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I woke up the other day with a sore throat. It was BAD. It was swollen. I could barely swallow and when I did, I regretted it immediately. Even breathing was a challenge. I’m normally a “Give it some time, it will go away,” kind of guy but I knew this was more than that. I needed help. Unfortunately, I only had Kaiser. But I was desperate, so I called, trying to find out if they have Urgent Care. Good luck just trying to see your doctor. Instead of Urgent Care, I got a phone appointment. Someone would get back to me within, you know, a few hours. Great. That’s exactly what a person in severe pain wants to hear; wait a few hours.

I DID, finally, get a call from a doctor who seemed competent. He knew his medicine, I guess, but he didn’t know anything about Kaiser procedure. He asked me a bunch of questions about my throat. He told me he’d write a prescription for something to reduce the swelling so I could swallow and, although he doubted I had Strep, thought a swab would be a good idea, just to be on the safe side. That all sounded reasonable. THEN, he told me to stick by my phone and someone would call me back with details – how to get the meds and the swab.

In standard Kaiser fashion, no one ever called. I spent yet another night in brutal pain, constantly concerned that I might choke to death on my own fluids. Hey, the threat was real. I had a VERY tough night and choked three times, seriously struggling just to breathe. In the morning, I went back to my patient portal and started looking, again, for Urgent Care or a number to call to find out what the hell happened. Buried deeply in the doctor’s notes, I discovered that the meds had been ordered but I had no idea which pharmacy. So, I decided to call the Pharmacy and see if they could guide me.

Kaiser buries it’s contact information very effectively on their website. I’m not too bad with computers and such but it took me quite awhile to find a number. I did, though. When I called, I was told I had to order the prescription. Sure, the doctor wrote it, but why the hell would Kaiser fill it until I specifically asked them to? So I asked them to. I was cheerfully told I could pick up those meds in about five days. FIVE days?!? I’m choking, here. Oh, well, in that case, I can just order the pills and go into the Pharmacy and they’ll expedite the order. Lovely.

I still had no plan for the swab but wanted the pills so I took off for the local Kaiser office. Now, it so happens that, in this building, the lab is right next to the pharmacy. It made sense to me that I could go put in the order for the pills, then go to the lab for the swab. I ordered the pills, then went to the ‘Walk-in’ line at the lab and stood there. And stood there. And stood there some more. A couple of ladies behind me in line commented on how the line hadn’t moved for some time. I was impressed by the level of understatement.

There was a woman, one, behind a counter, processing patients as quickly as she could. But Kaiser has TWO lines for the lab. One if you have an appointment, one if you’re a vile, ugly, little walk-in – and the appointment line, obviously, gets priority. The check in process seems to involve some really time-consuming stuff, too, so it takes awhile. I did, finally, get a turn.

I told the woman why I had come and she said, “Oh, we don’t do that here. They should have done that at the doctor’s office. You’ll have to go back to the doctor and let them do it.” Is now a good time to remind you that it was a telephone appointment? That would have required an awfully long swab. I didn’t even know where the doctor’s office was. For all I knew, it was in Timbuktu – and I don’t know how to get there.

I went and got the pills. Then? I had to get to work. Yes, really. (This is America. Sick days are for losers. Get to work.) In truth, I didn’t work hard and I didn’t work long. Fortunately, it was a short day. I came home and called Kaiser back. How the hell do I get the swab? I was told I’d get a call back. This time, I did. The young woman on the phone cheerfully told me that I needed to go to – are you ready for this? – Urgent Care for the swab!

So, where, I asked, is this mystical Urgent Care I wanted in the first place but never got? Oh, that’s building so-and-so in suite number whatever. You can go in the morning. Kaiser’s Urgent Care is one of their best kept secrets. I never went. The pills the doctor had prescribed had opened my throat and the symptoms were already subsiding, which would NOT have happened had it been Strep. But what a complete sh*t show.

It reminded me of a story I know about Kaiser. Back when Richard Nixon was President (yet another conservative scumbag we’re now supposed to “honor” on President’s Day) there came a time when he was quite concerned that America might have to do what every OTHER civilized nation on the planet had done and provide national health care to it’s citizenry. (Fortunately for the Capitalists, they avoided that fate.) Nixon preferred the Kaiser model – because, according to him, they had nearly perfected the art of NOT providing health care. They’ve had decades since then to perfect that model.

It’s just another of those moments where I count myself a victim of the ‘Greatest Country on the Planet.’™