I’ve been following the case of Andy Dougherty (sort of) in the Des Moines Register of late and I have to say, I am very intrigued by it.  I’ve really enjoyed reading the comments after today’s op-ed piece; they are a great illustration of how some people can completely lose sight of objective reasoning and get swept up in the mob mentality.  Mob justice never accomplished anything worthwhile.  On the other hand, there are several comments that show how objective some people can truly be.  With such a sensitive topic, it takes a lot of courage to stick up for people accused of such crimes and I commend anyone who does.  Not everyone accused of a sex crime is a monster.

It seems to me like I had a lot more to say on that earlier, shortly after I read the article in this morning’s paper, but now, not so much.  Guess that just goes to show how an initial reading can inflame the passions and how time can temper things.  On the other hand, I read an article a little while ago about extending Medicaid to those between the ages of 19 and 65 who have no children and meet income guidelines.  The lone comment concerns the tax money that would be used to pay for such an expansion of benefits and while I agree that the author has a point, I still don’t think that it would be a terrible idea.  If you don’t have health insurance, you’re pretty well screwed if you have any sort of health problem.  Yes, taxpayers would be footing the bill, but at least in Iowa, if you’ve ever been on any sort of state aid, the state will come back and collect from your estate.  Coffer replenishment partly solved (not everyone’s estates have enough money to repay the state).  I have a problem with people that abuse the welfare system, but not everyone on welfare is playing the system.  Sometimes even when you work full-time, you just can’t afford things and you need help.  I speak from experience.  It was personally embarrassing for me to be on welfare, but at the time, I needed the help and I was not too proud to take it when it came to my family’s well-being.

I work full-time but am unable to afford health insurance; the premiums for decent coverage are just prohibitively expensive.  It’s a problem for me as some of the medication I take is also prohibitively expensive.  And yet, the expanded Medicaid program would be of no use to me because I have a child.  I would still advocate for it, though, because for some people, it would really be a Godsend.  If you’ve ever had to choose between groceries and a trip to the doctor for your sick child, you know what I mean.

Okay, I’ll get off my high horse now.  In other news, it’s a beautiful day outside again and I wish I didn’t have to be cooped up inside.  Maybe we can take the kids to the park tonight or something and just enjoy being outside.  Or maybe we could curl up in the hammock while the kids play in the yard…

*sigh* Can I go home yet?

Eight days till September 3…

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