"Don't let transgender penguins fool you..."

[brooklynite]

From Trump's new favorite TV network

Link to tweet

[Jeffersons Ghost]

1. I realize that it's no longer against DU rules...

But please try to avoid the temptation of publicizing right-wing media, no matter how absurd it makes Teflon Don appear.

[marybourg]

4. It's hopeless. I believe DU must be one of the

main propagators of rw memes in the country.

[0rganism]

2. so that's what a slippery slope paved with sloppy induction sounds like

amazing to see one fit so perfectly into its natural habitat...

[Ms. Toad]

3. The ONLY time my family depended on the government

was when I was a stay-at-home mom, my spouse was employed AND had health insurance that would have covered our daughter if (1) they had agreed to recognize our marriage and (2) the court had not expressly denied my spouse's righ to create a legal relationship with her daughter.

In 38 years (as of 9/11), the ONLY time we have needed - or even considered taking - government assistance was when we wanted (and spent lots of money trying) to be able to depend on each other as a family, and the government directly (via a court order) told us we should not be depending on each other as a family because we weren't a family.

At the time, our daughter had her first of 2 very expensive chronic medical conditions and could not get insurance on the private market for less than$18,000 a year. (Our pre-tax income in that era was no more than $40,000/year)

So which party is it that wanted my famliy to depend on the government?

(Nota bene: I am not disparaging anyone for whom government assistance is a lifeline. The safety net programs are critial - and there is no shame in using them under ordinary cirumstances. Personally I struggle with the 8 years my daughter was on government provided health care. We had money in the bank & retirement accounts. We would not have been penniless - at least not for a few years - if we had had to take the $18,000 a year for health insurance. Neither of us, since the age of 10-12, has had an empty bank account - or had ot live paycheck-to-paycheck. That's a luxury most people don't have - partly luck of the draw (we're white, we come from famlies that value education, etc.) and because we share a natural tendency is to do without and save.

So it infuriates me that I had to choose between using government assistance - and spending easily 130,000 more during those 8 years than we would have had to spend, but for the government's denial that my family exists.) And I feel guilty for choosing to keep that money in my pocket, when there are others who truly needed it more than we did.