Dumping My Trump Tirade

To the great relief of most of my friends and the dismay of only a few, I’ve reached one of those crossroads decisions. Realizing that nothing I post on Facebook about the absurdity that is Donald Trump reaches anyone who already doesn’t generally agree with me, I faced the decision, again, to deactivate my account and leave FB altogether, or simply to Dump Trump.

Some Things Just Aren’t Worth the Bother

I chose the latter. I’m Dumping Trump. He’s not worth the bother.

So, no more posts about his illegal, immoral, inept, inconceivable, cruel and evil actions and behaviors. No more repostings. No more sharing articles about the damage his people are doing to the America we love, from education to the environment to the economy. Enough already.

Preaching to the choir may make sense to some, but it seems increasingly fruitless to me. And I don’t think it’s making me a better person. My friends know what a buffoon Trump is, so why waste my time and energy? There are too many positive things to share — lots of fun family photos, great travel experiences (and the occasional foible), an amazing amount of good music to post that either takes us back to a better time or introduces new artists to an older generation that needs to feel their energy and vibe.

But Some Great Ideas Deserve Discussion

While my personal Facebook page is leaving Trump and politics behind, The Doke Dispatch occasionally may delve into some of the great ideas worth expounding upon. For instance, I’m rather new to Medicare and was shocked to find it to be one of the most efficient and smoothly run programs I’ve ever encountered from my government. It works beautifully.

Bernie’s “Medicare for All” may sound absurd to some, but on closer inspection I love it. Now I have the government safety net, but also the personal choice to engage with the private insurance industry for supplemental coverages that I may need and can afford. The cost pressure that Medicare puts on providers is simply amazing to see — and the prices they aren’t able to lower, the private insurers manage to hammer down even more.

So, I’ve concluded that the scare tactics of the right-wing that wildly claiming multiple trillions of dollars of new costs for “Medicare for All” are simple nonsense. There will be huge cost savings in the long run as the private insurance industry shrinks and those employees get redeployed to handle Medicare claims for everyone. A job’s a job after all, so only the overpaid executives may have to alter their lifestyles a bit. And I predict the cost savings will multiply as the outrageously out-of-control healthcare provider system — from docs, to hospitals to pharma — are forced to bring their pricing down to what they’ll be paid, not what they want to charge.

I was an executive inside a large healthcare system when it decided to move a lot of routine services to “hospital based” because they could charge more. The services were exactly the same, but the whole system was designed to allow them to upcharge because these were now “hospital based” services. And my team had to explain that logic to our patients!

That sort of loophole is just one of the ways healthcare consumers are being ripped-off, and it all can be stopped if the government and private insurers collaborate and decide that enough is enough.

See you, Donald. Enjoy Not Being President.

The other reality influencing my Facebook decision is that Donald Trump’s days are numbered, unless you count those he’ll spend in utter humiliation. The man is a crook. His family members and companies are enriching themselves at taxpayer expense. Ignore the fact that his policies are cruel and evil and changing with the wind — and focus instead on the fact that he simply will not survive the investigations now underway. He’ll be impeached or he’ll resign. I feel it in my bones, as my grandmother used to say.

The evangelical conservative positions of Pence will be a nightmare, but at least he’s not stark-raving mad. And, he won’t be able to survive pardoning Trump any more than Ford survived pardoning Nixon. So, it’s just a matter of time until we have someone sensible in the White House, Republican or Democrat. And there are Republicans like Kasich and Huntsman who I could live with, though I’d rather see Bernie or Elizabeth Warren or even young Joe Kennedy as President.

But, for now, American’s don’t need my daily help on Facebook pointing out what a fool and disaster Trump is. Even his voters are getting it.

For me, it’s “So long, Donald and your merry band of sycophants.” It’s time for me to focus on what’s good and to leave the slimy creatures and their misdeeds behind.