Is this a karmic thing?

What's up with this, Justice Roberts? 

Supreme Court Rules Health Care Reform Mandate Can Stand 

I haven't felt this hopeful since March 2010. Sorry to all you who are disappointed by this law being upheld as constitutional, but as a person with a chronic illness AND an imagination, I'm incredibly relieved and grateful. I'm also pleasantly surprised at Roberts. Lots of good information at scotusblog.com, if you're interested.


This is bizarre:

Twitpic of ACA opponents

(To the young woman holding the "Obamacare makes me sick" sign: I suspect an insurance company might classify that as a preexisting condition. But hopefully now you won't have to find out.)

The Grim Reaper supports Obamacare, because...? No, this really does not make any sense. I know they're trying to capitalize on the "death panel" line that was/is tweet-popular among opponents of the act. But to invoke the Reaper as grinning support is just silly to me.

I mean, the Grim Reaper isn't really supposed to be a representation of evil. It's death personified. And death is, well, death. Death is many things: inexorable, inescapable, unfair even, but not evil, not greedy, and certainly not discerning. Death doesn't need you to root for it or against it, because as mortals we'll probably always be against it, and it doesn't need to have a dog in this fight because it has already won.

I could root for Sir Ian's interpretation, though...

Death is for everyone! Our bodies will die, we're mortal, that's the way it is - whether we get crushed by a bus or blown up by a terrorist or if we have insurance or if we don't. If I'm lucky enough to live to a rotten old age, I'll probably be scared to die. (I'm a scaredy-cat in general, really.) It won't be what I'm used to. But nothing will stop it. (I mean, if Weyland's bazillions/stasis pod/supership didn't save him, what am I going to offer?)

So in sum: yeah, death and/or Death, it's not evil. It certainly doesn't give a hang about Obamacare, or any of the things we get excited about. Many people who talk shit about this law (and now this ruling upholding it) are big on peppering their rhetoric with threats of death. Oh, and fear and evil and dictators and the death of freedom and socialism, too, but lots of death, death, death. It's not an equation. Death cares about us all equally, guys. I bet it even supports Mitt Romney.

In super sum: If you mean the Devil or Evil or some personification of Evil, just say it! I still won't take you seriously, but I would allow you to be a bit more accurate.





This has been brought to you by the Fund For Things Peppery Takes Too Literally And/Or Seriously, co-sponsored in part by the Corporation for Peppery's Thoughts She Thinks Aren't Morbid (But Are). Thanks and goodnight.