From 'Birthers' To Death Panels: Blame It On August

Does life seem weirder and crazier than normal these days? Do you feel like you've fallen down a rabbit hole or gotten sucked into the twilight zone? It's not you, I promise. It's because of August, a month no one takes seriously, yet quite possibly is the most dangerous month of the year.

In 2001, David Plotz, editor at Slate magazine, proposed banning the month of August because nothing good ever happens in it. I'm completely on board with this idea. His article reappears on Slate every year in August, just to remind us how much better off we'd be if we simply got rid of it.

This August is a prime candidate for the trash heap of history. I say we just cancel it now, and dive right into September before we wade any further into the waters of stupidity running rampant in the country right now.

I realize calling someone or something "stupid" is less than politically correct. President Obama touched off a whole racial broohaha when he characterized Cambridge police officer James Crowley's overblown response and arrest of Harvard professor Henry Gates in his own home as "acting stupidly". Obama had to step back from that comment and smooth things over with the White House Lawn Beer Summit. It's a good thing it was held on the last day of July. No telling how things would've turned out had they waiting another 24 hours. August's arrival might have changed everything. Instead of calming their jets with a few cool ones and talking like civilized adults, things could have escalated. August will do that to a person.

Perhaps we're in need of a national Beer Summit to replace what's left of the month of August this year. Ignorance has become a national sport and August has become a freak show.

Take, for example, the frenzied protests taking place over the health care "debate". Does anyone else feel like they've let the crazies out of the institution and bussed them en masse to these town hall meetings?

See, it's just gotta be August's fault. It must be the heat that turns people's brains into mush, rewires their neurons so they fire backwards, has them discard logic and reasoning and turns them into " intellectually incurious and willfully ignorant" mobs who carry signs comparing Obama's health care reform to Nazi Germany, all the while protesting the government's intention to take over Medicare. Say what? The government already runs Medicare!

What can one say to this level of nuttiness? Most of the protesters are seniors, white, American and Medicare recipients. They don't want the government meddling in their health care decisions, but don't take away their Medicare. Can you say "psycho talk"?

Can you see what August has done to their ability to reason? They've been rendered incapable of connecting the dots between the Social Security checks they receive and the role of government in providing a safety net for the elderly. "Just get government off our backs", they chant! "We don't want government deciding who lives and who dies" is their response to proposed legislation that provides voluntary counseling for seniors' end of life care.

Hello? Is anyone home? We're all gonna die someday. Wouldn't it be better to have a plan in place while you're still capable of making decisions, such as having a living will with advanced heathcare directives? I paid an estate attorney to draft such a will for me. Obamacare would provide this service for free.

My parents had a living will and thank God. My brothers and I knew exactly what they wanted when the end came. We weren't faced with having to make a decision about whether or not to pull the plug. They had already decided how they wanted to die. Too bad Terri Schiavo's family didn't have one. It would have saved them and the rest of the country a lot of heart and head aches.

It's August's fault. How else to explain Sarah Palin's "death panel" comment on Facebook:

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care," Palin wrote.

Just when we thought Sarah couldn't get any nuttier, August arrives and all bets are off.

Thank God she resigned as governor of Alaska in July! Her decision to step down "in order to spare the people of Alaska a lame duck governor" probably made much more sense than whatever lame excuse she might have tried to foist on the public had August settled in.

By the beginning of August, there were already rumors of a Palin divorce in the making. She'd moved on, he'd moved out. Once again, Sarah took to that fountain of media credibility, Facebook, to debunk those rumors. No Palin divorce in the offing, just Sarah staying home, frying fish and hunting wolves. Doesn't that make you feel better already?

David Plotz points out some pretty nasty things that have happened in the month of August and I've added a few to the list. Among them:

World War I started in August, 1914.
Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed on August 6 and August 9, 1945.
Anne Frank was arrested on August 4, 1944.
The first income tax was levied in August, 1913.
Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977.
Marilyn Monroe died on August 5, 1962.
Nelson Mandela was arrested on August 5, 1962.
Mount Vesuvius erupted on August 24, 79 BCE.
The Charles Manson murders happened on August 9, 1969.
Hurricane Katrina, August 29, 2005.
Princess Diana was killed on August 31, 1997.
Richard Nixon resigns on August 8, 1974.
The Berlin Wall was created on August 15, 1962
Adolph Hitler came to power in Germany on August 19, 1934
Cleopatra committed suicide on August 30, 30 B.C.E.
Bush ignores intelligence stating Al Quaeda's plan to strike inside U.S. - August 2001
Sarah Palin announces Obama "death panels" August 8, 2009

See what I mean? August is a pretty scary month. I say we're better off without it.
For all the buzz about it being all lazy and doldrumy in August, we've taken some pretty big hits in the eighth month. For that matter, in a calendar year based on 12 months, what's the significance of the eighth month anyway?

Nothing's due in August; no tax payments, no school assignments. People know better than to expect anything significant to be handled when the late summer heat rolls around. Maybe that's why there are no holidays in August. We're all basically AWOL anyway. Who needs to bother with a holiday when everyone has already left the building? Just turn off the lights on August and leave the key under the door.

I like David Plotz's idea for August Reform Catch this:

August was created by politics, and it can be undone by politics. For too long, bureaucrats in Washington have been telling you how you must divide up your calendar. But these are your months, and you should be able to do with them what you like. Genuine August Reform will be hard. It will require tough compromises to protect the special interests of September and July. (And who better to sponsor this revolution, incidentally, than Sen. John McCain--birthday Aug. 29?)

Cede the first 10 days of August back to July, thus extending holiday revelry for more than a week. September would claim the last 10 days of August, mollifying the folks who can't wait to get back to serious work. Labor Day would come 10 days earlier, the school year would run longer, and the rush of fall activity could get jump-started. August itself will keep 10 days. That is just enough: Every summer we'll be able to toot happily, "Gosh, August went by so quickly this year!"

And as for the 31st day, it will be designated a holiday independent from any month. It will fall after the 10th and last day of August, and it will celebrate the end of that most useless month.

According to this plan, we've already used up our 10 days of August and it's time to move on. Until the political process catches up and gets with the program however, I suggest we call a National Beer Summit for the next 19 days. Everybody chill out, take some deep breaths, have a few cool ones and wait for August to blow over before we try to accomplish anything serious.

And just one more thing, a note to the town hall "crazies"....... We get your point. It's not that you're suddenly concerned about the finer points of health care reform. Republicans were in office for eight years and we didn't hear a peep from the right about the subject. You're against any kind of change brought to us by the first African American president you claim isn't even a citizen of this country. It has not gone unnoticed that you waited until August to produce the blatantly fake and forged Obama Kenyan birth certificate.

Yes indeed! We have August to thank for this. Birthers, death panelists, and town hall "crazies," please get back on the bus and allow the rest of us to deal with the more serious business of getting rid of August. Trust me, you'll thank us for it.

What's your strategy for riding out the rest of August? Please stop by the comment section and weigh in on this most important subject. We need your input! And while you're at it, click the Become A Fan button to receive automatic updates of this post. Also visit my personal blog and website: Rx For The Soul, www.judithrich.com. You can leave personal messages for me there by clicking on the contact button.

Blessings on the path,
Judith

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Comments

[LoudmouthLime]

August may not be a total loss for some. For example, gardeners may need to prune and fertilize their landscape. Weather permitting, this is a lovely and productive way to pass the time. Indoors, perhaps a ceramics class or for those on a budget, working with Play-doh may help blow off some steam. Yes, August deserves a second chance no matter how hot it gets. Those outside protesting Health Care reform may learn something from the manure spreading gardener. The gardener fertilizes to grow. The misinformed and angry spread fertilizer to, well, stink up the process.

And the hotter it gets, the more it stinks.

[twitsted1]

As Kent Jones said on Maddow last night..."J­erry! Jerry! Jerry!"

The bozos and nutjobs we ridicule on the Jerry Springer Show seem to be the most forceful voices in the health care/birth­er/deather­/Hawaii ain't a state "debates" recently. Screaming, punching, calling names, making sh *t up. I knew I saw this show before somewhere.­..

Jerry used to close with "Let's take care of each other"... they think he meant with pitchforks. Let's change that channel!

[scrutiny1]

I say take the all the birthers and deathers, dump the on an island and force them to live with each other.

[Angie Cordeiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Woodstock: August 15 to August 18, 1969 :-)

I was twelve and my mother said that if I was thirteen I'd be able to go; which I wasn't, so I couldn't. ;-(

Sang the songs, bought all the albums, so the August of 1969 was better than most ;-)

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

If I were making a list of the good things that happened in August, Woodstock would definitely be on that list. For that matter, just so we're not being overly "mean" to August, are there any other redeeming things that happened in August, ever? Seriously. I'm asking....­...

I know, a lot of wonderful people have August birthdays. Those are good things. But aside from that, any historical events of significance that impacted the world in a positive way?

Anybody?

[Carole Carson - Huffpost Blogger]

Why not add a few days to our favorite months? Who wouldn't enjoy a few more days in June? Or an extended fall to postpone winter blues? Voila! We would no longer need August.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Miss Carole Carson,

Brand new blogger on the Living page, welcome to the neighborhood and thanks for joining our discussion. We're attempting to make sense of the craziness this month. I like your idea of adding a few days to the spring and fall months. They're the best anyway, why not stretch them out?

See how easy it is to solve these worrisome problems? A stroke of a pen and poof! Cooler heads will prevail.

Thanks for stopping by, Miss Carole. Congrats on your new blog here on the Living page. Readers go check her out.

Blessings,
Judith

[Bearangaria]

Traditionally everyone's psychiatrist takes the entire month of August off.
They all loll around the Hamptons or go fishing or trekking
or biking or spelunking etc. and that is indubitably the problem.
You cannot have temperatures rising and therapists chilling
simultaneously. Mental health care professionals need to select a new month.
And quickly.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Bearangaria,

How brilliant to connect those dots! I didn't think of it before, but it makes perfect sense. Of course! Duh!

We must do something about this......

Thanks for the insight!

Judith

[Jim Selman]

Judith....­brilliant. Thank God someone finally figured out what is
really going on.

Jim

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Jim,

Thank David Plotz. He originated the idea and I expanded upon it. Makes sense, though, huh?

Best to you,
Judith

[JHCorcoran]

Amen!

[rxvette]

It's utterly amazing at how these republicans lie outlandishly. The house bill doesn't say anything about euthanasia or pulling the plug. It simply states that a VOLUNTARY decision from the covered individual may include help in understanding how to draw out a will or what pain medications are available to those in chronic pain with a terminal illness or an explanation of what hospice is. It says NOTHING about government making the decision themselves and I reiterate that it is 100% VOLUNTARY. Get the facts about it here - http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/aug/10/palin-death-panel-remark-sets-truth-o-meter-fire/

And for a look at what successful healthcare reform looks like from a health care professional (pharmacist) read this - http://bit.ly/9QLV8

[redsongia]

These people at the town halls have been hit hard by the recession. Most had no marketable skills to begin with, are grotesquely out of shape and too mentally unstable to work.

They can't afford vacation in August so they make stuff up and sign up for free bus trips to town halls, not caring much where they end up.

[Kari Henley - Huffpost Blogger]

Judith Rich- the stand up comedian!
I was cracking up through this entire piece. What a riot!

Except for the fact that 3 of my 4 children were born in August (like the gentleman below my comment) I suppose I could chuck the whole thing.
Maybe that is why the Europeans shut down everything in Aug. and go to the beach. Sit like slugs in the sun and wait it out.

Life has been crazy in my neck of the woods, and it is always SO much fun to have something to blame it on that can't defend itself. August: take that! :)
So glad you are here for us all!
Kari

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

What can I say, Kari? August made me do it!

August will do that to a person. Time to strike back! KAPOW!

Might as well have some fun with this......­.. what else is there to do?

Love,
Judith

[RobHughey]

Okay, this made me laugh quite a bit.

And let me tell you: the way things have been so far this month it is desperately needed.

Now, my birthday happens to be August 1st, and I have to admit it makes me cringe to know that the beginning of this awful time each year begins with the anniversary of my birth. I am willing to be a July-baby, however, for this cause.

-Robert

PS: So, by your accounts, we can hopefully look forward to a return to reason by September? I can hold out for a couple more weeks, but I just don't think I can handle this much crazy for the rest of 2009. My crazy-container is just about full...

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Rob,

Since your birthday is Aug. 1st, you might consider doing a quick 24 hr. advance and celebrate on July 31st. That would help out a lot. We need to clear the decks so that August can be eliminated from the calendar.

September, things get serious again. School starts, and cooler heads prevail. Just hold on, my friend. Only 18 more days to go! We can do this......­..

Best,
Judith

[EdgedInBlue]

In Scandinavia, most workers take at least one month off to enjoy the summer. They usually take June or July. What if we donated August to their cause? ;)

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Definitely! If they want it, they can have it!

[rsprags]

My Birth Month - POTUS, MJJ, just to name a few ; BIRTHER, DEATHER, and etc.., this is them every day!
LOL! HA, HA!

[mcartri]

I was born the day WWII ended: AUGUST 14, 1945. Put that in your pipie & smoke it!

[rsprags]

Great, I'm happy YOU are here with us! Blessings - there are NO death PANELS.

[mmgbizgirl]

At the core of it all is Ignorance, Fear, & Hatred. We've been repeating this cycle since the beginning of time. This country is still in it's infancy and this is the worst case of the terrible two's I've ever seen in my life.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

That's it! We've got a serious case of the "Terrible Two's". That means this, too, shall pass.

Maybe if we hold our breath....­.....

[jennylynn]

The Boston Globe exposed the mom at the townhall meeting who planted her kid in the audience to ask BO a healthcare question?? The mom belongs to the Mass. Women for Obama.
The dems are really getting desperate.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Hmmmmm. Didn't hear about this. Can you please fill in with some details?

Anybody?

[RobHughey]

The 11 year-old girl asked President Obama about the "mean signs" that people were holding outside. It was a perfectly age-appropriate question, and it appears that the girl asked her parents and they suggested she ask the President about it.

There is a huge difference between the girl's question and the countless foaming-at­-the-mouth obstructionists flooding the Town Hall meetings.

Personally, I don't know how I would have responded to that question. How do you tell someone who is barely in "double-digits" about the darkest parts of the human psyche? How do you tell a child that some people just really get off on being cruel, aggressive and threatening?

[propitiousmoment]

Why is that a plant? Someone who actually worked for Obama likely has an interest in showing up at one of his town halls. I worked for him, and if it were not for schedule conflicts I would have gone to great lengths to go to one when he was here in my area. There's no desperation in that; what's desperate is bussing in old people from out of state or out of town to scream inanities and wave lying signs and drown out the sincere people who want to gather info at a town hall. Sheesh.