Bush is addressing the nation on Rosh Hashanah. I can't watch him speak, but I've read he is assuring his fellow Americans of withdrawing some US troops from Iraq at some point as long as we put up with the current "surge:"

"The more successful we are, the more American troops can return home."

Ya gotta hand it to him--he's proof that nuts can run a nuthouse.

Not surprising when I am surrounded by news and issues that are more and more outlandish, yet they are more and more being accepted by an acquiescent and overwhelmed public.

For instance, my wife had a routine yearly mammogram in April which is one of the only few items covered and paid for up front by our Blue Cross policy. We are privileged to pay $715 per month for a "preferred provider" plan which means we can go to any M.D. contracted with Blue Cross, and we pay $5,000 deductible out of pocket before dollar-1 is paid by Blue Cross.--Except for yearly pap smears, mammograms, and office visits and a couple of other items. Drugs have a $750 deductible per year per person.

Anyway, Cindy briefly mentioned a twenty-year-old long-term issue to our Dr., who put it on his orders for the "routine" mammogram, so Blue Cross would not pay the "routine" payment, and instead applied $600+ to our deductible--in other words, we have to pay $600 for a procedure for which we normally pay $50.

I'm not done--after MONTHS of communications with a VERY compassionate credit lady at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, CA, and some not-so-successful attempts to reach the physician regarding his "coding" of the mammogram order--which by the way was not needed since Cindy was due for a "routine" yearly mammogram anyway--the Dr. FINALLY changed his coding for the procedure order as "ROUTINE!"

Then the compassionate lady in credit at Mission Hospital phoned me to explain that Blue Cross no longer covers ANY mammograms at Mission Hospital as "routine" because of some red-tape story that I can't even remember to repeat here -- and I'm pretty good at repeating details. Something to do with the hospital taking over the imaging facility and without an "office visit" charge the facility can't be considered "routine." etc and whatever.

So now that we won--the Dr. changed the order to satisfy Blue Cross--we're still gonna owe $600 for a $50 mammogram. And if I miss one monthly payment I'll be sent to collections.

And I wonder why we the people put up with Bush's nonsense??

At least he could have waited until after the first day of Rosh Hashanah to try to save his legacy again...Yom Kippur is the "Day of Atonement."