"I used to tell my friends..."
By David Swanson
I used to tell my friends – or maybe I was just talking to myself – that my ideal job would involve traveling. Lots of travel … to some place different … every week … and living in hotels. I mean, who wouldn’t want to live in a hotel all the time? Someone makes your bed every day, tidies up for you. You never have to wash a dish again!
Well, I’ve gotten my wish. Sort of. You see I live in Chicago with my wife, aka “wifey,” and my three month old son, Benjamin. Wifey is finishing her pediatric residency in the city. One year left. Yes, I’ll be happy when it’s over and we’re back here in North Carolina, where I work as a lawyer. For now I “travel” almost weekly from IL to NC. And it’s getting old, really quickly.
Speaking of old, I thought I’d talk about some old law today; i.e., the law of the land . The constitution’s been in place since, what, 1787? Ratified, modified and amended numerous times since. Not without some controversy either. Which brings me to an invitation my partner recently received. It was to join a “secret” group that had as its mission to “take back the country.” Honestly, at this point in our history, I’m not sure why anyone wants it, but hey, sounds innocent enough. Fool-hardy, perhaps, but whatever floats your boat, I think as he continues.
One of the main provisions of membership is that you must swear to uphold the constitution of the Republic of the United States” as it was amended up to 1860. Hum… What does that mean? What about after 1860. Um, no upholding. No observing. In fact, “taking back the country” means taking it back to the law of the land in 1860. And exactly what might that be? Well, we’ll be going back to slavery with no due process for nobody and uh, yeah, no vote for woman and blacks.
In other words. “Back to the Basics,” as this super-secret group longingly remembers them. Since it’s a real group and from what my partner tells me a real person gave him a real “super-secret” invitation with a real look of “taking back the country” in his eye, I’d say, there’s some pretty scary stuff brewin. More on that later.
Almost too much for little ole me to
contend with at the moment so I’ll stick to figuring out how to
avoid Medicaid liens on real property for seniors facing a
stint in a nursing home. Which is to say, if you don’t have
enough private long-term care insurance – and who does really –
you’ll have to sell your soul before you can apply for Medicaid
benefits. Your soul and your house. Of course you can gift it
to an adult child or another heir and hope that you don’t have
to go to the “big house” for another five years – that’s the
period in which they can reach back and take the proceeds
and/or penalize you for trying to give your hard-earned assets
to whomever you want. So best to get informed now. Start your
research here: http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/