Despite having absolute control of two branches of the federal government, Democrats have not been able to push the federal healthcare takeover through Congress. That may change this week, depending on threats, promises and cajoling by Dem leaders who want something done at any cost. But a poll released on Monday by Independent Women’s Voice found what the activist organization calls “astonishing intensity and sharp opposition to reform.” The poll was conducted by the Polling Company.

The US Report, in the interest of ethics in reporting, does not refer to Democrat plans for healthcare as ‘reform.’ We prefer the accurate term: government takeover.

In an editorial about healthcare at The Wall Street Journal, IWV CEO Heather Higgins and The Polling Company CEO Kellyanne Conway said the national polls Dem leaders cite as showing support for their plans relate to support for “individual provisions of the bill…”

And the two offer a warning to ‘vulnerable politicians’ about political fallout. “Responses to questions about individual benefits, particularly when removed from a cost context, are different from those on the whole bill.”

The poll found 7 in 10 respondents “would vote against a House member who votes for the Senate healthcare bill with its special interest provisions.”

The poll also found respondents had a dim view of the reconciliation process receiving so much media attention. Democrats may believe problems will be fixed if the Senate bill is passed, but voters don’t. The poll found, “Sixty-three percent (50% strongly) think reconciliation is at best a political promise and their congressman shouldn’t vote for the Senate bill if he doesn’t agree with it as written.”

A number of Democrat operatives made the Sunday talk show circuit in hopes of drumming up support with the public for a bill few Democrats have even read.

Many political analysts have questioned the constitutionality of a mandate for health insurance, with  Internal Revenue Service powers broadened so the mandate can be enforced. Hispanic advocacy groups don’t like the prohibition for those in the country illegally, although the same people receive automatic care on demand in US hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

Most lawmakers have not considered the impact of government healthcare on delivery of services, but most Main Streeters realize that a new entitlement program will cost the middle class and erase any so-called benefits the government has promised.

Government intrusion into mortgage lending, car manufacturing and the energy sector has driven consumer costs up and created serious economic challenges for the US. Should the government succeed in taking over healthcare, most of us believe the middle class will pony up to cover the costs and the quality of care will certainly decline for everyone except the truly wealthy.

Our weekly routine can become overwhelming as we try hard to make appointments, meet deadlines and eat three meals a day. Frozen meals at lunch and recipes from Campbell’s soup cans for dinner are our “breaks”, although work is typically the topic of discussion during both. Even the long walk after work is spent restraining two hyper dogs, one of which nearly matches my own weight. This particular pup, of course, was my husband’s choice.

 As hectic as the work week is, the social committee in our condo community in Florida began holding monthly wine tastings the second Monday of each month. At first, I thought of how Mondays are typically spent preparing for the possible inconveniences Tuesday through Friday may bring. The idea of trying to attend a social gathering on a Monday evening seemed laughable. However, this monthly ritual has proven to be quite the opposite, and has also taught us a valuable life lesson.

Hosted by a local wine bar, these wine tastings usually entail four to five different types of wine, all of which come from a common region. A certified sommelier provides a description and history of each pour, and there are snacks such as hummus, cheese and meatballs provided by the bar. We’ve come to expect the same familiar faces each week, and although work may come up in conversation, the discussions tend to focus more on ways to improve the community and other activities that the social committee could plan.

Aside from the convenience of being able to walk back to our house from these tastings, these gatherings are also nice because they remind us that pleasure and relaxation are not just for Saturdays and Sundays. Life just wasn’t meant to be lived that way. Although many of us do not enjoy the luxury of flexible schedules, taking advantage of opportunities to be around people we enjoy, doing things we enjoy doing, are vital to staying happy. As dreaded as Mondays are, the second Monday of each month seems a little more hopeful as we look forward to our quiet evening stroll over to the clubhouse.

So whether it’s a community event or a private gathering of friends, we take time each week to stop and taste life for a little while. As my husband and I listen to our sommelier describe the perfect pairing of an aged cheese with the rich berry flavors of an Australian Merlot, I think of how lucky we are to be together and smiling. With that to chew on, Tuesday just doesn’t seem so bad.

The video shows the care given to folding the flag according to procedure during a funeral for a veteran.On January 6, 2010, the love of my life passed away.  It was a beautiful experience for many reasons.  I could not have asked God for a more perfect scenario for the realization of the vows we took over 21 years earlier, “Until death do we part.”

First and most importantly less than 4 weeks before my husband passed away he accepted Christ as his Savior.  He wrote in a journal I found days before his death, “I do wish I could find religion.  It would make my honey so very, very happy and give her peace of mind.  But, try as I do, it just won’t happen now.  If we are both lucky, some day it is possible.”   How wonderful to find out that he had been seeking God for years.  

We brought my husband home with hospice on New Year’s Day.  I can honestly say before he drifted away in the inevitable way one does with kidney failure, we truly experienced the peace of God that passes all understanding.  He said things like, “Baby, I feel so good…It is so peaceful…I could just purr.” 

In the last conversation he had on this earth he said with a big smile on his face, “Life is good!”  Even in death, his sweet positive nature that touched so many people who knew him was still present.  What a precious gift those beautiful moments were to me.

When I asked my husband how he wanted me to handle the arrangements, he said to do what I wanted, but to get the American flag to which all veterans are entitled.  We had a wonderful celebration of his life at my church, but I never got to tell him that I made the decision to inter his ashes at the Jacksonville National Cemetery.  The funeral home told me what the cemetery offered to veterans. 

Coincidentally, Congressman Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), whose campaign office I’ve worked in for the last 4 and half years, was primarily responsible for obtaining the cemetery and its funding for North Florida.  I remember how much bringing the cemetery meant to the Congressman.

 I didn’t realize how meaningful it would be to the veterans and their families until I experienced the very moving honor ceremony with the playing of Taps and the presentation of the flag to me with these words, “This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation as a token of appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service.” 

To know that beautiful marker among many will be there as a monument to my wonderful husband with his name and the words I chose, “The most excellent of men,” give me great joy and comfort.

In this time of anger and frustration with Washington, it is important for all to understand serving constituents requires fighting for many different issues.  Sometimes it is fighting against things that threaten our country’s future. 

Sometimes it is fighting for things like a National Cemetery so that veterans can be honored on behalf of a grateful nation. 

Spc. Ian Gelig was killed when a suicide bomber drove onto the Tarnak River Bridge. [Photo from US Army 82nd Airborne Div.]For an idea of the complex command structure necessary when different countries form a coalition in wartime, look no further than a post by war correspondent Michael Yon who is currently reporting from Afghanistan. The Bridge, a story posted by Yon on Thursday, discloses challenges in covering a country known for historic British and Russian military blunders. What’s even more intriguing is how much capital rests on a simple bridge in a country where transportation is tricky even on a good day. Yon wrote, “In Afghanistan, there might not be another route for hundreds of miles.”

Ironically the enemy is less affected if a strategic bridge is lost because they rely on less sophisticated weaponry and tactics.

How important is the Tarnak River Bridge? Yon wrote, “Yet this sorry little bridge is important to the United States and NATO, both for the sake of logistics, and, these days, strategy.  If the Tarnak river bridge were to be destroyed before or during the upcoming offensive, that inconvenience would become a genuine impediment to movement of troops and supplies.”

By necessity the defense of an area is broken into components—one fighting force is responsible for the land around the bridge, another is responsible for the bridge itself and so forth and so on.

On Monday, March 1, a suicide car bomb exploded on the Tarnak River Bridge.

And shortly thereafter Yon set out to learn who was actually responsible.

He asked, “Which Coalition partner has final responsibility for this strategic bridge?  Is it the RAF who “own” the ground, or TF-K who mentor the ANP guarding the bridge?  If an officer were to say this vital bridge is solely the responsibility of the ANP, his judgment would be deemed unsound.”

Yon’s article explains all those alphabet groups. If you want real war stories, bookmark Yon’s site. It's set up as an online magazine.

His article is a journey into the story of a bridge that on the face of things is probably not an expensive bridge or a work of architecture worth noticing. Yet the structure is a vital element in a major offensive. Media didn’t ask key questions about what happened and when the story was reported, facts were sorely lacking.

Yon wrote, “Media outlets chose to cite a source that ignored the fact that a strategic bridge was attacked, and instead focused on diversions, such as the timing of the Olympics, versus the damage to a strategic bridge under the very nose of a NATO general.  This diversion might serve to illustrate the ratings-driven focus from ‘news’ outlets seeking manufactured, inconsequential controversy.”

The day the suicide car bomber damaged the bridge, Spc. Ian Gelig was killed. Other soldiers were wounded. Civilians were also killed. The Contra Costa Times (Calif.) said the suicide bomber drove into Gelig’s vehicle on the bridge. Gelig was an Army paratrooper.

One of Gelig’s fellow soldiers told media, “He was always there for you when you needed something."

After reading Gelig's obituary in the paper, I realized he will stay with me as so many others do long after this war is forgotten. The day I became a mother my memory seemed to expand exponentially, and at the same time I began to see a value in human beings from the perspective of a parent. My children created a thread connecting me to others—a sort of universal bond I never envisioned as a young woman determined to focus only on career. I never planned on children until the day I met the man I married and changed many things I never thought possible. That, by the way, was the best day of my life.

A thought arises, pestering like Florida no see ums, the annoying little midges that sometimes bite me at night when I am outside gazing at the stars.

For Spc. Gelig, so much—everything, really—depended on a simple bridge.

[*We give a nod to William Carlos Williams’ iconic poem The Red Wheelbarrow.]