I promised drama about super delegates, but didn't deliver. Sucks, eh.
It'll be eight years ago this May. Debbie Shank was coming home when she made a U-turn on Highway 177 in Cape Girardeau County and got broadsided by a semi truck. Debbie suffered severe brain damage. To this day she can't walk and only has use of her left hand.
Less than two years ago Jim and Debbie Shank's 18-year-old son Jeremy was killed in Iraq.
Why does this matter to you?
Wal-Mart paid about $470,000 for Debbie's medical expenses. The Shanks were also awarded about $900,000 in a settlement with the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees, $417,000 of that went in a trust to care for Shank's long-term care. Because of that settlement, Wal-Mart had the right to ask for its money back. Jim Shank says his attorney knew about the fine print in the insurance plan.
Wal-Mart subsequently sued the family for $470,000 - for medical expense reimbursement, plus interest and legal fees - and won. The Shanks appealed, but last week, the Supreme Court refused to hear their case so the Shank family must pay Wal-Mart.
The family's financial situation is also so dire that Jim recently divorced Debbie so she could get more Medicaid.
Last night, March 26, 2008, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann dubbed Wal-Mart the "Worst Person in the World" for suing severely brain-damaged Wal-Mart employee, Debbie Shank, for $470,000.
According to Olbermann, "...You know why people think of Wal-Mart and evil in the same sentence? Because of the crap you guys do like this...Wal-Mart: may your stores melt in the hot sun. Today's worst person in the world."
Can we all just agree that Wal-mart is off our Christmas list?