I almost dropped my scone when I heard this on the telly:
Prince William will return to work after taking the two weeks’ paternity leave to which all British fathers are entitled.
You read that right. In Britain, home of socialized medicine (AKA Socialized Demon Spawn Job Killing Pagan Quackery) fathers of newborns get
paternity leave as an
entitlement. And it isn't just single fathers, or fathers of first-born sons, or even fathers of first-born sons who are heir to the throne.
Every.Fucking.Father.Is.Entitled.To.Paternity.Leave.In.Britain.
When you think about it, this is probably one of the few times "fucking" is not an epithet, but an appropriate and accurate adjective to describe these blokes. That just highlights the irony of how inappropriate it is that everyone is getting fucked in the US by our profit-driven healthcare system (AKA Free Enterprise Job Creating Jesus Loving High Tech Profit Center). Thanks to the party of "family values," we don't even have standardized maternity leave in the US. (I was going to say "in America", but then I remembered Canada is part of America.)
Even more ironic is the fact the British royal family uses a healthcare system Republicans deride as too "socialist" for American peasants. Just because that line of attack is ironic doesn't mean it's surprising. By now, we're all familiar with Liberal Fascists, Nazi Socialists, Fascist Socialists, and a whole host of equally mythical chimera that dwell in the fevered imaginations of right-wing hacks. I'm still waiting for that familiarity to breed contempt among the chattering classes.
I realize that everything boils down to celebrity these days. Apparently it is now against the law to talk about public policy on TV unless you can tie it to a pretty face. You want an even bigger slice of irony with a side dish of celebrity? No problem.
When Jay-Z and Beyonce had their baby, they spent a million dollars (OK, donated a million dollars) so the hospital would close down a floor for their personal use. That doesn't include the bill for the stay, the private room, the delivery, and anything else they used. Of course, the same right-wing nutjobs who complain about paying for other people's children will celebrate this saying "It's their money and why shouldn't they get the best?" That doesn't really address the problem so much as highlight the inequality, but we'll ignore that for now. After all, there is another vote coming up in the House to repeal Obamacare. We can focus on that exercise in futility for at least a couple news cycles. After that fails, like it has the last 37 times, we can focus on the next round of hostage taking when the budget ceiling comes up, or Republicans can focus on Weiner's weiner until they discover a day ending in "y" has arrived like a brand new baby and they can cry about a newly fabricated "scandal."
I'm sure the ahistorical media and its carnival of clowns will happily chase their tails from Sunday show to Sunday show overlooking this outrageous inequity. They certainly get paid well enough to ignore important stories. However, I think it would be a bit more difficult for the average Joe to play along with this scapegoating charade if they knew that when it came to actual medical expenses for childbirth, socialized medicine made it possible for the British royal family to get off damn near Scot free.