Big weekend for our War President Nobel Peace Prize winning President, who stopped off in Afghanistan to rally the troops, grab a quick photo-op or two, and in general complement his health care reform victory on the home front with a bit of commander-in-chiefin’. I think he should have waited until Easter and popped over with plastic ham (assuming secret Muslims are OK with plastic pigs). Obama told the troops that “the US doesn’t quit” (other than, oh, Korea, Vietnam, Beirut, and Somalia). The President also told our military men and women that “we can’t forget why we’re here.” Well, you’re there for a photo-op, and I’m not really all that clear just why they’re there (other than you ordered them there), but you got to leave after a few hours, and they’re still stuck there. Anyhow, between the HCR “victory,” the new nuclear arms reduction treaty with the Rooskies, and this quick jaunt over to Kabul, the President is looking mighty presidential. Maybe we can get real financial reform, a real jobs plan, and some real progress toward reversing global climate change now? No? OK, I’ll settle for some good speechifyin’ then.

Looks like insurance companies are balking at one of the centerpieces of the great legislation that provides health insurance to every single American (give or take 15 million, assuming they can afford to buy it from a private health insurance company, which can still triple rates based on age or on health condition, limit annual payouts until 2014, and deny adults coverage based on preexisting conditions until 2014). Apparently insurers are of the opinion that they can deny coverage to children with preexisting conditions as well.

Just days after President Obama signed the new health care law, insurance companies are already arguing that, at least for now, they do not have to provide one of the benefits that the president calls a centerpiece of the law: coverage for certain children with pre-existing conditions.
[…]
Insurers agree that if they provide insurance for a child, they must cover pre-existing conditions. But, they say, the law does not require them to write insurance for the child and it does not guarantee the “availability of coverage” for all until 2014.

And the ink’s not even dry on the parchment yet. I can’t wait to see what other loopholes industry lobbyists wrote into the bill. So just try not to get sick until 2014, I guess, and hope that Republicans can’t make a crappy law even crappier.

Two female suicide bombers are suspected in an attack on a Moscow subway that killed at least 35 people. I didn’t even know they had Subways in Moscow. I thought all they had were Blimpies.

The Huffington Post has an homage to Eric Massa. It’s a good way to take the edge off Monday.