Joe Lieberman, you just screwed my mother when you played political gamesmanship with the proposal to lower the Medicare opt in age to 55. See, my mom devoted herself to raising her family and that meant giving up a lot. She gave up a potential career for us, choosing instead to try to be at home as much as possible to give us a nuturing family life and work a series of low-wage, part-time jobs to try and bring money in for food and the mortgage. Many women still choose that route today - I admit that I'm one of them - because at a certain point you are "upside down" on the amount of money you take in with a job versus the amount of money you pay out in childcare expenses.

It's life, we all make choices.

The downside to my mother's life choice of being there for her children was that now, when my dad is reaching retirement age, she will have to try to convince her employer to take her on full time so that she can have health care coverage until she reaches the age of 65, because my parents can't afford the Cobra payments after my dad retires from his job.

It isn't a long time we're talking about, and there's a pretty good - not certain, but pretty good - chance that Mom will be able to work this out. But still, at the end of her working life after busting butt for us she will have to bust some more for over a year just so she can be covered in case something happens with her back, or her high blood pressure, or any number of other things that one's body can do to one in their 60's.

Still, my mom is fortunate. She is lucky in that she has options. But those options are only the coincidence of fate - how many women are in my mother's place who didn't have their stars align in the right pattern and who now have to spend every day worrying about what they will do if they get ill, or need to have a knee replaced, or discover that they have any number of lifetime conditions that require medical treatment?

Joe Lieberman, you just made my mom's life harder because of your pigheaded, evil need for retribution against a rag-tag group of internet bloggers who had the temerity to primary you.

So on behalf of my mother, and all the women in her similar situation: F*ck you and the horse you rode into the Senate on. As God is my witness I will work every. friggin. day. to ensure your defeat when your seat is up, and I'll talk to my friends and neighbors about doing the same.

Peace out.

UPDATE: With my thanks for the recs please accept this humble 6 second baby smack-down of Joe Lieberman:

Kid's got a point, you know.