So, now that I have met all my moral and patriotic obligations by publicly denouncing the Republican entitlement reform "safety zone" for the shameless and cynical scam that it is, I can now thank my lucky stars that I just happen to be firmly within it. I can even be confident that if its boundary is modified as part of some political compromise, I will still be far enough inside the Zone to escape all but the most Draconian attempts to eviscerate the Social Security and Medicare systems.

Medicare is not so critical, I can always fall back on the Vets, and the Republicans aren't likely to cut them loose, they are always kissing up to them. Of course, with the WWII generation so diminished, and the Vietnam
crowd starting to die off, this may not be the case forever. Still, I'll probably have bought the farm myself before I have to worry about that.

So I can take full pride and credit for having arranged to be born in 1947. Those of you who waited, that's just too bad. It's not my problem.