MARK STEYN to President Obama for ObamaCare: "Well, thanks a lot, genius."

NEWT GINGRICH: Obama on Obamacare in 4 Quotes.

NO WORRIES: "I'll just direct that the toothpaste be put back in the tube...."

RANDOM THOUGHTS from the retirement lane. Despite my repeated demands to remove me from their 'wellness' mailing list, Anthem Blue Cross sent me yet another mailer with reminders about 'staying healthy'.

I am sick to death of the 'I'm from (wherever) and I'm here to help you' crowd. As far as I'm concerned, a first offense merits tar & feathers; the second should be a shooting offense.

On the bright side, they keep me well-supplied with paper for the wood stove.

OBAMA ON the next big problem for ObamaCare:

President Obama has gone from declaring "the product is good" to warning the media in advance about yet "another mistake" that his health care team made while implementing Obamacare.

"Even if we get the hardware and software working exactly the way its supposed to, with relatively minor glitches, what we're also discovering is that insurance is complicated to buy," Obama told reporters Thursday.

"Another mistake that we made, I think, was underestimating the difficulties of people purchasing insurance online and shopping for a lot of options with a lot of costs and a lot of different benefits and plans and somehow expecting that that would be very smooth," he said. "And then they've also got to try to apply for tax credits on the website."

Does the phrase 'shovel ready' come to mind?

TOURÉ ON MSNBC: Let’s face it, red-state Senate Democrats criticize ObamaCare because we live in a gerrymandered world. Yeah, let's never mind that Senators are elected statewide.

From Instapundit's twitter feed, this comment: "Just knowing that someone exists who thinks Senate seats are gerrymandered confirms that public education is a rotting corpse." 'Matt or Matt' is wrong in one detail; Touré's alma mater (assuming he graduated) Emory University is a high-dollar private school.

RANDOM THOUGHT from the retirement lane: for liberals -- the light at the end of the tunnel is never going to be the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

FRANK J. FLEMING: Why you must trust your government. If you don't,

... the very fabric of our society — the evidenceless faith that our government has even the most basic proficiency — starts to unravel. People will start wondering things like, “Hey, maybe politicians were wrong, and math doesn’t only apply to my household budget but also to the government’s budget.”

What happens next, when we no longer trust our government and the direction it’s taking us? Riots. The collapse of society. People saying, “Maybe those Tea Party people had a point.”

Horrible thoughts. Unthinkable thoughts.

BOEING UNION REJECTS CONTRACT, raising questions about 777X production in Seattle. The Boeing machinists union 'mighta oughta rethunk' that decision; Lockheed Martin's planned consolidation/layoffs just might free up some competitive production capacity for Boeing to take advantage of.

FROM A FOX NEWS OPINION POLL: New guidelines recommend cholesterol-lowering drugs as a preventive. How much faith do you put in studies that ask you to treat a potential condition?

16% A lot. It makes sense to try to stave off illness.

20% A little. A reminder of good health practices can’t hurt.

29% I’m not sure. I prefer to consult with my doctor.

35% None.

I'm with the majority on this one. Anyone who uncritically takes advice from any government/non-government organization is either a fool or a Democrat (and likely both).

Here's just one example.

OK, YOU'RE A RUNNER. Get over it. The same is true for bicycling, which I gave up years ago because I didn't want to be identified with the 'look at me' crowd.

THIS YEAR JUST A TRAIN WRECK; next year a catastrophe.

FROM MY EMAIL: some thoughts on Obama's health care 'fix':

Can't stand to watch him [Obama] and only read a small part about the 'fix' to ObamaCare.

Watching the President on television improves Fox News anchor Shepard Smith's stature incredibly.

And let me see if I get this correct. Obama is simply going to say he won't enforce the removal of the 'substandard' plans for a year. They will still be illegal and the insurance companies (and enrollees) will just have to trust the administration not to change its mind (or decide to 'encourage' some additional compliance under threat of procecution)?

"Trust me" is not a phrase I'd ever use with this administration.

"Insurers can extend current plans that otherwise would be canceled into 2014," Obama said. "This fix won't solve every problem for every person, but it's going to help a lot of people." How can this be? I thought the cancellations were only affecting a small number of people with substandard plans.

Pivot! A 'tiny minority' suddenly becomes 'a lot of people'. The President spins so rapidly it's a wonder he doesn't fall over from dizziness.

NOT EXACTLY the sharpest tool in the shed.

WHY THE PRESIDENT will euthanize HealthCare.gov in 2014. And the Republicans will euthanize ObamaCare in 2015.

PRIVACY NEWS: NSA Intercepts Links to Google, Yahoo Data Centers.

The fact of the matter is that there is no privacy any more.

HEALTH CARE ENROLLMENTS fail to meet low expectations. So lower the bar; that's what Democrats always do, but usually no one notices.

DEBBIE WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: I meant what I said — we’re running on ObamaCare next year.

By mid-2014 'on' will have morphed into 'away from'.