Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Best Defense commenters: Are you having problems with the FP paywall system?

"Victor LEsperance" commented today: "On a totally unrelated topic, it sounds like the IT folks at Foreign Policy are moonlighting at the Obamacare sight.  I know they still have their day jobs because I get paywalled on a regular basis despite coughing up for a subscription.   Now the general public has an idea of what ...

Flickr/sashafatcat
Flickr/sashafatcat
Flickr/sashafatcat

"Victor LEsperance" commented today: "On a totally unrelated topic, it sounds like the IT folks at Foreign Policy are moonlighting at the Obamacare sight.  I know they still have their day jobs because I get paywalled on a regular basis despite coughing up for a subscription.   Now the general public has an idea of what it is like to be a Foreign Policy subscriber and sometime blog commenter."

"Victor LEsperance" commented today: "On a totally unrelated topic, it sounds like the IT folks at Foreign Policy are moonlighting at the Obamacare sight.  I know they still have their day jobs because I get paywalled on a regular basis despite coughing up for a subscription.   Now the general public has an idea of what it is like to be a Foreign Policy subscriber and sometime blog commenter."

I asked the powers that be. One responded, "Our website is undergoing a very extensive redesign, which among other things will bring improvements to our commenting system, including single sign on. That means the paywall glitches should come down — way down – once the new site is up and running. It shouldn’t be long, now."

In the meantime, if you are having problems, e-mail:

fpallaccess@foreignpolicy.com 

Be polite, OK? We don’t want to give Best Defense readers a bad rep at FP.

Speaking of Obamacare, don’t compare it to the ideal, compare it to what exists now. As part of my move to the New America Foundation, I’ve spent a big part of the last six weeks trying to sort out health insurance for my family. It is nuts. You never get anyone on the phone the first time. They don’t answer e-mails. They get back to you with additional questions-a week later. They keep pulling out rules they didn’t tell me about when I needed to know them two years ago. And I have been paying a ton of money for the privilege of receiving this pattern of neglect and abuse.

So, for all its frustrations, I will take Obamacare. If I were younger, I’d consider setting up a company to guide people through it.  

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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