Medical insurance is our second highest household expense after our mortgage. In October, during the enrollment period at Robin’s work, I am dropping from her insurance plan because it will save us about $500 a month. It’s a cost that is difficult to bear. That’s why I was hopeful for some sort of meaningful health care reform promised by the president.
That hope is waning, though, in light of the nasty business of propagandizing done by some members of the Federal government and the conservative press who appeal to the emotions of a minority of fanatical supporters with loud voices who will believe anything they are told so long as it supports their view that Barack Obama is the alien Muslim son of Eva Braun and Jabba the Hutt and who, if he gets his way, will reprogram the brain of every white American to believe that the father of our country was George Washington Carver and send all resisters to concentration camps where he or she will be forced to ….
Now that I’ve deleted the rest of my rant – because it had no purpose in spite of its sound but acerbic logic – I want to pass on to you an idea proposed by my friend Peter at The Buddha Diaries. I quote his appeal in full below.
JOIN ME! You’ve been following the news, as I have. NOW WE MUST DO SOMETHING. Here’s my personal intention and commitment. It’s quick easy, clean…. YOU CAN DO IT, TOO!
Step 1: I handwrite a brief letter to my Senators. “Dear Senator …, I voted for you. I have placed my trust in you. I hereby respectfully request that you unequivocally INSIST on the inclusion of a public option or its equivalent in any health care bill that goes to President Obama. Yours truly, (signature.)”
(Find your senators’ addresses here
Step 2: I place my letters in sealed, stamped envelopes, marked in bright, unmistakable letters on the outside: PO/PO (for Public Option/Post Office) in order to identify it as a part of this effort.
Step 3: IMPORTANT! On Tuesday, September 1 at precisely NOON o’clock, I drive, ride or walk to my nearest United States Post Office and silently place my letters in the outgoing mailbox. Suppose I were to find hundreds of like-minded people doing exactly the same thing at exactly the same time? I shake their hands. What about hundreds of thousands, if not millions of good-hearted Americans? We will all come to the US Post Office. We will all place our letters in the outgoing mailbox. We will all shake hands.
What’s so complicated? I promise to do this no matter if I’m the only one in the entire country, but I invite you to join me. With your help in forwarding this email and your commitment to this simple action, we can stage a massive, elegantly simple, nation-wide demonstration that links cities, towns and villages throughout the country. It will require a few minutes of your time, but WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
YES, WE CAN! A vast majority of us say we want significant health care reform. Now is the time to back those words up with action that cannot be ignored or dismissed. PLEASE JOIN ME WITH YOUR OWN PERSONAL COMMITMENT! AND FORWARD THIS TO OTHERS WHO WILL JOIN US! Seriously. We will all meet at our US Post Offices all over the country at noon on September 1st.
I hope you will join us in this effort to get the needed changes in medical care, to counteract the Immoral Minority, and to shed some light on one of the grandest delusions ever devised by a propaganda machine since, well, the invasion of Iraq.
Also, please pass on this appeal to anyone who may care.
4 Comments
Thank you, Paul!
I, too, fear that the momentum is beginning to fade, thanks to the propoganda being promulgated. Let’s keep up the fight though.
Thanks for stopping by the other day—and thanks, too, for the link you’ve given me. Always good to find another seeking in the same direction.
Brian, it’s hard to guess at this point what will happen. The media is such a powerful force. When it gives the impression there is dwindling support for health care reform, then it must be true. Even if it isn’t.
Right on, Paul. Big changes start locally. I came across an article in Newsweek by Sharon Begley (http://www.newsweek.com/id/212131) that I thought you would enjoy. It’s very well done, and puts to rest a lot of the hype and myths surrounding nationalized healthcare reform. By the way, Sharon also recently wrote a Buddhist-flavored book entitled “Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain”. Great book…I just got my copy. I hope all is well with you and Robin.