I’m up to my eyeballs with Progressives at this point. And now I’ve got a lot of shit to get off my mind. First, let me warn you, I may or may not provide links. If you want to argue that I’m wrong at any point, it’s on you to figure out where and show me. Also, I may ramble and become incoherent as is sometimes my wont. You’ve been warned.
I’m irritated beyond words at seeing Progressives screaming to “kill the bill” because it doesn’t have the unicorns and rainbows that they want. Some of these folks screaming for it now are just taking the baton from other Progressives who were screaming for it when the public option was watered down and became “shitty”. Now there is no shitty public option so fuck it. Throw it all away. Who cares if it actually helps some people? Who cares if we can give people a taste of the good and they will take up the trumpeting to give the bill balls later on.
How will this happen? Well, the same way Medicaid started as a shitty, non-inclusive “reform” bill, but who would get rid of it now? Not the people it helps. What about Medicare? Started as a shitty bill, that didn’t help a whole lot of people, but somehow, over the years, because the be-all end-all of health insurance. Suddenly we all want it! But when we first go it, well, it was shitty. People got a taste of it and they demanded more. They got more. Oh, and this bill? Closes the “donut hole” that Bush enacted.
I keep saying, and history backs me up, that our country does things in baby steps. Any major change happens one little step at time. This includes civil rights, equal rights, employee rights (of sorts like making sweat shops illegal and requiring employers to provide safe work environments to their employees) and other reforms such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. None of these changes—improvements—happened in one shot. We didn’t—and in some cases still don’t have—get the best of the best in the first round. It just doesn’t happen. There are too many people with too many different ideologies for this to work in our country. Corporations have too big a stranglehold (thanks, Capitalism!) for major change to come in one fell swoop. We do it “one brick at a time”. And we continue to do it.
But the thing that sent me over the fucking edge… made me want to strangle someone… was when I saw a Canadian tell an American who has a pre-existing condition and NO insurance (not me, by the way) that they weren’t special and that they should just shut up because doing nothing is better than this bill. This person, who has never had to worry about getting an appointment to see a doctor because she doesn’t have health insurance, was telling someone who is struggling with Diabetes and no insurance that they’re not special and NOTHING is better than the little bit of help this bill would provide.
Fuck that.
To me that was like someone with legs telling someone without that they don’t need that crappy prosthetic, they should wait for a better one and DO WITHOUT until they can get a better one. Just sit in the goddamned chair and shut the fuck up. This person, who has 100% coverage thanks to her government, was telling someone to shut up until the “perfect” could be reached.
Fuck that. I want what Canadians have, but I’ll be damned if someone who knows someone who might write on a blog is struggling—but has never had to pay a damned dime for health care—gets to tell a struggling diabetic American to shut up and wait some more. How fucking insane is that? “Well, shit, Charlie, we’ll just start over because, y’know, that’s entirely possible during an election year and after the Democrats lose control of the fucking Congress." Worked for Bill Clinton, didn’t it? He threw the whole idea out and started over, right? Oh, wait…
I’m not the slightest bit surprised that Obama isn’t keeping his campaign promises (Hello! Politician!) or that he’s just like Clinton (I have a link around here where I said that same thing during the primaries). I’m not at all surprised that the insurance companies/bankers/war profiteers are making big money thanks to him. I am surprised that we’ve made it this close for something to really change regarding health insurance. I’m actually shocked that some kind of change might actually come out of Washington. So what if it’s “just like the Massachusetts plan”? Guess what? Most people, according to some poll somewhere, in MA wouldn’t repeal that law. Imagine that! The people who are most unsatisfied with it are working to make it better—not take it away. Holy shit!!! Makes me wonder what would happen if the rest of America could benefit from that in some way. Makes me wonder if people would actually add on to it and make it better—without taking it away.
You know, prior to King George, I wasn’t a flaming liberal per se. I was more of a moderate. But it was “with us or against us” then, so I went left. I’m pretty sure that I can’t fucking stand the progressive mouth pieces right now. I can’t stand listening to people say “OMG! OBAMA BETRAYED US!!” and are making up history by saying shit like “LBJ rammed Medicare through and all was well” (except Medicare kind of did suck and left a lot of people out thanks to necessary, but shitty, compromises). I’m pretty fucking sick of people chanting “kill the bill!” because it’s not exactly the way they want it.
You know what? Fine. You don’t like it. Shelve it. And then let the insurance companies do whatever the fuck they want with us all. And the doctors—let’s not forget about the guys doing the “health care” who are gaming the system—can get their money and still not see the poor folks. And everything stays exactly the same!! That’s the ticket. Suddenly no one cares about people being denied treatment because insurance companies won’t pay for it (oh! and don’t get mad at the doctors who won’t work with the families á lá St. Judes), no one cares anymore that insurance companies throw people off their rolls willy-nilly, or are increasing their rates by leaps and bound. Nooo. They cared a couple of months ago. Now it’s all about “keeping costs down!!” for them.
I remember when people were posting personal stories on these A-list blogs and making videos to put the faces to the struggle. I remember when congress critters were reading letters on the House floor. Suddenly the ban on pre-existing conditions was introduced. Then the ban on rescissions. Then the ban on lifetime caps.
Then the stories stopped and the outrage started. Then the fucking “activists” were calling for the heads of Representatives who didn’t sign their goddamned, idiotic pledges. “HE WON’T SIGN!! CALL HIS OFFICE NOW AND TELL HIM HE SUCKS!!!” the headlines would read. And slowly, but surely we get to this point. The outrage that got certain bloggers airtime on MSNBC became an infection that stopped positive activism. At least on the netroots level. Phone banks and email lists were set up to tell people on our side how much they sucked ass. We were making real progress and then we were derailed.
I’m over it. Done with it. There is no true “netroots” community. These motherfuckers are just pitiful. I love my politics, but apparently I’m too goddamned stupid to know that nothing at this point is better than something. I’ve heard that Mexico has cheap insurance rates and it’s pretty warm down there. I wonder…
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I used to be a hard core liberal but have been getting more moderate as I age. And much more jaded and cynical. They’re ALL politicians and I want to fire every one of them in both parties.
BTW, ever notice that Republicans always stand in the way of reform, but once it’s enacted and codified they defend it to death? For example, Republicans fought FDR on social security but look at them defend it to death now!
I’m just really frustrated with the way things are going right now. I’m especially frustrated that Progressives seem to be splintering into 27 different groups and all of them are SO MAD!!!!!1eleventy! It’s depressing.
I actually used to be more moderate in my political views. I don’t know if it’s because of the area I was raised or what. But there was a time when I actually thought that people should be more responsible for their own lives and not be so dependent on others (I’ve learned that sometimes people don’t have a real choice), abortion should not be used as birth control (I still believe that for myself but am opposed to any kind of regulations now) and was semi-pro gun (I know a lot of hunters). I’m different now– to a certain degree. Oh, and rad fems have always gotten on my last nerve, but I’m more sympathetic toward their views now that I’m more educated toward them.
I’ve been for universal health care since I found out that there was such a thing. I also believe that college should be free (as much as k-12 is “free”) and that our old folks should be cared for 100% beginning at retirement– since I learned about that “cradle-to-grave” thing.
But anyway, where was I going with this? Who knows. I’m exhausting myself watching this debate and watching this thing sink like the damned titanic. I feel like we need to salvage something, but what are we salvaging and… Why can’t we just let Canada absorb us?
And by us, I mean Ohio, because…;)