Will It Work?

In a recent article on Slate, the thinking seems to be that mothers will decide whether their healthy sons will get coverage. I agree with the logic, and for the record, this mother is still pondering the wisdom of encouraging her son to be even more subjected to the government's sway over his health care. And the same goes for my healthy grown daughters.

Who Are We?

For years now I've been communicating online, and it's been a wonderful experience. I really enjoy it and don't plan to stop. What's helped me sustain my joy is to never take things personally (or try not to) even if they're meant personally. I try to live by this rule in all my interactions, and if I hadn't, I probably wouldn't leave my house much less get online. I've also told my kids ad nauseum to go and do likewise. They usually finish the sentence for me when I launch into it and say, "Yeah, Mom, we know don't take anything personally." To which I usually reply, "Yep." Several weeks ago I broke my rule.

There is a forum which I've frequented for almost two years, and I really love reading it and do not go there to have any kind of serious discussion about religion or politics or anything that tends to get people riled. But in reading some of the boards there, I got the sense that Americans are not held in high esteem and especially "conservative" Americans. A lot of places online are fairly "liberal" in their views, and frankly, it's good for me to read those views. It provokes me to think about my views, which tend to be "conservative" or "libertarian" depending on the issue, and why I have my views and whether or not they hold water, as it were. So opposing views usually never bother me. Some of this may be due to growing up in a household that loved to argue and frequently practiced the devil's advocate. If someone doesn't play that role, I find myself wanting to do it. Yes, I guess I'm that antagonistic, but again, I don't usually take opposing views personally and expect others to do the same. It's not about me or someone else but should be about the issue.

All of that changed when I kept seeing posts either strongly implying or seemingly flat out saying that "conservatives" in America are stupid or mean or other things that none of us want to be. No, this isn’t the first time I’ve read personal attacks. Far from it. But I guess I got my fill of this because of all that's going on in our country. I'm sick and yes, tired of hearing that crap. So I jumped in and stated I was offended. Then I got involved in the discussion in earnest, and it was not taken well at all. Hey, I expected that and began to give as good as I got. This only served to make some people on that board really dislike me. I realize I rose to some bait they laid out there (whether intentional or inadvertent) about "conservatives," and I was dumb enough to create further tensions. Shame on me for breaking my rule, but hey, I did, and considering how seldom I do that, I'm not going to beat myself for slipping up one time out of hundreds or maybe thousands online where I could have. Having said all of that, this post is not about making amends or trying to figure out whether or not those people will eventually like me. I guess I'm arrogant enough to think they'll get over it and learn to like me or at least respect me. I like them and hopefully, they know I respect them.

What I can't shake is the private reaction I received. Numerous PMs and emails of support came to me from others who read the conversation. Some of them encouraged me not to back down, and I had to really step back and consider those so I didn't let myself get more inflamed. Those kinds of communications are common when a debate is going on. But this was far more than I've ever seen. However, the majority of communications I received were from people saying more or less, "You're not alone; I agree with you! I'm just not going to give my views because I don't want the hassle or to offend." These kinds of messages are also fairly common when a debate is going on but again, it was a lot more than usual. By the way I respect when someone doesn't want to get into an argument. But those responses have me thinking about how we, as "conservatives," respond.

I don't think a fun forum is necessarily the place to comment, but it's not just in these places that "conservatives" restrain themselves. We're so good at keeping quiet, that when we do speak, ala something like the Tea Party groups, "liberals" have to characterize it as out of control. All of that serves to keep us quiet. Because hey, we're the reasonable people, the sane heads. We can't be out of control. That's how "conservatives" generally think of themselves. The sum of that is that we are still pretty much a silent group. We believe that the difference is made at the ballot box. Certainly, cheating notwithstanding, the ballot box is where the difference should be made. But my friends, what inspires people to go to the ballot box? Talking. Defending your position. Certainly not in a harsh, knee jerk, name calling manner, but in a thoughtful, factual way, and yes, with some passion! And no, passion doesn't necessarily mean being loud and certainly doesn't mean spewing venom or name calling, but it does require being heard.

We need more of this, and I challenge myself as well as anyone else who needs to hear this that your speech, no matter where it is done, is being heard. Some may actually change their minds based on what you say in public places including fun forums. Don't be shy. No, I'm not advocating that people indiscriminately argue or take on a hassle, and especially where it will do no good. Some wisdom should be applied, but perhaps it's wise not to decide so quickly that we are in a place where it will do no good to speak. It will require thinking and, dare I say it, praying to determine this. Even though I received all those communications from people who agree with me, there was one type I received that got to me more than the others. Those from people who admitted being on the fence and didn't feel like they knew enough to make a decision. Yes, those are common communications too, but once again, there were a lot more of these than usual. There are people out there who really do want to be informed but are afraid and don't know where to go. That was clear by their questions to me. Hopefully, I was able to help them in some way. Think of all the people who didn't send a note and just read my posts.

Bottom line: if we don't speak more about our views and why we hold them, we will certainly see more of what we're currently getting in our government. So as much as that was a painful exercise on the forum, if it helped someone to see the principles of "conservatism" are worth exploring or adhering to, I would gladly do it again!

note: if you're wondering why I put “conservative” and “liberal” in quotes, it's because those terms can be fluid. I'll be happy to define what I mean by them, but that’s another post.

What is it about April?

How appropriate that during a month that's historically one of our most violent, the SCOTUS should rule in defense of people who make videos that perpetrate cruelty to animals.

I would wax on about this, but my friend, Jack does
a much better job than I could.

Oh, and it's Hitler's birthday too.

So It Passes

I just have one question about this supposed fix to the health care system. Where is the money going to come from? Aren't we broke? Aren't we in a recession where the economy is shrinking? Okay, that's three questions. But those are three questions I would love to have real answers to and not the gobbledygook we get from politicians. Has a steady diet of that crap made anyone else nauseous? Four questions.

Is anyone else as sick of this as I am? Or is it just a bunch of right wing nuts who are too stupid to know what's good for them and really we need the government to take care of us? Six questions.

With all the supposed resolutions the health care legislation will bring, why do I only have questions? Seven.

Harvey Goes to Washington

It's not the six foot rabbit but my six foot brother. He's a business owner who employs 30-40 people and has been in business about 15 years. During that time he's had almost no turnover in staff. It's like one big family, and my brother feels so strongly about their livelihood (and his too) that he is at the capitol talking about the health care bill and visiting all of the undecided congressmen that he can.

I talked to him yesterday morning, and he said it was surreal because he felt like he was in "The Distinguished Gentleman." It seems most of the congressmen's offices have the requisite good lookin' hottie sitting at the front desk to screen out the people the representatives don't really have time to nor even want to see. Fair enough. So Harvey figured out pretty quickly that the offices don't have any back doors, well, doors that open somewhere other than the main hallway. All he had to do was wait for these guys to exit so he could speak to them, and so far he's talked to almost 20 of the supposed 40 who are on the fence (at last count anyway). Of course they are all polite and give politician's answers (non-answers). But Harvey's not going to let that stop him.

I realize that everyone is not in a position to do what my brother is doing, but I respect him for making the sacrifice of leaving his business for a week. He really can't afford to do that, but he is just that committed, and in case you're wondering, no, he is not part of any group. He is merely an individual who is exercising his freedom to speak to our representatives. Go Harvey!! As he put it to me, "I had to do this because if things turn out badly, I want to be able to look myself in the mirror and know that I did everything I could."

May we all be able to live with ourselves if it turns out badly. But I hope that people are not so overwhelmed at this point that they feel they have no voice. That's a lie. Please don't believe it. SPEAK YOUR MIND to your representative. Do something. Whether they appear to be listening or not, they are listening. You still have the power of the vote, and they know it. So don't be shy. Today, it's not too late to send an e-mail or spend a few bucks on a telegram, and if you're not sure where to send it or how, I can help.

First you have to figure out who is your congressman if you don't know already. After you've accessed your representative's page, you can click on his/her contact page to see where to direct your e-mail or to send a telegram. I'm doing both because if the system is down or they're not reading their e-mails, something will get through. If you're sending a telegram and not sure of which service to use, here are a couple of options below, and please note Western Union no longer does telegrams.

Telegram US -- this is a private company despite the appearance of the screen; the link is to the same day option.

American Telegram -- you can scroll down to the same day option.

EDIT:

I hope this guy is right. We'll see. In the meantime, it's still a good idea to contact your representative. Frankly, none of us do that enough, and that's why the country is in a mess.

Obama Doesn't Get It

Tax the bankers? If he is able to levy this tax, do you really think it will not be passed onto the rest of us?

What price dignity?

So I've been thinking about Joe Wilson's shout out at the President's speech the other night, and given the scolding Obama was unleashing, I think Joe's comment was appropriate. Okay, so it wasn't "dignified." Well, is being dignified always the best way? War is sometimes necessary, and it's a stretch to call it dignified. We're in a war if you haven't noticed. Maybe no shots are being fired, but we're in a war.

Oh yeah, there are some rules in Congress, but hey, there are some rules in the Constitution as well, and I don't see a lot of respect for those. To please our "liberal friends" I guess our conservative reps were supposed to sit there very dignified and let Obama mischaracterize the health care reform the Democrats are promoting. But don't take my word that it was mischaracterized. Read the Bill.

Frankly, my friends, we've dignified ourselves right out of a bunch of freedoms. The ugly truth is sometimes you have to fight fire with fire and hang whether or not someone thinks you're dignified or hip or intellectual. I'm sick of a few people cowing common sense because it's not always hip or nice or God forbid "intellectual."

So What Does the Healthcare Bill Say?

I've been wading through the House Bill (H.R. 3200), and I think my eyes may be permanently damaged not to mention the assault on my common sense. So in the interest of understanding, I went in search of some resources to help me. I purposely looked for resources that have much more detail than what we've been getting from the mainstream media. Below are a couple of links that I found helpful. Please note that I did not comb through every item detailed on these blogs, but I did enough to find them helpful. Hope it helps you as well.

http://healthcarethoughts.com/ -- this is a blog by the President and CEO of an insurance company. What is really helpful is the bill's page numbers are referenced.


http://www.christianblog.com/blog/greybear/what-is-in-the-obama-national-healthcare-bill -- here's another blog that has some helpful breakdown.

I Did Nothing

I hope that we as a people are not guilty of doing nothing when it comes to holding our government officials to account. Sadly, we've been guilty of it for way too long. We have been so free and rich (even if we're poor by American standards) that we couldn't be bothered. We no longer have that luxury, and frankly, haven't had it in a while. But now it's becoming very apparent.

The bill being proposed to fix our health care system is pretty far reaching. It will allow the government an entry into our lives as we've never experienced. Several passages present dangerous precedents when you read the bill, and I hope you will read it or make an attempt. If not, then you might live to regret it.

As for me, you may not know me and may think I'm knee jerking. It doesn't matter what you think of me, but it does matter what you think of this health care bill, and you won't truly know what to think if you don't read it for yourself. I hope you do. The link to it is listed below.

Link to the health care bill being proposed as of this date August 11, 2009:

http://docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any party. I am registered as an independent.