Well, I'll Be A Monkey's Uncle

Hey, they're saying that Congress has, like, passed a health care reform bill or something....
This really surprises me. I mean, my assumption was that modern political leaders will always back down from controversial reform initiatives when faced with the prospect of losing their offices. For months, it looked like the grand Democratic dream of fixing America's health care system would go down the tubes, as unruly members of the rank and file each found their own reasons to complain about the plan being pushed and Teabaggers rattled their cages with threats of widespread Republican victories in the next elections. "These Democrats are going to roll over and miss their chance to reform the system ONCE AGAIN," I coolly asserted to worried friends. "No need to take Comrade Obama's Socialist agenda seriously. His party is too incompetent to accomplish anything this big. So, relax and have some dip." Whoops. Looks like I may have been slightly wrong there (well, maybe...kind of...a little...perhaps).


Now, here's the thing: I don't know if this particular health care reform plan will work or not. It could very well turn out to be a disaster. That's not the point. TO ME, the point is that, in the end, they actually went through with it. I don't care if the plan is a bad idea; I'm just encouraged to see that a (slim) majority of our elected leaders were willing to do what they've always SAID they wanted to do when given the chance. My previous assumption was that all the rhetoric about "change" would amount to nothing when push came to shove. My only experience thus far with the Democratic party has been that it squanders every opportunity it gets. Why would this time have been any different?

And I felt a rush of...something not entirely negative when I heard that they'd somehow pushed that health care bill through. Even if it's a horrible plan that ruins us completely, I'm glad that someone did something about anything. Had the Dems backed down on this, losing their chance to take action on an issue that they consider important for another 20 years (again), it would have signaled to me once and for all that they are completely worthless. That kind of cynicism is harder to live with than it may appear.

Folks, we should feel relieved that our federal legislators actually took some kind of semi-bold action. That's significant. There's a slight spark of some kind of idealism left in a tiny majority of them. It doesn't matter whether or not their plan is a good one, or what it even involves. It's the general PRINCIPLE of the thing that we should be considering.

(I'll admit that, like many, I am concerned about the government getting involved in any aspect of my personal health. However, I feel better knowing that there is one woman out there who will stand up for us and prevent things from getting out of hand.)

Of course, they could still very well screw the whole thing up. The next year should be a blast.

b.