I know how you feel today: hurt, angry, frustrated, disgusted. You feel like you have been ignored, betrayed, stabbed in the chest while the perpetrator looked you in the eye and smiled--telling you it's for your own good. Well, I want you remember this feeling.
One of the great things about playing sports (that actually keep score and determine winners and losers) is that you learn what motivates you. For some, it's fear of failure. For others, it's the hatred of losing. Still others are motivated by the love of winning--and the glory that comes with it. It's why they begin their off-season training regiment the day after that final game. It's why they practice until their lungs are about to explode or their legs completely lose all their strength. It's why they practice their swings or releases until their hands bleed from the blisters.
Today, I want you to find that motivation. Today, I want you to promise yourself that you will not allow this to happen again. That you will listen carefully to what every candidate has to say in every election. That you will research the positions of every candidate in every election. That you won't vote "change for change's sake".
Make this the day that you resolve to bring about change you really want. Run for the local office that affects your life the most--or volunteer to help the candidates in larger races that stand for the same things you believe in. I'd ask you to contribute money to those campaigns--but you are going to need every last penny you can hang on to now.
Don't let the fire inside of you rage and boil over now--nothing can really be accomplished now. Instead, let it burn slowly within you providing a constant heat that will power your actions in September...and November....and next April and then in 2012. Remember the way you feel this day every time you step into the voting booth for the rest of your life. We let this happen--but we won't let it happen again.
As for me, I'll be following Nancy Pelosi's advice--giving up my job to follow my dream of becoming a professional golfer. Sure, I'm a 14-handicap and I have no chance of making any tour--but it's my dream--and now you all get to pay for it.
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You're right, Jon. I'll volunteer. Can you give me the address for the Democratic Party of Winnebago County, please?
ReplyDeletehttp://winnebagodems.org/
ReplyDeleteDid you ever think that maybe not everybody is: "hurt, angry, frustrated, disgusted" about the passing of this bill? There may be some that think this reform will be for the good. There are a lot of naysayers voicing their opinion against the bill, but there may be more that are for the bill, but just not as mouthy, and maybe that is why the congressmen voted the way they did.
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to accept what is dealt and deal with it from there with hopes that it will be better. I know that something had to be done to change the present system, because my daughter is caught between a rock and a hard place because she is 22, can't find a job, much less with insurance, and no longer qualifies to be on our insurance. This reform will be good for her.
I was also disgusted, frustrated and angry when the Bush administration lied about weapons of mass destruction, let Cheney and his cronies get even richer through Haliburton, and got us into a no-win war. It wasn't about "terra", it was about oil and revenge. Yes, that made me mad. This bill may not be perfect, but if it helps us to get out of the clutches of the insurance lobby, then I'm all for it. SOMETHING needed to be done.
ReplyDeletePete,You are making a serious mistake giving up our freedoms bestowed to us through the constitution as our founders intended. There is no other country that offers the freedoms too many seem to take for granted. Do you let your daughter drive without liability car insurance? If so, you are a fool. A healthy 22 year old can purchase a catastrophic policy for much less than $100 per month. Cancel the cable t.v. and lose the cell phone. She can get several part time jobs until something better comes along. You are one of many people who believe the only way you can get coverage is through an employer. This has led to an entitlement mentality which led us to believing the government should provide health care. For those of us who have purchased our own health insurance all our lives, you are the problem, not the solution. When your daughter ends up hospitalized without insurance,she gets full care, and I get the bill in my policy.
ReplyDeleteI'm bubbling with anticipation of Rush Limbaugh's promise to leave the country.
ReplyDeleteWell Bill, I have been a farmer for the majority of my life and I have insured myself for all of it. With the economy the way it is today, my daughter CAN'T GET ANY KIND OF JOB to be able to even afford $100 per month.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are going to be helping to pay for her hospital bill for 5 days of intensive care when she got so depressed from this situation that she tried to commit suicide last month.
Give Obama's plan a chance. Something had to be done and this is a start.
The government isn't providing healthcare, they're insisting that everyone have it, and that insurance companies provide it, and the rich pay the bulk of the premiums through higher taxes, along with the rest of us paying a little of it. I was taught to share as a child.
Pete, I too am a dairy farmer. My mother had cancer and spent 7 days in intensive care. It was very important that my father was wise enough to have purchased insurance when my mother was healthy. You see, if you purchase insurance before the event, it is not a pre-existing condition.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about your daugter's problems. However, I stand by my original post. It's scary to know you feel what happened in our government is just a start. We now have socialized medicine. At some point down the line, rationing will have to occur when everyone is guaranteed health care. The Death Panels just may decide your daugter is a lost cause and terminate her life. This is America, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!