As a Kansan, I gave up on my two U.S. Senators long ago. Pat Roberts has tacked steadily rightward to match the course of the state and national GOP; I have no doubt that he would run to the left of Russ Feingold if he thought it would improve his chances of staying in office, so he's not even worthy of discussion.
Sam Brownback, on the other hand, is an odd duck indeed. Is he truly sincere -- an adolescent Jesus Freak still searching for the ultimate celestial father figure? Or is he the incarnation of Prof. Harold Hill, the ultimate huckster oozing the kind of sincerity only Hollywood or Broadway can muster?
Either way, I wrote both off long ago. Not Mrs. JMart, though. Her passion for health care reform -- as a mom, sister, retired nurse and day care provider -- drove her to make her best effort to engage the most unlikely of potential supporters. Off to Brownback's local office she went today, with a letter, a photograph, and a plan.
The photo was of her brother, a 42-year-old, deeply troubled man. His bipolar disorder first surfaced in his teens, although no one recognized it for what it was. As he self-medicated in a desperate attempt to calm the raging emotional storms within his mind and body, he was labeled a "druggie," a "discipline problem," and a "hopeless cause."
Graduating high school was a miracle, but his saintly mother got him through. College or trade school was out of the question. He has wrestled with his demons ever since. He has enough DUI arrests on his record to make him a felon, and he has done time more than once strictly for alcohol-related offenses. In truth, he is a gentle soul who would never deliberately hurt a fly, and he knows, deep down, how much his drinking and driving put innocents at risk.
As you might expect, the kinds of jobs that provide health benefits have mostly eluded him.
That was the story my wife brought to Brownback's local office today. With a simple question: "My brother has not seen a primary care physician in almost 20 years. With medication and the minimal care he gets from the county health department, he has kept his bipolar disorder and alcoholism in check for a couple of years now. But he'll never get the kind of job that offers health benefits. If you oppose the President's health plan, what do you propose as an alternative for people like him?"
She put her question, and her brother's story, in writing, as well as delivering it verbally. She brought a photo of her brother as well and laid it on the aide's desk.
The aide said that the Senator favored legislation that would prevent insurers from discriminating against those with pre-existing conditions. All well and good, of course, if you can afford insurance in the first place. The aide added there should be a "pool" that the poor can "buy into," but no answers on how those who can't afford rent, heat and food at the same time are supposed to "buy into" anything.
The aide asked if she wanted the picture back.
"No," my wife said firmly. "I want the Senator to see the face of someone who has no access to health care."
And then she left. Did it do any good? Only time will tell.