I am ready to write off the Democratic Party as a cause that I am willing to invest any time, energy or money into. I am willing to see the Democratic Party lose power if that is what it must come to. I am a progressive who understands the necessity of compromising in order to maintain a winning coalition, but some compromises compromise the core of my convictions, and those I will not make. Health care insured by the government is not a radical proposition. Fire departments "insure" the "health" of our homes, and Fire Departments are not profit making entities. Yet the last time I checked there was no big outcry over the evil of socialized fire fighting.
I understand the need for compromises so I will accept the continuation of a "private option" for those who believe that huge profit making corporations show greater concern for their physical and financial health than a government run program like Medicare. Let those who choose to ignore privately employed "death panels" do so, they can have their status quo. Let those who fear government health care rationing, while they embrace private HMO's that routinely deny life saving treatments in order to fatten their profits, keep their cherished HMO's. But let me choose Medicare for myself. That is all I ask of the Democratic Party now. I want the right to choose who to trust my life to. I understand that the Republican Party does not want me to have that choice, and that is one of many reasons why I chose not to be a Republican. But I expect more from the Democratic Party if they expect anything more from me. And I know I am not alone.
This is not a time for pointing fingers or assigning blame. This is the time for getting the job done. I am not privy to high level back room strategy sessions, and I am not calling out Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, or Barack Obama over the effectiveness of their leadership now. The ball is still in play and we can't yet say where it will ultimately land. What I can say though is how I will react if a "reform" becomes law that locks millions of Americans involuntarily into private health care plans that boost corporate profits while denying any meaningful public option to those of us who want one. If that is to be 21st Century Democratic Party legacy, if that becomes the culmination of the Democrat's pledge to reform health care in America, this is no longer the Democratic Party I signed up for. And I will not work for it, nor will I fear it's defeat at the polls.
I would rather stand ready to pick up the pieces after the fall than be complicit in the failure. I would rather disown the betrayal of what Democrats long stood for in America, than be an apologist for surrender. I would rather rebuild on our Party's true foundations than shore up a structure that can not be depended on when it really counts.
Now is when it counts and I am keeping score. No significant social advance in America has ever come easily. There has always been an element of class warfare in America and the ones who deny it are the the ones who excel most at it. The Democratic Party, with it's union allies, has long stood with those who believe that the health of our society is not measured by the wealth of the richest among us. It should know that the health of the private insurance industry is not more important than the publics health. There has always been fierce resistance to getting health care right from those who profit from how it's wrong. Why should now be any different? What may be different this tine is the Democratic Party. Millions of us are watching to find out.