If you're like me, you feel a kind of desperate horror and frustration as you watch the American health care debate happening right now. It's like yelling to someone who is obviously desperately searching for something, 'Hey! Look! We've got it! Right over here!' ...and they just completely ignore you and keep staggering around, as if they were blind.
If you're like me, you realize they are being PURPOSELY blinded. You feel insulted by the endless spew of bullshit about our system in Canada being spouted by corporate-funded mouthpieces -- but, more than insulted, you are horrified that they can lie to their own fellow Americans so as to keep them from receiving what we take for granted because we've had it for 62 freaking years, and you are saddened that it seems to work.
If you're like me, you feel frustrated because you can't phone a congressperson or senator, or sign an American petition, or donate to a politician's campaign fund -- because you are Canadian and as such it's supposedly not your business.
If you're like me, you're saying bullshit to this, because your caring for your fellow human beings transcends borders, especially the world's longest undefended one. You probably have American relatives or friends anyway.
If you're like me, you want to DO something!
Of course some of us have found ways to act -- if only to set the record straight about our system in LtE's, diaries here, blogs, or whatever. Now the folks at avaaz.org have organized something whereby we can join our voices into one message.
The petition is here. The message is this:
To the US Congress and the American people,
We urge you to ignore the myths about health systems in our country and others that are being pushed by US healthcare companies. Our national system of public healthcare works very well and enjoys extremely high levels of public support. We wish you a healthy and honest debate about healthcare in the US.
Yesterday they set their goal at 50,000 signatures... today they've blown by it with 84,907 as I wrote and a new goal of 100,000, which I'm sure will be exceeded tonight. PLEASE SIGN and make it a REALLY significant number -- how about a half-mill?
This really is a life-and-death issue, and moment in history, for our American friends.