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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAn open letter to Mr. and Mrs. Neutral
Hi, guys!
I dont know if you noticed, but were in the middle of a federal government shutdown. Now, you might think it doesnt affect you, but one way or another, when the shutdown ends, your life will be affected by HOW it ends, most likely to the end of your days.
Long before the Roberts Supreme Court rendered its decision on the Affordable Care Act, I myself had called it a tax, a poor tax, actually. I also called it a big, fat wet kiss to the insurance companies, who have been the devils in peoples lives. But it is now law, and it has been upheld in the highest court in the land, and funding for it was to have begun on October 1, with major provisions to be phased in by January 1, 2014. However, the Republicans in the House of Representatives, whose dog is being wagged by its Tea Party tail, decided to not appropriate funds for the law and effectively caused the shutdown. Oh, sure, they blather on about being disrespected, or how the law is statist and anti-freedom, but many of these representatives and I wonder how representative of their electorate they really are when creative gerrymandering keeps them in office are in reality sore losers who have accomplished next to nothing in the 111th, 112th, and 113th Congresses.
Perhaps the most specious justification for the shutdown, as put forth by the Tea Party, is that they only want to delay funding and implementation of the law by one year. Really? We didnt fall off the turnip truck yesterday. If the Tea Party succeeds in delaying or defunding the law, you know its going to kill it. Thats been its intent all along. And if it kills the ACA, the entire social safety net is at risk whether its Social Security, Medicare, or any other program that is meant to improve the lives of those in need. A Tea Party victory here will only embolden its members and its lunatic fringe supporters to shred those programs, too.
The ACA may or may not be a good law; we wont ever know until we see how things shake out after a few years. Where there are problems, they should be corrected. Where things can be improved, make them better. I think the Republicans real fear is that the law in the long run is going to be popular and successful, and that Americans wont let them forget it if it is.
But say the Republicans are right about the ACA being an unworkable monstrosity. If they are, Im not above saying we should revisit the programs existence and work toward something better. Until then, however, the GOP should step back from the edge, fund the law, and get back to working for all Americans. The longer this shutdown drags on, the more it will drag down the Republican Party. That said, this is the party that symbolically voted to repeal the ACA over 40 times. If insanity can be defined as doing the same thing over and over hoping to attain different results, is this type of representation whats best for the country? Not just no, but hell no.
Fortunately for sane Americans, the Tea Party has much to lose. Congressional approval is barely in the double digits, in large part because of Republican antics. The American public blames the House GOP for the shutdown more than the Democrats and the President. And if the Tea Party tries to hold the country hostage over the debt ceiling in the next few weeks and risks a global financial crisis, its game over for them, and by extension, for many other Republicans. In truth, the Tea Party is an existential threat to the GOP as much as it is to the country.
What the Tea Party members consider principals are often childish displays of stubbornness combined with unworkable methods of governance. The Tea Party would rather pilot the economy with the zeal of an Arab hijacker than to work on behalf of the public good or to maintain the full faith and credit of the United States. They represent, in fact, the worst of America. Theirs is paranoia masquerading as patriotism, posturing instead of problem solving, and a full-on bastardization of rugged individualism to justify its contempt for entire segments of the population.
For these reasons, and for so many more, the Tea Party must not just lose the shutdown showdown in a humiliating fashion. For the good of America and her future, the Tea Party must also die.
The long arc of our nations history is about freedom for the people. From the arrival of colonists on these shores to escape religious persecution, to emancipation for blacks, to womens suffrage, to gays and lesbians having the right to marry, the drive for equality and freedom has been the slow, inexorable force that propels us all forward. Americans should also be free from the fears of not having adequate medical care or having their life savings wiped out by a medical emergency. To that end, and against my initial skepticism toward it, I hope the ACA or a future single payer program succeeds.
The march toward this freedom must not, cannot, be stopped, Tea Party be damned. If you value your freedom, if you value hope over fear, and if you value a more perfect union where the government is of, by, and for the people including the most vulnerable of us you will stand now against the Tea Party by giving it the scorn it truly deserves and driving it from office once and for all.
Your bud,
E
Efilroft Sul
(3,579 posts)spinbaby
(15,090 posts)LWolf
(46,179 posts)why, periodically, DUers post rants directed towards folks who aren't on DU. Unless you think there is some secret, silent squad of folks who lurk, obsessed. There might be a few; there ARE a few DUers who are titillated by lurking at FR, I know.
Still, how many DUers does this really apply to? Isn't there somewhere you could post it where your target audience would see it? Do you WANT them to see it?
Efilroft Sul
(3,579 posts)It's been posted elsewhere, not that you should worry about it.
WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)Nobody sees you doing pushups. You do 'em anyway. Same thing.
Except that when I just write to write, I don't present it to an audience, especially an audience I'm pretending is a DIFFERENT audience, lol.
It's not a big deal. Some days, though, my reaction is: "Again? A rant addressed as if we are those people, again?"
I guess it's a style complaint, which I usually, but not always, manage to keep to myself.
Efilroft Sul
(3,579 posts)Even here at DU.
For us, the entire last 80 years of Democratic achievements is on the line.
For the Tea Party, it's their entire existence.
Both sides have much to lose. The difference is, we are fighting for something that's worth the future of our country. They are fighting for their lives. It's a big difference. We are on the side of right. And that's a rant worth posting here.
A rant is worth posting here if you're ranting to us. I hope we're not the tea party. I hope we're not neutral, either.
I know I'm not.
Efilroft Sul
(3,579 posts)Especially if people here were on the fence wondering if they should support the Democrats because they didn't get single payer or the public option. Now is the time for everyone to stand strong and tell everyone outside of this place why the Tea Party has to go.
The stakes have never been higher.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)I thought "Mr. and Mrs. Neutral" had something to do with the shut-down; that you wanted people who weren't affected to care about those who were.
It looks like your point is really a loyalty call.
No thanks. I'm a Democrat, but I don't support any party or individual that doesn't support the issues I involve myself in politics to affect. I'm not a partisan. I'm an issues supporter, and an issues voter. Democrats and the party EARN my support. They aren't owed it.
As far as the ACA goes, I think it's a mistake. I don't think building the foundation for health CARE reform on private, for-profit insurance is going to move us in the direction we want to go. I think people, especially Democrats, who keep promoting the false equivalency of "insurance equals care" are not only wrong, but doing damage, in the big picture and long term, to the goal: health CARE for all. I think people, especially Democrats, who keep acting as if putting the word "Affordable" in the title of the law somehow makes it actually affordable, just like GWB's "Clear Skies Act," are hurting, not helping, the goal.
Do I want to defund the ACA? No. That doesn't mean I don't see it for what it is.
I think Republicans are acting their usual destructive, socio-pathic selves shutting the government down over the ACA. I also think they are clearly a bunch of idiots, since the ACA is a Republican plan to begin with. They can't see past Obama to the reality: they got their own plan. RomneyCare.
I'm not neutral. Neither am I a party cheerleader, looking for "wins" that aren't really wins, not caring about the issues as long as the party comes out on top. I leave that to idiot Republicans who can't see their own wins because they can't look beyond battling Democrats, and the contingent of Democrats who do the same.
I'm the antithesis of neutral. I'm a bulldog when it comes to issues, which are the only things that count for me. So I guess your rant really has little meaning for me.
Efilroft Sul
(3,579 posts)A call to sensibilities. Like I said, I think we can do better than the ACA. But you don't shut down the government and put the most vulnerable at risk, like the Tea Party has. They've gone from advocating for smaller government to no government, and no government means no sensibilities. They keep this up on October 17, and it's disaster for us all. Therefore, the Tea Party must die. The GOP has to throw these clowns overboard now. The voting public must repudiate them wholesale next November.
Regarding your point about the issues, I agree with you: Democrats have to earn our votes. I am not a hardline party type like the BOG. My favorite posters here are bvar, Manny, et al. If you knew me personally like, say, spinbaby does, you'd know I'm not the person to call for a loyalty oath. I voted Green last November, too. All I want is for anyone sitting on the sidelines who think this shutdown doesn't affect them or for those who think this is a false equivalence "both sides are at fault" story to rethink the entire matter and realize which side is clearly at fault and can do the most harm.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)I get it.
I think it never occurred to me that there were DUers who would think the shutdown didn't matter, or there was that false equivalence; it seems so obvious.
I am regularly shocked by what I read on DU these days, though, so you could have an audience after all.
At least I kept the thread kicked.
kentuck
(111,095 posts)We must ready ourselves for battle. We have no choice.