out of many, one

"we are living with and living in the national rot wrought by the bleak, selfish sentimentality that says our troops are out there solely to insure our continued comfort."

 - david roth, the awl, 1/28/11 

in case you haven't noticed, this little liberal is pretty passionate about the proper use of our nation's military. i think it's just of the utmost importance to respect people who choose to serve. part of that is being extremely careful with what wars we go into. i mean, that goes without saying; you don't want people getting shot at for no reason. but there's more to the story than that. see, there's nothing i hate more - and yes, that includes jewelry commercials - than the largely empty, fake platitude that is "i stand with our troops." it's seen on buttons, bumper stickers, t-shirts and campaign materials. it's a favorite right-wing trope, and when it's used that way, it's also used to convey the message that a) the speaker "stands with our troops," so b) anyone who disagrees with the speaker does NOT "stand with the troops."

leaving the despicability of using troops as political tools aside, there's something more distressing about this whole construct. have you ever heard anyone who says "i stand with the troops" actually define what they DO to support military members and their families? anyone can say anything. but do these people actually propose and lobby for policies that help? by and large, no, they don't. in fact, a lot of these people act in ways that directly HARM troops. they're in favor of endless war without a real objective in mind. they don't support benefits for the families left behind and the veterans when they return. they worked so, so hard to keep patriotic people out of the service because of who they love. now how is that "standing" with the troops? it's not.

which brings me back to the quote. we really do have a venal, selfish view of our lives as a nation. selfishness is most assuredly our national malaise. we don't think in terms of a collective national identity, something worth fighting for. we should change our motto from "e pluribus unum" to "MINE! MINE-MINE-MINE-MINE-MINE!" instead of taking a step back and noting that big, giant ammunition clips are really just not necessary, especially in the light of the arizona massacre, some among us cling to those things as if mama was coming to take their blankies away. it's not about what's best for all of us as a whole anymore; it's just about what's best for me, and maybe my family if i'm feeling generous today. what kind of foolishness is that?

we're supposed to be better than this. it's happened before in our history. we used to be really good at banding together and sharing sacrifice in the face of struggle. somewhere down the road, though, we lost that. it's one of our finest qualities as americans - the recognition that we're a crazy-quilt collective of radically different people, connected through our shared belief in that nutty little piece of paper called the constitution. when we remember that it's not all about us (sarah, i'm looking at you), we'll get back to the good stuff again. i know we can do it.

in which i am angry

boy, it must be real easy for y'all, eh, new house majority?

i mean, hell. for your very first act to be to come in and try to get rid of healthcare reform. nice to know there are no other problems in this world. but really, what more should i have expected? see, these folks come from a magical fairyland where it's perpetually 1950 and life is june cleaver waiting for ward to come home from the office. nothing is ever challenging or broken, and if you're struggling, well, then, you'd better just work harder, because it's clearly your fault.

screw y'all. seriously. last night, i made a conscious decision to not seek emergency treatment for weird symptoms i was having because i cannot afford the outrageous $100 co-pay for my student insurance. oh yeah - and that was the co-pay for the hospital RUN BY THE UNIVERSITY I ATTEND. so screw y'all. screw everyone who thinks you're proportionally entitled to healthcare based on your net worth. i have a damn broken tooth that i can't get fixed because i can't afford $3,000 for a root canal (which is based on the cost of one in 2004 when this happened to me last). screw everyone who thinks healthcare is something that should be bought and sold. this isn't dry-cleaning. it's people's goddamned well-being. we're americans. we're supposed to have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, if the tea-baggers are to be believed. well, the right to life is meaningless if you die of a curable disease because you can't afford to treat yourself.

i'm low on words and high on venom. so i'll just say this: we are rotten in our core as a nation if we let this sorry form of reform get repealed by venal, mean-spirited skinflints who'd rather have the 100 richest americans avoid paying their fair share of taxes than see every american be able to afford the goddamn hospital when it's needed.

screw it. i'm going to bed.

mr. sanders goes to the senate floor

oh, my god, y'all. who saw the filibernie today?

needless to say, i've been a little removed from current events, between exams and the state of my personal and psychological life. but it's no secret that i am a crabby little liberal watching all this go down. so the impassioned, fact-driven, humane and downright beautiful litany of every value i hold dear that senator sanders gave us today was the shot in the arm my civic engagement needed.

people disagree. and in many cases, i truly do believe that people who care about politics, even if they're ideologically disparate from me, come from a place of care and concern for the nation. we're all americans here. but increasingly, the powers that be (and, at the end of the day, what really matters is what the 535 people who vote in congress think; the rest of it is blue-skying) are of either of two categories:

1) milquetoast democrats, far more concerned with looking like they're cooperating than getting anything accomplished.

2) fire-bombing republicans, far more concerned with looking like they're taking it to president obama than getting anything accomplished.

that leaves us... nowhere. we've reached a place where a bill that passes 57-40 isn't enough of a majority to actually change anything (and leaves a just insanely stupid policy in place). nothing is getting done.

so what if a filibuster - or a morning-session soliloquy - doesn't change substantive policy? it was so freaking refreshing to hear someone a) care, b) try to express that care and c) take people to task for their amazingly stupid behavior. to hear someone take americans to the woodshed for our collective greed? MIRACULOUS. to hear credit-card practices rightly described as usury? AMAZING. for this estate-planning attorney to hear the estate tax described properly, factually and accurately? REFRESHING. and most importantly, to listen to someone discuss economic inequality realistically?

lord, i thought i'd died and gone to the heaven i don't believe in. my civic pride is through the roof. hell, even though it took a 70-year-old socialist to kick the democrats into high gear (damn - they busted out bubba hisownself to counterprogram this!), it was so nice to see. now let's hope to all things holy someone in my party was listening, took this to heart, and (GASP!) will actually do something about the sad state we're in.