This evening, the US House passed an epic health care bill.
I remember moping around 10 years ago when the first Bush presidency began, dumbfounded by a presidential election won by a candidate who somehow failed to secure the popular vote.
I remember four years after that, the extreme disappointment I felt when Bush was voted in for another four years. How a smear campaign was concocted to cast doubt upon the resolve of an American veteran.
Then, in 2008, the next American president stepped up, in the midst of two wars and a global recession. We bought in to his hope and his change. Obama took office in early 2009 and we waited for something to happen.
Today, that big change and hope we've been waiting for has never been closer. Only a few final Senate votes and a presidential signature stand in the way of sweeping changes in health care unprecedented in my life.
The bill is not perfect. There are so many people looking for loopholes, so much money spent fighting this thing, so many special interests with bottomless bank accounts. But just to be here, on the eve of change, is something amazing in itself.
I have never been a witness to something more immediate and more relevant to myself, something that would affect me personally. Health care hits home. It's a part of all of our lives, since it's basically the privilege to receive proper medical care if/when something goes wrong. Obama has pushed to change that privilege into a right...an entitlement for us all to live on if something goes wrong.
So thank you, Mr. President, I've never felt my vote more meaningful and important, my faith in our country stronger.
Now if only the Supreme Court could get their shit together.......but I'll save the corporate candidate rant for another day.
Dear Senate,
Let's get this passed.
