Just some food for thought. Why is it, when looking at universal health care, we are told by the Romney campaign that the Massachusetts model carved out my Mitt Romney when he was Governor is not a good model for the country (and yes, let's just put aside that he has supported the use of his plan in the past but now doesn't) yet on immigration he feels using the Arizona SB-1070 format would be a great model for the country? This position was confirmed this weekend by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who was the author of the Arizona law and is now an immigration advisor to the Romney campaign.

Another question I would have, and this is to the larger Republican and conservative body, why would a business person be the right choice for President? I understand the economy is a big issue in this election but a government is more than an economy. Furthermore, if you are to use the example of a businessperson as being right for government, why when the President said the private sector is doing well that is a mistake greater than declaring war on a country that didn't attack us, yet when Mitt Romney, in his attack on the President about that statement, insisted that the firing of teachers, police and firefighters was a good thing for the economy? I may not be as successful a businessperson as Mitt Romney, but from a selfish point of view if I don't have firefighters to protect my residence when a disaster occurs, when I see classrooms with overflowing students because of less teachers and when I have to fear being beaten up on the streets because the police can't cover their patrol area, that would seem to be something that would be a detriment to all. I would add to this, because I understand this from a thinking point of view, when I got laid off from my former job and had to go on unemployment insurance, I didn't buy like I did when I was employed. I wasn't making as much as I was and I never knew from week to week if I was going to get the check in time or not at all.

I know a lot of conservatives don't like the way I attack Romney so much. First of all, this is America and the small audience this website attracts doesn't begin to make a dent in the massive machinery of conservative talk radio and Fox News. I'm allowed to speak about issues and will continue to do so. The second reason why I'm so animated has nothing to do with the conservatives. Yes, my liberal and progressive people, you have dirt on your hands about the state of the nation right now. We need not go any further than the recent Supreme Court decision about health care. I have heard quite a number of people do the happy dance, thinking for sure every thing is all right because of the decision. It was the same misguided euphoria that occurred when Obama was elected President or in the early heady days of Occupy Wall Street. A skirmish is won and you think the battle is over. When the other side fights back, and they will fight back, we are caught flat footed. We don't realize the small victory doesn't mean the war is one.

Look at Roe v Wade. That battle was won in the 70s, yet the conservatives didn't take it as a loss. They used it for fund raisers, they used it for organizing, they used it to elect people who had their point of view. A year ago you could ask anyone on the street and they wouldn't think of abortion rights as an issue, yet in conservative circles they were pushing legislation through state houses. It only seems like a few months ago abortion issues, even women's access to basic health needs exploded onto the political landscape, but looking at the reports coming out, seeing how many states had passed laws restricting access, it showed that this surge was years, even decades in the making.

Obama got into the White House and many in the public thought the fight was over. They assumed they won the war and not just some little battle. We had warning signs when the health care bill was first introduced and all those crazy statements came out from people like Michele Bachmann. People laughed when they heard the people at town hall meetings talk about death panels. We scoffed when misinformation about how the bill would work filtered itself into the news. Many looked at the national picture to see which way the public was going but ignored what was happening on the state and local levels.

The health care debate is so twisted with so many lies it's sad and embarrassing to hear people discuss it. There was a local story about the impact of the Supreme Court ruling on a mother whose son had gone into the hospital for an operation to fix a heart defect. That child now has a pre-exisiting condition. The woman has another son with ADHD who has to take medication. He, obviously, also has a pre-exisiting condition. She said how hard it was to get medication for that child because insurance companies turned her down for coverage. How did she respond to the Supreme Court decision? She said while she was happy that her children would have an opportunity to get health care she didn't like that she would have to pay higher taxes. Excuse me? The system is now set up so her two children can continue to live, to possibly live normal, healthy and long lives, and she's worried she will have to pay more taxes for this? If she had bothered to look at the bill she would know with her income she wouldn't be paying more in taxes. If she just did simple math, if she wasn't covered by insurance, and if she didn't pay any taxes, does she really think what she saves in taxes would cover her son's heart surgery? Would that saving have covered his birth?

What depresses me is watching people like that mother with two kids parrot talking points and not being able to see past those words. She isn't the only one doing it. Like I said, many on the liberal and progressive side don't think in the long term. They think in the sound bite, in the quick victory and don't understand to win and keep the hearts and minds of the American people is something like a well worn comic book story. Superman catches Luthor, Luthor goes to prison, Luthor escapes and the whole battle is played out again. That's why, in the words of the old Superman TV show, it is a NEVERENDING battle for truth, justice and the American way.

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A Wake Up Call - July 01, 2012
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