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Written by Tom Parsons
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Sunday, 31 August 2008 17:00 |
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You may have seen the movie Dead Man Walking, the title referring to people living on death row, facing the certainty of execution, but with uncertainty as to the time. In this case, if titling a movie about healthcare, I would call it Poverty in waiting – defenseless with healthcare. This would reference the fact that many, if not most, Americans who are living middle class lives are vulnerable to bankruptcy and poverty by means of health care. However, unlike the inmate, most are unaware of the actual probability that they will become a victim.
In the brief space allowed me I will suggest that awakening people to this vulnerability may be what is required to create the ‘public will’ necessary to reform how, as a nation, we finance healthcare. The place I want to start is by looking at poverty.
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Written by Keven Kreeger
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Sunday, 31 August 2008 17:00 |
Our Party was well represented at Obama’s acceptance speech at Invesco on the 28th. The DNC made 35 tickets available to our Party and our Chair, Kevin Kreeger devised a formula for apportioning them. Because this News Letter went to print immediately after the convention closed there wasn’t the opportunity to provide much coverage of provincial interest. General interest stories are plentiful in the news papers.
I invite those who participated in the convention, whether as a delegate, a worker, or volunteer to submit something of your experience for inclusion in the next News Letter. The first two submissions received, immediately follow.
REPORT FROM A SPECTATOR INSIDE THE
STADIUM WHERE OBAMA SPOKE
It was exhilarating!
WOW! Its going to be hard to describe this....
I had the great fortune to hear Obama’s acceptance speech at Invesco Field last Thursday. And it was amazing!
The energy and excitement was huge! So many people jumping out of their seats as Obama, and many others, described exactly what our country needs.
So many people....all wanting change. All wanting something better than what we have. Everyone wanting someone with integrity and vision. Someone who looks out for them, for the people, the constituents.
But it wasn’t just the sheer number of people. It was this unbelievably powerful desire in the crowd.
Huge crowds of cheering people are always a thrill...but these people were continually jumping out of their seats, pounding their feet, with tens of thousands of American flags waving. It was awesome!
But that wasn’t where all the exhilaration came from either. The exhilaration really came from these people’s energy. I know the roar of a crowd from being at football games, concerts, races, etc. But this was really something else. Because as much as the fans at a football game really want a touchdown, and really celebrate when they get it, that’s absolutely nothing compared to the desire that this crowd had for change.
Fantastic, powerful, and even emotional, are the only words I can use to describe it.
At one point, an almost endless line of Generals and Admirals came out. All there to support Obama and change. Then a stream of “regular” people, never elected to office, all speaking from their heart. Plus so many leaders, all describing in their own words what they want to do and how they want to do it.
And the crowd was on their feet! Yelling, clapping, pounding feet, waving flags....wanting Obama to be elected so badly, and all in the name of what is good and right. This was people demanding better and seeing how they can get there.
I will never forget. It was amazing! |
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Written by Tom Parsons
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Sunday, 31 August 2008 17:00 |
was exhausted. It was my sixth day on the job. Already I had put in 89 hours, not including commute time. But exhaustion didn’t explain the tears.
I was, among other tasks, helping to wrangle the dozens of charter buses that had brought people to the event from the hotels where they were staying. Out-of-towners, mostly. Some, from as far away as American-Samoa. Others, from as close as the suburbs. Some were bedecked in home made costumes of red, white, and blue. Passengers emptied those buses into the afternoon air and headed off to be part of this historic event. There were some 200 buses, arranged in long lines, separated by narrow – maybe five feet in width - pedestrian ways. I had forgotten just how big those buses were. Parked there, they towered above me with noisy idling diesel engines that made conversation impossible, and belching pollution that one’s eyes could not only see, but also feel. The odorous haze inspired thoughts of soot coating my lungs in the way it did my exposed skin. Mindful of the health risk, I went about my job of helping those who were attending the event find their way out from the labyrinth of buses and onto the walkways leading to the stadium. Yes, there were those tears whose specific job was to wash that soot from my eyes. But those weren’t the only tears that, from time to time, welled in my eyes.
Tickets to get into the event were a prized possession. I once had such a ticket, but returned it to the donor so that another person could attend who, through home Party volunteer work, had earned the right to replace me. Let me explain. I had signed up early on for the opportunity to “work the event” - to get paid. I knew when I signed on that I would not be in a spectator area. I had determined that my need for the money was greater than my desire to be part of the event. As I stood outside the stadium where 84,000 people were having the experience I could have had, I had an experience of a different type. One that I think is called “buyer’s remorse”; I regretted my decision. There I was. Standing just a couple of hundred feet away from what otherwise would have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I could hear the crowd. The excitement was palpable. Were my tears those of regret and sadness? I won’t deny the sadness.
The parking lot had long emptied of passengers who were now in the stadium. Only those working like myself remained as shepherds watching over the flock of empty buses. By standing in the parking lot, in just the right spot, I could get a glimpse of a huge projection screen high up at the opposite end of the stadium. A huge roar from the crowd went up and on that screen appeared an image of Barack Obama, standing on a stage before 84,000 people, about to give a speech accepting the Democratic nomination for President. I could not make out the words, but his image, though distant, was comforting in that it looked like it did on my television at home. At that moment, the tears flowed freely, without warning, and without connected thought. Released as though from an unconscious bondage.
I later wondered: “Are there others among the white, Republican, middle class into which I was born seventy-four years ago, as desperate as am I to again have Hope?” I suspect there are many. |
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Written by Tom Parsons
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Thursday, 31 July 2008 17:00 |
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by Tom Parsons
from August 2008 Broomfield Democrat
Perhaps nowhere in our society is the Democratic versus Republican difference in philosophy about the role of government in daily life more apparent than in our health care system.
Democratic politicians are pretty much in agreement that everyone deserves quality health care and that government has a significant role to play in ensuring this. That said, there remains a considerable lack of agreement among Democratic leaders regarding how to achieve this objective.
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