How To Respond?

I'm still upset about yesterday's court ruling. Money corrupts. Power corrupts. More power in the hands of those with more money results in more corruption. But the court has spoken. What can be done? I'm upset with the Democrats in power in Washington. The health care issue is so disappointing. The Dems have let the Re-pubs define all of the issues. It's not really health care reform, it's insurance reform. Tea Baggers, whose brilliance is shown by their sign saying "Keep the government out of my Medicare" are controlling the debate. Where is the rebuttal? Where is the common sense? The Dems are now in a tizzy because they lost the Massachusetts Senate seat. Scott Brown won't support health reform because his state already has it. When asked about the rest of the country, he responded that each state could do the same. The fact is Massachusetts has a system similar to what the White House and Congress were trying to pass. Brown voted for it. A column by Froma Harrop stated some of my feelings. Politically, the Massachusetts program could serve as a national model. Pass universal coverage now, fix it later. Even though their reforms are superior, Democrats in Washington could have done better still by not trying to please everyone. But despite their control of the White House and Congress, Democrats seemed capable only of reacting to critics, cringing with fear under even the most ludicrous attacks. If you don't have the courage of your convictions, it doesn't matter whether your party has 59 or 60 or 65 seats in the Senate. Under President Bush, Republicans got whatever they wanted with 50 senators. Now we'll see piecing out of the health reform bill. But what to start with that isn't somehow linked to the rest - regulations on insurance companies are linked to the cost of coverage, for example. And will those in power find the will to reform the banking industry? Will they put back the regulations that have been eroded since the Reagan administration? But most of all, will the American people ever realize that what took 30 years to break might take some time and money to fix? Obama has had one year. The Re-pubs have seen to it that he now owns the problems while standing firmly in the way of any solutions. The people are hollering that he hasn't fixed anything yet, and are suddenly concerned about the deficit, a deficit that didn't seem to bother them under Reagan or Bush. The democrats in Washington need to find their voice. They need to become audacious in countering the clatter of the ludicrous. They need to shout out the outrageous truth! Many people shrug all of this off, saying all politics is corrupt. It's true that there are people in elected office who are in it for themselves, but not all. Some are truly good. Some are truly smart. We elected a man for president who is both good and smart. Such a man should not be allowed to fail. How to respond? It's natural to feel jaded, to want to duck and cover for a while. But this stuff is important to us and to our children and grandchildren, to our nation and to the world. How to respond? I can only stay informed, and use my small voice whenever or wherever I am able.