Like most Americans, I drink coffee in preference to tea. Nothing wrong with tea, I just prefer coffee.
Also like most Americans, I support a public health insurance option. And while I may not be much of a nonconformist, I have great respect for people who have the courage to stand up and scream what nobody else in the room is thinking. That's why I'll be on Capitol Hill at noon today.
If you can't join me there, at least join me after the jump.
UPDATE: Per a really good suggestion, I'll do what I can to Tweet ongoing observations from the Hill. http://twitter.com/...
I have the luxury of living in Washington DC, and consequently of having a season pass to our nation's finest circus: democracy in action. Political demonstration fascinates me - it brings out the best (and occasionally the worst) in the citizens of our great nation. This year we've seen a bumper crop of rallies on a variety of topics, and today we're set to reprise the 9/12 Tea Party with:
TEA TWO: High Noon
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has called a rally to take her message into the halls of power today, with a rally at noon followed by (supposedly) a flood of demonstrators invading the Capitol. Exactly how many people will turn up remains to be seen, but rest assured, I will be one of them. I will be on hand to help keep things in perspective, to serve as the Voice of Context. The Tea Partiers have managed to get a vast amount of media coverage in their brief tenure, but when you rally on Capitol Hill you're participating in a celebration of democracy. And in a democracy, the majority rules.
It's great to be vocal, it's wonderful to be passionate, but at the end of the day the Tea Partiers represent a very small fraction of the American electorate. They are a "noisy minority" - and while they have every right to express their views, it can't be forgotten that those views lie well outside the mainstream of American political sentiment.
I won't use this space to go into exactly why our government should provide its citizens with a public health insurance option (you can read about that here, or watch it here). Today's a day for standing up and being counted - and when you count up the opponents of health care reform, they simply don't add up to much. Not because they're not good, sincere Americans. Not because their leaders are screwy (although if Glen Beck and Michele Bachmann are the sharpest knives in your drawer, you probably eat a lot of soup). But because there just aren't that many of them.
Only 23% of Americans oppose a public option. By contrast, 34% think that George W. Bush was a better President than Obama is.
You might think that those numbers speak for themselves. I'm not going to risk that - I'm going to go speak for them. If you're in DC, why don't you join me?