Last year on December 24, I wrote a diary, Heroes of 2006: Who's on your list?. I'd like to ask the same question a year later--December 25, 2007.
These are a some people who I'd call good folks. The good folks of 2007.
Without a doubt, I'm going to begin with You. Yes, you--Kossacks. You made history last week. You proved that we have power. You proved that people-power works. You proved that we are a force. This is not hokey. This is not corny. This is reality.
I have no doubt that you will be asked to mobilize again in the days, weeks and months ahead. A lot of you want to know, what's next? Yesterday, many of you contacted the Los Angeles District Attorney to ask for an investigation into the actions of CIGNA in the death of Nataline Sarkisyan.
"Change" is the big, winning word this year. You guys are change agents. I'm going to repeat this because it's so important. You are agents of change. You embody what the candidates are talking about. They talk. We take action to change a broken system.
Something tells me, we'll need frequent citizen displays of fury. The rage at our political system, which seems incapable of addressing the dire needs of the American people, is building. That's where you and I come in. We'll let them know.
You know the old saying, lead or get out of the way. Since, they won't, we will--forcefully, if necessary.
Next, are the the heroes at the California Nurses Association. California Nurses and the National Nurses Organizing Committee, is a leading national advocate for universal healthcare reform, through a single-payer style system based on an improved and expanded Medicare for all. In 2007, CNA/NNOC is campaigning for single-payer legislation, HR 676 in Congress, and SB 840 in California.
PNHP, Physicians for a National Health Program, a nonprofit organization of 14,000 physicians, medical students and health professionals who support single-payer national health insurance. This great group is on the front lines of the battle. They are much more than good folks, they are heroes.
Al Gore. Nothing else I could possibly add.
Our presidential candidates. I recognize I'm far too sentimental about these flawed folks. But you'll forgive me, I hope. It's been a long, long time since we've had any intellectually coherent or meaningful discussion of the issues bearing down on the American people. So a policy debate from our side, with candidates who can string three literate sentences together, is like manna from heaven. And while I wish they would all stand up collectively against the Murder By Spreadsheet insurance industry, trust me, we will nudge them relentlessly in that direction.
All in all, we are blessed to have a group of winners going into 2008.
The good folks who put together YearlyKos, now Netroots Nation. I worked with all of them, arranging the health policy panel, and this is one amazing group of committed leaders. Gina Cooper, Raven Brooks, Carolyn Dulchinos, Shanna Ingalsbee, Jon Pontificator, Mary Rickles, Nolan Treadway and THE MIGHTY VOLUNTEERS. Who have I left out?
I learned quite a bit this year about what is known as extreme poverty. In the United States, we have many Americans living in poverty. Thankfully, at the present time, we do not have extreme poverty which is primarily a Third World catastrophe.
There are so many trying to bring attention to, and alieviate the unfathomable suffering.
Nicholas Kristof is deserving of a good folk award. As a columnist for the Times, Kristof is showing a new generation that journalists needn't just watch disasters unfold. They can also try to avert them by advocating for change.
Peter Hotez, MD, someone I met less than a year ago. During the Christmas season, you should know that humanitarians like Peter are living examples of the great American impulse to help the most vulnerable--at home and abroad.
Peter is the President of the Sabin Institute. His focus is on Neglected Tropical Diseases. The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases is a partnership formed to reduce the suffering and death caused by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) among the world's poorest populations in direct response to the Millennium Development Goals for sustainable poverty reduction by 2015.
And tragically, as global warming proceeds, diseases which were once confined to tropical climates will take root in our own lives.
And my dear friend, the cancer surgeon, who inspires me every day by his selfless devotion to his patients, regardless of their ability to pay. If all doctors were like him, the world would be a far better place.
There are so many others. Millions of ordinary Americans struggling to survive.
Ordinary Americans going door-to-door in New Hampshire.
Ordinary Americans who are precinct captions in Iowa.
Ordinary Americans determined to take back our country from the evil men and women who stole it from us in December 2000.
American heroes--one and all.
Who's on your list?