Rabbi Ron Fish
From the Stamford Advocate today:
The vigil was coordinated by the Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Health Care.
STAMFORD -- Quietly holding candles, hundreds of clergymen, congregants and reform advocates lined the sidewalks outside Independent U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman's Stamford home Sunday night in a show of support for universal health care.
"When we heard not only would he vote against it, but he'd use his power, his position as a swing vote ... to block it from coming to a vote, we had to send a message so he knows people who vote overwhelmingly favor the public option," said Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, of Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford.
After several failed attempts to schedule a private meeting with Lieberman, the Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Health Care thought instead they would come to him, said the Rev. Abraham Hernandez, one of the group's eight co-chairs. The organizers said they did not know whether the senator was home Sunday night, though they said if he was not, it was equally important as a symbolic gesture.
Parts of their Mission Statement:
Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Health Care
Health Care is a Human Right
Health Care is a Divine Right
We raise our voices in support of a health care system that leaves no one out. God has created all of us and calls on us to care for each other. Caring for each other expresses our love for God. The existing gross inequality in the health status of people, especially as it pertains to ethnicity and race, is unacceptable - morally as well as politically, socially and economically.
We raise our voices in support of health care that enhances people's lives by enabling them to live with dignity and to reach their full potential. Health care and healing are concrete manifestations of God's ongoing care for all creation. Attending to the physical needs of our people by implementing a comprehensive health care system, including dental and mental health care, compliments our work of
attending to the spiritual needs of our people. To be a truly moral society, the benefits of our scientifically advanced health care system
must be shared universally. We, the undersigned clergy of Connecticut call on elected officials of Connecticut to ensure quality, affordable health care for everyone
.
The Connecticut Post wrote an editorial asking Sen. Lieberman not to block the health care bill.
On the most important issues of our time, Lieberman is establishing a pattern of not only opposing has constituents' wishes, but outright denouncing them, and going above and beyond to thwart them.
The walk began at Stamford High School, Lieberman's alma mater, and ended at the senator's home across the street.
Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy:
"In some sense, it's poetic," said Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, who attended the vigil. "The place where Sen. Joseph Lieberman received his high school education, the place he visited upon his announcement to seek the vice presidency, a place where his run for the presidency began -- and it just so happens, a place across the street from where he lives."
The interfaith group has been a member of the Healthcare4Every1 campaign to help pass SustiNet, legislation that aims to expand health coverage for the 6 percent of the state who are uninsured.
But is this an uphill battle with our Senator? Look where Lieberman parks his car: