"The character of our country." With those words the final line on the health care debate was drawn in the sand by President Barack Obama at a raucous, campaign-style rally on the Friday before history would be decided.
After over a year of heated debate, after over a year of enduring every dirty trick in the book thrown his way by a desperate opposition trying to frame health care reform as a vehicle to socialism, bankruptcy, or worse, Barack Obama rekindled the fire that launched him to the highest office in the land and captivated the entire globe in the process. Yes, the Barack Obama that made millions of disillusioned Americans stand up and believe in "Yes We Can" again was back, front and center!
For a man with a slight frame and narrow shoulders, he proved without a doubt that what you see can be quite deceiving. On this day he heaved the Democratic party, and a nation spiraling to disaster, right up onto his back and proved that his sinewy limbs may very well be able to tote the load right across the finish line to a victory of historic proportions.
The character of our country, that is what is being decided Sunday for the world to see. I'm reminded of a powerful seen in the movie A Few Good Men. Two Marines were on trial for following a "Code Red" hazing order from a superior officer that left one of their fellow, weaker Marines dead. When all was said and done and it was proven that the two were following a direct order, a basic principle they were trained to adhere to without hesitation or question, they were still charged with conduct unbecoming and discharged from their service. Baffled, one of the Marines turned to the other and asked why they were still being discharged, it had just been proven that they were simply following orders, just as they were supposed to. The other Marine thought about it and said, "we didn't do what a Marine is supposed to do, we didn't stand up for the little guy."
That is, and always must be, the character of our nation. That is the code our selfless men and women in uniform embody. That is the code of our American character, the character that leads us to fight tyranny and oppression wherever it is found, be it on our own home soil or far away lands. That is the character of our American ideals and it is what makes us the beacon of hope the world turns to for guidance and support in trying times and the example by deed we hope they will follow. That is the character that every legislator granted the privilege to carry our voice to the halls of power must always strive to adhere to.
The opposition to health care reform is a formidable force. They use their constitutional right of free speech to give an amplified voice to despicable vermin like Rush Limbaugh, a man so pitiful he used his pulpit to denigrate an eleven year old boy that chose to take up the banner of his now-dead-mother and carry her voice to the battle at hand.
Or another blight on humanity like Glenn Beck, a disgusting man that uses his soap box to preach the same kind of wretched fundamentalism that culminated in three ghastly fireballs exploding into our collective consciousness on September 11th 2001. What noble purpose can he possibly hope to serve by waving around the swastika of Nazism, or the hammer and sickle of Communism, symbols that still instill nothing more than fear and hatred? What kind of person uses the imagery of tyranny and oppression as the tools of progress other than those our collective American character has always chosen to fight against, and defeated, time and time again?
That is not the imagery we need to paint, it does not speak to our character and it certainly doesn't speak to the very real suffering that millions of hard working American families are enduring each and every day, with their legions growing by the minute . If you want imagery to encapsulate the true magnitude of the choice before us, imagine the coffins of those that could have been saved, imagine their grieving families putting those coffins in the ground, torn apart by the anguish of losing a loved one. Imagine the family that's living in their car because they chose to save their child instead of keeping their home. Now imagine if it was your own family bearing that cross. Now that would be more appropriate imagery.
So today I ask every legislator with our future in their hands to ask themselves the real underlying question and look past the theatrics and chicanery meant to befuddle and confuse, to look past the flawed logic that is being trumpeted from the mountaintops to cause paralyzing fear. I ask them and every American to look at this vote and choose if they are willing to strengthen the character of our great land, or unravel it. I ask every legislator not to look at the future though the lens of their own career, but through the lens of little guy that needs their help. I ask them to show the strength and courage it takes to fight for what's right, and the fortitude and resolve to see it through to the finish.
The character of our county is at stake right now. There are not many alive today that were around when this fight started. Will our children and theirs perish before we show the true colors of our character and do what's right? Or will we help our President tote this mighty load across the finish line as early as tomorrow and start a new chapter in the history books?
Yes, the character of our country, that is the question at hand.