Health reform.
Wait, let's get more specific: reform.
What's in a name, and all that...
What does it mean to reform?
Well, to me the most similar synonym that helps me see it more clearly is reshape. OK. To change the shape of something.
But then there's this connotation of making something not only in a different shape or form, but in a better, improved form.
So, simple question: Are we doing this when it comes to health care in the U.S.?
Well, technically, yes. It is being reshaped, and improved.
But what happens when things are not so uncomplicated? Like when something is improved, but also opens the door for some aspect of the issue to get worse? Example: More people get coverage, but by using the mandate method, many are penalized, and many more are afraid of being penalized, for not buying it, meanwhile many many more do buy it, and are shuttled into the care of insurance companies that have proven unworthy of even using the word "care" in their self-description. I mean really - we are about to force millions of citizens to add billions of dollars to the coffers of such vile, provenly malicious agencies? Really? This is good, how?
But I digress. My point is just to vent a bit, specifically about the fact that this reform is disappointing. And while it does represent a win, it also represents a loss - but not only for the obvious reasons of how it could have been and should have been more potent...
The loss that dismays me most, is the one we saw coming and did nothing to prevent - you know, like the umpteenth time Lucy pulls the ball away before C. Brown tries to kick it. And this loss has a name: Joe.
As in Lieberman.
We saw it. We knew a snake when we saw one.
We let it come to this.
Whatever maneuvering happens to get something done, the reform will be weaker because of Joe Lieberman. Aetna and other insurance companies will be stronger. And the real, stark result is that more people will die unnecessarily.
Joe did it. But we are the accomplices. We knew. We should have known better. We failed.
And Barack Obama is included in this "we". He appears to have been naive. He defended Joe. He defended the perception of not seeking vengeance. Well I am sorry, but he defended stupidity.
No one's perfect, no person and no legislation.
But damn it gets frustrating to lose the ones we should have won and won big.