It's too early to say that the health care reform bill will in fact pass when the senate votes, but if it does it is time to unite for the greater good.
Division and pride together are the two simpliest and most destructive factors that a group, a body, a team or a political party could ever allow to fester when trying to make positive change.
The Democrats during the 2008 Democratic primaries should have learned by now that silly movements like the PUMAs (Party Unity My A..) are for sore losers who need to get a life. HRC was wise enough after all of her initial nonsense (surrounded by Lanny Davis and other party killers) to go into the 2008 Democratic convention with a unifying mindset. She destroyed the division movement right there on the convention floor and now we the Democratic party are the majority in power. Bottom line unity trumps division all the time because the former utilizes the multitudes of available resources while the latter tries to succeed with an undermanned faction. PUMAs are dead, their cause is dead and so will the cause of the "Kill the Bill Liberals" end...dead.
History records achievement in terms of the impact it has on society. Any legislation that is successfully passed by the congress will get some if not all due recognition. On the other hand all of the opposition to the legislation such as bloggers (blogs, dairies, media articles, etc.) will be represented as a simple footnote.
Whether "you" supported the bill or not is relevant only in terms of your personal pride. However, the beauty of it all is that "we" collectively as citizens, regardless of the side we chose during the debate or if you were totally absent from the debate, stand to benefit (and I am saying this with optimism) from the impact it will have on society.
We are on the cusp of a new journey, one which I hope will include additional legislation to improve our laws and create a fair socio-economic system. A unified voice is one that should always stand out in front of division. As soon as any individual (or group) of a larger body begins to demonstrate division publicly the enemy or opposition to that body will leverage that division to reach their own aim which is to destroy the objectives of that body.
Let me be clear. I am certain that there are some among us who have had no intention of supporting health care reform of any sort. They likely have blogged here in face but have been detractors in spirit from the outset. They either support the right or they support other liberal democrats, but not their/our President. They have waited for an opportunity whenever they sensed division and latched on to it in hopes of fulfilling their own dreams to either kill the bill or disgrace the President.
From the outset, the right vehemently voiced their opposition to health care reform in general but their blanket opposition was too broad justify killing the bill. Now as it relates to the progressive left faction that did not support the President (e.g. some former HRC supporters) they on the other hand set this legislation as a litmus test for the President. Continuing and ongoing debate would surely weaken or kill the bill and likely weaken the President. So with their next move each of these factions moved quickly to make the public option (and further yet single payer) a lightening rod which would act to divide the democratic party --- this was especially true, knowing that the progressive left had been clamoring for its inclusion in the legislation.
Game on. With the public option serving as a political football all the right-wing republicans had to do is find a single person on the left that had reservations (e.d. blue-dog and centrist Democrats) to polarize and divide the left into groups. The media jumps into the fray and creates a stir that focuses more on a term, "public option" rather than the number of people that will benefit from gaining access to health care. Big mouths all over, who had no vote in the process fell hook, line and sinker for the divisive strategy, but in the end it did not work. The senate is likely to pass the bill as imperfect as it is, knowing right from the outset of its passage that it is a positive starting point.
I could write about the medicare buy-in stir and/or abortion language flap but why bother. The bottom line is that the goal was and has continued to be reforming the health care system to ensure that more people would get insured.
The first phase of reform is nearly done. More battles are on the horizon, but at least more citizens will join our side of social justice once they have benefited from this domestic legislation. If this comes to fruition, we will have even greater leverage against the far-right opposition. Maybe then we can stuff the next bit of legislation down their proverbial selfish throats.
Look for Howard Dean, Keith Olbermann, Markos, many ranting bloggers, et al. in the future having to parse their words carefully when the President's job ratings improve. They'll have to make excuses as to why they were for health care before they were against it. We all know how difficult that is.