Vote your own self-interest & Take My Poll in Daily Kos

Hanging out with my husband as he recovers from surgery has us grounded this weekend, but it re-emphasized for us how important access to health care is.  He can enjoy his convalescence and anticipation of a pain-free future knowing that the Chief of Surgery did a great job, but should good fortune alone determine who is this lucky?

The next time somebody annoys you, think about it.  Millions of our fellow citizens live in pain every minute of every day. Many are so demoralized they do not even seek diagnosis until their symptoms are so severe their illnesses and diseases have no effective treatment. An errant freckle or a mild cold becomes a death sentence.

Many sick people are too ashamed to beg a doctor to treat them, or maybe they haven't been able to pay the last bill.  After three months their doctor sent them to collection, surely they are not paranoid assuming they will be turned away this time.  

Candidly, very few people can afford a week off from work.  How can we expect them to pay for their own medical treatment?  Of course, that assumes the person needing medical care is fortunate enough to have a job with benefits.  

When the press talks about almost 50 million Americans without insurance - many of whom are children - it usually neglects to mention that there are huge numbers of additional people who are poorly insured or covered only for catastrophic events. With the current financial meltdown, many more people will surely lose their insurance if not their livelihoods.  

When almost a fifth of the population has no medical insurance - and certainly no other means to pay for medical care - there is something horribly, horribly wrong. We were a rich superpower a mere eight years ago.

The assault on labor over the last 30 years has driven down the power of unions along with the constant loss of jobs to locations overseas.  The rest of us face threats of being replaced with a foreign worker here in the states. Ask your bank where the data processing or customer service now originates. And then there are the workers that you more than likely will train to do your job so that your company can lay you off more easily.

With almost a million jobs lost in the first nine months of 2008... even without sexism, racism, immigrant labor and ageism to consider... our economic situation makes the re-employment landscape a nightmare.

The election and re-election of George Bush and Dick Cheney were merely a symptom of metastization.  The first tumor was the neoconservative thinking originally conceived during the 1930's and 1940's and slowly and methodically put into action. It required the breeding of ignorant sheep, the dumbing down of the citizenry, and under-educated, hateful people who could not differentiate between Christian religious dogma, their own self-interest and the campaign rhetoric of an ugly political machine and a man whose campaign will surely be the disgrace of his lifetime.

The irony is that the people who will vote and campaign for John McCain and Sarah Palin are the ones who could benefit the most from a Barack Hussein Obama presidency. This sad, manipulated population is one that cannot let go of its racial bigotry or view a bi-racial person without the filter. It is a group that thinks the name "Hussein" - which translates as handsome or beautiful and is a family honorific - means "Terrorist".  

Like their president and republican candidate, they flunked geography, philosophy and economics. What difference do the nuances of Shiite or Sunni make to them? They think 'A-rabs' are 'colored' therefore they must be 'Blacks'.  Many of them would be quite surprised to learn that Arabs are in fact classified racially as Caucasian. Just try to tell them that, but make sure you are wearing swat body armor and a helmet.

The acceptance of a lack of intellectual curiosity in our populace and the social promotion of our children by the schools has contributed to much greater ignorance. Please tell me how Sarah Palin graduated from college when the woman barely reads. It is this same social acceptance that allows a rally attendant to publicly scream, "Bomb Obama" and not be immediately arrested for inciting violence and/or threatening a presidential candidate.  

This forces every one of us who sees the truth to shout it from the mountaintops, whether it is through the front doors of our neighbors or from blogs like this.  This is the most important election in our lifetimes.  Let's not blow it because we 'think' Obama is ahead in the polls.  Get your ass out there and convince everyone you even vaguely know to vote for Obama and Biden.