Hear the Liberal lion’s roar and get healthcare passed

By Mary MacElveen
August 28, 2009

While some conservatives are crying foul that people will exploit the passing of a great senator in Senator Edward M. Kennedy. In my humble opinion we who believed as he did that every person mattered in this country are celebrating his beliefs. Yes, his liberal beliefs.

To these conservatives: are we to drop his charge to us all to finally deliver healthcare for each and every American? Nonsense I say. Note to conservative Americans, Senator Ted Kennedy even wanted you to benefit, so you would never have to worry about going to the doctor, being hospitalized or taking your next dose of medicine.

Senator Kennedy along with Senator Orin Hatch even sponsored the SCHIP program to insure America’s children, including those born to conservatives. It was none-other than former President George W. Bush who vetoed its expansion. Coming to the aid of America’s children was President Barack Obama who signed it into law.

If you are a poor conservative whose child is covered under this program, you have Senator Ted Kennedy to thank.

To conservatives who believe that a government run healthcare system would include a ‘death panel’, again, I say nonsense. Just look at how private insurance agencies who profit will at times deny claim benefits to realize that they are truly the active ‘death panel’.

Question to be asked is: How many Americans who are presently covered by private insurers have died when their coverage does not pay for their needed care? Many CEOs of these private insurance companies make millions of dollars per-year.

Sean Hannity warned: “Remember Paul Wellstone's death? You know, 'Let's do everything for Paul.' And we're now being implored to get behind Obamacare because it's what Ted Kennedy would have wanted,” First of all when Wellstone died, it was a different time with conservative Republicans in charge. So there was very little any of us who believed like Paul did could do at that time. We were simply outnumbered and out of power.

Today, it is a different story and yes elections have consequences which means that the Republicans were rejected in the past election. Americans wanted a new course and it is up to our Democratic leaders to deliver, even if it means going it alone. Make the case to the American people. 47 million Americans who presently go without are depending upon such leadership.

Senator Ted Kennedy's life-long passion while serving in the senate was healthcare for everyone, but I do not remember him using the term 'Obamacare'. He was championing this cause when the president was a child.

The late senator was often referred to as the 'Liberal-lion' of the senate and lions are not timid. I do not think he would think less of anyone pushing his dream forward to finally deliver healthcare for all Americans in the wake of his death. I do not think he would think this final push to get it done as politicizing his death. The roar of the lion screams out to all of us to put the spines back in our back and to confront these racist fear mongers at these divisive town hall meetings.

In the below piece I wrote after Senator Paul Wellstone's death, I wrote: "If you are a liberal, stand up and proudly say, "Yes I am! So what?" Paul did." Let us go forward to help realize the senator's dream and make it our reality. The vulnerable of this country are dependent on we liberals to do so.

To Senator Edward M. Kennedy, I want to thank you for 47 years of service to God and country. It will be hard to find another senator like you, but then again, no one can fill the big shoes you left behind. All they can do is to measure up and lead a charge that all Americans deserve quality healthcare.

I will leave you to read my celebratory piece written after the death of Senator Paul Wellstone who too was one of America’s greatest senators in our lifetime. It is my hope that you see a similarity between the two late and great senators.

The Night We Celebrated Liberalism: The Paul Wellstone Legacy Ignited
By Mary MacElveen
Oct 31, 2002

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines a liberal as "one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or established forms or ways," and "an advocate or adherent of liberalism especially in individual rights."

Synonyms for liberal listed in the Merriam Webster Thesaurus include: free, generous, munificent, openhanded, and unsparing. They cite these related words: advanced, broad-minded, progressive, radical, tolerant, exuberant, prodigal, benevolent, charitable, and philanthropic.

Here are some of the contrasted words listed: rigid, miserly, stingy, tight, tightfisted; meager, scanty, dictatorial, doctrinaire, dogmatic, oracular; conservative and reactionary.

For far too long, we in the Democratic Party have lost our way. We have forgotten our roots. I hope that through the death of Senator Paul Wellstone, his wife, his daughter, and staffers, we find our way back to our core beliefs. If we truly love Senator Wellstone's political and more importantly his personal beliefs, then we owe it to him and his memory to carry on the torch of liberalism, with our heads held high. That is what he and other liberal leaders such as John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. would have expected us to do.

In many campaigns our candidates are vilified for being liberals, and frankly this tactic is where we have to grab the bull by the horns and connect with everyone out there, that being a liberal is not a bad thing. It's something to be celebrated and embraced. After all, the term liberal comes from the root word liberty. Something that has been lost in this country for a very long time. Liberty for every man, woman and child. No matter, their walk or way of life.

When Senator Tom Harkin shouted over and over to the thousands gathered at Senator Wellstone's memorial service, that Paul was a real "DFL liberal" The emphasis was on liberal. And by his statement it was a badge of honor to be worn and celebrated. He kept chanting on and on and with more reverberation coming from the thousands there, liberal became, LIBERAL!

That to me, is what Senator Paul Wellstone's true legacy is all about.Senator Wellstone's definition of liberal is where everyone matters. He refuted the big money and political influence in Washington and back home in Minnesota, and in this day and age, that is something to be celebrated not vilified by those who choose to do so.

Living in New York, I can tell you that Senator Wellstone was my senator too. Because the votes he cast in the senate were representative of my beliefs, and championed the liberal cause. When people are elected to the office of senate, their constituents are from all walks of life and from every corner of this great land of ours.

Yes, even conservative senators are your senators as well, because their votes effect the direction that this country will go. When a vote by them goes against yours, it is up to you to contact them, and demand better leadership. Liberal leadership.

Senator Wellstone would have challenged all of us to do so. We are the people, and our power does matter. That was his legacy. The powerless over the powerful. Perhaps with Paul's heavenly guidance, we the people can become the powerful and take back our country from those who have polluted our American way.

When the numerous speakers talked about his life, and the life of his wife, daughter and staffers, they did so eloquently and joyously. Paul and those that perished on that flight were shown for who they truly were. They were champions of the people. We must never forget that. They were not the villains’ as those on the right wing would have us believe. They were you and me. Raising our children, working within our communities, coaching wrestling teams, cheering their children on at soccer matches, going to work and being upstanding citizens in our country. Isn't that what America is all about? Leading good and productive lives even in the face of adversity?Paul most certainly did and died with his liberal beliefs intact -- not compromised. That is to be celebrated, and one we must not run from even in the face of adversity. If you are a liberal, stand up and proudly say, "Yes I am! So what?" Paul did.

It is up to all of us in these last days of this election to reclaim the true meaning of liberalism and honor Paul by doing so. We must do so for Paul and the countless people within our country who have not been represented in Washington.

As I watched the broadcast, there to be seen were many notable Democrats present, such as Bill and Hillary Clinton, Al and Tipper Gore, Tom Daschle, Terry McAuliffe, Edward Kennedy and many more. But, the camera also caught the many faces of those less notable, and the very people Paul represented to the best of his ability. People like you and me.

Senator Wellstone, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being here, leading us and truly doing God's work here on Earth. You truly listened. I think had God been a senator, he would have been a liberal one at that.Let’s do it for Paul!

Author’s email address is xmjmac@optonline.net

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