Saturday, August 1, 2009

Taking a Lesson from Dr. Seuss

Yesterday, Stephen at Drinking Liberally in New Milford suggested throwing Max Baucus under the health care reform bus. Woody at Walled-In Pond figured out that congressional candidates raised $122,634.64 each in the last quarter alone and it's not even a dang election year.

This national "debate" about health care has, if nothing else, illustrated the power of special interest pocket books. It's no wonder Americans despair over reform when the greed of our leaders is on constant, audacious display. None of us peasants can have an impact when all we do is lament our lot in isolation. We have to act collectively in our own interests since we cannot rely on Congress to consider any interests but their own. According to itskevin at Daily Kos, there are a few Senators who are fed up with Max Baucus's ineffective leadership on health care.

If you don't have much on your agenda today, try calling one of these members of congress and tell them you're sick and tired of being jacked off by congress:

Charles Schumer (NY) at (202) 224-6542
Jay Rockefeller (WV) at (202) 224-6472
Ron Wyden (OR) at (202) 224-5244
John Kerry (MA) at (202) 224-2742
Blanche Lincoln (AR) at (202) 224-4843
Debbie Stabenow (MI) at (202) 224-4822
Maria Cantwell (WA) at (202) 224-3441
Bill Nelson (FL) at (202) 224-5274
Robert Menendez (NJ) at (202) 224-4744
Thomas Carper (DE) at (202) 224-2441

Or go to Write Your Representative and send an email.

We are headed straight toward Idiocracy. In that movie, America is experiencing a famine because the citizens believed in commercials and tried to grow crops using Gatorade since sports drinks contain essential elements and water is just for toilets.

The only way to avoid Idiocracy in real life is to use our impoverished, puny little voices to say: I'm Mad as Hell and I'm not Going to Take it Anymore. Different movie, but real life today is as bad as, or worse than, the one imagined in Network in 1976.

Now that I think about it, we're in the same boat as all the Whos down in Who-ville. The pompous, closed minded animals of the jungle are ready to rope and cage Horton and boil Who-ville into Beezle-Nut stew because they refuse to believe the tiny Whos even exist when their world is an insignificant speck of dust. Kind of like Congress and us. In order to save themselves, the Whos must work together.
And, down on the dust speck, the scared little Mayor
Quick called a big meeting in Who-ville Town Square,
And his people cried loudly. They cried out in fear:
"We are here! We are here! We are here! We are here!"
Dr. Seuss was no fool. The first time the Whos try to be heard, the plan fails. The Whos make all the racket they can, but cannot be heard by the douchebags of the jungle until the mayor discovers a shirker. The Mayor grabs the "young twerp" and takes him to the top of the Eiffelberg Tower tells him, "Open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!" All the kid says is "Yopp," but his yopp helps the Whos' noises go over the top.
Their voices were heard! They rang out clear and clean.
And the elephant smiled, "Do you see what I mean? . . .
They've proved they ARE persons, no matter how small.
And the whole world was saved by the Smallest of All
Horton Hears A Who (Random House, 1954) is just a story, but we could learn a lesson from Dr. Seuss. Can it be simple coincidence that Horton is an elephant? One liberal elephant makes a bunch of foolish, self-important, cut throat animals that a person's a person no matter how small - and they have the exact same rights as those buttheads.

Speak up, America.

8 Comments:

Blogger Gail said...

Hi again-
your skill is mind boggling. I read your words and all the blends and connections and intelligent references including Dr Seuss and I say, "who does this??"!!! :-)

And I am a member of the M S Action Team and I am deep in to emailing regarding health care reform from that vantage point, which, is not all that specific since changes in how that disease is handled will impact many, many others. So it's all good.

Love and awe
Gail
pece.....

August 1, 2009 at 10:58 AM  
Blogger Karlo said...

Good post, although Horton Hears a Who was actually (I am told) a pro-Vietnam intervention story, with the giant American elephant called to protect little Vietnam from all those Communist monkeys.

August 1, 2009 at 4:04 PM  
Blogger PENolan said...

ProVietnam intervention? All the Whos down in Who-ville? If so, it just goes to show you that lots of things sound like good ideas at the time -- Fat Man and Little Boy, for example.
Then we get the Butter Battle Book, but now that you mention it, there's a lot of red, white and blue in the illustrations.

Oh well.
Nice to see you, Karlo.

August 1, 2009 at 4:22 PM  
Blogger Comrade Kevin said...

I speak. Who hears me?

August 3, 2009 at 10:50 AM  
Blogger PENolan said...

I do, Comrade.
And so does Woody, Gail, Stephen, Libs, Utah, Karlo, JadedJ, Punch, Peach Tart and lots lots more.

We speak.
Who hears us?
Will they speak too?

August 3, 2009 at 10:55 AM  
Anonymous JD said...

I'd forgotten how radical Dr. Seuss was and I'm reminded how good stories can transcend their times and circumstances.
I think you're right, Health Care Reform is the issue we need to unite around and speak up about TODAY. I'll be making a phone call or two.

August 3, 2009 at 11:34 AM  
Blogger PENolan said...

Keep it going, JD

August 3, 2009 at 2:44 PM  
Blogger Connecticut Man1 said...

Who knew that? Vietnam? Dr. Seuss? Never ever heard that before in my life.

September 5, 2009 at 8:24 PM  

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