I have somehow gotten myself into the core steering committee of the Bozeman/Livingston area coalition to advocate Single Payer health care. We want Medicare improved and extended to cover everyone. This movement has gotten bigger and bigger until it has taken over every spare minute of my life. Now, with congress in recess for the month and President Obama coming to Bozeman for a town hall meeting, it has turned into an absolute circus.
Here's a parade/protest in Butte we took part in:
The main target of our protests has been Max Baucus, our Senator who has taken $4 million of insurance company and pharmaceutical company contributions while working on legislation that will protect and even benefit the interests of those companies. What part of "conflict of interest" doesn't he understand?
Here is a protest outside his office in Bozeman
Here is a giant check we presented to his staff in our "Buy back our Senator" campaign
Here is a protest we did at a Baucus fundraising event called Camp Baucus in Big Sky
Eight of us also had a sit-down meeting with the Senator, where I looked him in the eye and accused him of corruption and he got all huffy and offended. I don'thave any pictures of that.
The secondary target has been President Obama, who has offered almost no leadership on this issue and has repeatedly admitted that a single payer plan would be the best solution but that we can't get there from here (this from the man who used "Yes, we can!" as his slogan). The tricky part has been distinguishing ourselves from the Tea Party folks who don't really advocate anything, but will oppose anything that comes from President Obama AND distinguishing ourselves from the Obama cheerleaders who don't have an actual plan to advocate, but will support anything that comes from President Obama. What a mess. Here are some pictures from President Obama's visit this last Friday
Meanwhile, I still have lots of work to do on the cabin and the firewood before winter gets here, and when I got home from the Obama event, it was hailing so hard and had gotten so cold that I had to start a fire in the woodstove and huddle up with hot cocoa.
It is only August, but the drop in temperature is a reminder that summer is going by quickly and I have deadlines imposed by the weather that are not negotiable. Time to stop trying to change the world and attend to my own personal world here at home.
3 comments:
when I heard Obama was going to Montana, I knew you'd be in the center of things.
Glad we got to see you when we did! Brrrrr
Linda, you badass... I miss ya!
Hi Linda, I was saddened when you showed us the effects of the bud worms on the trees. I think it's something to show people when they deny the real impacts of climate change. I hear a lot of comments about the changes in winter temperatures are just natural cycles, etc. But you have very real evidence. Still I guess people don't see what they aren't willing to accept.
Get yourself all set for winter and then enjoy the cold crisp evenings of fall.
I really enjoyed our time there this summer and hope to see you again in the future.
Nancy
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