Quiet That Screaming Baby

Have you ever been in a grocery store when there’s a baby crying? It can drive you crazy. The sound echoes off the walls and ceiling and it sounds like the room is filled with crying babies. You go into the store for some milk and you grab the 1% instead of the 2% which you wanted in your haste to get away from the noise.

As you leave you see the embarrassed mother trying to soothe the baby with one hand as she pays for her groceries with the other. You stand and look in amazement that such a tiny human being could be making that much noise and upsetting so many people.

That is where we are right now in this country with health care reform. A very small minority is screaming its head off and people are getting distracted.

You don’t usually see me writing about political issues since there are many who have usually already presented the facts or their opinions much better than I ever could. But today I feel that I have something to say.

Health care concerns know no party lines. We all suffer when our health coverage is taken away or becomes too expensive. The American people must learn to look past the Red and the Blue and get down to the work of fixing a system which is so obviously broken.

Next week our Senators and Representatives will be returning to Washington. They must go back with our voices echoing in their heads. Your voice may not be telling them the same thing as mine but it is critical that they hear from each of us.

One of the saddest phrases that I hear coming from a fellow American is, “I didn’t vote because it doesn’t matter anyway. I’m just one person.” If I ask you if you’ve contacted your Senator and Representative to give them your views on Health Insurance Reform would your response be, “What difference does it make since they are all a bunch of politicians being controlled by the insurance industry?” I so very much hope not.

If you will go to http://www.barackobama.com/ you will find Organizing For America. In the page header is this quote:


“I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington…I’m asking you to believe in yours.” Barack Obama


We must start believing in ourselves as forces to be reckoned with. On this site are links to volunteer opportunities in your area as well as information on the issues.

You may not agree with all of the administration’s proposals and feel that you have a better plan. By all means, let them know. For whatever reasons, it often seems that our politicians are not in touch with the feelings of the vast majority of the population. Why? I think a lot is socio-economic. Never in their lives have they walked in our shoes. How are they going to know if we don’t tell them? Loudly and clearly!

Between now and next week I hope that the phones lines, emails and daily mails of each of the decision makers in this country are flooded with the real voice of the American people and not the screaming babies.

If you haven’t already, please make a few phone calls or write a letter.

I’ll get off my soapbox now and wish all of you a very nice afternoon.
Sharon