Reply #11: That's how I feel and why I pay attention to him

[OneGrassRoot]

I just wrote this at another threat, regarding Dr. Dean:


Without a doubt, he is disappointed in how this has played out, though probably not surprised.

Since he -- unlike elected officials -- has no stake in this, per se, his is the voice I'm following the closest.

I suppose it's like all corrupt negotiations: You start off with the best-case scenario and go from there. We all agree we didn't start off with our ultimate scenario, single payer. Howard Dean has pushed for the best-case scenario in his mind all along.

And we're ending up with something far removed from that, most likely.

So, it comes down to whether he feels what we're ending up with is HARMFUL or a potential opening. Either way, it's far from what we here ultimately want, but if he isn't sending vibes out that it's harmful and instead that it is a possible opening to expand it over the years to get it where we DO want it and where it SHOULD be, that is something. Not much, but something, to provide solace.

Yes, we're down to the typical DC clusterfuck scenario where the citizens are weighing whether or not what the politicians are doing is MORE HARMFUL than the current situation, versus the potential for it to gradually get better.

I keep hearing people say this is what happened with SS and Medicare. Democrats were so upset that it covered so few people at first....but huge change just doesn't seem possible in this country, not without a dictatorship. I, too, wish Obama would have come on stronger with this. Maybe he still will at the last minute, after allowing everyone rope to hang themselves with.

I hope so.

We'll see.