The Day Has Come

It is finally here. The day so many of us have waited for, when America would finally show its potential for good and a love of its citizens, dawns. After a long, drawn out, momentous, contentious, acrimonious, and partisan fight, Congress is about to pass health care reform.

So many have tried to stop it. They have harangued us with talk of "death panels," of "the government takeover of health care," of socialism and fascism. They have muddied the waters with hypocrisy and hatred and ignorance. A raucous minority has attempted to set back American governance 250 years, when we were but squabbling colonies, bitter about the oppression of King George III but unwilling to take the necessary steps to secure freedom. They have plowed under reason and attempted to plant fear.

They are about to lose.

May the passage of this bill mark the breaking of the back of such tyrannical ignorance. America, the Republic, must stand above the pettiness of its citizens at times, to do what is in the best interests of all Americans. The emancipation of slaves, civil rights, granting women the right to vote... all these moments in our history were accompanied by vitriolic debate, raw anger, violence, but eventually, were met with strong conviction and earnest regard for what was proper. Though remnants of those fights remain, they are powerless and weak, left mouldering on the vine, bereft of strength. So to it might be, that those who would turn their backs on Americans who cannot afford or cannot maintain vital health care might have their opposition wither as well.

Let it be written that, at this moment, America reached beyond partisanship, beyond rhetoric, beyond reticence, and strove for a higher purpose: enhancing the general welfare and promoting the greater good. Let us also stand up to those who would have let good citizens die, who would have turned their backs on those in need, and tell them that despite everything, they too will enjoy the fruits of this, even though in the hearts of many, they do not deserve such. For America is a place where you can be who want to be, believe what you want to believe, and say what you want to say, and your rights to those things are guaranteed, even if they are contrary to the greater good.

The movement toward a greater society is never free of strife or struggle. The old ways and old ideas cling desperately to us, not quite ready to be cast off, even as human progress leaves them in the dust. Many will be shocked and angered when their will is forsaken by the government, but as with anything, they will be brought kicking and screaming into the new dawn. They will be the beneficiaries of progress, even as they try to turn their backs on it. American will be a better nation for this, like it or not.