Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now so desperate that he is comparing opponents of government-run health care to defenders of slavery and those who opposed the right of women to vote almost a century ago.
Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, ’slow down, stop everything, let’s start over.’ If you think you’ve heard these same excuses before, you’re right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said ’slow down, it’s too early, things aren’t bad enough.
When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted they simply, slow down, there will be a better day to do that, today isn’t quite right.
When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today.
Republicans retorted that Reid’s comments “offensive” and “unbelievable.” But Reid did not back down. He argued that Republicans are using the same tactics employed in the pre-Civil War era to stall progress.
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The public option is obviously as dead as a doornail. My advice to the progressives is to take what they can get now.
I don’t know what kind of health care reform will come out of this session, but I strongly suspect it won’t be much. There is, however a silver lining behind this very dark cloud. I am reminded of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Don’t be embarrassed if you’ve never heard of it, there really isn’t a hell of a lot to remember about it; a mere pittance, really – a scrap of leftovers tossed out to “American Negros” (in the parlance of the age) in order to appease them. But it made the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – the one we remember – all the more easier seven years later.
We’ll live to fight another day.
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Tom Degan