Hope and change
I had a glimmer of hope last night, while watching Nancy Pelosi stammer through her speech to the House of Representatives, that my son could grow up in country that is better place to live than the country that I grew up in.
The health-care bill passed by the House yesterday is far, far from perfect. And there are other big things to worry about: Climate change, our nation’s debtor status, nuclear terrorism, yada-yada-yada.
But this was progress. Really significant progress. The biggest step, perhaps, toward fulfilling the promise of America since the civil rights era.
It said to all of us that something can be done to overcome the special-interest-induced sclerosis that has stoped up our political system for so long. It said that change can bring hope.
How Tea Party rumors gain traction
Ostensibly, the Tea Party meeting I attended Tuesday night in Peachtree City was about the “cap-and-trade” climate change bill that Congress is now considering.
But a passing reference to an unrelated rumor was more interesting. And it said a lot more about the way the Tea Party rank-and-file gets worked up over things that aren’t even happening.
This week’s baseless rumor apparently is that President Obama is planning to ban protests on the National Mall. “Treason,” one Tea Partier responded when he heard that. Another yelled something about “revolution.”
Here’s the video. Below’s my explanation of why the rumor appears to be totally baseless.
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