A response to President Obama's latest email to his supporters
Barack:
1. On healthcare, I need you to move the goalposts further in the country's favor to ensure that whatever compromise ultimately ensues actually accomplishes your goals. I echo Robert Reich's consternation that neither "single-payer" nor "universally-available alternative government plan" seem to be part of the vocabulary any more.
2. On foreign policy, I need you to live up to your campaign promises. I allowed myself to briefly hope that you would become our first transcendent President. The best we have ever had so far (the Roosevelts, Lyndon Johnson) outlined and accomplished truly good domestic agendas, but remained instruments of U.S. tyranny abroad. So far you are replicating that model. You have paid lip service to ending Cheneyism, but from state secrets to escalating unmanned attacks in Afghanistan to many other areas (Glenn Greenwald speaks for me in these matters) you have put a kinder face on essentially the same policy.
Please fulfill the hope and change you championed.
Yours truly,
Blake
On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 4:29 PM, President Barack Obama wrote:
> Blake --
>
> The chance to finally reform our nation's health care system is here. While
> Congress moves rapidly to produce a detailed plan, I have made it clear that
> real reform must uphold three core principles -- it must reduce costs,
> guarantee choice, and ensure quality care for every American.
>
> As we know, challenging the status quo will not be easy. Its defenders will
> claim our goals are too big, that we should once again settle for half
> measures and empty talk. Left unanswered, these voices of doubt might yet
> again derail the comprehensive reform we so badly need. That's where you
> come in.
>
> When our opponents spread fear and confusion about the changes we seek, your
> support for these core principles will show clarity and resolve. When the
> lobbyists for the status quo tell Congress to hold back, your personal story
> will give them the courage to press forward.
>
> Join my call: Ask Congress to pass real health care reform in 2009.
>
> After adding your name, please consider sharing your personal story about
> the importance of health care reform in your life and the lives of those you
> love.
>
> I will be personally reviewing many of these signatures and stories. If you
> speak up now, your voice will make a difference.
>
> http://my.barackobama.com/HealthCareOrganizing
>
> American families are watching their premiums rise four times faster than
> their wages. Spiraling health care costs are shackling America's businesses,
> curtailing job growth and slowing the economy at the worst possible time.
> This has got to change.
>
> I know personal stories can drive that change, because I know how my
> mother's experience continues to drive me. She passed away from ovarian
> cancer a little over a decade ago. And in the last weeks of her life, when
> she was coming to grips with her own mortality and showing extraordinary
> courage just to get through each day, she was spending too much time
> worrying about whether her health insurance would cover her bills. She
> deserved better. Every American deserves better. And that's why I will not
> rest until the dream of health care reform is finally achieved in the United
> States of America.
>
> Please add your name to join my call. Then share your personal story about
> why you too will not rest until this job is done.
>
> http://my.barackobama.com/HealthCareOrganizing
>
> Last November, the American people sent Washington a clear mandate for
> change. But when the polls close, the true work of citizenship begins.
> That's what Organizing for America is all about. Now, in these crucial
> moments, your voice once again has extraordinary power. I'm counting on you
> to use it.
>
> Thank you,
>
> President Barack Obama
>
>
>
>
>
> Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National
> Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This
> communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
>
> This email was sent to: *********
>
> To unsubscribe, go to: http://my.barackobama.com/unsubscribe
>
1. On healthcare, I need you to move the goalposts further in the country's favor to ensure that whatever compromise ultimately ensues actually accomplishes your goals. I echo Robert Reich's consternation that neither "single-payer" nor "universally-available alternative government plan" seem to be part of the vocabulary any more.
2. On foreign policy, I need you to live up to your campaign promises. I allowed myself to briefly hope that you would become our first transcendent President. The best we have ever had so far (the Roosevelts, Lyndon Johnson) outlined and accomplished truly good domestic agendas, but remained instruments of U.S. tyranny abroad. So far you are replicating that model. You have paid lip service to ending Cheneyism, but from state secrets to escalating unmanned attacks in Afghanistan to many other areas (Glenn Greenwald speaks for me in these matters) you have put a kinder face on essentially the same policy.
Please fulfill the hope and change you championed.
Yours truly,
Blake
On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 4:29 PM, President Barack Obama
> Blake --
>
> The chance to finally reform our nation's health care system is here. While
> Congress moves rapidly to produce a detailed plan, I have made it clear that
> real reform must uphold three core principles -- it must reduce costs,
> guarantee choice, and ensure quality care for every American.
>
> As we know, challenging the status quo will not be easy. Its defenders will
> claim our goals are too big, that we should once again settle for half
> measures and empty talk. Left unanswered, these voices of doubt might yet
> again derail the comprehensive reform we so badly need. That's where you
> come in.
>
> When our opponents spread fear and confusion about the changes we seek, your
> support for these core principles will show clarity and resolve. When the
> lobbyists for the status quo tell Congress to hold back, your personal story
> will give them the courage to press forward.
>
> Join my call: Ask Congress to pass real health care reform in 2009.
>
> After adding your name, please consider sharing your personal story about
> the importance of health care reform in your life and the lives of those you
> love.
>
> I will be personally reviewing many of these signatures and stories. If you
> speak up now, your voice will make a difference.
>
> http://my.barackobama.com/HealthCareOrganizing
>
> American families are watching their premiums rise four times faster than
> their wages. Spiraling health care costs are shackling America's businesses,
> curtailing job growth and slowing the economy at the worst possible time.
> This has got to change.
>
> I know personal stories can drive that change, because I know how my
> mother's experience continues to drive me. She passed away from ovarian
> cancer a little over a decade ago. And in the last weeks of her life, when
> she was coming to grips with her own mortality and showing extraordinary
> courage just to get through each day, she was spending too much time
> worrying about whether her health insurance would cover her bills. She
> deserved better. Every American deserves better. And that's why I will not
> rest until the dream of health care reform is finally achieved in the United
> States of America.
>
> Please add your name to join my call. Then share your personal story about
> why you too will not rest until this job is done.
>
> http://my.barackobama.com/HealthCareOrganizing
>
> Last November, the American people sent Washington a clear mandate for
> change. But when the polls close, the true work of citizenship begins.
> That's what Organizing for America is all about. Now, in these crucial
> moments, your voice once again has extraordinary power. I'm counting on you
> to use it.
>
> Thank you,
>
> President Barack Obama
>
>
>
>
>
> Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National
> Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This
> communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
>
> This email was sent to: *********
>
> To unsubscribe, go to: http://my.barackobama.com/unsubscribe
>
posted by Blake at 4:55 PM
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