Snatched from the Jaws of Defeat

Three years ago I cobbled together a fundraiser to support the raging fight to pass Obama's health care law. I was humbled by the many other artists who joined in. But a lot has happened since then and yesterday I would have called my own attitude about the law's chances extremely pessimistic. I expected it to get washed unceremoniously down the political drain in the raging deluge of rightward moving storm clouds we've all been struggling against lately. But it survived. The Chief Justice surprised me. Expanding health care is good policy, it's the human thing to do, and it actually goes a long way toward reducing wealth inequality in this country, but I've been more active in support of health care rights than other issues in part because I lost someone whose life might have been saved if she'd been able to afford insurance. And I'm far, far from alone in that circumstance. The law isn't perfect. I still support Medicare for all. But this is a victory. And it's as clear and ringing a call as we can expect that while this president may be imperfect he has done something historic and remarkable in passing the Affordable Care Act. And he deserves the support – along with the emphatic nudging – of those of us to his left.

The sky photos above and below are Cheryl Weaver's. More here.