OK so I took a couple of days after my experience at the Tea Party march down Pennsylvania Ave in Washington DC last Saturday to think about the whole thing and listen to some who also have opinions (both Fox and CNN) on the matter prior to writing this blog. You see - I was there kinda by default as my 72 year old father who is admittedly against the health care plan decided he was going to the march with or without my mom to be counted and heard, and he asked me to join him and well, I was heading to DC anyway to cover the Ravens vs KC Chiefs game and work on a book with Ray Lewis so we decided to make it a father and son thing. In addition to the incredible insight a man of my dad's years has., he is a veteran and an extremely learned man who's opinion matters more to me than well Young kids chiming in, my wife who knows nothing of the plan and yes people who cannot be bothered to stand up and be counted and heard.
Now do not get me wrong., I did not have an opinion going into the rally either was because I am totally guilty of being one of those who could not be bothered to stand up and be counted or heard and I probably still do not have enough information to weigh in with a valuable opinion on the health care plan, but I DID PARTICIPATE and I DID PAY ATTENTION so here are my thoughts about Americans in general and there position on Obama and his plans. Obama IS trying his level best to do better for Americans when it comes to health care and I commend him for that. Having said that., is this the rite time to be tackling health care? our banking system, housing system, un-employment, overall financial crises and two wars raging on are all much bigger problems at this time and, are we really gonna try to tackle health care? and do it with a deadline of like next Wednesday?
There were tens of thousands of people admittedly against Obamas plan. Enough to get in planes, buses, trains and cars from around the country and show up and be heard. Whether you agree with him or not that is telling that there are major NOT minor issues with his plan. There were young and old, black and white, male and female of ALL races , colors and creeds in attendances. YES, there where fanatical, ignorant people with dumb signs and even dumber messages, but there were way many, many more smart , level headed, intelligent individuals with savy signs and important opinions as well. I thought it was funny to see a senior citizen tell a 13 year old kid with a sign "Hey get a job, pay taxes and then talk to me... what are you in kindergarden").
I must admit when I was embarking on my road trip and listening to people after Obama's speech I thought there was a tone of racism in the people against Obama's plan, and I am sure in many cases that was and still is the case. What I did not realize is that (in my opinion) there was an equal amount of reverse racism (if you will) in play with the sparse amount of African Americans in attendance as well. The small ratio of African Americans compared to all others in attendance was telling to me just by the fact that there must have been many African American folks who did not agree with Obama's plan who simply did not attend because they will support Obama at all cost regardless of whether his plan is flawed or not.
Either way both are just as wrong because we are all Americans with a huge stake in the President being successful at all his attempts to help bring us a better way of life for ourselves and much more importantly our children, so GET INVOLVED either way. I did in some small way and I am infinitely better for it. Walking off the plane in the airport in DC there was a full marching band and about 200 people there to cheer and honor 15 WWII veterans who got off my flight to attend the rally. Partisan politics aside, that was an incredible site and it gave me chills. Marching down the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol building with thousands of other folks was an enlightening experience and it made me feel as alive as I have ever felt. I still came away with more questions than answers, more concerns than relief but now I have one thing I didn't have prior to going....HOPE because politics aside....people at the very least ....CARE. story & photos by Marc Serota/RRAmedia.com
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