David, I Hardly Knew Ye

Well I was going to write a bit about my experience on a conference call tonight with David Axelrod, arranged by a group called Organizing for America. The call was to start at 8:00 p.m. As instructed, I was crouched (to be fair, the instructions didn’t say I had to crouch) by my home phone at 7:45. When signing up for the call I had to look up my home number as I don’t use my land line at all. Ever the good soldier, I wanted to give Organizing for America a land line as requested. I am not sophisticated enough to have an i-thing of any sort or any of the knock-offs, but I do depend entirely on my trusty cell phone.

7:45 came and went, as did 8:05, and 8:20. At 8:50, it occurred to me that the call might not be coming. (I was like this when I was dating. Sad. Very sad.) The good folks at Organizing for America sent an email confirmation (Addressed to me personally! After tonight I have to ask how many others were there? How many others?) this afternoon with the reassuring instruction: “And if you're having any trouble getting on the call, email ofainfo@dnc.org and we'll help you get connected.”I emailed “ofainfo@dnc.org.” At 8:05, 8:20, and yes, 8;50. I know I should learn. I know I should have more pride, but David, I would have been perfect for you. Eager. Attentive. No gag reflex. (Oops. Different blog.)

In some ways this makes it easier. Now instead of having to write about how the call actually went, I can write about how I might imagine it going. First, I expect it would have been like no other conference call I’ve ever been on. No collegial give and take, no bracing exchange of ideas, no toadying questions and reflexive regurgitation of the answers. No, this, I imagine would have been more like a conference harangue with one speaker and a vast eager, attentive audience.

And what do I imagine I might have heard from Mr. Axelrod? Something along the lines of “we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender”? Perhaps. Vehement exhortations to shove the Obama Health (YOUR NOUN HERE) Reform proposal down the throats of the reluctant? Possibly.

What I did not expect to hear was the content of President Obama’s proposal. Members of the Senate can define theirs, members of the House can define theirs, Lou Dobbs can probably define his, but the President of the United States remains vague about his. Outlines are emerging. The public option, the last best safeguard of pricing controls and access to care, has apparently been tossed under the ambulance. Big pharma has triumphed over Big medicine and Big insurance. I thought the point of the election last November was that none of the Bigs would be calling the shots anymore, I didn’t realize that the Obama presidency would only be about picking “our” Big.

I look to that day when I can join my fellow citizens in taking to streets laughing and weeping all at once, tossing our caps in the air, saying silent prayers of thanksgiving and shouting, “Oh golden day! We’ve won nothing! Say hallelujah! Absolutely nothing!!”