A heartbreaking epic betrayal....

When President Obama signed the executive order for DACA, he was derided from the right and accused of acting unconstitutionally. Yet, DACA was an act of faith, an important step in trying to provide protections and opportunities to children of immigrants who had no legal status, children who in most cases had no memory of their "home country". DACA provided these individuals the opportunity to work and pursue higher education in ways they could have only imagined previously. These "Dreamers" came out of the shadows and voluntarily provided their personal information and paid fines in order to take advantage of the new opportunities afforded to them, even though DACA did not provide a pathway towards citizenship. They exposed themselves because they wanted the chance to better themselves, to provide for their families, and to contribute to the only country they'd ever known as home. Is this not the very epitome of "pulling oneself up by the bootstraps" that the right claims to espouse? These beneficiaries of DACA are contributing to society, via work and taxes, and are receiving none of the benefits of citizenship!

Now, with the wave of a hand, this so called President, in an effort to keep a promise to his racist base, has wiped out DACA without any concern for how heartless and cruel this move will be. Sure there's a six month delay in enforcement, but does anyone truly believe Congress will step up and protect those affected? I hope they do, but I have my doubts. Our country has offered a hand up and a show of faith to the most vulnerable of our undocumented and now it will not only revoke that offer, it will use the information it gained on those individuals to force them from the country. Revoking DACA is a shameful, heartless move, and I truly hope the blow back against this move is forceful and effective in ultimately protecting all of these 800,000 individuals.

What the heck happened to Mississippi??

The Promise...Springsteen

Probably my favorite song by Bruce...rough night, and I needed to hear it

Dirty Water...for Boston today!

We don't need a new slogan...we should fight for the "Four Freedoms"

The Four Freedoms were a benchmark of the FDR presidency, a goal which, although we have strived to achieve, remains unclaimed and, in our current political environment, they remain under severe attack. As a party, everything we stand for, every so called "litmus test" is summed up in these principles. We don't have to reinvent new slogans and catch phrases to win voters. We only need to look to our robust past to find our inspiration!

Gimme Shelter....

Seemed appropriate background music for the day

Emo Trump....

How to lose a Guy in ten days....

DU Reservists and National Guard!?

Anyone else feeling a little nervous about getting called up with the escalating situation in North Korea?

If I'm called up I'll go, because I know I have a unique skill set and experience. Anyone else in that boat? It just seems like we're inching closer to the inevitable....but maybe I'm being melodramatic

A personal ACA success story (even if a minor one)

My mother, despite being raised in a Roosevelt democratic household, has gotten more conservative with age. I blame a lot of this on religion, but it's also a bit of culture as well, living in TN.

So since my father's death several years ago, she has been on her employer's healthcare plan. Well she retired at the end of last year and had to move to a different plan since she was not of age to receive Medicare. She had worked for the same company for about 45 years, quite literally since the week after she graduated high school. So I don't disparage her retirement, but I was a bit worried, since I'm an only child...lol...start up the jokes about only children and I'm sure I'm over protective of her since my dad's death, but I digress.

When she was looking for insurance plans, I convinced her to move to an ACA plan, mainly because it was so similar to her employer plan and would be an easy transition for pretty similar costs. So for the past few months she's been telling me with each well visit how it was costing her less and how pleased she was with her new plan. This last week, she had to have her presecriptions filled for the first time, ironically the same day of the repeal vote. She texted me to say "I never cease to be amazed, I've saved "x amount" on my prescriptions and my plan is with the same company I was with before I retired". I just said, quite gently, "I know momma...just think how much better it would be if our state had accepted the expansion". I thought that was win enough...

Fast forward to today and I get a text from her:

"I just want you to know I've been muting every last one of my Facebook friends who are bashing John McCain for his vote on the ACA repeal...they are so ignorant and have no idea how much it's helped people".

Now, I fully realize this is a tiny sliver of the ways that the ACA has impacted the lives of people across this nation. In fact, this wasn't life or death in her case as much as a cost of living issue. What I want you to appreciate is that even those who are conservatives can be changed. At least that's my take away.