Vic Socotra

25 August 2009

Little Fish

(Service Employees International Union Shirt from the Web Store)

It was a busy Monday, back again from the road and with way too much to think about.

On the crowded plane coming back from Chicago was a man who had made me think. He was of a certain age, looked like he was reformed from something nasty, and headed for Washington to do something about it. He wore a t-shirt that depicted a school of little fish going after one big fish.

One word was underneath the cartoon: “Organize.”

I was doing some research on an organization called the Service Employees International Union- SEIU, for short. The organization is popping up a lot, but there does not seem to be a lot of discussion about them.

They claim to have a membership of more than 1.5 million, or slightly more than the total active armed forces of the United States. The organization is composed of a vast array of service-related workers, including health care employees, janitors, security guards, public service employees, home care workers, building service workers, and probation and parole officers.

I was curious, because busloads of SEIU members have been appearing at the contentious town hall meetings, apparently to counter the voices rising in opposition to the health care reform initiatives.

I don’t like goons. Just a personal preference, and I don’t care about who sends them. Goons are bad. SEIU is supposed to be involved in virtually every major cause associated with labor, including higher wages, better and more affordable health care,

I don’t have any goons, and I suspect I know what sort of fish they would consider me. I’m not alone. A pal mentioned he was paying up his personal liability insurance, just in case this Administration, or the next one, decided to come after him for things he did as directed by the government.

I am deeply disturbed by what the Attorney General is up to. I did not like the lap-dogs who worked in the Justice Department until recently, but I like less the idea that my friends may spend the savings left after government careers trying to defend themselves against bargain-basement Nuremburg show trials on the way to getting “the Big Fish.”

I hear them on the radio, the voices that want to go all the way to the top to prosecute those whose biggest crime seems to have been losing the election.

That is a slippery slope, and sliding down into the new day filled with urgent projects that will destroy the Labor Day holiday, I was surprised to hear a voice of sweet reason in the New York Times, of all things.

I am accustomed to the Gray Lady riling me up with the morning caffeine, so you can understand how curious it was to read Bob Herbert decry the burden placed on the troops, one percent of the population who is doing all the fighting.

There was an article on Dr. Ezekiel Emmanuel, the brother of the White House Chief of Staff and the Hollywood Super Agent, who is the intellectual underpinning of the health care reform. He is a smart guy, like his brothers, and he had written extensively about what he thinks must be done.

From his writings, it is clear that there is something to all the controversy; there is not enough care available for everyone, and some rational yardstick, perhaps based on age and likely outcome should be considered in allocating care.

He should not be as surprised as he appears to be that people take his learned ruminations deadly seriously.

The capstone was reading an article by Kevin Sack. I wish I had more time this morning, but I don’t. Accordingly, I will leave you with this quote from his article “Calm, but Moved to Be Heard on Health Care.” It described the feelings of a couple named Collier. They are described as moderate democrats, of middle class means. They did not shout at their congressman. But they are very concerned.

Kevin described the Colliers feelings this way: “their frustration has compounded as the administration expanded the federal government’s reach, seemingly every week. The final straw, they said, was the Democratic proposal to create a new public health plan, which they are convinced will evolve into a nationalized insurance system.”

“I’ve never seen the government as intrusive as it is today,” he quotes Mr. Collier. “Here comes this new guy in town,” he said, “and he wants to centralize everything. He wants to take over the car companies. He wants to take over the banks. Now he wants to take over health care. It’s a power grab, and if he gets this, there’s no turning it around.”

“If everyone is covered,” Mr. Collier is quoted as saying, “supply and demand will dictate that some must wait for their care.” He does not believe the president’s promises that the elderly will not stand in line behind those with longer life expectancies.

“I don’t trust him on that,” Collier said, and then echoed a phrase used regularly by opponents of government in health care: “I think you’re going to have all the efficiency of the post office with the compassion of the I.R.S.”

Those are Kevin’s copyrighted words, and I claim no credit for them. I don’t want any copyright goons coming over to the house.

I use them this morning in the interest of expediency. I do not think it is possible to sum it up any better, but we are just little fish in this thing, and I don’t suppose we are going to be heard. There are much bigger fish to be fried, after all.

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