Yesterday, history was made. Congress passed legislation that will truly reform health care in the United States. It is heading to the President’s desk soon, and 33 million Americans who have been denied access to health care – especially when they needed it most – will have the right to a doctor, a nurse, life-saving surgery, pharma, and the right to make decisions about their health with the aid of health professionals, rather than being denied that right or having decisions made for them by the insurance companies.

It has been pretty entertaining over the last year watching the debate ebb and flow across the country. In general, there was a lot of downright bullshit coming out of both sides during the first six months. Then the bullshit became raucous clamoring for the whole thing to end. That didn’t happen (thank God) and Obama and the democratic leadership got the ball rolling again. Utilizing similar tactics that won Obama the White House and gave the Dems the majority in the House and Senate, a grassroots effort kept pounding on the offices of legislators to make health care reform a reality.

The insurance companies, for their part, did not keep quiet. They descended in droves on Capitol Hill and even bought off a few Dems. But in the end it was that “Do-Nothing” President of ours who kept Congress focused on the goal line. As a direct result, the GOP – who have outwardly said and demonstrated that they only want Obama to fail – went Code Red and with the help of the conservative media got the rube citizenry wrapped around an axle of hatred. Rep John Boehner, minority leader of the House (and leader of the chilling efforts to remove dignity and decorum from the House chamber by having lackey-frosh congressmen challenge every Democratic Speaker Pro Tempore with ridiculous parliamentary inquiries, disruptions, and even the occasional slur or insult thrown towards presenters in the well or at the rostrum.)

Meanwhile, the rube citizenry “took up arms” and marched in protest on Capitol Hill, among other places across the country. They got all riled up. Burning pictures of the President. Making pictures of Obama that liken him to Hitler. They SPIT on a congressmen (yeah, just like the Roman Soldiers did to Jesus). They got into fisticuffs. It was great, wasn’t it? (Nice op-ed piece about more of this disgusting behavior) I watched the news and said aloud, “They don’t even know what they are protesting.” And now that the votes have passed – securely, legally, mathematically certainly – these same idiots have Tweeted death threats to Obama, and called for acts of protest and violence. Who is mustering them up? In the words of one Rush Limbaugh today, “We need to defeat these bastards…We need to wipe them out.”

So what are they protesting, anyway? Progress. Change. Charity. Compassion. Dignity. Human rights – Speaker Pelosi pointed out that this bill, by allowing Americans access to health care, upholds the Declaration of Independence’s call for the unalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. What on earth would possess someone to vehemently oppose such things? Some say the bill is unconstitutional because it forces Americans to have health insurance (not true). Health care costs have been driven sky-high because of the overall hindrance of uninsured/underinsured claims in the medical system. It is incumbent to our government to “promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” (Yeah, that’s in the Preamble of the Constitution) Saying that this bill and its mandates are unconstitutional (because they protect the welfare of the Nation) is akin to saying that homicide laws are unconstitutional.

I am not going to detail the bill and its pros and cons. Everyone knows that this bill, like so many before it that ended up as law, is not perfect. But where do you start? You gotta start somewhere. The GOP tried and tried to “kill the bill” but all they did was piss everyone off. Ariana Huffington in her blog post today said, “The GOP’s toxic smokescreen of fear-mongering (“This is going to cause Armageddon“) and untruths (they want “to pull the plug on grandma“) has been blown away, revealing a party that stands unified against progress.” Many of the protesters this weekend were still probably carrying around the “NO DEATH PANELS!” signs. Wow.

It makes me sad. This nation is so rich. We are so blessed. There is a TON of wealth in the US, even in hard economies. And this bill will save us money. The GAO reported that the health care reform will cut our deficit by $1 trillion over the next twenty years.

I am excited that this bill passed. So much so, I posted, “Health Care FTW!!!!” on my Facebook status yesterday. One of my “friends” called me out on it:

There was another back and forth with “Him.” Then he “unfriended” me. I guess that is how open dialogue works, right? Since you decided to leave the fold, Mr. Anonymous small business owner, I am not obligated to point anything out for your argument like you requested. First off, you’re plain wrong. Second, it’s my fucking blog. Third, some day you will be happy that this bill passed. Some day.