I try not to get overly political with my blog — nearly a decade working in a newsroom left me very disgusted with our political system —  but I have to say, I am infuriated with the newly elected Congress’ immediate attempt to repeal vital healthcare reform. As I posted on my Facebook this morning, I don’t even pretend to know every aspect of the so-called “Obamacare” changes to the system, but I do know that for someone such as myself with chronic health ailments the changes regarding preexisting conditions was a very welcome one. And now idiots want to repeal it.

Shame on you, Congress, for claiming that the nation will be pushed into bankruptcy if college students are entitled to healthcare while they go to school, or people who have serious, chronic health ailments don’t have to wait so long between breaks in coverage.

If you want to point fingers, last time I looked, Congress was the one with their hands on the handle and pushing the budget cart. Oh, and let’s not forget the part ever-growing corporate greed is playing in the financial demise of this country.

Here’s an idea, why don’t you guys give up your government health care plan? What, you don’t want to do that? Well, guess what, I don’t want to give up my health, and that’s what you’re going to force on myself and millions of other Americans if you repeal these laws.

Frankly, this smells an awful lot like under-the-table genocide. At the very least, it’s morally reprehensible for you to profit and benefit from a government-funded plan while withholding that and taking away essential things from your constituents.

It reminds me of something that happened often in my childhood and perhaps this will better explain my anger:

Growing up, we had little money. We were clothed, barely. We were fed, barely. We were taken to the dentist maybe once or twice and we were only taken to the doctor if it was life-threatening or required for school (immunizations or sports physicals). All that said, I recall many times, when my father was at work, sitting at the dinner table with my mother who happily ate lobster while she fed us children hot dogs or watery soup.

My dear Congressmen, that is morally reprehensible. Why, besides the obviously deplorable of a mother feeding herself the best and her children scraps? Because we loved seafood and would have been happy with just a bite. We would have shared, I promise you, and been grateful for it. But instead we just had to watch from the sidelines and hope that some day we’d be able to afford it for ourselves.

And that’s all millions of Americans are asking for … a bite. Just a bite of the healthcare lobster that remains out of reach because of rising premiums and inhumane restrictions of the health insurance industry, and a C.O.B.R.A. law that is utterly laughable.

Like the hungry children sitting at that table, we just want equality. We just want to be able to take care of ourselves and not have to choose between life — in some cases literally — and our livelihoods. We want to not be at the mercy of industrialized and managed health care or at the mercy of laws that are supposed to help but are just another millstone. We’re not looking for a hand out but a hand up — and there is a difference.

I readily admit that “Obamacare” may not be the whole answer to this problem, but it is a bit of light in a very dark tunnel. And yet here you are, Congress, poised to put that light out, leaving us all lost in the shadows with empty forks and no way to pay the toll to get out while you eat your lobster. There is no way to morally and ethically justify that while others are at the mercy of a system that works against and not for the majority of Americans — particularly those who have long-term care needs for disabilities and chronic illnesses.

Something needs to change and you have the power to do that. “We the people” gave that power to you and expect you to use it wisely, to go forward and not backward, to make changes that are positive for all Americans, not just the privileged few. You alone have the ability to make the healthcare system in the country accessible to all of us and equalize and elevate the standard of care for everyone. Never forget that you are the stewards of this country. You are charged with the care of the people, not just corporations or special interests, and we need your help desperately.

I realize it is a daunting task you’ve been challenged with, but it is no more daunting than the choices many Americans face every day when they have to choose between paying outrageous premiums for much-needed healthcare and the more immediate needs of a roof over their heads and food in their bellies … and the bellies of their children.

Think about it and ask yourself how and why is that even an issue in this country? Because it shouldn’t be.

Anybody who knows me and my movie-watching habits and opinions will likely find it colossally strange that I loved “Machete.”

Graphically and gratuitously violent are not what I generally care for — and usually complain about — but “Machete” is both those things and I absolutely loved it. Probably because beneath it all is a very powerful statement about the immigration situation facing the United States.

Loaded for bear with plenty of machete and gun action and a cavalcade of Latino stars that includes Danny Trejo in his first leading role, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba and Cheech Marin, there is much more to “Machete” than meets the eye and I feel it was unfairly criticized by, well, critics.

The violence in “Machete” is not meant to be taken seriously and is often campishly comical despite the graphic nature of it. The movie overall is something of a satire, ridiculing the supposed solutions, both inhumane and asinine, to the influx of illegal immigrants who are just hoping for something better than what they had south of the border. Oddly enough, it puts a face on the people being condemned for just wanting to feed themselves and their families. Who in their right mind would protest a man/woman’s desire to do that?

There’s one point in the film, where a security guard questions the double standard of the people he works for, who want to ship the immigrants back — or kill them — while simultaneously having no problem hiring them to be nannies or gardeners. That doesn’t make any more sense to me than it did to him, but how many of us would agree that this is something of a truth?

I don’t have a solution to the immigration situation but I know the system isn’t working.  I think we can all agree that that needs to change and that the problem is that no one can agree on how to do it. That said, as I watched “Machete” I was reminded of something I heard Edward James Olmos say once. I don’t remember his exact words but the gist was that the solution to immigration matters would be to bring third-world nations, such as Mexico, into the first world. There’s a great measure of wisdom in that solution in my opinion. Yes, it would take time and money but I think I’d rather see us spend our time and money for something more compassionate and humane than electric fences and the like.

Frankly, it wouldn’t hurt all of us to think about it from the view point of the immigrants, either, and to acknowledge that they are human beings and not invaders or a sub-species, as some might contend.

Fellow citizens, Mexico may be south of the United States but her people – as well as Mexican-Americans, Latinos, Chicanos and other people of color — are not beneath us. They are a part of us and we would do well to remember that.

I loathe cancer. My reaction to just the word is so visceral that it’s hard to explain except to those who share the same feelings for the disease.

Eighteen years and one week ago, it robbed me of my father, whom I loved dearly. He was only 44 and died within two weeks of diagnosis — which was something of a blessing in disguise considering the alternative. The alternative was my grandfather, who died at 53 from the disease, a struggle that began when they found tumors in his lung at the age of 19. The 30th anniversary of his death is on the 16th of this month.

Now, I woke up this morning to news that another of my favorite actors, Pete Postlethwaite, had been taken by cancer. It saddens me to say the least but it also makes me angry.

I know that medical science has made leaps and bounds in treating the disease in recent decades, but it’s not enough. More needs to be done to find a cure for this lethal monster that lurks silently within us, just waiting for the prime opportunity to form.

I frakkin’ loathe cancer but I’m proud of the state I live in for daring to step up to the plate and pledge $3 billion to find a cure. Some may look askance at such a pledge, but I think it’s better than waiting for the health “industry” to do it, especially considering how much it costs for treatments that would be no longer needed.

We need to defeat this disease once and for all. And we need to defeat AIDS and HIV and a host of other diseases that cause untold suffering around the globe. And the cures need to be available to all regardless of age, skin color, religion, location on this planet or financial status.

On top of that, there needs to be accountability for the manufacturers of products that are known to cause cancer. It is a matter of public health and should be addressed as quickly as a matter of national security.

Okay, now that the cancer rant is over, I’ll say “rest in peace, Pete,” and offer up my condolences to his friends and family. He’ll be missed.

Related Links

• AP: Oscar-nominated star Pete Postlethwaite dies at 64
• IMDb: Pete Postlethwaite