(Please expand video for better viewing)
Following the lead of North Carolina's Moral Mondays, I
participated in South Carolina's Truthful Tuesday on January 14th, the
opening day of the 2014 session of the state legislature. Both states have
refused Medicaid expansion as part of the Affordable Care Act and in
South Carolina it will leave about 65,000 low-income people uninsured.
Both states have also done everything possible to restrict voting
rights. The Sun City Democrat Club chartered a bus and, being on
their email list, several of us from Living Liberally were able to go
along. I enjoyed making my signs and being in the company of liberals on the way over to Columbia. The day started dark and rainy but, as we approached the Columbia city limits, the sun peeked through briefly and was welcomed with a cheer from the group. It was still a bit rainy when we disembarked, but it began to slowly improve, ending with a blue sky and sun all the way home.
Little did we know that the Tea Party would be protesting (Impeach Obama, shut down Obamacare, etc) on the other side of the building, but it appeared that our numbers were greater and certainly more diverse. The rally only lasted a couple of hours, but the speakers were very good. It was great to read the signs and learn about various groups that were there. I always enjoy this type of thing so much and leave feeling hopeful and optimistic, having my faith in mankind renewed....though sometimes I feel that we are a small minority! I hope that isn't the case. Anyway, it was lots of fun and I hope it was in some way productive.
We even made the evening news (at least our back-sides, if you are very observant!) in Columbia, which you can see HERE.
Otherwise, life has been quiet and very normal, which is not a complaint! Once again, being ahead of my time, my habit of "binge viewing" has been discovered by others and is now "trending"!! I don't get HBO or the premier channels, but I do enjoy their good series via Netflix. At the moment I'm watching Netflix's first series, "House of Cards", a political drama. Season 2 is about to begin, but I'm watching all of season one, in one fell swoop. I love watching it all at one time and not stretching it out over weeks, and usually missing some episodes in the process. My only concern was that I watch so much "political drama" around the clock, I wasn't sure I should add it as entertainment, too! After "House of Cards", it will be Season two of "Enlightened", season one of "Veep", and this past season of "Homeland".......much better than re-runs or news, news, news.
Tomorrow would have been Allan's 61st birthday, and I couldn't help but think of him as I was preparing for the rally. The fact that I would do such things always bewildered him in a fun kind of way. At the end of a conversation about some of my upcoming misadventures, he would rattle off his cell number.....for my one phone call for bail money!! After Cheryl and I protested in DC in ice and snow one January, he insisted I get real boots that would be warm and weatherproof (which I wore Tuesday). I think he secretly liked it all because it was something he never would have expected me to do. And, on his birthday I always called and sang an excruciating bad rendition of Happy Birthday, without any effort to actually be bad! He would moan, groan, hiss and boo all the way through. So, I know it will be a sad and empty day. I think especially of his Dad, his sisters, Margaret and Jean, as I know it will be a difficult day for them. I will be thinking of them and hoping they get through the day okay, knowing that Allan would not want us to be sad. I send my love and warmest regards to them all.
One of my favorite photos of Allan
Istanbul, Turkey
2009
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