I have been stuck in Washington, D.C. for the past three days listening to a bunch of bureaucrats attempt to justify their existence while simultaneously threatening me and a thousand other people with fines and/or imprisonment if we don’t do exactly what they say. For someone with my political leanings, it’s a lot like having a 72-hour root canal without all the Novocain-fueled fun.
Once my conference finally ended, I decided to do a little sightseeing in our nation’s capital. I had hoped to take a few decent photos, but the afternoon sky had turned a dull, washed-out gray, leaving me with little chance of getting a shot worth printing. I was about to return to my hotel when I suddenly heard the unmistakable chanting of a protest march coming my way. As I turned to identify the source of the commotion, I caught sight of the George Washington University College Democrats moving down 17th Street. One would think that young adults working toward an undergraduate degree would simply name their group the George Washington University Democrats and leave it at that, but evidently redundancy is as popular with the college crowd as the Dave Matthews Band, so they named themselves the George Washington University College Democrats instead.
During the short trip from their campus to the White House, the kids were chanting, “What do we want? A PUBLIC OPTION! When do we want it? NOW!” Not terribly creative, but it’s nice to see that the youth today still have a healthy respect for tradition – I just wish the tradition they respected was that of individual freedom. Oh well.
I have to admit, though, this was the politest protest I’ve ever seen, if not the most effective. They obeyed all of the traffic signs, stayed on the sidewalks, and not a single one of them threw a rock through the plate glass window of a multinational corporation en route to the demonstration site. And these kids were so good-looking that for a moment I thought the public option was actually being demanded by an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog.
The march came to a halt once the crowd reached Lafayette Square, just in front of the White House. At that point one of the student leaders took charge of the gathering. Using a portable speaker, she explained why a public option is so vital.
“How many of you have insurance because you’re on your parents’ plan?” (Most of the crowd yelled out).
“How many of you think you’re going to graduate with a job in this economy?” (No one, apparently).
The young lady continued, saying “I’m a senior, and when I graduate this year I won’t be covered on my parents’ plan anymore. That means that if I get sick and need an operation, I’ll have to pay for it with my own money!” (Angry shouts expressing outrage over such a rank injustice).
Another one of the student leaders then took control of the mike, and laid down some statistics.
“The US ranks just above Slovakia in public health care. In the richest country in the world, is that acceptable?” (The crowd didn’t think so. I, on the other hand, wondered where they’d rather get sick – the US or Slovakia?)
He continued, highlighting the crowd’s might-makes-right philosophy:
“We voted for the Democrats last year. Because of us, they now control the Congress and THIS HOUSE!” (Pointing behind him to the White House). “And we’re not going to let a minority tell the majority what to do! We demand A PUBLIC OPTION! AND OBAMA’S GOING TO GIVE IT TO US!” (Raucous cheering).
George Washington University is a well-respected school. And judging by the caliber of the protestors, I can see why. Some of the demonstrators clearly have some first-rate ideas for improving health care in this country:
Make sickness not be costly. Genius. That’s exactly the kind of innovative thinking and piercing intellect that we need in Washington. Why didn’t anyone think of that before? This kid’s going to go places.
As illuminating as this glimpse into our nation’s future was, I do have some constructive criticism that I’d like to offer the leaders of tomorrow. If you really want to get the attention of the power elite in this country, don’t go to Lafayette Square on a Friday afternoon. Our Senators and Representatives aren’t out taking snapshots with the tourists. If you want to get visibility, you have to go where they are. So consider staging your next protest at a bar, or possibly a whorehouse. That way you can be sure that your message will be heard by the politicians. Otherwise, the only coverage you get will be a snarky blog post.
And what good would that do?
