A conversation with my mom (UPDATED)

As most of you know, my mom has had some serious health issues since August. She had her gallbladder out a couple of weeks ago, recovered in a nursing home for two weeks, and is now very happy to be home. She hated the food in the nursing home so she really enjoyed the Chinese food we brought her tonight.

We talked about the HC summit, Obama, the HC bill, and the takeover of the DNC by the far left. Since my mom has been in very poor health and in and out of hospitals and nursing homes for nearly 7 months, there's a lot she's unaware of but she did see the summit. Her take on things is the opposite of mine but her bias is based on a fundamental lack of knowledge. She thinks the Washington Post is the same as it was prior to 1999 and that the Democratic party is still the bastion of Kennedy-era liberals. She doesn't know what a progressive is. She doesn't understand why the HC bill is bad or that the majority of the country is against it. Tonight, my wife and I did our best to bring her up to speed.

My mom had never heard of Medicare part C or Medicare Advantage. I explained that it was Medicare parts A, B, and D, that it was private insurance, and that it cost less than regular Medicare. Some 20 million people have it and the Democrats want to eliminate it. It's better, more efficient, lower cost, includes more benefits, and those who have it love it so let's replace it with something that provides fewer benefits, that's less efficient, and that costs more. Is it any wonder that there's a tea party movement involving millions of citizens? They don't want a government takeover of healthcare but Obama and most of the Democrats won't listen. They want our money and they want more control over our lives.

We had to explain how the DNC was taken over by leftist progressives and that there was a big difference between progressives and liberals. We discussed classic liberalism and how it was now called independent conservatism. Basically, that means social liberal, fiscal conservative. The term progressive has once again become a bad word so left-wing millennials prefer to call themselves liberals. Progressives started making a bad name for themselves with their despicable tactics used against Hillary supporters in 2008. Progressives are not liberals and as a matter of fact, they despise classic liberals. They consider the US Constitution an impediment and they don't care much for the First Amendment.

My mom had a hard time coming to terms with these ideas and didn't want to accept them. It isn't easy and I had a hard time myself. She started to understand the problem with the HC bill when I explained what the consequences would be. If that bill had passed and it was 2014, she would have suffered months longer with a bad gallbladder.

It's a sad thing to have to explain today's world to someone with a mindset stuck in the last century. Rather than wish things were different, we can make them be different from the hell we're faced with today. We don't have to tolerate representatives who won't listen to us. We still have the right to kick them out of the office we put them in. We're paying their salaries and we can fire them.

I live in the 8th congressional district of Virginia and my Congressman is Jim Moran. Until recently, I thought there was no way we could kick him out but now, it's starting to look possible. He has problems with the Jewish community and he has ethics issues. He's a Palestinian sympathizer and very anti-Israel. He's a big Obama supporter, supports the HC bill, and he has his own weekly column in the local paper where he touts Democratic talking points. In the midst of massive donations to Haiti, he criticized Americans and was nailed for it in a local paper: Sun Gazette Newspapers - from Archives - Arlington > Opinion. For the first time this year, there are 6 Republicans vying for the chance to replace him. Hallelujah!

UPDATE:

Some items gathered from Patriot Room and Instapundit:

Wolf Files: 12% pure hope: ObamaCare: Turning your family doctor into your health care denier

Open Letter to Two NPR Reporters

It seems the Dems are trying to come up with a new, smaller bill that might have a better chance of passing. It might if it can help reduce costs. Did the President cave? Are we starting over?