I must admit that I wasn't sure how the Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Care Act was going to pan out. Things have become so incredibly divided when it comes to politics, that it's easy to become cynical. However, Chief Justice John Roberts broke with his fellow conservative judges and voted to uphold most of President Obama's health care reform (the vote was decided 5-4). In my view, yesterday was a huge step forward for our country, helping more Americans get the care that they need.
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| Source: Amnesty International Facebook page. All rights reserved. |
It was shrewd of the President's team to turn the word "Obamacare" into a positive,after his opponents had been throwing it around as a derogatory term. As a President, I do think Obama cares. Over the past four years I think some of his supporters have felt that he hasn't acted "liberal" enough--that he has run more moderate, and maybe even acted more aggressive in regards to the use of military force (i.e. the escalating use of drone missiles). I'm no fan of war and am uneasy with the idea of assassinations. During the 2008 election, the President promised to close Guantanamo Bay, where some of the previous administration's more troubling abuses of political prisoners took place, but near the end of his term, it remains open...
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| ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved. |
When I volunteered fot the President's election campaign, Obama appeared to be level-headed, intelligent, and idealistic--well, maybe he is more of a realist... There is a poem that I worked on for the Spoken Word Almanac Project called "My Obama"--it's a funny piece, written by Darian Dauchan and being performed by several of the spoken word artists. The poem tries to understand who the "real" Barack Obama is:
"...His Obama would throw you into a cell indefinitely
My Obama wouldn't do that
I know who he is!
I know what he did!
I know what he's capable of!"
And so on...
You can see the visuals I created for this poem, and more of my media design at SWAP's mid-year show being held this Saturday, June 30, at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City. Show starts at 7 p.m., and it should be interesting with all the news that has happened so far in 2012...
Cheers. Here's to your health!...
Related Links:
The Health Care Decision, Explained in 1 Paragraph on SCOTUSblog, Atlantic Monthly, June 28, 2012
Robert's Rules, Atlantic Monthly, January/February 2007
"A Cruel and Unusual Record" by President Jimmy Carter, editorial for The New York Times, June 24, 2012
