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We posted a version of our post here concerning the CA single payer universal health care plan on Daily Kos, which just won a Koufax Award (for leftie blogs; Sandy Koufax, get it?) as best blog.

There were nearly 40 comments and the post made the Reccomended List for part of the afternoon. (Unless a "diary" post makes the Rec list, it is apt to slip off the front page list of new posts, and hence the attention of browsers, after fifteen minutes or so.)

But of the 40 comments, there were a bunch that constituted a kind of chat room dialogue on California politics and bilingual education. Yeah, I don't get it either.

Then there were several saying flatly that the bill has no chance of passing, or getting past Arnold's veto. As if that was supposed to end the discussion. Others quibbled over provisions, though some of these showed evidence of skimming the text, which is hard to fault because we do it all the time.

One of the few relevant comments, and the one that got the most attention (highest ratings from most people) was this one, from "Wu Ming"

this is an opportunity to accomplish a lot of things:
divide businesses, who do not want to pay skyrocketing rates for their employees' insurance, from insurance companies who benefit from the status quo.

force ahnold and the republicans to come out against health care for everyone, and use it to paint them as enemies of real family values and the common good.

start to make a case in the public eye for how rediculously wasteful the current system is, and how much more affordable a single-payer plan would be. the controversy offers a window to make a counter-case, but only to those with a clear plan that could cut through the rhetoric of a hostile media.

it grabs the political momentum, and makes the passage of even a watered-down plan after negotiation (which would be a hell of an improvement over the current disaster of a health-care system) much more likely.

if successful, it not only provides us with a successful model to take to the national level in 2006 or 2008 or whenever we take congress back, but would also go a long way towards insuring a large chunk of the nation's uninsured here in california.

there is no downside to this plan if fought for with intensity and smart rhetoric, and we ought to think seriously about taking it to a ballot initiative if ahnold tries to shoot it down.

Reading and writing on Daily Kos and My DD sites is educational in many ways. On the positive side, comments contribute links to new relevant information, offer good criticism and alternatives, and personal experiences pertinent to the topic. But on the less positive side, there are fairly narrow views, rampant cynicism and negativity. Hardly a surprise, but a reminder of how hard it is to get things done, even when people are supposedly on the same side.

In the next few days we will post a series on Reframing the Climate Crisis. Several installments have been posted on Kos to massive indifference so far. But then we are dealing in some sense with prophesy, and you know what they say about prophets in their own time.

As for these two issues, if the Dash Brothers happened to win the lottery and we could spend a couple of days a week say on our "causes," we would select universal health care and the climate crisis. And the skills of peace.

We would specifically work for universal health care plans on the state level, where they have a chance to be openly debated and even enacted. Nothing like that will happen on the federal level until 2009.

We would specifically work within the Apollo Alliance on climate change issues. Apollo is the best program we've seen for combining new energy infrastructure with new technological and manufacturing industries in the U.S. It's at least a place where environmentalists and labor can meet.

This would be when we weren't exploring for the best espresso and pastries in Torino.