"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" Sicko and Matthew 34-40

I saw "Sicko" yesterday evening and I think I did more crying than laughing. I also can't help but feel that this is a transcendent moment in America. Maybe I'm hopelessly naive and optimistic. But I believe the Country is coming to the "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" moment.

Healthcare is a uniter. It unites the poor and middle class. It unites the religious and non-religious. It unites the small business owners and the best of the large business owners forced to compete on the world stage with the burden of insuring its workers. On one side are all of us. On the other side is the healthcare industry and its numerous lobbyists and money.

This is not a campaign we can expect to be led by any of our named politicians. All of them believe in working with the system of middlemen currently in place. All of them believe in incremental change.

Well, this is not acceptable. It's not acceptable that hospitals drop patients off in skid row in hospital gowns. It's not acceptable that a woman died on the floor of Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital in L.A., writhing in pain for nearly an hour, while a janitor mopped around her and her husband begged for her to be treated. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Our churches need to stand up. As Jesus said, "I was sick and you looked after me." So we must look after our sick. We must stand up for them. We must provide for the least of us.

Of all of Michael Moore's movies, this is his most profound. One point he makes so well is that people in other countries are not burdened by the overwhelming WORRY associated with our system. There's no QUESTION that they will be treated for an illness. There's no QUESTION that they will lose their homes if they get sick. Healthcare is NOT a burden.

I work in politics. I work on issues that tend to cross party lines. People that I work with vote to tax themselves in order to pay for more police officers and firefighters. They vote to tax themselves to pay for more schools. They vote to tax themselves to upgrade their local hospitals. These are not 50%+1 elections. These are elections that require 66.667% of the vote to pass.

Yes, I live in California. But these campaigns are not just taking place in LA, they are taking place in Fresno County, in San Diego County, in Orange County, in Riverside County.

People realize that the state and the national government are not taking care of them, so they agree to raise their property taxes and/or their sales taxes in order to pay for the services for their families.

It's time for universal healthcare without the middle man.

Jenn