PrintSeptember 4, 2009
Teddy Care and the Legend of El Cid
One of the great national heroes of Spain is an 11th Century warrior general named Rodrigo Diaz, also known as El Cid. Living during a time that the Christians and the Moors were often vying for control of Spain, El Cid often found himself at the center of conflict. Where exactly truth and fiction meet in his biography is sometimes unclear but the most famous legend of El Cid concerns his final battle, (also depicted in the 1961 El Cid film starring Charlton Heston).
The battle for the city of Valencia was not going well for the Christians and when El Cid suffered a fatal wound, he withdrew from the fight to inside the walls of Valencia, and the Moors grew confident. After his death, his fellow Christian soldiers, the next morning, tied his dead body upright, in full armor, on his beautiful white stallion, Babieca, and opened the main city gate. When the Moors saw El Cid appear to be alive and well, and galloping towards them with his knights charging behind, they ran away in fear and the Christian city of Valencia was victorious.
Well before President Obama took office, the Democrats and Republicans in Congress have been fighting over the health care issue, with the Democrats forever marching forward and beating their socialized health care drum. Over the years, one of the behind the scenes warrior generals and strategists for government run health care has been Senator Ted Kennedy, and with the arrival of President Barack Obama, the stage has been set, the plans implemented, and the battle begun.
Recently, as we all know, despite receiving the best medical treatment available in the world, Senator Ted Kennedy passed away before the Democrats' health care reform victory was complete. In fact, as we all well know, just prior to the death of Senator Kennedy, the battle had not been going very well for the Democrats.
So, in an untimely fashion, smack in the middle of this great Congressional conflict, Senator Ted Kennedy succumbed to illness and departed from the battlefield. Now that respects have been paid to this "Lion of the Senate," and his funeral is past, it is time to get back to the battle and the facts at hand contained in the 1,000-page health care bill. But the Democrats do not want to get back to the facts at hand. Their battle plan has always been one of smoke screens, camouflage, and trickery. Just to prove my point, they are beginning to talk about putting the "Ted Kennedy" name on the health care reform bill, that same bill that has been floundering for a multitude of reasons, one of which, the majority of Americans stand against it.
If the Democrats attempt this ploy, they will be doing, metaphorically speaking, the same trick that the Christians pulled on the Moors 1,000 years ago. If they put Ted Kennedy's name on their health care reform bill, they may as well dig up El Teddy, superglue him erect upon a white steed, and ride him through the Congressional chambers with the hope that their opponents will quake in their boots, cry out "My Lord, El Teddy still lives!" and run away in fear.
The more Americans find out what is in the health care bill, and the tricks the Democrats are willing to pull to get it passed, the more they dislike it. We are winning the battle against government run health care because we are attending town hall meetings, contacting our legislators, and speaking out in growing numbers, but the battle is not over. My fellow Americans, Republicans, and Blue Dogs, you must stand firm and keep fighting this bill.
And when the bill next appears under new cover, remind yourselves the facts on the ground and the facts in the bill have not changed; El Teddy Health Care is just another Democrat trick, this time, dug up from 11th Century Spain.
