Food for the Spirits in the Wires

It's a horrifying story, and one that bears repeating.

http://www.bilerico.com/2010/04/sonoma_county_ca_separates_elderly_gay_couple_and.php

Selling the possessions, however, is not unknown, even for married couples. Andrew and I know an elderly woman who had to divorce her husband after he suffered a stroke, in order to keep the Powers That Be from seizing their house and putting her out on the street, to cover his medical care. Basically, he was beyond help, but hadn't died yet, in a similar situation to this gay couple. Think the government has compassion? Think again.

I have been being very snide and nasty about the Tea Party types, lately. Because basically, what they really want is a corporatist government, and they don't even seem to realize that's what they are advocating. And we all know how well the Corporatism of the Gilded Age went.

And I suddenly realized that what we really need is a revival of Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party. (Yeah, I know they are also known as Progressives, but that's not the same in today's world. I want a revival of the original stances of the Bull Moose folks, because I can get behind it.)

Here's what they stand for, ca. 1912:
A living minimum wage
Workman's Compensation
Universal Health Care
Women's Rights
Environmental Conservation
Initiative and Referendum process (power to the people)
Government intervention to improve socioeconomic conditions
And the Piece de Resistance: "To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day." - 1912 Progressive Party Platform, attributed to Theodore Roosevelt

My kind of party. So, now I wonder what I need to do to re-create it in today's society.