Remembering Stephanie

I got too overwhelmed with last-minute stuff to do for my photo show last night (6-10 p.m. tonight, Brandt Gallery, 1028 Kenilworth, Tremont) after I got home from our city Dems Club candidates endorsement meeting that, even though this was on my mind, I didn't have time to post.

Yesterday would have been Stephanie Tubbs Jones' 60th birthday. In politics that is pretty young (Robert Byrd or Strom Thurmond, anyone?), and in a way, her career and her influence were really just ascending when she was suddenly taken from us on August 20th of last year.

Stephanie undoubtedly would have been in the forefront of the fight for affordable access to health care for everyone. She was passionate about such issues that affected people in her district – and it seemed like she knew half of them personally. Yet she's passed the torch to a worthy successor — Marcia Fudge, whose outward style is quieter and more serious, but who seems to be no less passionate about the same issues. Marcia too has been an eloquent, no-nonsense supporter of a strong public option (In fact, she signed on to HB 676, the universal single-payer bill, but realizing we live in the real world, she is on board with the first big, important step).

With all the shouting going on, distracting us from what regular working people need to survive and flourish in a hostile economic climate, it's important to remember those politicians who have stood up for us, and not fall prey to the rampant despair I am seeing on the left, with people throwing up their hands and ludicrously declaring Obama to be no different than George Bush. (Shame on you!)

If you want to call Marcia and thank her and urge her to stay strong, her number is 216.522.4900 here in Cleveland (same as Stephanie's old number) or 202.225.7032 in D.C.

If you've got a minute, also call Sherrod Brown and thank him for being another great health-care champion: 216.522.7272 or 202.224.2315. If you're feeling really ambitious, call George Voinovich (216.522.7095 or 202.224.3353) and remind him that the well-being of his Ohio neighbors is more important than party ideology and his obsession with the deficit. (In his case, he had this obsession when Bush was president so it's not OK to accuse him of ignoring Republican financial waste. Just tell him we need affordable access to health care.)

Do this in Stephanie's memory. Thanks.