Re: High Noon, 09/01/09: A Health Care March on Washington -- Close to Home

JOIN ME! You've been following the news, as I have. NOW WE MUST DO SOMETHING. Here's my personal intention and commitment. It's quick easy, clean.... YOU CAN DO IT, TOO!

Step 1: I handwrite a brief letter to my Senators. "Dear Senator ..., I voted for you. I have placed my trust in you. I hereby respectfully request that you unequivocally INSIST on the inclusion of a public option or its equivalent in any health care bill that goes to President Obama. Yours truly, (signature.)"

(Find your senators' addresses here:)

Step 2: I place my letters in sealed, stamped envelopes, marked in bright, unmistakable letters on the outside: PO/PO (for Public Option/Post Office) in order to identify it as a part of this effort.

Step 3: IMPORTANT! On Tuesday, September 1 at precisely NOON o'clock, I drive, ride or walk to my nearest United States Post Office and silently place my letters in the outgoing mailbox. Suppose I were to find hundreds of like-minded people doing exactly the same thing at exactly the same time? I shake their hands. What about hundreds of thousands, if not millions of good-hearted Americans? We will all come to the US Post Office. We will all place our letters in the outgoing mailbox. We will all shake hands.

What's so complicated? I promise to do this no matter if I'm the only one in the entire country, but I invite you to join me. With your help in forwarding this email and your commitment to this simple action, we can stage a massive, elegantly simple, nation-wide demonstration that links cities, towns and villages throughout the country. It will require a few minutes of your time, but WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

YES, WE CAN! A vast majority of us say we want significant health care reform. Now is the time to back those words up with action that cannot be ignored or dismissed. PLEASE JOIN ME WITH YOUR OWN PERSONAL COMMITMENT! AND FORWARD THIS TO OTHERS WHO WILL JOIN US! Seriously. We will all meet at our US Post Offices all over the country at noon on September 1st.

Please use the comments here or on this post to RSVP for the "Health Care March on Washington."

UPDATE: If you can, please also support the in-person "March on Washington," originally proposed by Robert Reich and discussed in this Daily Kos diary.

Comments

[Cil]

Wonderful idea!

Now pleeeeeeease folks, DO YOUR PART, if you don't,
you need not cry if health care reform does not happen!

Folks, you should flood the Post Offices with PRO-PUBLIC
OPTION mail, identify your mail as such, don't leave it up to
others to determine what this deluge of mail is about.

Get out there and join President Obama's Grassroots
movement..­.........G­ET INVOLVED..­.......GET OTHERS
INVOLVED!

YES YOU CAN! YES YOU CAN! YES YOU CAN!

[CJWebber]

13 comments. That says a lot about the apathy in America.

[BusGreg]

Amen!

[mama mac]

I'm in! (Except, my letter to my senators will not say I voted for them, because I didn't -- but they still represent me, at least for now)

[Arion]

How do things look for a real march on washington? I suspect we might be able to get the numbers out

[Cil]

I heard that there WILL be a REAL march on Washington
sometime on September 13th??

Maybe I am mistaken, but it is worth checking out.

Good Luck!

[Republicnotademocracy]

It's on the 14th, I think.

[eciaccio]

IMPORTANT TIP: (this comes via the head Congressional aide in my Representative's local office):

Letters sent to D,C offices are kept for two weeks before delivery to members of Congress for security reasons. Better to send letters to your Senators' and Representative's LOCAL or DISTRICT office, where they will be read, then sent by a twice-a-week courier on to the D.C. office. Find the local or district offices on the Congress member's web page, usually at the bottom.

Emails & phone calls should also be done.

[BusGreg]

I like the idea and here is an additional thought. Don't just send one letter to your senators, send one each to Nancy Pelosi and one to Harry Reid as well A business sized one page letter weighs about one quarter to one third of an ounce and every 64 letters add up to one pound. Think on how much weight that could put on Speaker Pelosi's and Leader Harry Reid's desk if all those who read this blog send the letters!!! It is important that all letters be sent on Sept 1 as instructed for the mail to arrive at the same time for added impact!

Senator Harry Reid
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
[phone]

Speaker Nancy Pelosi
235 Cannon Office Buiolding
Washington, DC 20515
[phone]

Think of it as our stimulus for the USPS

[been2there]

I will do my best--I may be on duty/

[termgirl]

September 13,2009.

[Beegood]

What I good idea! I don't think it will annoy clerks (except the grouchy ones that are grouchy anyway).

[propitiousmoment]

Great idea for those who can't make the physical journey to Washington. Who cares if it annoys postal clerks? They get paid to deliver the mail; if it's stamped, and legal, they have to process it or face federal charges.

[Republicnotademocracy]

All you willl be doing is annoying clerks who will simply throw them away.

[blindjester]

I guess we should give up then.

Thanks for the advice. I'll go watch TV now....

[BusGreg]

That would be a violation of postal regulations.

[Cil]

I don't agree with you that the clerks will simply throw the mail
away......­..........­.these clerks deserve a little more respect!

1 It is illegal to do as you suggest.

2 Just think of the amount of OVERTIME HOURS these
clerks will have to put in, in order to SORT AND DELIVER
THIS DELUGE OF MAIL.

3 Instead of getting annoyed, the clerks may welcome the
extra OVERTIME PAY!

[tt351]

dear Mr. Clothier: I live right around the corner from the Post Office and I will definitely be there at 12:00 Noon on 9/1/09. I wil bring along all of my family and friends.. This is a great idea. Hopefully, it will bring us together to pass Health Reform. When is the Health Care March in Washington? I would also like to participate.

[termgirl]

Robert Reich is calling for a march on September 13th in D.C..