Caught in the middle

I don't remember the exact date, but I remember the event: Ray Beckerman openly announced that he was unfollowing Karoli on Twitter because he disagreed with her stand on healthcare reform. It was months ago when it happened, and disagreements are part and parcel of any vibrant discussion, especially on topics as complex as healthcare reform, where fellow liberals disagree on a wide range of issues.

Fast forward to today, when Karoli's post reminded me of that day, and that event. Something had to give, and it has. I'm sad that it has come to this, but Karoli's moving on, and I believe Ray will go back to active petitioning for the things he believes in. Both of them are strong characters, and I have deep respect for them both, which is why I am deeply pained by what happened.

These are two individuals whom I have never met, and I probably won't ever get to meet, but I am honoured that they have chosen to include me as part of their bigger "family". Twitter is funny that way. It is a large, sometimes dysfunctional, at times hilarious, mostly real connections with real people on a virtual interface that ignores time zones.

I respect Ray for his never-say-die, hold-their-feet-to-the-fire approach. He genuinely gives a damn, which is more than what I can say about most people. He built his reputation battling those litigious bastards at the RIAA, and he won't survive if he isn't badass enough. We need more people like him in order to really push for changes that matter.

Karoli's qualities are different. She is patient, chooses a less in-your-face method, collating and presenting facts to push progress. She has a personal stake in the war (to label it otherwise is underestimating or misunderstanding what happened in the past year) for healthcare reform: her son, a talented young musician, has a chronic condition, and under existing practice, insurance companies can  exclude him due to a pre-existing condition.

It's not just a clash of personality between Ray and Karoli either. There have been a lot of compromises along the way, with the like of Stupak, Lieberman, Nelson and Kucinich all waylaying the process. This has not been an easy road, and I have found a lot of the compromises hard to swallow, especially the anti-abortion language Stupak inserted into the House bill, hardest of all.

I have always thought the road to reform requires both the likes of hard activists like Ray and the gentle persuasion of Karoli. And we have come this far despite the disagreements. Never in a generation have we come so close to a healthcare reform bill being passed. We should be happy about that, in spite of all the imperfections of the bill, because it allows us to build on its foundation.

But instead, we have splits among the ranks. It will not be as hard if I didn't hold both Karoli and Ray in high regard, but I do, and will continue to. They have different, yet no less admirable, qualities. I can't help but feel caught in the middle, but I'm not sure if I'm alone in feeling that way.

It certainly sucks that even the win that is passage of the bill does not feel like it because the price, though nothing as costly as human lives, is still pretty high in my book.