This Is What Courage Looks Like

This is what courage looks like.

ADAPT members (including activist and badass Anita Cameron pictured above) sitting in – and getting arrested at – Senator Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) Capitol Hill office, protesting Republicans’ efforts to “strip disabled people of lives and liberty…”

This is what courage looks like.

ADAPT members being arrested while staging a 58-hour sit-in in Senator Cory Gardner’s (R-CO) state office to protect the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid.

This is what courage looks like.

None of us will ever know what kind of pressure McConnell put on her behind the scenes, but Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) was an unwavering no on the Republicans’ efforts to dismantle access to health care for 20+ million Americans from the start.

This is what courage looks like.

Even after so-called President Trump threatened HER ENTIRE STATE, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) held firm. She knew that the AHCA, the BCRA, “repeal and delay,” and “skinny” repeal would ALL be a disaster for her constituents and her country.

This is what courage looks like.

Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) is currently battling stage 4 kidney cancer. She knew the Democrats couldn’t afford to lose a single vote, so rather than taking care of herself, she stayed in Washington, DC, to do her part to keep the Democratic Senate Caucus strong.

This is what courage looks like.

Divided Democrats? I don’t think so. The Senate Democrats provided an impenetrable wall of 46 “no” votes to every single attempt the Republicans made to hurt American citizens. They also kept their two Independent caucus members in line throughout, despite the fact that one of them has a REALLY big ego and loves to grandstand.

Look in the mirror.

This is what courage looks like.

Did you call your Republican Senator to try to lobby him to vote “no”?

Did you call your Democratic Senator to thank her for standing firm on the side of her constituents and millions of your fellow citizens?

Did you march, protest, rally, sit in?

Did you go on Facebook to share your story of how the Affordable Care Act allowed you to take the risk of starting your own business because you could finally afford health care without the security of employer-provided insurance? Blog about how Medicaid has helped your nephew, who has been in a wheelchair since his car was hit by a drunk driver when he was 23, to live independently? Write a letter to the editor of your local paper explaining that Medicaid allowed your Nonna to live out her final years with dignity, receiving excellent care in a high quality nursing home? Tweet facts about  how the Republicans’ attempts to dismantle the ACA would harm millions of your fellow citizens to #ProtectOurCare?

Did you work magic to stop the Republicans and strengthen the Democrats?

You, my sisters and brothers of #TheResistance, embody courage.

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