Public Discourse Statement: National Sickness Four in the afternoon Im laying in bed; my entire body aches, it hurts to cough,

my head splitting like a log Hoping its just the flu or a nasty bug cant imagine living for an extended time in such a fog My thoughts turn to people undergoing cancer treatment - weeks, months, years of feeling like absolute crap Causes include polluted air, pesticide-soaked food, hydrogenated oils, economic-related stress, contaminated water flowing from the tap Visiting the Vietnam Memorial during college, while majoring in government and international studies Told my mom I had zero respect for Richard Nixon - perpetuating war for political reasons, his hands forever bloodied I imagine one scared, dying soldier wishing to see his family one last time Multiply it by tens of thousands its unjustifiable, unforgivable, Watergate the least of Nixons crimes Today, another soldier lay dying; multiply it by tens of thousands for all scared, dying Americans in bed sick Governments job to support job providing, air, water, land polluting, cancer-causing products & corporations Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama - perpetuating a war on public health that began well before Tricky Dick Ive been called naive when angry at government and policies that land Americans sick in bed Thats just the way it is is a cop out to me; would Obama or Romney sacrifice one of their family - enough said Republicans in 2012 winning American votes by promising to abolish the E.P.A. & further curb industry regulation E.P.A. already David to the Goliath of industrial pollution; unjustifiable, unforgivable, a crime against our world and nation To see the cloud of air pollution over almost all U.S. cities it helps to step away and take a look back Public transit for people who cant afford cars, planting trees in Ecuador a legal offset for pollution belching stacks Coal-fired power plant in New Mexico responsible for a reported 33 deaths and 600 asthma attacks each year A state ranked #2 for solar potential, governor protecting instead of phasing out the plant Air filters in the Governors mansion keeping her lungs and conscience clear Lots of coverage lately about nationwide groundwater contamination from chemicals used to develop natural gas I imagine one scared, sick, dying kid in Ohio or New York or Wyoming whos been drinking arsenic A martyr for 7-minute showers - thats just the way it is; kids final lesson - all tough things eventually do pass Over -million Americans die from cancer yearly; industrial pollution one environmental cause of many Obesity, smoking, processed food full of unpronounceable ingredients million dead a fraction of the people sick in bed medical costs bankrupting Americans of their last penny But it would be too costly for the economy to make real changes Wall Street frowns on regulating industrial pollution, poisonous food, and hazardous material ingredients Protecting the American people good rhetoric when it comes to funding the war machine But when it comes to public health, not many options for entrenched interests that are deemed expedient What keeps me up at night is imagining the invisible victims, alone in the dark wondering what went wrong A father going to bed downwind from a nuclear power plant; scratching at a mole that looks like it doesnt belong I tell my Mom I have zero respect for Obama, this knight in shining armor Americans carried on their shoulders If he wanted my respect hed risk his own life and that of his family to challenge the system, to be a little bolder Since beginning this piece my health has recovered, but Ive begun saving for a hypoallergenic pillow and bed Laying there sick I realized my mattress was likely still off-gassing, Im sure its E.P.A. approved enough said