Katy Abram: A Driven Conservative in a Jackass' Den
Regardless of how you feel about her, you can't say that stay-at-home mom Katy Abram hasn't got guts.
Not satisfied with her answer from Sen. Arlen Specter during a town hall meeting in August, Abram decided she would seek out the Senator on his own turf and on his own terms ... at a Democratic fund-raiser in his honor this weekend at a fire hall in Lebanon County, Pa.
One of five people chosen to ask a question, Abram recorded her exchange with Sen. Specter, and in this week's guest commentary, she details what happened off-camera and what she learned. Talk about a hostile environment ...
From the article:
Specter, who had switched political parties in the spring, began by telling the group how he had always a Democrat in spirit even though he had been a Republican for five 6-year terms. After his speech, he opened the floor to five questions. I raised my hand to be one of the questioners, and people around the room chuckled. Specter nevertheless chose me to be one of the five, and their laughter died away quickly.
When he got to me (I was the final one to ask a question), I thanked him for being there and I thanked those folks who had welcomed me. Then I asked my question ...
Join Me on Facebook | Get My Twitter Updates 
Illustration © Linda Braucht/Getty Images
Comments
So it seems this Katy Abram is the new “grassroots” conservative person…while her opinion is probably her own and not paid for by Big Insurance, one person’s observation does not speak for all, nor is it infallible. I have to ask, has Mrs. Abram ever been without coverage? I’m not judging her or saying that she is wrong, but I wonder about her motives. For example:(paraphrase) “the Constitution states that the government should promote general welfare of the public, but not necessarily provide it.” Are you serious? So what should we do to promote unversal healthcare then? Put up signs with inspirational messages that promote healty lifestyles? I call this reasoning “greedy logic” since it says: I agree with the ideal, but screw you, I don’t have to actually do anything(especially if it costs me money).
I also hear about how this reform encroaches on our personal liberties. How? I’ve heard a lot of wild statistics about healthcare coverage from both sides, but thinking that lots of people choose not to have health insurance is garbage. A handful, possibly, but this “choice” is usually due to high cost and employers who either can’t afford to provide decent coverage or companies that are too cheap to provide it. When I graduated from college I was kicked off my parent’s insurance right then, and I had the “liberty” of not being able to afford COBRA coverage and thus went without coverage until I got a full time job since part time jobs rarely provide benefits. Luckily I didn’t graduate in the midst of a massive recession and found employment after 3 months. I realized then that unless you are in poverty, there is no safety net for those who, like me, found enough work to get by but not qualify for Medicaid yet health insurance was still out of reach.
Having worked part time at a local pharmacy, I have seen the ugly side of our wonderful insurance system. A woman who lost her job and was denied her husband’s benefits since she had cancer was paying hundreds for 1 weekly prescription. Only a week prior while I was attending a wedding, I met a large group of Humana (insurance) employees from Utah at a healthcare conference at a 5 star hotel in Miami. Seems like the For-Profit Health Insurance is really rolling in the money while this woman was struggling to survive. I thought to myself, this is someone’s wife, mother, and most of all a HUMAN BEING. Human life is sacred and supposedly priceless but Big Insurance has in fact figured out how much a human life costs.
This reform is not perfect, but I’m tired of people complaining about the cost. If I have to pay more so that every American can have access to decent medical care then so be it. We have been commanded to love each other as ourselves. Keep in mind that Jesus did quite a bit of healing along with talking so it’s quite obvious that healthcare is a universal good.
I am quite sure that this lovely woman was ill-treated.
So?
Does that make her argument more compelling? Does it make her argument more correct? Does it make it any thing more than Sean Hannity talking points?
Seriously. Is there anything here that would make me more likely to say,”Golly. She’s right. My kid will be in chains. Yes, this is the battle for our country and our liberty!”
I thought that Cindy Sheehan was ill-treated. I didn’t agree with her, either.
Just out of curiosity, RT, when was the last time you put your convictions on the line and dove into hostile territory in an effort to question the status-quo? I’m not talking about being a liberal posting on a conservative web site. I’m talking actual, real world activism? Alone. Without anyone else to support your convictions? To open yourself to ridicule and not care, because your point, or in this case Specter’s acknowledgment of her “fair question,” might change one person’s mind or, at the very least, get the opposition to see your point of view? It’s easy to sit behind a keyboard and judge others, it’s a whole other thing to go into the lion’s den (or, in this case the Democrats’ den) and pursue truth.
The point of this piece isn’t to change the minds of people like yourself — people who are dug into their perspective and unwilling or unable to give the opposition any thought. The point of this piece is to demonstrate to other conservatives what true activism is all about. It’s not always a “we” thing; sometimes it has to be a “me” thing.
“Just out of curiosity, RT, when was the last time you put your convictions on the line and dove into hostile territory in an effort to question the status-quo?”
Since you asked, about 23 years ago. And there was far more on the line than personal embarrassment. Perhaps, we’ll talk of it, one day.
“To open yourself to ridicule and not care”
Justin, she did care.
“because your point, or in this case Specter’s acknowledgment of her “fair question,” might change one person’s mind or, at the very least, get the opposition to see your point of view?”
It was a fair question. It was also a loaded one. And I understand her point of view.
“It’s easy to sit behind a keyboard and judge others, it’s a whole other thing to go into the lion’s den (or, in this case the Democrats’ den) and pursue truth.”
Justin, she knew the truth. This wasn’t a pursuit of the truth. She wanted to put Spector on the spot. She wanted a reprise of her earlier triumph. The let her in. They let her ask her question. And she got an answer, of sorts. Would it have been better if she were treated worse? Or worse if she were treated better?
“The point of this piece isn’t to change the minds of people like yourself — people who are dug into their perspective and unwilling or unable to give the opposition any thought. The point of this piece is to demonstrate to other conservatives what true activism is all about.”
I’m sorry, Justin. If this is what true activism is about, you can keep it. This was about confrontation. Her arguments fall apart at a glance. If the cost of health care reform will put ‘her children in chains’, will the national debt make those chains any less tight? If health care reform is ‘a battle for our liberty and our country’ what were, or are, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and VA?
Being treated poorly does not make for a cogent political argument. At best, this was a minor triumph of style over substance.
FTR, I do give the ‘opposition’ thought. I sincerely wish that they would give me grist for additional thought.
im getting a little sick of being called “an educated lying specter constituent” simply because, there are questions that katy has not answered, or wasnt able too. im in pa, and attended the town hall in lebanon pa, where there WERE others who asked questions, AND the protest in Mt Zion,Oct 17th, where there are conflicting stories about what really happened inside. i am a conservative, and unlike our so called front person, I DID AND DO CARE ABOUT 9.11!! and the war in Iraq, and quite honestly, im getting sick of being shoved in the same category as her. there were millions of people who went to town halls, asked questions, everyday, we wake up and do more and more. what is the deal with the fansites and the constant same story everywhere on the media? what is the motive? please read up on the constitution and please dont exagerate the truth! its looking bad for everybody in pa!i didnt realize we had to have a person up front, answering for all of us. if the exagerations are going to continue, whatever happened inside the dinner, shouldve been taped, because there are way to many saying that these accusations were all lies! that looks bad on the people not starving for media attention. the people who are from here who are taking what is happening here in this country seriously!