The above titled phrase, so aptly coined by Dr. King as a warning against those who would suggest that “the time was not right” for Civil rights gains in the 1960s, rings quite true today.

While real fundamental change toward substantive universal healthcare in this country approaches political viability, the president councils moderation. Though our administrative costs are the highest in the world and though we are the only wealthy nation that does not cover all of our citizens, our leaders fear “too much change.” The president advocates only gradual change away from the dominance of the corporate insurance machine. Not too radical a step toward a single payer plan, he warns. The political will is not there, he suggests.

Our descendants will look at this moment not as pragmatism, but as cowardice.

If not now, then when? If not here then where? If not us, then who?

It’s fitting, I think, to close with the phrase that follows the above warning in King’s famous speech: Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.