CNN contributor Bob Greene says it seems as if many have half-forgotten that nation is still at war

Bob Greene
CNN Contributor

Another wartime Christmas week has arrived.

Yet on the streets of the United States, it often feels as if this is a nation that has half-forgotten that its sons and daughters are in combat.

Not literally, of course; Americans are intellectually aware that the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq continue. And for the families of the young soldiers, sailors, Marines and aviators in combat zones, the wars never go away, even for a single tick of the clock.

But the lack of shared sacrifice during these war years - the sense that those of us at home go on with our lives pretty much as usual while the men and women who have volunteered to be in uniform risk their own lives anew with each rising of the sun - is a notion that is especially acute during the holiday season.

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Eliza Browning
AC360° Associate Producer

It was a late night on Capitol Hill last night. In a 60-40 vote, cast shortly after 1 a.m., the Senate ended debate on a package of controversial revisions to the $871 billion health care reform bill. The vote was a major victory for Democrats and it means that the Senate is on track to pass the bill on Christmas Eve. But it’s not over yet - if it passes, the measure will then have to be merged with a roughly $1 trillion plan passed by the House in November. Republicans ripped the majority for rushing the process and passing the measure in the middle of the night.

So what exactly is in the plan and who’s paying for it? It’s made both liberals and conservatives angry. What favors were promised to ensure the support necessary to keep the bill moving? We’re keeping them honest tonight and we’ll explain exactly what this bill means for you and how it could lead to changes in the nation’s health care system.

The Senate vote left President Barack Obama on the cusp of claiming victory on his top domestic priority and enacting the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid more than four decades ago. The President isn’t expected to make a public statement on the Senate vote but he’s scheduled to speak later today on the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal government. Ironic, given what we’ve seen on the Senate floor, right?

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Editor's Note: After Friday's AC360°, many of you wrote in about Michael Ware’s report from the front lines in Mexico's drug war. Thanks were heard for the segment on the deaths at the sweat lodge with some saying that you should never have to pay for meditation and prayer in the first place.

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Michael Ware is right. We Americans love our drugs. Look at us. Whether it's Vicadin, Stoli, pot, cocaine, Sudafed, or Marlboro cigarettes – boy, we Americans love our drugs! You think we'd be grateful to the people selling us the drugs we love. Instead, in an act of what must be collective insanity, we criminalize our favorite drugs and shoot at and incarcerate the people who dare to sell them to us. Worse, we're selling guns to both sides. So Ware is right. This is a test of our national moral compass. In Mexico and Afghanistan, people are dying for the drugs we insist they grow for us – while we make money off the war we forced on them. I'm grateful you folks are talking about it. Enjoy the snow.

Thank You for your discussion [posted on the web site] with Deepak Chopra on preventing casualties at extreme self-help seminars. If people understood that one does not pay for sweat lodge ceremonies, like any other form of worship; they would know it was B.S. and save their time and money. Meditation and prayer are free.

Reporter's Note: Do presidents get snow days? I don’t know. But I do know this one gets a letter from me every day.

Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent

Dear Mr. President,

I have no interest in writing a serious letter today. Zero. Just as it was when I was a kid, I like to believe that a heavy snowfall is an open invitation to sledding, snowball fights, fort building, and curling up later with a blanket and hot chocolate while steam curls off of my frozen toes. Anything, but plain old work.

So instead I’ll just tell you a little story.

When I was a kid in South Dakota, my parents used to take my brother and sister and me up to the Black Hills in the dead of winter, to shovel the snow off of frozen lakes, and strap on our skates. Sometimes we would just spend hours cutting little patterns on the ice, and playing tag. Other times we’d drag another family and our hockey sticks along, for a frenzied game. Once my dad tied a rope to a metal snow saucer. A kid would climb on board; Dad would start skating in a big loop, pulling the rope and tightening his turns until we were swinging wildly at the end of the tether in a manic circle; and then he’d let go and you’d fly across the blue black surface of Sylvan Lake, ice crystals stinging your face, and the cold cracks booming through the ice beneath you. I saw a fish frozen in the ice one time, his white mouth gaping open as if winter came all in a rush and surprised him. For a second-grader, it was high drama.

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Reporter's Note: The president went to Denmark and says he got a good deal on global climate change. I once went to Mexico and got a hammock for five dollars! And considering all the snow on the east coast, a hammock in Mexico sounds pretty good right now. Anyway, here’s my daily letter to the White House.

Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent

Dear Mr. President,

Forgive me, but I can’t help laughing over the idea that Nancy Pelosi had to leave the global warming summit early because a major snowstorm is bearing down on D.C. I know that this is a big, serious issue and all, but you’ve got to admit that is some fine irony. These are the things that make me believe God has a sense of humor.

I’m not sure what to make of your announcement of a “meaningful” deal with China and all the others on the climate over there in Copenhagen. Some people are giving you pats on the back, and others are saying it’s a sham. I have to admit it sounds kind of vague, but what do I know? Seems like the only way any of us will know for sure is to wait thirty years and see where we stand. Kind of like marriage.

I was once told that a hummingbird’s metabolism is so fast, that we appear to that little critter to be moving as slowly as a cloud…or an act of Congress. That’s how they can fly away from us so easily. Even when we run up, we look like enthusiastic glaciers. I don’t know if it’s really true. If I ever meet a talking hummingbird, I’ll ask.

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Tonight on 360°, we're tracking the massive storm that could cause a big mess along the east coast this weekend. Plus,  a Mexican  drug cartel leader is killed and law enforcement is on alert for reprisal attacks. We take you inside the war next door.

Want to know what else we're covering? <strong><a href="http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/category/the-buzz/" target="_blank">Read EVENING BUZZ</a></strong>

Scroll down to join the live chat during the program. It's your chance to share your thoughts on tonight's headlines. Keep in mind, you have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules.

Here are some of them:

1) Keep it short (we don't have time to read a "book")
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Editor's Note: This week, the Vermont State Supreme Court began hearing a case that started in July 2003, when Denis and Sarah Scheele, who were visiting relatives, let their mixed-breed dog wander into a neighbor's yard and he fatally shot it. The court is now reviewing the case.

The Scheeles filed a civil suit against Dustin, arguing that Shadow was more than a piece of property and that they could not be compensated just with reimbursement of what they paid to adopt him from an animal shelter, the veterinary bill that resulted from the shooting and the cost of his cremation.

Jeffrey Toobin and Lisa Bloom will be on to discuss the case tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

When we heard about this story, many of us here at 360° started thinking about our own dogs. Check out this gallery of a few of our canine companions.

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Erica Hill's dog, Jake.

Kathleen Friery's dog, Wally.

Tom Foreman's dog, NOLA.

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President Obama arrived in Copenhagen on Friday morning for the final day of climate change talks.

CNN

President Obama spoke in Copenhagen on Friday to push for an agreement with world leaders on climate change.

The meeting at the United Nations Climate Change Conference included nearly 20 other heads of state and government leaders.

The following is a transcript of Obama's prepared remarks:

Good morning. It's an honor for me to join this distinguished group of leaders from nations around the world. We come together here in Copenhagen because climate change poses a grave and growing danger to our people. You would not be here unless you - like me - were convinced that this danger is real. This is not fiction, this is science. Unchecked, climate change will pose unacceptable risks to our security, our economies and our planet. That much we know.

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