When Joe was kicked out of the Democratic Party he could have hidden in a corner and sulked. Instead, he understood his strategic position and figured out exactly when and how to strike.
The president's problem is completely the opposite. He was elected with a mandate and momentum to accomplish momentous things, however he and his advisers chose to hang back on health care. What did they expect would happen? Who did they expect would fill the power vacuum? Of course the special interests and the Republicans and moderate Democrats flooded into the void. From the very beginning when the president and Rahm Emanuel said, "Everything was on the table," they invited chaos, disaster and assured their own powerlessness. If you run a campaign promising to change a broken system, how can you entrust the most significant piece of legislation of your tenure to that same system?
The Obama administration needs to course-correct immediately. He needs to make a series of bold, muscular, ruthlessly political moves immediately (reconciliation anyone?) to put the fear of god into all those puny adversaries out there that have been pushing him around with impunity.
Amen. Haven't we been saying that?
On a local and state level, the party lost it's will to enforce loyalty in the early 2000's. I guess Obama brought that strategy to the White House in 2008.
ReplyDeleteThis has never been about LIEberman, Landreu, Nelson, Snowe or any of them making health insurance affordable and available. It's always been about getting publicity, pork or vengeance. Obama and Rahm are trying to play nice with creeps that play dirty. The old axiom is true about nice guys finishing last.
I fear it is too late to bring out the hammer on these creeps. Damn shame.
From TPM today:
ReplyDelete"But by the afternoon, Lieberman was praising the Democratic bill and one tea partier had literally put an X through the "Stand With Joe" written on the sign he waved."
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/inside-the-tea-partys-one-day-love-affair-with-joe-lieberman.php
Sadly, Truth, I have to agree with you. But I wish it weren't so. And now this stupid filibuster.
ReplyDeleteWell Trey Ellis can shove it. This old progressive is damned mad! See my post of today, if you are so inclined to see raw anger.
ReplyDeleteI went, I saw, and yes, you are one angry man. But I have enough anger to go around. To Lieberman, to the Blue/yellow dogs, to the president, to the tea-partiers, to the former decent but now spineless conservatives, to the Democrats, and to the media, to fat cat Armey, and so on and so on.
ReplyDeleteFrodo, long a bastion of cool heads working together, acknowledges that what may exist is something truly immoral in concept. Requiring all to purchase automobile insurance is one thing, but to require all to purchase health insurance is another. The first costs but a few dollars, the second could conceivably cost more than housing. If, indeed, this is the case, then the President will have to veto the bill.
ReplyDeleteWant to start a pool?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on this issue. Coming from a conservative view, I think the current administration should forge ahead with its majority and not even try to get any bipartisan support. I don't want a mixed bag, I want liberals and/or Democrats to own this health care "reform" and if it turns out to be an improvement, even if just a slight improvement, then they should reap all the credit and people may learn that the government can be trusted to improve people's lives on a grand scale. I certainly don't know the future, my guess is of course, that this legislation is going to be an economic timebomb with a very short fuse. If so, hopefully the people, with the power of the vote will dismantle it and some other government programs so completely to leave us all better off in the long run. I believe this is the political equivalent of Elijah vs. Baal on Mount Carmel- let us clearly draw the line on who is on what side. I'd love it if liberals were right, that with good planning, in our prosperous and free country, everybody, rich or poor can all have affordable quality health care. But what I see are plans to penalize the poor for being poor by making them pay for not having insurance. I see plans to open up a bunch of new government agencies that will produce nothing but red tape and paid for with money that isn't earned but is simply printed, printed to the point of becoming worth less, not worthless, but worth far less than it is today. Take a stand Democrats! Prove us wrong or quit whining about things that I believe the government can't and shouldn't be in the business of trying to fix. Mike Hatcher
ReplyDeleteRight now, I'm completely exhausted from all this and bitter;y disappointed. I think there's lots of blame to go around. The whole thing has been badly handled.
ReplyDelete"But what I see are plans to penalize the poor for being poor by making them pay for not having insurance."
And this is the most tragic and outrageous part of all this.
you got some good comments here Leslie. Mike has made some good points and I'm headed to see jadedj!!
ReplyDelete