Furibundum

This is becoming almost laughable now, the whole health care overhaul misadventure. I've made it known before that if I had my druthers, Obama would have been pushing for single-payer, like he once might have done (the classic "I was for it before I was against it" political dodge), but that nonetheless, I was pleased something was going to get passed for long-overdue reform. I can honestly say, though, that at this point I am becoming so confounded by this way or that way shoving it through, I don't really care so much anymore. Maybe if this is what government has become, anarchy is the better alternative. Probably more apt toward getting things accomplished, at least; it arguably couldn't be much worse. When it came down to it, that the only way getting around not having enough votes to pass a final version for signing health care reform into law was to bring up the option of budget-reconciliation , I thought there was some pretty flimsy justification for usin...

Since Scott Brown beat out Martha Coakley for the Massachusetts Senate seat (mostly because she ran a sucky campaign; the loss of it squarely on her shoulders, in my opinion and others' ), the Democrats are all discombobulated now. What with the passage of Obama's aim to overhaul health care shot down in that one fell conservative swoop and Teddy rolling over in his grave, the party has been acting rather awkwardly ever since; it's kind of embarrassing. Losing the seat to a Republican and with no hope bringing off health care reform as intended, the Democrats have started whistling a different tune. Just last year, getting the bill done was of such high import that Obama was setting deadlines to ramrod making legislation ready by the end of summer the year . As President Obama put it often, "Health reform is not a luxury that can be postponed, but a necessity that cannot wait" . Now it seems maybe not so much. Despite at first wanting to have something signed int...

Typical draggy Joe Lieberman, droning on for ten minutes rationalizing his opposition to a public option in the health care reform bill. "Wawa wa waWa Medicare wa Wawa publicly supported wa wa ..." Democrats are chafed by his roguery anyhow, of course, so what an opportunity it was at the ten minute mark for Al Franken to break up Lieberman's speech pointing out that time was up. Pretty bold but it worked in shutting him up, Franken objecting to allowing the "additional moment" Lieberman asked for. It did majorly piss off John McCain, that was enjoyable, too. McCain got it wrong, however, when I thought he said that such doings "[harm] the comedy" of the Senate. Au contraire, John, au contraire, because that was just plain funny stuff. Unless he meant comity , in which event he could have a point there, of course. Nevertheless I applaud Al Franken for having the balls to do what probably most Democrats there wished to do, comity be damned.