"The old bulls" bullshit
The fact that the Senate bowed to Obama's veto threat on the F22 is quite significant in light of what I still think will be a vote on a health care bill sooner rather than later. It clearly disproves the growing conservative columnist idea/hope that Obama is too weak to go to battle against heavy hitters in his own party -- "the old bulls of the Senate," as Davey calls them (in what was one of the most wishful thinking columns he's regurgitated in a long while). While not all Democrats voted yes on the amendment stripping out the funding for the jet, clearly, Obama is the party leader.
Second, it supports E.J. Dionne's contention, that Obama just hasn't been scarred by the beat down Democrats suffered 15 years ago. He's not afraid of the "soft on defense" label when he opposes more hundreds of billions of dollars on vestiges of the Cold War. And he's not afraid of the bleatings of Republicans or the nervous gasps of the "brave Blue Dogs" when it comes to health care reform. "Tax and spend liberal" just doesn't have the sting it used to have.
And no, Mr. Brooks, the Republican party wasn't "lost" because it was taken over by Southerners "out of touch" with the nation's millions of moderates in "middle America." It was lost because it sold "middle America" a war for which it had no tangible aims other than to get rid of someone a Republican president didn't like and no discernible strategy for exiting. That, coupled with a philosophy of Government is the Problem Not the Solution (Except for Killing Other People), that was made instantly inoperative by Hurricane Katrina.
Democrats are not likely to lose power because of "liberal overreach" on health care when voters overwhelmingly voted for just such a reach in November. On the contrary, health care reform may be declining in the polls, but I doubt there is a coinciding rise in the poll numbers of our nation's private health insurers. If anything, Democrats will be punished in 2010 if they fail to pass a comprehensive bill. Obama and Emanuel know this.
Second, it supports E.J. Dionne's contention, that Obama just hasn't been scarred by the beat down Democrats suffered 15 years ago. He's not afraid of the "soft on defense" label when he opposes more hundreds of billions of dollars on vestiges of the Cold War. And he's not afraid of the bleatings of Republicans or the nervous gasps of the "brave Blue Dogs" when it comes to health care reform. "Tax and spend liberal" just doesn't have the sting it used to have.
And no, Mr. Brooks, the Republican party wasn't "lost" because it was taken over by Southerners "out of touch" with the nation's millions of moderates in "middle America." It was lost because it sold "middle America" a war for which it had no tangible aims other than to get rid of someone a Republican president didn't like and no discernible strategy for exiting. That, coupled with a philosophy of Government is the Problem Not the Solution (Except for Killing Other People), that was made instantly inoperative by Hurricane Katrina.
Democrats are not likely to lose power because of "liberal overreach" on health care when voters overwhelmingly voted for just such a reach in November. On the contrary, health care reform may be declining in the polls, but I doubt there is a coinciding rise in the poll numbers of our nation's private health insurers. If anything, Democrats will be punished in 2010 if they fail to pass a comprehensive bill. Obama and Emanuel know this.
Labels: Fuck You 08, health care, Obama administration
posted by John at 3:26 PM
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