Live Oblogging

Obama is in the house.  Michelle in pink -- kind of Jackie Kennedyesque.

I hope to God he doesn't follow Saxby Chambliss's advice and be humble (that cracker, racist fuckwad -- I hope I run into him some day here and get to express my feelings in person).

Starting with the economy -- reminding everyone what a steaming pile of dung he inherited.  (Cue the Republican reaction of when will he stop blaming Bush -- Leave George Bush alone!!!)

"It can happen to anyone."  (Being uninsured.)  Well, yeah

He's making with the horror anecdotes as per my advice (you know Obama stops here first evey day).  And now rising costs, its disadvantages to business, and the hidden tax to cover to some degree the uninsured. And now the false equivalency between left and right.  I suppose it's rhetorically effective, but it's annoying nonetheless.  

Re: the "death panels" -- "It is a lie plain and simple."  The line of the night.  The Republicans sit stonily.They don't enjoy being called out.  

Obama seems to be standing up for the public option.  Pretty strongly in fact. 

The speech seems very well crafted to address virtually every bogeyman that has been raised over the last couple of months.

(He even throws a bone to Republicans on malpractice reform -- a rather bogus issue but there you have it.)

And a direct threat to go after those who lie about the plan.

Finally, an invocation of Ted Kennedy and health care as a moral issue and one indicative of the character of our society.  

Nice speech.  

I remember why I pounded the pavement for this guy week after week.   

Comments

[Corvus9]

Hi Sir Charles,

I hate the false equivalency between left and right too. My major peeve about his speech style. I mean, I know is major strategy is to appear even-handed and conciliatory so the other side looks unserious (or even crazy), but sometimes one side is just right and the other wrong. I'd be nice to see him call a spade a spade, you know? He wouldn't have to pile up so much bullshit then. Hope it gets results...

[Sir Charles]

Hey Corvus. How are you?

Well, I hate the false equivalency too, but I thought there was a fair amount of pretty pointed attacks on the Republicans and their disinformation tonight. I liked it.

[Corvus9]

Yeah, the main thing I got from the speech is him threatening to actually start calling out Republican lies and liars. I wonder if he will actually follow through on that. I mean, for people besides Sarah Palin.

This healthcare debate has caused me to just stop following the news with any degree of specificity. Partially that's because everything I've been hearing has been dispiriting and maddening, but also because I don't really know what's going on. Are people really listening to all the crazy things the crazy people have been saying? Are the democrats really just frittering away their advantage? Or is this all part of some other game, aimed at stalling until reconciliation (or at least the threat of it) kicks in?

Or the waffling from the White House on the public option. I have no idea what's honest opinion, rhetorical positioning, or ass-covering bullshit meant just to avoid pissing off some fragile, centrist Senator whose vote they might need. It's all seemed like shadowboxing to me, none of it very heartening. So mostly I've tuned out.

[litbrit]

sometimes one side is just right and the other wrong

EXACTLY.

I was bummed that he stopped short of calling She Who Will Not Be Named Here something along the lines of, say, a lying sociopathic bitch (heh!) but his point was well-made and well-taken.

I am happy. The address was classic O, and when (not if, when) reform passes--with a STRONG PUBLIC (not pubic) OPTION, mind you--it will undoubtedly go into the history books as one of the finest addresses to a joint session of Congress, ever.

I'd pour myself a second glass of wine but it's a school night.

Sweet dreams, all.

[big bad wolf]

rhetorically, the equivalences bolster the pointed attacks, making the attack stronger by making it appear in a seemingly agreed-upon framework. the question, i guess, is does rhetoric have any effect in the relevant worlds, the senate or public opinion. let's hope so.

[Eric Wilde]

With our invasions still going strong and lack of accountability for the worst abuses of power from the last decade, I won't hold my breath on health care. O's actions thus far have made me tune out what he says, no matter how beautifully rendered. I'll see what actually happens before I have any faith in our leaders.

[jacqueline]

hi cogitamus friends!

i still think barack obama is an anointed person. i never forget the almost insurmountable odds of his winning the presidency....the shambles he inherited upon taking office, and his placidity and clarity as he moves through these crises.
he has never once lost his dignity, his respect for others.
i love president obama. i really do.
and i think we will have health care reform during his administration.
and i think we are all the better for having him as our president.
i feel like he is a member of my family.
was so worried about his speech today that i couldnt eat!

[litbrit]

jacqueline, I, too was on pins and needles. President Obama was fantastic last night. Speaking for my entire house, we love him too--that was a hell of a speech, and he handled the foul heckling from the South Carolina rep. with grace and charm (I hear Michelle shook her head sadly when he said that--I can't even type the word.)

What worries me are all the bought-and-paid-for shills in the Senate. I don't want some watered-down bill, and I applaud Congressman Weiner and others for standing tough on this.

[MR Bill]

I listened to the speech on the way out of play practice
(I'm in Y. Rezi's Art, a French play about three friend's argument triggered by a minimalist painting, seehttp://www.complete-review.com/reviews/rezay/art.html )
It was storming and the radio reception was a bit flaky, and missed the first 1/2. I was astonished at the rudeness to such a reasoned speech.
(I think it was the SC Congresscritter's outburst with all the booing).
Of course, the devil is in the details. I and so many others have been screwed over when we had insurance, and are getting pasted without it...
The fight is just beginning.

[low-tech cyclist]

I missed the speech because the little rascal just didn't want to go to sleep last night, but I'm glad it was a good one. I'll have to watch it on YouTube on Saturday. The money quotes posted at TPM and elsewhere are especially encouraging.

I wish he'd hit a bit harder on the aspect that government can be - and often IS, right now - the solution, rather than the problem, but at least he made the point.

The main problem is that it still all comes down to what litbrit accurately refers to as "all the bought-and-paid-for shills in the Senate": Senators like Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln and Kent Conrad and Max Baucus who get nearly half their campaign contributions from corporate PACs. Without some means to make Democrats like that behave like Democrats, there's no reason to expect them to do so. It's time that Dems abandon their seniority system, and vote on committee chairs like the Republicans do.

[Sir Charles]

MR Bill,

I see your pandering to your local audience. Them boys in Georgia love nothing so much as French plays about art. (Does the painting involve dogs playing poker?)

l-t c,

Deborah has it absolutely right. We are in the hands of those of little brain and less principle. However, I thought the President's speech should have the combined effect of giving them cover and putting pressure on them. We shall see.

[jacqueline]

unfortunately, the reality of the situation is what it is.
it is not a perfect world, and this is what we have to work with.
threading this needle will be a herculean task....at some point, for the sake of what can be accomplished, i think people will have to abandon intractibility, and move ahead.
everything is a work in progress. we need to begin.
and i think we will.
i believe that barack obama is going to accomplish this after so many years of inaction and failure.
i think we are grinding forward to health care reform.
it wont be everything we want, but that is true of most everything in life.
mostly nothing in life happens without struggle, compromise and hard work.

[MR Bill]

C'est la meme chose, la plus ca change..."

The painting in question is "a white painting, some 4'x5'; completely white. The background is white, and if you screw up you eyes you can see some fine white diagonal lines.." My character (the right winger, with a view of Bar Harbor on his wall) calls it "a piece of white shit"...
And will ultimately draw a little skier in a woolly cap on one of the diagonal lines.
It's not as deadly a play as it sounds: although some of the language is not translated quite right.
see http://www.blueridgecommunitytheater.com/2009_events.htm#2009

We progressives need to turn our fire on the Right, just now, if we expect any sort of Health care. I haven't seen a doctor in 4 years, and it seems I shall wait more...

[Sir Charles]

MR Bill,

That's horrible -- not the play, but the lack of access to health care. It frustrates me how this basic fact can get drowned out amidst all the madness.

I think the President did a good job of cutting through the madness last night though.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

One slightly askew comment, but whatever the plan is that finally gets passed, there has to be a serious attempt to make it Palin-Bush proof. Both have demonstrated the ability to take a good plan or agency, put an incompetent in charge of it, and make it totally ineffective. Not just 'Heckuva job, Brownie!" though I wonder if there's ever been a reliable estimate of how many lives were cost by that appointment.

But Sarah Palin -- who is now being described (by a fan on FB) as "now one considered by many observers as one of the most foremost authorities on healthcare reform and Obamacare" should be met, everytime she opens her yap, by the story of how Alaska Medicare was run under her watch. The story, reported

The situation is so bad the federal government has forbidden the state to sign up new people until the state makes necessary improvements.

No other state in the nation is under such a moratorium, according to a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services....

A particularly alarming finding concerns deaths of adults in the programs. In one 2 1/2 year stretch, 227 adults already getting services died while waiting for a nurse to reassess their needs. Another 27 died waiting for their initial assessment, to see if they qualified for help....

Doctors and other health care providers wrote to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid with concerns that the state wasn't responsive. Some alleged that the lack of state controls "has resulted in the death(s) of the active clients," the federal review said.

While the people served are frail and suffer from chronic health issues, the state never investigated to determine if any failure in service contributed to the deaths, the federal review found.

"Thus, if someone passed away because a (personal care assistant) did not show up, for example, there was no indication this would have been reported or investigated," the report said.

It's no wonder she sees Health Reform as leading to 'death panels' because, under her own incompetent, penny-pinching adminstration, it did.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

Wtf is typepad doing now? I closed that 'h ref' but ... Anyway, the quote is from the Anchorage Daily News .

[low-tech cyclist]

Here's your link, Prup: Troubled Alaska health programs face federal restriction

[Sir Charles]

Amazing.

I'd love to see Olbermann do somethign with this.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

Sir C: Thanks, I just wrote Shannyn Moore suggesting that -- it was her blog where I found the link. (If you ever totally re-do the Blogroll, consider her and Mudflats for links. They may concentrate mostly on Alaska, but they cover national issues, are both very good writers, and neither they nor their commenters show the level of angst and 'delightful misery' I find on too much of the liberal blogosphere -- rarely here, which is why I spend so much time.

(You know what I mean. "Obama's been in office a whoole month and he hasn't gotten rid of DOMA, DADT, passed health cares, brought every last one of the soldiers home, turned the recession around single-handedly -- while making sure no evil corporation gets any support -- and declared 'being a Republican' grounds for committment to the local asylum. See, I TOLD you he'd sell us all out." Usually of course from the same people who kept insisting throughout the campaign that "Obama's already blown it. We better hunker down and get ready for 4 years of McCain and start planning for 2012.")

[oddjob]

It's no wonder she sees Health Reform as leading to 'death panels' because, under her own incompetent, penny-pinching adminstration, it did.

This is no surprise, is it? Hasn't it been painfully obvious now for some months (at the very least) that the wingnuts have been projecting something fierce when it comes to Obama and his agenda?

[oddjob]

Sen. Lindsey Graham's take on the speech.

(Shorter Graham: "Obama doesn't want to pass the bill we'd pass, and therefore he's not bipartisan and the speech was offensive."

What part of "minority party" does he not understand?)

[oddjob]

(Is anyone else on this thread suddenly seeing all recent comments in bold font?)

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

I did close my bold, but Typepad has learned a new trick. ("Bad Typee, bad Typee, no table scraps for you till you learn to behave!")

Actually, just think, if we were Republicans, we'd already be working on a conspiracy theory involving an Obama crony -- meaning he gave $5 -- buying up the company and deliberately instituting bugs designed to destroy our Fine Republican Minds and hypnotize us into Fascialism -- the new trademarked term for the evil plan of the dangerous radical.

[oddjob]

No doubt, right wing publishers like Regnery and Crown will be beating down Wilson's door today to sign a book deal that will put him at the top of the New York Times bestseller list along with drivel from the likes of Michelle Malkin, who has probably already started writing her biography of Wilson, titled, "The Man Who Spoke the Truth." By the end of the day a Wilson for President web site will be fully functioning if it isn't already. Watch for the announcement on Glenn Beck’s show this afternoon.

- Bruce Bartlett

Hat tip, Sully.

[Sir Charles]

Fascialism -- wasn't that dude from California into that?

[MR Bill]

I keep hoping for farce-icalism (as a political movement, as opposed to the Dada styling of the Right we currently endure..)

[oddjob]

Today's follow up:

This is a GOP moderate?