No not that A Show Of Hands, the 1989 Live Album release by rock superstar group Rush.
This is more like poker.
And being the Democratic Senator from Nevada, that is something Harry Reid should know a little something about.
And it's time for President Obama to tell Harry Reid to call Chuck Grassley's and the GOP's bluff.
Make the jump with me—call my bluff, as it were...
See, Jack Cafferty, today, while talking to Wolf Blitzer, mentions that it seems increasingly apparent that as far as a public option goes, there just aren't the votes there to get it done.
Blitzer then points out that it is based on whether it's 51 votes or 60 needed to pass.
And this is where the poker comes in.
It is unrealistic to think that in regard to the most important health care legislation in American history, that the White House and Senate leadership have not been in close communication, especially as both are held by Democrats. And given that Obama is well-known as a better-than-average poker player, it seems reasonable that he has used poker analogies in those communications, with a Senator from the state which has had continuous legalized gambling longer than any other.
So when Republickin's keep threatening filibuster on every piece of legislation offerred before the Senate, certainly Obama and Reid have discussed the possibility of metaphorically "calling their bluff," and actually requiring the GOPosaur to stay up all night. Surely if it hasn't come up yet, some enterprising low-level staffer for one of the two will be perusing the Intertubes for mentions of their boss, and come across this hack diary, so that the subject will be brought up by morning, certainly.
And here is the best thing: Nobody has a bluff called twice. Nobody with a bluff called usually goes back to that well for a long long time. It's like reaching in to a rattlesnake den to pull out a quarter. Like doing a wheelie off a rooftop to impress a girl. Like something on Jackass.
So it's time, if I were wagering. Just call on the Republickin's to actually follow through, just one time. One time, and 51 will be the new 60.
Because how many old man-whiteys are gonna agree to sit in chamber, or at least in their offices, 24/7, waiting for Chuck Grassley to call for a potty break? Will John Boehner sit quietly while his tan fades to pale blue? Is Mitch McConnell going to forsake all his Kentucky constituents for as long as it takes? Will Jeff Sessions really cancel all fund-raising dinners, meet-n-greets, fancy-pants luncheons, and everything else, until the Democrats just give up? Will any GOPosaur?
I believe Ted Stevens has the answer:
It's time for A Show Of Hands.