In this week's Hill column, I made a pretty stupid mistake -- I confused Tennessee Blue Dog Jim Cooper with Arkansas Blue Dog Mike Ross in regards to the crooked land deal. I apologize for that mistake.
But beyond that, Cooper's response to my column is an exercise in hilarity:
Not only the Daily Kos but also Firedoglake has accused me of being against "the public option." The truth is that I have been a leader in trying to define what a public option really could mean, and I have repeatedly stated that there are several definitions that I support. By my calculation, there are about 18 ways to define a public option and at least half of them could win my support and, in my opinion, a majority in Congress.
See? He's a leader in coming up with a dictionary definition of "public option"! And NO ONE will recognize him for that bold leadership!!!!
Of course, the only bill that he supports does NOT include the public option, and the one that does, he opposes. But that's just semantics, because you see, there are 18 ways to define a public option, and HALF of them would earn his support!
What are those 18 definitions? Who the heck knows. You can't expect Cooper to show any leadership by, you know, explaining those 18 different public plans. And forget about the kind of leadership that would lead him to introduce a plan, because if you were a leader in defining the 18 different types of public plan, you'd think you'd also be a leader by choosing one and giving the world the Jim Cooper Health Care plan.
But there's a saying in Tennessee -- "Any mule can kick a barn down; it takes a carpenter to build one." And Cooper is more content to kick down existing plans in allegiance to his insurance company patrons than to actually work to fix the problem. That's why his constituents aren't happy with his performance, and why he's going to have to fight for his political life next year.