It appears our problem children in the Senate have regressed to the terrible twos, that stage of development wherein kids push boundaries simply because they exist. This stage is also all about self; they are the center of the universe, by god!
This explains the brazen narcissism from the likes of Snowe, "The point is I don't support a public option and none of my republican colleagues do" and Lieberman, "I feel relevant." Well, isn't that special...little Joey feels validated!
The irony is that these fools won't even do right by health care reform, despite what it would do for their relevance, reputation and legacy. Just think of all the attention and respect they could have if they would actually stand up for health care reform.
Given the cast of characters, we may well be at a point where appealing to their monumental egos is about the best option we've got. If reason, CBO analyses and the popularity of the public option among their own constituents won't sway them, perhaps thoughts of their precious legacies will.
Follow me down there for to mess with their heads!
Thankfully, there are still a few adults walking those hallowed halls of the Senate and we need to get their backs. No; I don't mean Reid, Schumer or even Rockefeller, although they do deserve props for their efforts.
I am talking about Roland Burris, believe it or not. Mr. Freshman Senator Tainted by Blagojevich is putting most of the rest of his caucus to shame. And we need to tell them that. As far as I can tell, he is one of only two people in the Senate to make a formal statement in emphatic support of the public option.
The Illinois Democrat, appointed by disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, says he'll only vote for a bill to provide health care to millions more Americans as long as it allows the government to sell insurance in competition with private insurers.
And he says he won't compromise.
"I would not support a bill that does not have a public option," Burris, 72, said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "That position will not change."
...No, he says, he will not vote for any version of a government-run plan circulating in the Senate, other than the full-blown one from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
He also explicitly dissmissed triggers and co-ops and well, maybe even Senate comity. Burris just doesn't give a damn, at this point. He's got nothing to lose and everything to gain (he could well be more relevant than Lieberputz!) and he knows it.
Yes; he's got the Blagojevich stink about him. And yes; this could well be all about him and his legacy. I frankly don't care - I will personally pay for his mausoleum inscription if he gets us a public option bulwark in the Senate.
A lot of people are leery of elevating Burris as a champion of reform, given the questionable circumstances of his appointment. But I think it's a rather useful reference point. It gives us play to say things like "Even the ethically challenged Burris can see that this is the right thing to do" and "Everybody and their brother knows how much money Senator So-and-so has received from the insurance lobby; does So-and-so really want to appear even more corrupt than Burris?" etc. And don't forget the part about how he is putting the rest of the democratic caucus to shame.
I am also talking about Russ Feingold, who we already know to be made of awesome:
Increasingly, there are senators on the liberal side of the spectrum who say they won't pass a plan that includes the trigger provision
"To me that would be a very serious gap and it would be a very strong reason not to support it," Sen. Russ Feingold told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "We need a public option. We need something that would cause some control over the abuses that have occurred in the insurance industry."
Triggers, Feingold added, are "just an invitation for the insurance industry to manipulate the situation for a couple of years just so they can avoid the trigger and so they can convince members of Congress to delay it again. We need to do something now."
I ♥ Russ!
Yes; it's only two Senators, but it's a start. We need to call all the problem children in the Senate (and our own Senators as well) and tell them to take a stand with Burris and Feingold. When calling your own Senators, see if you can get them to commit and make a statement.
When calling the intractable prats opposing reform, explain to them how, in working against the American people, they are working against themselves. Just as with the suffragette movement and civil rights, there is a right side and a wrong side of history here. And when history calls, you answer the !@#$%& phone, because being on the wrong side of it really sucks. Do they really want to go down in the books as the Senator who denied Americans health care?
Make sure they realize just how popular the public option is nationally and ask them what they want their legacy to be: self-absorbed git or principled public servant who fought for the most significant and popular reform in half a century.
Remind them that money is fun and all, but special interests, for all their dollars, don't get a vote. Make clear to them that the choice before them is not what it appears to be; instead of deciding to vote for or against health care reform, they are deciding whether or not they want to continue their Senate careers. Wish them well in their retirement, since that's what voting the wrong way on this means.
American people are dying and we just don't give damn about anybody's widdle feewings getting hurt. This is not about them, but we can make it about them if they insist; it just won't be the way they want.
So everybody - please keep flooding the Senate lines with calls. Tell them to nut up and take a stand for the American people with Burris and Feingold.
The problem children:
Lieberman - lots of filthy lucre, wife in bed with team lucre, massive support for public option among constituents
Landrieu - lots of filthy lucre, general cluelessness
Lincoln - lots of filthy lucre, massive support for public option among constituents, up for re-election in 2010
Nelson (NE) - severe general cluelessness, strange obsession with Snowe
Snowe - strange obsession with self, massive support for public option among constituents,up for re-election in 2012
Bayh - lots of filthy lucre, wife in bed with team lucre, but rumored to have come to his senses, still needs encouragement
Baucus - lots of filthy lucre, still Baucus * sigh *
Conrad - still fairly clueless, but rumored to have come to his senses, still needs encouragement
Hagan - lots of filthy lucre, massive support for public option among constituents
The toll-free numbers for House and Senate:
1-866-338-1015
1-866-220-0044
1-866-311-3405
And the irreverant words of the inimitable Adam Ant:
We're the dandy highwaymen so tired of excuses
Of deep meaning philosophies where only showbiz loses
We're the dandy highwaymen and here's our invitation
Throw your safety overboard and join our insect nation
Stand and deliver your money or your life!
Try and use a mirror no bullet or a knife!
And even though you fool your souls
Your conscience will be mine, all mine