Video and transcript below the fold.
I do want to say, and obviously in our new American spirit of civility, it's been about a week now, I do want to say in that new spirit to the New England Patriots, suck it. And by "it", I mean something that brings you comfort. Like cock.
All right, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That America is gone as of last Wednesday, when President Obama ushered in a new era.
BARACK OBAMA (1/12/2011): Only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to the challenges of our nation.
Civil and more honest discourse! We've already seen his plea for more civility pay dividends.
ABC NEWS (1/17/2011): Democrats' call that rather than sit apart, Republicans and Democrats mingle, is gathering some support.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-NY (1/16/2011): Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) called for Democrats and Republicans to sit together at the State of the Union. I called up Tom [Coburn (R-OK)] after he did that, and he graciously agreed, we're going to sit together.
Oh my God! You're going to sit together for two hours?? Hey, how many of us have to get shot for you fuckers to go to lunch? "And in light of current events, tonight I will not refer to the caucus across the aisle as Douchebag Central."
But listen, it's a start. By the way, that was a nice Congressional Lite-Brite.
You see how they mixed like that? What could go wrong with that?
Oh no! Noo!! That's exactly....
So, civil discourse, making huge strides. How about honest discourse?
ABC NEWS: The first piece of business is expected to be a nasty battle over health care. In fact, the Republican bill is even called the Repeal of the Job-Killing Health Care Law.
Well, to be fair, after all the talk of death panels, we should be thankful the Republicans didn't go with the Repeal of the Grandma-Killing Health Care Law. Is health care reform job-killing? Well, that seems like a good place for the Democrats to start the conversation.
FOX NEWS (1/14/2011): Some Democrats are really taking issue with the "job-killing" part of the title.
Democrats, focusing on substance.
FOX NEWS (1/14/2011): They say, in light of Tucson, get any killing out of any title anywhere.
What? No! That.... No, no, no, no, no! Dispute if it costs jobs, not the most appropriate way to say it costs jobs. If you do that, you get this.
BOB SCHIEFFER (1/16/2011): The new Speaker Boehner said yesterday, he talked about legislation, he called it, we're going to try to stop this job-destroying legislation, instead of calling it job-killing legislation.
DEBBIE WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ (1/16/2011): I'm glad that Speaker Boehner chose to verbalize a different title for that bill, but they so far have refused to actually change the title of job-killing health care repeal.
"As a Democrat, I insist you refer to health care reform, not as job-killing, but as job-destroying. But of course, I'm a moderate Democrat, my more liberal colleagues insist that you call it job-evaporating."
Why do you let them do that? They got to call the 2002 Iraq War bill, the "Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of the United States Armed Forces Against Iraq", not the "Totally Avoidable War of Choice, Endless Clusterfuck Creation Act"!
You blew your shot! Chance! Opportunity! Whatever, you blew it.
Just out of curiosity, does health care reform kill... destroy... slowly sop up jobs? Well, according to the Congressional Budget Office, it will create a 0.5% decrease in the labor force, due to older workers being able to retire earlier because they don't have to worry about their health care, and others voluntarily leaving the work force or reducing their hours.
So it is job-killing, in the sense that getting more sleep at night is awake-killing. The accuracy argument could benefit the Democrats. The semantic argument cannot benefit the Democrats. Steve Doocy, Fox and Friends, make that point explicit for us.
1/17/2011:
STEVE DOOCY: Ah, Mr. Weiner, let's start with you. You think that the Republicans are tone-deaf by calling it the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act. Why?
ROBERT WEINER: Well, it's not only wrong tone, but when you look at what's in the bill, it's just wrong! The bill creates 300,000 new jobs. There are a 160 amendments Democrats put in the bill that are mostly tax breaks for small businesses. And when you look at the fact that the bill creates these new services of pre-existing...
DOOCY: Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mr. Weiner...
WEINER: ...conditions, lifetime benefits for seniors...
DOOCY: Mr. Weiner...
WEINER: ...ah, yes?
DOOCY: Mr. Weiner, we're not talking about the bill, we're talking about the name of the bill!
Hey man, we didn't bring you on here to spout facts! We're here to bitch about wording! Now let's try it again. Your role is whiny aggrieved liberal, we'll take it from the part in the script where we give the conservative guest free rein to mis-characterize the health care bill... and action!
BOB MCEWEN: Liberals don't want to focus on the issue, that this is the most destructive piece of legislation to hit our economy in our lifetime, and therefore they want to focus on anything else.
DOOCY: Mr. Weiner, I'll give you the final word.
WEINER: Well, let's focus on the issue, because the bill allows...
DOOCY: of the name...
WEINER: ...pre-existing conditions, seniors, drugs...
DOOCY: ...of the name...
WEINER: ...children under 26...
DOOCY: ...the problem with the name...
WEINER: ...lifetime benefits...
Weiner, what part of "we don't want people to understand" don't you understand?
Guess he really doesn't have anything better to do with his life than try to annoy me on Facebook. :-|
