obama to liberals: "how many times do i have to tell you guys to GO FUCK YOURSELVES?"

obama held a press conference yesterday and he used it to lob another hearty "blow me!" at liberals. it's like bill clinton all over again. the guy almost seems to enjoy telling us to drop dead.

This notion that somehow we are willing to compromise too much reminds me of the debate that we had during health care. This is the public option debate all over again. I pass a signature piece of legislation where we finally get health care for all Americans, something that Democrats have been fighting for for a hundred years. But because there was a provision in there that they didn't get, that would have affected maybe a couple of million people, even though we got health insurance for 30 million people, and the potential for lower premiums for maybe 100 million people, that somehow that was a sign of weakness, of compromise.

according to doctors who support single-payer, the uninsured will number something near 23 million nine years after the plan has kicked in. but hey, fuck them too!

If that's the standard by which we are measuring success or core principles, then let's face it: We will never get anything done. People will have the satisfaction of having a purist position, and no victories for the American people. And we will be able to feel good about ourselves and sanctimonious about how pure our intentions are and how tough we are.

This country was founded on compromise. I couldn't go through the front door at this country's founding. If we were really thinking about ideal positions, we wouldn't have a union.

slavery went on and on thanks to compromise. and then the south fired on fort sumter. but naturally, some of his enablers on the left cheered BO's hippie bashing routine.

there's something fundamentally wrong with people who don't get what a pissy jerk-off obama sounds like there.

at some point in the future they may wake up to how utterly bankrupt the "enlightened adults know that compromise is the way to get things done" position really is when the other side is a group as detached from mainstream ideas as the republican party.

i'm not among those who believe that obama is a "manchurian candidate", but he is doing immense damage to the cause of progressivism right now. to keep insisting time and again that borderline-crazy republicans have to be placated to get any legislating done ignores the fact that this kind of behavior clearly emboldens them. somebody needs to stand up or this will never stop. when democrats are in control they'll continue to barely address the concerns of most of the country and the watered-down legislative gruel we get will be rammed down our throats with a reminder that "it could have been so much worse" or "hey, we had to do something or else...". there'll always be an excuse for doing as little as possible and explaining that we should be grateful for it.

no.

we all understand that the democratic caucus is too unwieldy for certain things. that doesn't excuse obama for giving away the store BEFORE negotiations even begin.

beyond that, indulging the republicans as they get more and more extreme is simply a mistake. it's bad for the entire country in the long run. obama is not stupid. the democrats are not stupid. they have to know what a huge mistake they're making. meeting lunatics at some halfway point brings one dangerously close to crazy territory.

if i recall correctly, obama told us to push him in the direction of progressivism, didn't he?

"Let the Republicans back in power." that's a typical threat obama supporters use. they have no idea how hollow that starts to sound when it's repeated over and over and over.

not all of those who disagree with obama are doing crazy things like forging alliances with anti-tax zealot grover norquist the way jane hamsher of firedoglake has. some of us are simply raising entirely legitimate questions about why it is that obama seems almost eager to sell out progressive ideas going into every single fucking negotiation.

(this post is nothing more than a slightly edited version of some comments i posted on "zandar vs the stupid". what can i say? i'm lazy.)

andy harris: asshole of the week

andy harris gets the booby prize this week. he's the newly-elected tea-party republican congressman from baltmore who ran on repealing the healthcare bill, but at his freshman orientation got all bent out of shape when he found out that his new congressional healthcare plan wouldn't kick in until 30 days after being sworn in. it's douche-y and i did get a pretty big laugh from it, but i can't get worked up over the story. the guy now has a job that includes healthcare benefits. what's he supposed to do, turn them down? he didn't run promising to repeal the congressional plan, he ran promising to repeal a plan that would have absolutely no bearing on his life and health if he got elected. and people voted for him! how can you not laugh at shit like that?

he's no different than any other tea party-er. they're great when it comes to yammering against welfare and lazy people, yet there've been numerous funny stories in the news detailing tea party candidates who've been more than happy to take a suck on the ol' government teat when times were trying for them. some (like joe miller in alaska, who lost his senate bid anyway) have come pretty close to what might be seen as abusing the system. i guess it's ok when they do it, because, y'know, they're not lazy malingerers. it's those other people. the ones who, uh, look different. right?

shit. now i am worked up. i'm going to baltimore to kick andy harris right in his fucking teeth. i'm sure the congressional plan includes dental, so it shouldn't be a big deal. plus it'll give him one more reason to bitch about having to wait so long for his healthcare benefits. that'll be good for another chuckle. hey andy! long after your plan kicks in, nearly 40 million americans will still be uninsured!

asshole.

well, at least they like the president. for all the goddamned good that does.

here's a poll with some bad news for barack obama and the democrats: nobody really likes the health care reform plan. what would a majority of americans prefer? why, they would prefer a bill with the public option and no "states opt-out" clause. but the only way a healthcare bill with a public option can get passed into law is if it has an opt-out clause. this is why the democrats will lose a lot of seats in 2010. and unless the GOP picks a really awful candidate (yoo-hoo, sarah!), they'll likely have a good shot at retaking the white house in 2012. because the democrats are taking the second opportunity they've been given to fix the healthcare problem in this country and blowing it. badly.