POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

The “stretch run” for Obama’s health care plan

The passing of Ted Kennedy seems to have given the Democrats new resolve to pass Obamacare.  And generally, they are trying to be careful not to overtly try to capitalize off of his death.  Still, I believe that many people will see through the obviously adult scripted remarks given Teddy’s grandson to read at the funeral eulogy as being another contrived episode like the unusually erudite 11 year old girl’s question to Obama at one of his health care town hall meetings.

 

While subtlety is the order of the day for some on the left, others are allowing the mask to slip a bit.  Like Senate majority leader Reid, who told interviewers that he believed Kennedy’s death would help them pass the health care legislation.  Still others, like former Vice President Al Gore, are appealing to morality; citing Matthews Gospel and declaring, “The country has a moral duty to pass health care reform-This Year!”. For his part, former President Clinton, like many other Democrats, is trying to rally the party faithful and downplaying the furor of the people at town hall fora during August;

 “You need to back these congressmen and let them know you’re not going to let them be steamrollered by a bunch of people who have been frightened,” Clinton said, in reference to the town hall tumult of the last few weeks. “Don’t let anybody tell you that President Obama wants to ration health care. We are rationing health care in America.”

People who’ve been frightened?  Shouldn’t he instead speak of people who’ve actually learned what is in the bill,  what it will ultimately cost in dollars as well as in quality of American health care?  It’s fascinating to watch the masters of fear-mongering, who regularly accused Republicans of plotting to cut medicare, and who are planning to do so themselves, intead accuse rank and file people across America with being scared into action, once again, by the Republicans.

What’s even more fascinating is the to-the-wall effort being expended; the usual, “by any means necessary” approach.  The New York Times has put aside any pretense by calling for the “nuclear” option of simple majority vote in the Senate; an act of parlimentary prestidigitation that would reveal Obama’s post-partisan demagoguery as the palaver it really is.  Still others are reaching for an old standby, the race card; such as Congresswoman Watson who insists that Obamacare opponents, “are trying to destroy the first President who looks like me!”.  But the most often employed measure, one that has worked most effectively in the past, is to have the Democrat’s allies in the MSM basically non-report on the contents of the actual legislation, scream breathlessly that the Republicans are not willing to play nice with Obama, and desperately hope that any actual reporting being done on the bill gets as little exposure as possible; like the fact’s uncovered by Freddoso and confirmed by the CRS that Obamacare will cover illegal immigrants!

But, all of this is just another number in what has become familiar Kabuki Theater.  It’s not a question of, “if”, the Democrats will try to capitalize off of Ted Kennedy’s death, but only “how” they will try to do so.  The only real question that remains is what will they call it?  Obamacare, as has come into popular editorial usage, ChapiquiddiCare, as Ace likes to refer to it, or, maybe, KopechneCare…

UPDATE: Andrew Breitbart weighs in on what is hopefully the end of the MSM's cover for America's royalty.

Rocketman