My personal hero last night was the Lone Republican to vote in favor of the House Bill – Rep. Joseph Cao who said, today, that his:
Well, frumps, it was a big night for the “Real World Majority” that is, the actual, countable majority of Americans who desperately want and need Health Care Reform. You know them, they are the everyday hard-working, sane Americans who are more upset about having their lives controlled (and often ruined) by corporations, than by some silly photo-shopped fever dream of Marxism carried around by folks who couldn’t give you a sensible description of Marxism if their lives depended on it.
It is heartening to see that our system can still work even in the face of the most serious campaign to undermine it in decades. We can only hope that the billions of dollars that have been spent this year in attempts to obstruct and force failure of the Obama platform will persuade those taking the loss that it might not be worth it to continue with the same approach.
Politicians may not tire of the fight so quickly but the PACs and Special Interests that keep those politicians in power might tire of throwing good money after bad. A lot of those providing the dollars will recognize bad management and the lack of a program quicker than most.
Kudos to Joseph Cao
Rep. Joseph Cao
My personal pick for MVP last night was the Lone Republican to vote in favor of the House Bill – Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) who said, today, that his:
“ . . . decision to back the bill was driven by his conscience and the needs of his district and not back-room dealing with the White House or Democrats.”
Back room dealing was of course the charge coming from the GOP 90 seconds after Cao cast his Yea vote and Eric Cantor stormed out of the chamber with “Not One Republican Vote” egg all over his face.
Cao added:
“I had to make a decision and I felt that last night’s decision was the right decision for my district,” he added. “Even though it was not the popular decision for my party.”
Just Faggeddaboutit, as We Say in Joisey
Another interesting factor has been what is not being said by conservative news outlets and blogs. The reactions range from ignoring the historic vote altogether to burying it below the fold in favor of more right-wing-worthy news. Items like fact-free speculation fueling the Muslim fear-mongering over the Fort Hood shootings, or protracted delirium over the results of the off-year gubernatorial races that Republicans won on Tuesday, are heading those pages.
Fringe Reactions
A few die-hards, of course, didn’t disappoint. The Tea Party Patriots ran this foaming-at-the-mouth rant:
First Move Toward European Style Health Care Imposed on an Unwilling American Public
“Near midnight on Saturday November 7th, when most Americans were either sleeping or otherwise destracted (sic), democratic members of the House of Representatives ignored the clear will of a very vocal American majority and implanted the tenticals (sic) of a growing tyrannical government into the spine of the republic that was built on the back of hard working Americans.”
“The merits of the democrats (sic) proposal have been debated and it is well known that the bill will result in an enormous breakdown of the American health care system.”
“This did not stop Nancy Pelosi and her fellow democrats (sic) from grabbing trillions of dollars directly from the paychecks of average citizens. An amount equal to one sixth of the American economy.”
Putting spelling errors, purple prose and tortured metaphors aside, this right wingnut promotes the bizarre factless meme burbling through the “patriot rank and file” that, somehow, the Obama administration has suspended normal government operations. And that’s the only reason that the small, sinister minority that put Obama in power are able to force their agenda on the vast dissenting “majority” of true Americans of which they believe they are a part.
Either a large number of Americans really don’t understand the arithmetical concepts of “majority and minority” or an equally large number of Americans are suffering from some weird collective delusion of grandeur. Not only that, but these people believe that they have been the victims of some national con-game carried out in the dead of night when most good Americans are sleeping and unable to stop them.
I’m sure that we haven’t heard the last of this asinine nonsense though because the Republican Leadership seem bent on legitimizing the far-right’s insane beliefs. Witness last week’s Tea Party at the Capitol and thank Bachmann, Boehner Cantor & Co. for keeping the crazy alive. I have a feeling that these hapless Repubs will live to regret cuddling up to this crowd, in the end. I’ll bet it will be one of those “chew your arm off in the morning” things. Should be entertaining . . .
The dangerously-far-right posted up their usual saber-rattling threats to throw a tantrum if they don’t get their way, here’s a sample of that:
“The death throes of our beloved USA - Prepare for a revolution of bibilical (sic) proportions.”
ResistNet continued the Obama “stealth attack” meme couched in their usual metaphorically defused violent rhetoric:
“Following last night’s sneak healthcare vote passage in the House, you may wish to fire your own shot across the bow letter…”
The Princess of Partisanship, Michelle Malkin added her two cents (and a plug for self) thus:
“Thanks to Doug Powers for filling in while I spoke at the Foundation for Life event in Sugar Land, Texas tonight. What an incredible juxtaposition it was — meeting and talking with the true agents of Hope and Change, the true guardians of innocent life, and the true advocates for women and children outside the Beltway as the Democrat majority inside the Beltway rammed the massive, job-killing, high-taxing, bureaucracy-multiplying, generational debt-piling health care monstrosity down America’s throat.”
“One Republican voted for Pelosicare: GOP Rep. Anh (Joseph) Cao of Louisiana.
Yes, he’s the one who took over corruptocrat Democrat William Jefferson’s seat. I had reservations about him on election night because of his soft-on-immigration views. But I gave him the benefit of the doubt. If he could stand strong on limited government and fiscal conservatism, it would be worth it.”
“Well, since he was elected, Cao has backed the S-CHIP expansion, the $108 billion IMF bailout, and the omni-waste spending bill. And he voted to rebuke GOP Rep. Joe Wilson for calling out President Obama on his health care lies.”
“That is a steep price to pay for Rep. William Jefferson’s removal.
Can’t the GOP do better?”
Well, Michelle, that’s a good question – in my opinion the answer is “Yes, the GOP can do much better” especially if they can locate about 200 more Joseph Caos.
Technorati Tags: House health care reform bill, Joseph Cao, Michelle Malkin, ResistNet, Tea Party Patriots, Michelle Bachmann, Eric Cantor
