Majority oppose health care bill -- or do they?

When the House passed the health care reform bill Sunday night, Rep. John Boehner delivered a fiery speech in response, pointing out that the majority of Americans were opposed to this bill, and that it was being "rammed down our throats."

Well, Mr. Boehner, it's understandable why you object to being on your knees with your mouth open. I wouldn't like it, either. But your party was the one which had Democrats on their knees gagging for eight years, so really, Sir, fair's fair, isn't it? But you insist that this is against the majority will of the people, and that's just a lie.

As has been pointed out, while 56% of the American people oppose the bill, 43% do so because it's too liberal, and 13% oppose it because it's not liberal enough. Now, I'm not going to side with Keith Olbermann when he says that this means that 42% actually favor the bill, but I will say that it does mean that 42% think that passing it is far better than not passing it, and that means that the will of the American people was the only thing that got rammed through.

The bass-ackwards-ness of the whole thing is truly staggering. Over 200 Republican amendments were put onto this bill. And not one republican vote came about because of it. That's a Republican victory by any measure. And, let me remind everyone, Gallup showed a poll way back in October of 2009 that said 50% of the American public was in favor of the public option, while 46% were opposed to it. (4% had no opinion.) So with the majority siding with the Democrats on this one, just who was ramming things down the American public's throat here? How is this not Republicans opposing the will of the people?

I mean seriously, first they rape, then accuse the victim of rape? What sort of fucked up world are we living in, here?

Interestingly, our trophy President has come under attack for not keeping his pledge to do things out in the open, like on C-SPAN. He was attacked for doing the health care reform process "behind closed doors." But that was by design. I meant to blog about this earlier, but Republicans made sure that doing things behind closed doors was the only way it could get done. Then, they attacked for doing things that way. It's the same tactic all over again. Rape, then accuse the victim of rape.

Actually, we've seen this before. Remember when George H.W. Bush famously said, "Read my lips: No new taxes!"? Well, the Democrats responded by refusing to offer any bill on the floor without including a tax increase. Finally, Bush, Sr. aquiesced, knowing that he had to favor action over inaction or else watch the nation grind to a halt in the middle of a war with Iraq. Then, the Democrats successfully attacked Bush for raising taxes! Proof positive that Democrats are not all that innocent, but also proof that when one political party forces the other to break a promise, IT OUGHT NOT ATTACK FOR SAID PROMISE BROKEN!!!

So quit attacking Obama for doing things behind closed doors the way you forced him to do!

The Republican Party used to have some integrity. Shit, whatever happened to that? It used to be a good arrangement for a Democratic president to have a Republican congress. Now, it seems like ever since 9/11, the GOP has been drinking the proverbial Kool-Aid. This bill might suck, it's only because Republicans fucked it up, and I HATE having to say partisaned shit like that! But when politicians care more about party loyalty than they do to their loyalty to their constituents, it's time for some new politicians.

When they attack Democrats for passing a bad bill this midterm election cycle, please bear in mind who poisoned that pill. And the next time a bill comes up for a vote, and Republicans want to amend it, don't be surprised if the Dems just tell them all to go fuck themselves. Seriously, after this latest stunt, could you blame them?

I say, if Democrats are going to be depicted as ramming things down throats no matter what, they might as well actually do so for once!

Here's a pattern I've noticed: Those vehemently opposed to the bill are about 43%. Those who are creationists are also 40-something%. Those who believe the Left Behind series accurately depicts future events as foretold in Revelation are also about 40-odd%. Those who like Sarah Palin, also about 40-something%. This same percentage is strongly opposed to gay marriage and wants faculty-led prayer in public schools. They win elections only because the young people who render them in the minority don't vote as frequently! And maybe I'm going out on a limb, here, but I really think it's the same 40% each time! And those 4o% or so may be in the minority, but they're goddamned loud!

They're also old. Inflexible. Brittle and useless.

Do we really want that 43% ramming their agenda down our throats?

Eric