Oh, and who did CBS's writers think they were kidding when they named the town "Hooterville," anyway?

Are you a liberal? Then you'll be pleased to know that when Harry Reid decided to put a public option in the Senate health care bill, he was pandering to you!

For Reid, it was an admission of the formidable power of liberal interest groups. He had been the target of a petition drive and other forms of pressure to bring the public option to the floor, and Monday's move made him an instant hero on the left. Americans United for Change hailed him for refusing "to buckle in the face of withering pressure from the big insurance companies." MoveOn.org admired his "leadership in standing up to the special interests."

Reid, facing a difficult reelection contest next year at home in Nevada, will need such groups to bring Democrats to the polls if he is to survive.

Of course, a compelling piece of evidence against the Reid-panders-to-left scenario quoted above is that it is being propounded by the Post's Dana Milbank who routinely scores an eight or nine out of ten on that publication's Columnists Chock Full o' Shit Meter. But broken clock, twice a day etc.

Besides, all we've been hearing for months, including from the likes of the Washington Post, is that boy oh boy Harry Reid has to pander to the right if he's going to have a chance to win reelection. So it is refreshing to see someone in the mainstream media suggest, for a change, that Reid must appeal to the left if he hopes to win.

(Of course if his opponent's handlers are unable to identify a consistently effective cocktail of mood stabilizers, that opponent's candidacy will almost certainly implode -- on TV, preferably -- and this whole Reid reelection thing might end up going a lot more smoothly than anticipated.)

Anyway, no sooner had Reid become, as Milbank put it, a "hero on the left" then people started floating the theory that it was all a hoax for show -- that Reid announced he'd put the public option in the bill only so he can tell the left that he did, that he knows it won't go anywhere in the Senate, and that he fully expects and intends to pull back to President Snowe's "trigger" tomfoolery later.

Can you believe that someone would think Nevada's senior senator capable of such cynical jiggery-pokery?

Eh, to quote the Petticoat Junction song, "lots of curves, you bet, and even more when you get" the bill out to the Senate floor (and even Lieberscum says he'll vote for that). So Reid's enigmatic ways notwithstanding -- and underscoring what a waste of time the whole Baucus debacle was -- the nation's discussion about health care reform may be just getting started. Yay.

For instance, debate over Ron Wyden's amendments (assuming Reid allows them) should be particularly edifying:

Comments

[David McKee]

Ah, a "Petticoat Junction" visual shout-out ("... and that's Uncle Joe/He's-a movin' kinda slow/at the Junction"), bringing back memories of Bea Benaderet and Edgar Buchanan Jr. You're making me feel my age, Gleaner.

[dave404]

In today's Sun, Jon Ralston performed a candidatectomy (TM) on Lowden based on the interview she did with Heidi Harris, referenced above in the cocktail mood stabilizer link. It is a good read and if you haven't read it yet, I would recommend doing so.

Dean Heller had a Town Hall phone meeting last night (Harry's is today), and a guy from Round Mountain says Obama is an illegal president and "we" need to get him out of office...Heller didn't tell the guy he was wrong, he just agreed with him. If you get a chance, listen in on one of these "Petticoat Junction" community line tele-con-fer-ences! Ye-Haw!

Lowden/Heller/Tark all in the deep end of the pool trying to round up all the lunatics to vote for them...talk about good TV!

[dave404]

Ensign calls for the end of health insurance for 54% of Americans! No 8,000,000 on VA, no 9,000,000,000 on Tricare, none for himself or any 20,000,000 other Federal employee or any other state or local government employee/retiree. Ensign is against and wants to end Medicare coverage for 45,000,000 Americans and end Medicaid, which covers 65,000,000,000 employees.

Writes Senator John Ensign:
" I do not believe, however, that the United States should create a public health plan that would compete with private health insurance plans. I am concerned that this would lay the groundwork for a government-run medical system, such as Canada's. It would be misguided to put government bureaucrats in charge of health care. This would ultimately eliminate choice, freedom, and flexibility for the vast majority of Americans."

I guess 53% of Americans with public health care have lost their "choice, freedom, and flexibility" and he doesn't want it to happen to the 10% who haven't yet lost their dignity!

Ensign, so thoughtful in a paternalistic way. On the other hand, Ensign's references to loss of freedom etcetera could have been a stream of consciousness reference to his view on the institution of marriage?

Lastly, in his own, "get your government hands off my Medicare!" moments, Ensign believes HE and all members of congress have private insurance!!: "The possibility of a government-run health plan has caused many Americans to question whether Members of Congress will be required to participate in such a program"... "The amendment would essentially require Members of Congress to participate in a government-run health plan, if one is established."

Ensign is soooooo out of touch with reality!

[Nevada Ned]

Thanks, Dave404.

The VA really IS socialized medicine, because the doctors are government employees, who are paid a salary (as opposed to fee-for-service).

In Canada, the government pays all the bills, but the doctors are not government employees. So they have socialized the insurance, but not the provision of healthcare.

[Dude]

Of course, it could be that Harry Reid was sincere when he repeatedly said over the previous weeks and months that he supported a public option. Wait, no, that's waaaaay too easy...