Tweet from Sen. McCain: “Late evening with Col. Qadhafi at his “ranch” in Libya – interesting meeting with an interesting man.”
Probably the single most insightful article published yet about the August of Crazy.
He hits the key point: journalists who lack the professional and cultural confidence to label lies and hate speech as such.
Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR): “I will never vote for a bill to kill old people, period.”
TPM Reader AS vents …
Obama isn’t saying the right thing. He should be saying, “Stop lying.” Or maybe he should send Biden out to say it. That’s probably the best thing.
I’m not basing this on some misguided sense that being aggressive is what’s required. Rather, I’m basing it on how the MSM works. They report what politicians say. And they don’t fact check them. That’s the system — maybe you don’t like it. I don’t like it either. But it’s not changing any time soon.
That’s a key point, so I’m going to repeat it. All the broadcast MSM does is report what politicians say. They don’t fact check them. Afterwards, they have blowhards sit around in panels and have disingenuous spin-meister discussions about whether or not what was said is playing well with the general public.
From the start of the health care reform debate President Obama has insisted that creating a government-provided “public option” to compete with private insurance companies is critical to comprehensive reform. But is the administration now hinting that it is willing to forsake such an option in the interest of getting a bill passed? We investigate in today’s Sunday Show Roundup …
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.
Grassley spokesman concedes boss didn’t actually believe ‘pulling plug on grandma’ comments.
From TPM Reader TL …
When critics of Health Care Reform say that Congress and the Administration are not doing enough to explain the options, I believe they have a good point. For instance, how much less savings is there with a national non-profit that bundles existing insurance options and lowers costs from the huge pool of insured, versus a public option. Is a public option doctors working for the government in a kind of Kaiser Permanente run by the feds? I believe people can understand that discussion.
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) will appear on Dancing With The Stars. That and other political news in today’s TPMDC Morning Roundup.
The full consequences of a particular event are seldom clear at the outset. And that makes me think of the original reaction to former Sen. Tom Daschle’s decision to withdraw his nomination for HHS Secretary over his tax controversy earlier this year.
At the time, it was mainly seen as the first major black-eye for Obama’s fresh-start, anti-lobbying / Washington insiderdom image. And that it was. But I find it hard not to think that things would be in a different place on the health care front if Daschle had been running point on this issue today.
Certainly, many had complaints about Daschle’s run as senate leader and Sebelius had a strong record in the red state of Kansas. But there’s just no getting around the fact that the senate is where this legislation is going to live or die. And Daschle knows all of those people, knows the place, knows its inner dynamics.
That may have been a critical moment. I’m curious how much, or whether, he’s been involved behind the scenes.
Grassley on public option: “The government is a predator, not a competitor.”