Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Howard Dean on Health Care Reform: Daily Pulse Video Exclusive from Lindsay Beyerstein on Vimeo.

Too bad that guy's such a raving lunatic.

It might be the politically savvy move by Obama, but I think it just plain sucks that a guy like Dean has to be cut completely out of the discussion on health care simply because a small brain-dead portion of the country—even within his own party—regard him as too polarizing or controversial. I can only hope that people are actually listening to him on the down-low as they move this thing forward.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Frankly, I'm disgusted with our leaders and our populace. I've got a route out of the country when the proverbial shit hits the fan. Good luck to the rest of you.

steves said...

Count me as one of those that isn't a big fan of his, though I'd like to think of myself as not all that brain dead. That doesn't mean that I would ignore him. I am certainly willing to give him a chance.

Noah said...

I am certainly willing to give him a chance.

How magnanimous of you.

Dean is right...pass this thing, and all the fear goes away. When I hear comments from idiots about how we'll be "less free" because of fucking health care, I want to explode.

Mr Furious said...

Exactly. What I'm worried could happen is the Dems pass a shitty bill and increase access (good) but make the system worse (possible) and burn the chance for real reform for years (likely), all while getting slaughtered at the polls and ushering back in a more conservative congress—even if it doesn't flip (a likely result).

If they had the balls to pass a good, effective, strong reform package and improved the lives of countless families—both uninsured and currently insured—they would be rewarded.

They are too fucking stupid to do that.

Mr Furious said...

Too fucking stupid. Or, too fucking corrupt. Not sure which I prefer.

Mr Furious said...

steves, Dean is one of the brightest politicians around. Period. He is single-handedly more responsible than anyone else in the country for taking back congress in 2006 and for Obama and the Dems winning in 2008.

He burned down the old DNC system and built the ground game. Rahm Emmanuel was a casualty of that success, and that's why Dean's looking in from outside.

Dean was/is right on the issues: Saddam, Iraq, health care, gay marriage, non-proliferation, taxes, immigration, —you name it.

But not only that, he's also a good man. His biggest sin is being honest when no one else will be.

Unknown said...

Or, too fucking corrupt.

Bingo!

But not only that, he's also a good man. His biggest sin is being honest when no one else will be.

Exactly. Oil and water don't mix.

steves said...

How magnanimous of you.

Gee, thanks.

As an somewhat independent, he has rubbed me the wrong way in the past on some issues. I didn't realize that Dean is the only honest person and the only person with good ideas.

If they had the balls to pass a good, effective, strong reform package and improved the lives of countless families—both uninsured and currently insured—they would be rewarded.

So, what the hell would this look like? Obama is pragmatic and smart. If there was some agreement, don't you think he would push it through?

Some seem to think the only opposition is from fringe kooks, but there are other more non-idiotic people that are skeptical.

Unknown said...

So, what the hell would this look like?

There are plenty of good examples. Most every industrialized nation in the world except us has universal health care. Pick one. How about France?

Insurance companies be damned.

Mr Furious said...

I didn't realize that Dean is the only honest person and the only person with good ideas.

He's not. But I trust him more than anyone else in this debate—including Obama—and he's already done it on a small scale in Vermont.

So, what the hell would this look like?

How about Medicare? For anyone.

Bob said...

"He is single-handedly more responsible than anyone else in the country for taking back congress in 2006 and for Obama and the Dems winning in 2008."

Yup. he should the Dems how to grow spine. Not that everyone does it now.

steves said...

Expanding Medicare (or Medicaid) sound like good options to me. My point is that there is a great deal of disagreement, so this will obviously not be an easy process.

I think that Dean is helped by the fact that he doesn't have to worry about reelection. It frees him up to be more of an advocate for his party and a leader.

A lot of politicians should grow a spine, but pragmatically speaking, that won't happen if they are worried about staying in office. I would be happy if they just did what they said they would do.

Mr Furious said...

I think that Dean is helped by the fact that he doesn't have to worry about reelection. It frees him up to be more of an advocate for his party and a leader.

I you watched Dean like I did in 2003 and 2004, you'd know that despite the fact that he was running for POTUS, he actually spoke pretty much exactly the same way. It was that—not the conveniently-used excuse, The Scream™—that was his undoing.

He represented far too big a threat to the status quo to be allowed to procede.

He was telling the uncomfortable truths back then. And it was making the wrong (right) people plenty uncomfortable.

The fact that he kept turning out to be correct made it that much worse.