Health Care Townhalls

As I began to type the above title, the computer wanted to automatically populate it with "Health Care Deja Vu." I had forgotten about that blog post, which I probably put up about a month ago. I have to smilingly wonder how noteworthy my blogs are when I forget about them myself. What can I expect from my readers??? Nevertheless, I had no idea when I wrote that post how prophetic it would turn out to be. The parallels to the overreach of the Clintons in 1993-94 are just stunning. And if anything, the heat is dialed up even higher than it was then.

The health care town hall meetings and the drama they are spawning are the lead story on every newscast. These may not be fun times, but they sure are momentous. It is quite a feeling to know with certainty that we are seeing scenes unfold on our TV and computer screens that will be recorded for posterity in the history books...unless the revisionists carry the day.

Times like these give me hope that the American people still have a reserve of outrage left in them that can be called up when it truly is needed. And make no mistake about it; there is a time for outrage, just as there is a time to lay down arms. I just watched a clip again from the town hall that Arlen Specter held earlier today; a 35-year-old lady in a blue shirt told the Senator that she had never been interested in politics, but "you have awakened a sleeping giant." Her sentiment was echoed in a variety of ways around the room.

The memo has clearly gone out from the White House that attacks along the lines of the "un-American" labelling and mentions of "swastikas", ala Nancy Pelosi, must no longer be leveled. Specter, the new Democrat, was quite subdued and complimentary of his audience, even though faced with friction. (One presumes he also is acquainted with Pennsylvania polls, which show him tied with former Representative Pat Toomey in a general election match-up.)

Obama held a town hall in New Hampshire today, his first in the Granite State since 2007 (hat tip to the Wall Street Journal for that little factoid). He also tried to convey a less belligerent tone than he demonstrated at the Creigh Deeds fundraiser in Virginia last week. Fox News reported, though, that he slipped up when he attributed the segment in the health care bill on "end of life consultations" to Georgia's junior Republican Senator Johnny Isakson, who later vociferously denied any involvement in the bill at all.

There is such a potpourri of action surrounding this issue that it requires breathless effort to keep up on it all.

On the periphery of it all is the undeniable conclusion that the media has dug in their heels. Do a Youtube check on Chris Matthew's interview with Tim Phillips, the Director of the advocacy organization, Americans for Prosperity, and see what your impressions are. Matthews is so rude and abrasive that it is difficult to sit through the whole 9+ minutes of footage. I posted this on my Facebook Wall, with a note wondering what has happened to Chris Matthews? I used to enjoy his show; it was fun and had a light tone to it, even if I didn't share his political bias on some things. Today, it is hard to recognize the old Matthews for the vicious, angry diatribes that get spewed on a regular basis. I don't watch anymore, but I still hear clips from the show here and there.

It is unwise to make any predictions at this point, but when Dick Durbin is openly admitting that the public option may not last as part of the health care bill, we have to assume that we have scored a victory here. This is nothing short of amazing, when considering the odds against such a win: 60 Democrat votes in the Senate and a large majority in the House.

But we have a long way to go before we call truce.