I'd like to congratulate the right on their flawless victory in 2008.
Exactly. While the Dems may take a beating in 2010, the REpublicans are on drugs if they think they will be the default beneficiaries of the voters' ire at the Dems. The voters may be angry at the Dems for being spineless, closet corporatists, but they are disgusted with the GOP's obstructionism, hypocrisy, and their kowtowing to the right wing inbreds (sorry, redundant once again).
The insufficiently ideologically-pure Repukes will find themselves challenged from the right in the primaries, and will lose to smart, tough progressives who will successfully challenge the weenies and corporatists like Max "I can count" Baucus (the only thing he's counting are his bribes from the "health care" industry), Blanche Lincoln, a very vulnerable Dem who somehow thinks she's best able to protect her shaky incumbency by voting against the public option, which 60% of the voters in her state want. Yeah, that'll work.
As I noted last week, as soon as the polls started framing the public option question honestly ("do you want the
option to purchase health insurance from the government, similar to the existing Medicare program for the elderly and disabled?") If the Dems had been using that reference all along, the GOP never would have gotten their campaign of lies and fearmongering off the ground. All the Dems would have had to say was, "What is the public option? Will you like it? Ask your grandma if she likes her Medicare." The GOP whores never would have gotten away with their "death panel" lie, or their "Marxist" lie, or any of their other virtually uncountable and utterly contemptible lies.
Speaking of contemptible, the party of the "death panels" and "Liberals are trying to kill conservatives by rationing healthcare to their supporters only, and denying it to their opponents," and a
scripted shout of "You lie!" during the president's speech to the joint session (a shout that was itself a lie, in addition to being unheard of in this country), want to pass a resolution condemning a Florida Democrat for a lack of decorum for saying the Republican health care plan is, "Don't get sick, and if you do, die quickly." You have to hand it to the GOP in Congress: they may be ignorant, dishonest whores with their hands deep in corporate pockets and their noses deep in corporate asses, but nobody can fake outrage at being busted for their bullshit like they can. Lack of decorum? Of all the unmitigated cheek,the unbridled gall, they have the temerity to take feigned umbrage at something that is their stock in trade? The party of the birthers talks about decorum and respect? Fuck them and the elephant they rode in on. In case they haven't noticed, their polls are cratering faster than the Dems, and if the Dems really want to jerk the GOP's chain, vote the public option out of committee in the Senate and DARE the GOP to filibuster. Let them read phone books into the Congressional Record for 20-30 days. In fact, demand it. If they want to filibuster, tell them they're going to have to do it all the way, so the voters can see them for the obstructionist, partisan hacks they truly are.