Health Care Showdown

Let me say that I didn't watch it live--I was at work. But in looking over the various reports and clips it's near impossible to tell who 'won' since like a heavyweight fight, each side has declared it's fighter the clear winner. Hard to see that one coming, eh?

Judging by this anecdote from Obama about his bad experience with car insurance in old Chicago days it's amazing he would ever rise to edit the law review at Harvard. Guess they didn't have uninsured motorist back then. And why was he using car insurance stories at a health care forum? Why, to bash Big Insurance of course.

Here's a clip featuring Rep Ryan where Obama has a sorta deer in headlights gaze, or maybe he was about to pass out (I'd cut him slack there). And here's O trying to goad McCain into an outburst and only managing to insult him, although Crooks and Liars called it a 'smack down'. Both sides claimed victory in the battle of Lamar Alexander, but ABC shouted their best "you lie".

According to Reuters the president "dominated the room". That doesn't mesh with David Rodham Gergen from CNN, but it lines up quite well with HuffPo. Oh well, this whole production was based on the recent thrashing O gave the GOP at their retreat with hopes for a reprise to and rescuscitation of their health care zombie in the Scott Brown era. Speaking of which, did Brown do anything for his team?

Regardless of the final score Obama stayed on script, thanked everyone, and threatened to go all reconciliation on 'em if they don't soon come around to his way of thinking. Because the time for talk is over--and this time it's for real.

BIG MEDIA REAX 2/26/10

WaPo:

Professor Obama schools lawmakers on health-care reform

Which is interesting, since he's not a doctor and doesn't seem to have a grasp on the concept of car insurance.

NY Times:

The main lesson to draw from Thursday’s health care forum is that differences between Democrats and Republicans are too profound to be bridged. That means that it is up to the Democrats to fix the country’s dysfunctional and hugely costly health care system.

Chicago Sun-Times:

Health-care reform is in peril because the Democrats lost one senator. Ted Kennedy, the 60th Democrat in the Senate, died and was replaced by a Republican. That's what changed the political equation in Congress, that's what ground momentum on reform to a halt. A sweeping loss of appetite for comprehensive reform it was not.

LA Times:

No breakthrough emerged. But Obama may have achieved a political goal, showing the American people he confronts irresolvable differences with Republicans -- a prelude to pushing ahead with a healthcare bill unilaterally.

They could have written that sentence before the event.

MORE 2/26/10

I don't have time to go through the seven hours of tape but I'm wondering if anything was said about the problem of illegal aliens straining the hospital system and how this new bill would significantly affect that problem. The guess is no, but I'm willing to be proven wrong.