Steve Benen wrote a quick and very razor sharp overview of the current status of the healthcare debate. In short: this is a fight we should easily be winning. The political numbers are winnable, the pain is real and the statistics are unequivocal. Democratic domination, tens of millions in crisis with terrible healthcare coverage, and super-majority support for a public insurance program (among other stats).
So how did the Republicans (with Blue Dogs sneaking through behind them) get the upper hand? Benen writes:
They've pulled it off, so far, by telling almost comically-ridiculous lies, and managing to get scared, gullible people to believe them. It's no small feat. Indeed, it's almost impressive. Conservatives have managed to create a debate out of nothing but partisanship, paranoia, and greed.
Of course this was to be expected. The Republicans have been sliding down this crazy slope for a long time. Well before 2006 or 2008. It's just become crazier as time goes on and as reality stacks up against them. The more real the issue, the crazier they are in response.
Somehow, they're winning this sword fight armed only with a balloon animal.
It seems obvious to write this, but they can't be permitted to win. If they do, the crazy will be tattooed onto our already silly discourse. However, if pro-reform wins and we get robust new healthcare regulations and a public insurance option, and we do it by more effectively hammering the reality of the crisis, we will have won on policy and the Republicans will have lost with the only tool they have left (the crazy).
The winners write the history, and I want these "comically ridiculous lies" to be remembered and I want posterity to know that it doesn't work. Put another way: not only do I want the Republicans and Blue Dogs to lose badly, I want them to be humiliated by the way they lost. I want posterity to laugh and shake their heads at these pathetic hooples.
If we can't win reform against these clownish opponents, we probably don't deserve to win.