Jon Chait, once again, nails the progressive reaction to healthcare:
Without a doubt, Obama’s proposals would leave the health care system far short of what most progressives, myself included, would design in the absence of political constraints. But also without a doubt, it would lift the system far above the status quo that is the only near-term alternative. Here it is, the most dramatic improvement in social justice in at least four decades fighting for its life in the home stretch, and the left can barely be roused to fight for it. The somnolence is far from universal, but on the left there is at least as much passion against health care reform as for it.
I absolutely agree, of course. And I would only add that healthcare isn't the only thing that the progressive movement is failing to mobilize around. I've said it a million times, but it's worth repeating. We're being totally out-hustled by the wingnut right.
What or who the hell are we holding out for? By staying home and whining, do we honestly think the president is going to move leftward? Or do we honestly believe that by walking away from the president, a more liberal president will materialize from thin air in 2012 or 2016 or whenever? I don't get it. As strong as we were in 2006 and, to a certain degree, 2008, we're equally as weak and potentially ineffectual in 2010.
Taken alone, the subsidy language in the healthcare bill(s) is such a massive policy shift for America -- it's unapologetic liberalism in full view of a nation where the word "liberal" is still taboo. Say nothing of other provisions like Bernie Sanders' health clinics and the single-payer state language.
There's a long list of additional successes from the past year -- progressive successes. But I think many of us became so ensconced in the outrage, griping and protest during the Bush years that we think we're entitled to everything we want -- AND NOW.