Does This Mean I'll Have To Kiss Dean?!

WTF? of the Day: Dean Howard calls to "kill the Senate bill..."

The gauntlet from Dean — whose voice on health care is well respsected among liberals — will energize those on the left who are mobilizing against the bill, and make it tougher for liberals to embrace the emerging proposal. In an excerpt Kinzel gave me, Dean says:

This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. Honestly the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill, go back to the House, start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill.

Kinzel added that Dean essentially said that if Democratic leaders cave into Joe Lieberman right now they’ll be left with a bill that’s not worth supporting.

Oooooh Dean, this would have delighted me beyond delight if you had added your signature Yeeeeeeaaaaaaa!



There it is!

In a nutshell, Dean is pissy that Joe is getting all the attention in this "real reform" fiasco and has indicated that if he doesn't get his way, IE the bill better include the Medicare buy-in, he's gonna take his vote and go home.

The Dems are starting to eat their own. Let's just pray that in the confusion of who gets what, they discover a hankering for libbie blood and this minor back-biting turns into a full blown vampire suckfest until the last drop is drained.

Yeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaa!

And as always, the Dems stupidity is being blamed on the Republicans:

Democrats are running into one problem after another trying to pass the health care bill in the Senate. Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, blames the "ideological battle driven by the right wing of the Republican Party," and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Michigan Democrat, says Republicans are stalling the health care bill because obstruction is a "cash cow" for their party.

Moo.

It's enough to make me gleefully clap my hands and dance a little dance. Court Jesters always have that effect on me.

If that wasn't enough to put you in the Christmas Spirit, then how about Burris:

Senator Roland W. Burris, Democrat of Illinois, has vowed that he will not vote for a health care bill that does not include a government-run insurance plan, or public option.

Ruh-roh, Harry.

The funniest part about the article is when Burris quotes Gandhi:

He added: “My colleagues may have forged a compromise bill that can achieve the 60 votes that will be needed for it to pass. But until this bill addresses cost, competition and accountability in a meaningful way, it will not win mine.”

With a dramatic flourish, Mr. Burris said: “As Mohandas Gandhi once famously said, ‘All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender.’”

Well golly gee, it's common knowledge that if you quote Gandhi, your point must be taken much more seriously than if you hadn't. Poor Gandhi. Don't you think he has to get tired of asswipes using his good words to push their specific brand of evil? He's gotta want to punch some folks in the mouth when they cross the line into manipulating his holy intent. Hey, it could happen; he's human too, you know.

Continuing in the spirit of lifting our spirits in this time of all that is holy, I'll end with the story of White House tourists, Harvey and Paula Darden, who showed up for a tour, but got way more than the brochure indicated:

It wasn't a state dinner, and they didn't crash it on purpose.

Still, a Georgia couple who showed up at the White House a day early for a tour somehow wound up at an invitation-only breakfast with President Barack Obama and the first lady. It left the White House once again explaining how people who were not on an event guest list wound up being ushered into the presidential mansion anyway.

Listen, in all fairness to this couple, I know how things can spin out of control and you can't quite explain the sequence of how you got to the place you shouldn't be. After all, there was The Great Parade Debacle of '04 when I accidentally (still not exactly sure how it happened) drove myself into a full-blown parade. I landed between the Police Horse Brigade and an army of walking, stilted, clowns. Thank goodness I had candy to throw out the window or I would have been totally busted.

I feel ya Dardens. I totally get that "uh-oh" feeling you must have had. That "how the hell am I gonna explain this one" gut-check. More importantly, I like that you did exactly as I did, once realizing your predicament; you totally rolled with it.

So the Dardens served themselves at the buffet, and took their seats. Shortly thereafter, Barack and Michelle Obama arrived and began talking and getting photographs with guests at each table. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, also stopped by.

Darden said it was "quite a treat" to meet the Obamas and the Bidens. But he remains puzzled about how he was escorted into a private breakfast - and he grew a little anxious after the Salahi episode exploded in the news.

The couple's only regret, Darden said, is that they haven't received a copy of that picture taken with the Obamas.

Man, I love when the news makes me laugh.

Happy Hahadays, everyone!