I've had a chance to think about this Lieberman thing since this morning

[HughMoran]

& I've come to the conclusion that the lack of fight by Harkin, Brown & other Senators is extremely suspicious. :think:

They may have known this was coming and were "pretending" at some point that the "alternative" options were still on the table.

Vinny and Debbie may be onto something...

[KharmaTrain]

1. If It Were Just Lieberman

It sounds like there's more behind the scenes...like Lincoln, Nelson and Landrieu are a bigger problem than Joementum. He's just a big blowhard who would love to take the credit for the destruction of this bill for his own ego. It's not just him standing in the way.

[chimpymustgo]

3. Joe is the front man for all of them. Including Obama, who doesn't want the fight.

[KharmaTrain]

9. Obama Can't Force Their Votes...

That's the job of the Majority Leader and Whip. We have little idea of what's really going on behind the scenes other than the gossip of the corporate mediatypes. If President Obama didn't want "the fight" we'd be hearing that the bill was being put on hold or back to committee or outright pulled. Sadly this has turned into a political chess game...one with millions of lives in the balance...it's turned into getting something/anything passed and with it no one is satisfied. But Obama knows a loss will paralyze him politically from trying to move forward any other reforms. Would you prefer he rule by fiat...a unitary executive?

[dionysus]

10. this simple truth eludes so many... or does it?

[chimpymustgo]

11. It's the JOB of all our "leadership" to pass the health care REFORM they promised and we voted for.

Obama has been WEAK - a day late and a dollar short from the beginning of this process. He squandered the immense advantage he/we had at the beginning of the year.

He should read up on LBJ on how to get shit DONE.

[KharmaTrain]

14. It Took A Decade For LBJ To "Get Shit Done"

LBJ was able to move legislation thanks to winning 60% of the vote in '64 (much of it a sympathy vote for JFK), President Obama didn't have such a luxuary or the 10 plus years in Senate leadership. During the primaries, one of my concerns about Obama was that he was moving up too fast...that he should have stayed in the Senate for a term or two to develop the relationships and senority to move things along (how the Senate really works). By picking Biden, who has played point man in this battle, he thought he (and I) thought he had someone who could bring that gravitas. Also, Harry Reid is no Mike Mansfield...not even in the same league.

[chimpymustgo]

16. NO. As you just stated, it did NOT take a decade. LBJ knocked heads, cajoled, bribed - whatever he

had to do.

[gimama]

2. I agree..Something's up

& I don't think it's goood..not for 'regular' American Citizens, anyway. :(

[emulatorloo]

4. Did you see this KOS diary? PLAN B maybe????

***UPDATED: HCR IS SOLVED!!! PASS THE REFORM BILL NOW-- RECONCILE A MEDICARE "BUY-IN" IN JANUARY***
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x57970

Direct link to the KOS diary: http://bit.ly/6RKGCE

[HughMoran]

7. Let's hope that the lack of fight is also a feign

We can hope, can't we? I need to believe that something positive is in the works.

[emulatorloo]

8. Yeah who the hell knows.

[AllentownJake]

5. You are watching a play

Lieberman is playing the role of villain. I assure you after this act is over, they all go back to the dressing room and have a drink.

[emulatorloo]

6. Harkin, Brown, Wyden etc aren't villains playing "Good Guys"

Harkin has a long long record, He is a Good Guy.

Liebermann has a record too - as a proven asshole.

[FrenchieCat]

12. Yeah...sure! Lieberman who actually campaigned against Obama

and spoke ill of him at the Republican convention,
supported his opponent,
is now all of the sudden doing Obama's bidding.

Sure.....sounds like the plan...... :eyes:

[jberryhill]

13. +1

[HughMoran]

18. It's a really, really bad play

The outcome can't be this transparent - where the twist at the end of the story?

[rudy23]

15. It's very suspicious. I think Lieberman's the bad cop here.

He's bailing out all the Dems---including and especially Obama--who WANT this bill to be a giveaway to insurance companies. They look at this bill as an opportunity to show that they can come through for donors leading into the 2010 elections.

[quiet.american]

17. I'm not ready to cut them off at the knees. Not by a long shot.

Sherrod Brown, for 17 years, has denied himself health insurance benefits offered to representatives and senators in the name of having health insurance become available for all Americans.

I've been following Tom Harkin since the day I first came to know of him, when he took off his jacket at Paul Wellstone's memorial and rolled up his sleeves to deliver powerful remarks about Wellstone and our party to the stadium of mourners. This is not a man who is a pretender.

Call me what you will, but I have a lot more faith in these men, who are on the ground trying to get this thing done, than I do in some posters here who always, always post from a point of view of scorched-earth cynicism and worse, about the Democratic Party.