Cue Abba for the Republicans. The President has got this.

[ProSense]

Cue Abba for the Republicans, who appear to be in panicking:

Dick Armey: Pelosi's 'Ineptness' Surpises Me

Jillian Rayfield

Former House Majority Leader and Tea Party leader Dick Armey (R-TX) said of Nancy Pelosi today that he "didn't realize anyone could rise to the position of Speaker and be that inept."

At a lunch for the National Press Club in D.C., Armey said "what has probably surprised me more than anything else about Speaker Pelosi is her ineptness," but that "she's not as mean as people think she is."

He added that despite this "ineptness," he thinks the Democrats will still pass health care reform: "They'll probably force this through. But you can't discount the number of people who can be moved by a ruthless and powerful political leader or group of political leaders."

Rhetorical Flourish Watch

David Kurtz

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC): Nancy Pelosi has Democrats "all liquored up on sake" on a "suicide run."

Japanese imperialism imagery? Check. Roman imperialism imagery? Check.

If the increasingly over-the-top rhetoric coming from the GOP is any indication, health care reform may be in better shape than even many Democrats think.

Lindsey Graham's curious logic

by Jed Lewison

Lindsey Graham says he's worried that Democrats will imperil their legislative agenda if...they pass their legislative agenda. From his interview on ABC's This Week yesterday with Jake Tapper:

If they do this , it's going to poison the well for anything else they would like to achieve this year or thereafter.

Gee, thanks for your concern, Sen. Graham. What other advice might you have? Maybe that the Red Sox shouldn't win too many games, otherwise they might encourage the Yankees to try and win a World Series?

HCR: Not Exactly the Waterloo They Were Looking For

Now here we are, moving toward final passage. Turns out the President is looking a lot less General Napoleon going down to defeat at Waterloo, and a lot more General Washington crossing the Delaware - rallying an army that's taken serious hits to pull itself together and successfully navigate the difficult waters of final passage

.

"I'm Here Because of Natoma"

Obama On Health Care: 'We're Going To Make This Happen'

Christina Bellantoni

President Obama is sounding confident that Democrats will find the votes to pass health care reform this week. In an interview with ABC News recorded today and scheduled to air in full this evening, Obama talked about how the measure would eliminate preexisting conditions and help everyday Americans.

"I believe we are going to get the votes, we're going to make this happen," Obama said in the interview, according to an excerpt sent by ABC.

White House correspondent Jake Tapper asked Obama about his message as Congress approaches a final vote on the bill. According to ABC, "The president did not directly answer the question but said that most of the 'misinformation' circulating about things like so-called 'death panels' and a government takeover of health care 'turned out not to be true.'"

[Clio the Leo]

1. I want him to sign it in Waterloo, IA so bad I cant STAND it!!!!

Maybe he can make a pit stop there on the way to Australia?

[ChicagoSuz219]

6. LOL... that would be awesome! n/t

[Betty Karlson]

21. The Belgians would, of course, be honoured.

Even so: Waterloo is still a quite small town, and Obama might have better things to do than pay a visit to a town 10 miles south of Brussels, negotiating his way there over provinicial highways (federal highway not in sight).

[Cha]

2. Look up "inept" in the dictionary and

dick's face is there..and is personified with a few other words too..like dickhead.

[Kber]

3. Mr. Armey, you keep on using that word.

I do not think it means what you think it means.

[ChicagoSuz219]

8. Mr. Armey, why does Karl Rove keep saying that...

...YOU were the one who leaked Valerie Plame's name?

I thought you guys were buddies. You might want to get yourself a lawyer. I'm just sayin'...

[TankLV]

4. Good post - made me laugh for the first time all day...

[ProSense]

5. Thanks. Was it

Abba or Graham?

LOL!

[ChicagoSuz219]

7. OMG! What if Lindsey Graham is right?!?

"If they do this , it's going to poison the well for anything else they would like to achieve this year or thereafter."

You don't actually think the republicans might vote NO on everything, do you?!?

:scared:

[boppers]

10. But... but... they've been so bipartisan until now!

Will this make republicans vote against policy that they were voting for before?

[ChicagoSuz219]

11. Well, no more Mr. Nice Guys, I bet...

...it was nice while it lasted... ;-)

:sarcasm:

[boppers]

13. Well, we got Snowe on a single vote....

Maybe that massive pool of co-operation is at risk?

:evilgrin:

[ChicagoSuz219]

14. ...& Rep. Cao that one time. n/t

[boppers]

16. Oooh, I forgot Cao!

I'm expecting him to flip parties, anyways, as he seems like a decent human being... his major stopping block seems to be that he's *very* Catholic.

[ChicagoSuz219]

17. Supposedly, he's not planning to vote YES this time...

...I'm hoping he does.

[vaberella]

18. Most likely. He represents minorities from lower middle class group.

If I'm not mistaken. I don't think he's going to vote against his people.

[ChicagoSuz219]

19. Seems like that group would benefit from it. n/t

[saltpoint]

9. If the President's bill passes I propose that both South Carolina's

U.S. Senators resign in disgrace.

Actually I think I'll propose it on general grounds.

I wouldn't miss either one of them.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JTFrog]

20. GAH!

Does that song ever end?

The only way I can kill an earworm is to finish the song in my head... but for the life of me I can't get to the end of that damn song!

[Forkboy]

15. "Abba...Abba? I knew them when they were a Lancashire clog dancing trio!"

[ProSense]

22. Republicans still in full panic

Republicans refer to the tactic as the "Slaugher solution" because Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) is the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, which would draft the self-executing rule.

link

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.), the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, suggested in a blog for the conservative American Spectator magazine that passing healthcare by such a rule was unconstitutional, and would inevitably face a court challenge.

linkd

[hedgehog]

23. When I hear the words "suicide run" , I think of this:

In a battle that author James D. Hornfischer would call "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors", the very powerful force of Japanese battleships, cruisers, and destroyers commanded by Admiral Kurita engaged a US task unit of six escort carriers, three destroyers, and four destroyer escorts. The Americans were taken entirely by surprise because the Seventh Fleet had firmly believed that its northern flank was being protected by Admiral Halsey's immensely powerful 3rd Fleet, which consisted of eight fleet carriers and six fast battleships.

The brunt of the Japanese attack fell on the northernmost of the escort carrier units, Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague's Task Unit 77.4.3 (usually referred to by its radio call-sign "Taffy 3"). Ill-equipped to fight large-gunned warships, Taffy 3's escort carriers attempted to escape from the Japanese force, while its destroyers, destroyer escorts, and aircraft made sustained attacks on Kurita's ships. The destroyers and destroyer escorts only had torpedoes and up to 5 in (127 mm) guns, nonetheless they had radar-assisted gun directors; the Japanese had heavy caliber weapons up to 18.1 in (460 mm) but relied upon less accurate optical rangefinders. The US also had large numbers of aircraft available which the Japanese lacked. The ordnance for the escort carriers' aircraft consisted mostly of high-explosive bombs used in ground support missions, and depth charges used in anti-submarine work, rather than the armor-piercing bombs and torpedoes which would been more effective against heavily armored warships. Nevertheless, even when they were out of ammunition, the American aircraft continued to harass the enemy ships, making repeated mock attacks, which distracted them and disrupted their formations.

In all, two US destroyers, a destroyer escort, and an escort carrier were sunk by Japanese gunfire, and another US escort carrier was hit and sunk by a kamikaze aircraft during the battle. Kurita's battleships were driven away from the engagement by torpedo attacks from American destroyers; they were unable to regroup in the chaos, while three cruisers were lost after attacks from US destroyers and aircraft, with several other cruisers damaged. Due to the ferocity of the defense, Kurita was convinced that he was facing a far superior force and withdrew from the battle, ending the threat to the troop transports and supply ships.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taffy_3




With one carrier of the group sunk, others badly damaged and squadron aircraft courageously coordinating in the attacks by making dry runs over the enemy Fleet as the Japanese relentlessly closed in for the kill, two of the Unit’s valiant destroyers and one destroyer escort charged the battleships point-blank and, expending their last torpedoes in desperate defense of the entire group, went down under the enemy’s heavy shells as a climax to two and one half hours of sustained and furious combat. The courageous determination and the superb teamwork of the officers and men who fought the embarked planes and who manned the ships of Task Unit 77.4.3 were instrumental in effecting the retirement of a hostile force threatening our Leyte invasion operations and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service

http://www.destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/citationtaffyiii.html