Saints Preserve Us

[babylonsister]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/20/opinion/20collins.html

Saints Preserve Us

By GAIL COLLINS
Published: March 19, 2010

snip//


If it passes, the short-term political consequences are unknowable. But in 10 years, people will look back in amazement that we once lived in a time when Americans couldn’t get health care coverage if they were sick, when insurance companies could cut off your benefits for being sick, and when run-of-the-mill serious illnesses routinely destroyed families’ financial security.

And if it passes, Barack Obama will have validated his presidency.

He came into office on the wave of hope so enormous there was no way he was not going to disappoint. He broke promises — we still remember that one about holding health care negotiations on C-Span. He sure failed to deliver on that more respectful, bipartisan spirit in Washington. He seemed, day to day, so much less Obama-like than the guy who made people faint at campaign rallies.

But the core qualities that got him elected were his coolness under pressure and the sense that he would never stop fighting for change. No matter what you think of it, this health care bill is one heck of a change. And no matter what you think of the White House strategy, Obama has been incredibly tenacious in pushing for it.

All year, his party has been begging him to drop health care and do something about jobs — or more specifically, give the impression of doing something about jobs. The government has only so much power to stimulate the economy. And even at the height of his postelection power, Obama could only get a medium-size stimulus bill through the Senate.

What many Democrats really wanted was just a change of conversation — away from the complicated, frustrating subject of health care to rewarding fights for proposals that would embarrass the Republicans even if they didn’t pass, and small, symbolic programs that would be the 2010 equivalent of supporting public school uniforms. Plus lots of photo-ops at construction sites.

He stuck to his guns. Speech after speech, phone call after phone call, sit-down with one frightened or greedy or confused legislator after another, he kept on the case. “Do not quit. Do not give up,” he told yet another rally on Friday. “We are going to get this done.”

This weekend, we’ll see. But the man gets points for trying.

[my2sense]

1. K & R

[Clio the Leo]

2. Dan Rather said something amazing....

"If this passes, in the future, the first line on his obituary will read 'provided near-universal health care for the American people.'"

Now, think about it .... Obama was never going to be a Milliard Filmore .... just by showing up, his Presidency was going to be a memorable one. But now, (or at least by this time next week hopefully) being the first black President (as important as that is and as special as that is to all of us) may not be the most memorable aspect of his Presidency.

Pretty amazing.

[babylonsister]

4. And he's just begun to fight! Yes, imagine

the fact that he's the first AA president ever overshadowed by his accomplishments. Very impressive.

[NJmaverick]

3. K&R for the truth

[progressoid]

5. "He stuck to his guns" Dumbest justification since...

Well, since the GOP used "he stuck to his guns" to describe George W Bush.