Steny Hoyer, patron saint of the Blue Dog Democrats, just got off a conference call with reporters in which he said that in order for the health bill to pass the House of Representatives, that the public option would be tossed overboard as an essential part of the package.

Glenn Greenwald had a very good rundown of some of the epic wrongness back in 2004. Let’s add a few more to the pile.

You can’t implement the biggest economic change program since the New Deal without public trust. The White House tried to sell trust in a man — Obama — at a time when that trust was breaking down in the wake of the banking debacle, which as Krugman says created tremendous populist mistrust across the board. Remember that this was where the teabaggers got their start, where their messaging took root, and it was the result of the same Rahm Emanuel calculus: buy off big business with taxpayer dollars and keep them from funding the Republicans.

Elephants lined up weathervane via blackforgeart.

All signs point to yes.

Paul Mirengoff at Powerline has been the point man for the Federalist Society talking points on Johnsen’s nomination. And he recently went with the inaccurate hyperventilation technique here:

…Dawn Johnsen, President Obama’s aggressively radical nominee…

Note that for Paul, John Yoo and David Addington are jim dandy, and a government which willfully lies to you about violating

The House Dems have 77% of the country behind them. Conrad and Bayh have WellPoint and Blue Cross behind them, and messy financial ties to boot. Will they join with the Republicans to filibuster a Democratic health care bill? Because as Kagro X says, that is very much what they are saying they will do.

In 2001, terrorists capitalized on George Bush’s inattention and extended vacation to strike at America. Now, Rich Scott’s Conservatives for Patients’ Rights believes it can adopt al Qaeda’s tactics by attacking the President and our country while he’s on vacation. “Even on vacation, the President will get no quarter on the public option from Conservatives for Patients’ Rights.” And they’re running an ad that somewhat bizarrely tries to mock Obama’s vacation.

To all of you who pitched in when it really mattered, take a bow, you did this. You kept the momentum going when it was really, really important. We cannot thank you enough for your continued support.

• A line in the sand. 
• Lose your base, your numbers drop.
• No one could’ve predicted…
• Basic poker: never show your hand.
• Global warming is a lie update.
• Standing up: over $300,000.

Jim DeMint he’s more than a tad “touched”, but he thinks it is by God.

Carolyn Wonderland – Misunderstood (live) or

Misunderstood (music video)?

I figured the only thing to do is post them both and ask you which one you would have chosen and why. 

What’s on your mind?