The mother of Gregory Lee Giusti—the lunatic charged with threatening Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi over health care—gets it right, identifying FOX News and other "radical" influences when asked why her son might have behaved in this way. The channel is doing everything it can, in a concerted way, to foment lethal hatred of Democrats and to spur on a second Civil War. It astonishes me that anyone can't see it for what it is, a sort of corporate-funded fledgling terrorism network. Because when people start getting assassinated, who's to say FOX won't just have unapologetically ahave shows about how they brought it on themselves?

Happy 70th birthday to Speaker of the House Pelosi, who probably did more to make the passage of health-insurance reform a reality than any of the other major players. Pic from here.

Now...about Don't Ask, Don't Tell...

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Michigan) got his executive order from the prez reaffirming what did not need to be reaffirmed, that the government won't pay for abortions—ever. In the end, he caved...just like a Democrat! (Ouch, self-wounding.) Thank you for voting for HCR, Rep. Stupak, Now let's primary him (via Connie Saltonstall) out of existence. The fewer quasi-Democrats we have, the better.

I've certainly been disappointed with President Obama's approach to the health care battle, but give him this—Obama is going to win it, and he has shown remarkable stamina in so doing. I hope he's learned not to be so timid going forward—Don't Ask, Don't Tell might be a good tell as to whether or not that is the case. (Winning becomes him—his Gallup daily approval rating shot up three points today to 50%.)

She speaks...not so softly. But still carries a big gavel. 

Speaking of Democrats, there is no braver Democrat that Speaker of the House Pelosi. Having been around for the Milk/Moscone assassinations, she certainly hasn't shied away from public life. When she says "we don't have the votes," that's all it means—it never means "I'm too scared to try." And when she says "we have the votes," get out of the way, motherfuckers. P.S. She's going to use a gigantic gavel when the HCR vote occurs today, the same gavel used by the father of Rep. John Dingell (D-Michigan) to gavel in Medicare.

Free speech or death threats?

You remember Medicare, right, Teabaggers? It's that government program you're only too happy to use for what ails you in-between disrupting Congress, hurling slurs and making death threats over a bill meant to save lives.

Some of the best moments from today's Health Care Summit belonged to Nancy Pelosi. It's incomprehensible how anyone would prefer Boehner to her, but people aren't always thinking straight when they're out of a job or when they were born without a brain.

Also loved Professor Obama's effortless smack-downs of Sen. Barrasso (a doctor) and the late John McCain.

Just watched President Obama's first State of the Union and am feeling mostly reassured, though of course not wholly satisfied or complacent. His mention of Don't Ask Don't Tell will never be enough for gay activists who, like Republicans, think Obama is "all talk. These are only words, time for action." To me, including an 11-month, one-week timeline in which Congress should repeal DADT is active. (NEWSFLASH: McCain opposes this...which 70% of America supports!) Critics have argued that Obama's silence on the issue and lack of direction and vocal advocacy have been part of the problem, so talking about it again should be a step toward the solution. But at this point, I kind of suspect that even once DADT is a thing of the past, many gay activists won't be satisfied anyway, and will remember him as if he fought against it tooth and nail. 

(Surprisingly?) John Kerry takes the pitch-perfect approach on the way forward regarding selling health care reform—couch it in terms almost anyone would agree with and make it seem like Republicans would have to be heartless not to support it. This is how it should have been sold initially! Now...the big bill is dead meat. But there are rumblings that Pelosi will take the reconciliation route. I wish Pelosi were president. She has all the balls in the family.

 

I do still like Obama...but I love Pelosi, who just zinged the prez mildly. She's no-nonsense, is good at compromising when it's actually necessary and works her ass off while being pilloried by the right. She's the only one of the three (her, Obama, Reid) who actually got close to the right health-care reform bill passed. Now she has to lump an inferior bill (that I'm still rooting for, just not as hard).

Washington, D.C., now has marriage equality, thanks to an 11-2 Council vote. The only thing in the way is if the House decides to block it—which ain't gonna happen. Just another aspect of having Democrats in control that is better than the alternative. Because can you imagine if this guy were Speaker of the House???

Of course, Maggie Gallagher thinks she can overturn this one, too. She can't and won't, but will no doubt roll around naked on a bed of all the money this will help her collect.

For the first time since Medicare (44 years ago!), comprehensive health care reform has passed the House—with 220 votes. It needed 218, so let's thank the Republican from Louisiana who made a liar of Boehner (who'd vowed NO Republican votes) and, of course, Bill Owens from NY-23—who wasn't going to win his election last week until Sarah Palin started her "Hoffman, baby, Hoffman" interference!

 The sucky part is a terrible abortion amendment insisted upon by "pro-life" Dem Bart Stupak (pictured) from Michigan. Not only does it pointlessly reiterate that no federally funded program can contribute toward abortion, but under this amendment, a woman paying for her own insurance under a government-administered plan would not be allowed any money for her abortion. Which means rich women are fine and which makes me ask why Viagra is okay but women's reproductive health doesn't matter? (These are Democrats, remember. Republicans are against anyone getting sick, let alone pregnant, in the first place.)

Hopefully Stupak gets stripped before the final vote.

Now, on to the Senate...which'll be a push-over! (Um...yeah.)

Soon.