We're Well Past The Time For Semantics

Kent Conrad is doing a truly lousy job of supporting the President's health care plan. Bob Cesca argues that Kent's being terribly clever in the semantics department in order to sate the wingnuts in his state.

News came down this afternoon that Senator Conrad pledged to vote against "government-run healthcare." Both TPM and Firedoglake, for example, are reporting this as a pledge against the "public option."

I don't think it is.

If you look at the original reporting (you only get one click on the item before it asks you to register), he specifically says he won't vote for "government-run healthcare." Healthcare. Not health insurance. I took this to mean that he's pledged to vote against a single-payer bill -- not an optional public insurance plan.

This analysis is further backed up by the fact that at the end of the article, it mentions that Conrad pledged to vote against "mandatory end of life counseling." Well, that's not in any of the bills. He also pledged to vote against bills that finance abortions. Not in any of the bills, either.

In other words, Conrad made a series of pledges to vote against things that don't exist in order to satisfy the screeching wingnuttery.

Which is fine and good and all, and terribly clever, but should the bigger question be why Kent Conrad, instead of trying to speak Wingnut, isn't you know, actively telling the truth about the plans before Congress and telling the people of North Dakota how it will be helping them?

Why can't he tell us what he *is* going to support, rather than list made up imaginary crap that doesn't exist? All he's doing is just giving credence to the lies and the wingnuts will keep saying that Obama's trying to kill them in the night anyway.

In other words, Kent Conrad needs to spend less time being an appeasing ConservaDem jagoff and needs to be out there aggressively pushing what health reform will ACTUALLY DO.

Jesus. C'mon, we need to stop letting the damn Wingnuts define the battlefield every damn time on every damn issue. It's the same friggin' tactic they've been using for 16 years, browbeat the Dems until they capitulate with wild lies, then punch the Dems in the genitals when they go for the apology handshake.

When will assholes like Kent Conrad start acting like Democrats won in 2008?