Althouse: Teddy Kennedy's death will be used to rekindle the old argument that we need to shut up and hurry up about health care reform.

August 26, 2009

Teddy Kennedy's death will be used to rekindle the old argument that we need to shut up and hurry up about health care reform.

So I assume.

But now the Democrats are short a vote in the Senate, and Democratic Governor Deval Patrick can't just appoint a new Democratic Senator for Massachusetts, despite the fact that Kennedy himself, less than a month ago, urged state legislators to change the law of successsion and give Patrick the power to appoint a Senator, because back in 2004, anticipating that John Kerry would win the presidency, Kennedy was instrumental in getting state legislative change designed to wrest the power from the Massachusetts governor, when the governor was the Republican Mitt Romney.

So there are 2 questions: 1. Is the death of Teddy Kennedy a sufficiently powerful event to counter the opposition to the health care bill? and 2. Is the death of Teddy Kennedy a sufficiently powerful event to overcome the embarrassment of changing the Massachusetts law back to what it was before it was changed to thwart a Republican?

208 comments:

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The Dude said...: Medical leave act, no child left behind and community service are all creeping socialism. He, having been born wealthy, was a committed socialist.

WV - complat - he was a complat idiot.; 8/26/09, 9:02 PM
kentuckyliz said...: They had their 60 votes from July 8 to August 26. Or whenever Ted quit coming.

You blew it, O.

Let the filibuster begin.

WV cympor
why we should have free health care for everybody
see, I'm poor; 8/26/09, 9:04 PM
Revenant said...: Someone posted a link earlier, somewhere, that detailed his leading the fight to deregulate both the trucking industry, and also the way airline tickets are sold. I had forgotten he did that -- if I ever knew it -- but that sure was a win for just about everyone.

Good catch. I stand corrected; Kennedy did do some good during his time in politics (although not, I think, net good).; 8/26/09, 9:38 PM
MadisonMan said...: I have to agree that NCLB is horrible legislation. It should be called No Administrator Left Unemployed because of all the paperwork it has spawned.; 8/26/09, 9:48 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Someone posted a link earlier, somewhere, that detailed his leading the fight to deregulate both the trucking industry, and also the way airline tickets are sold.

That was me. It was Stossel's bit. Yay, there were good things.

Matt, I think you assume too much good about the things on your list.; 8/26/09, 11:01 PM
kent said...: You clearly implied Medicare was bad.

A handy li'l tip for future reference, kiddo: whenever you're finally reduced to the flimsily transparent tactic of attempting to read the ostensibly hidden "implications" in an opponent's argument, rather than straightforwardly and honestly dealing with said argument itself -- you're officially reached the point where you're simply stepping all over your own dick, in public.

You're welcome.

Also your links to Amazon were really silly.

You find assassination porn "silly," yet get all dewey-eyed and quiver-lipped over people not paying respectful enough obeisance to the memory of an alcoholic murderer. The prosecution thanks you most kindly for your extraordinarily helpful efforts on its behalf, and promptly rests, sniggering disdainfully behind their hands all the while. Pffftt.; 8/27/09, 4:06 AM
kent said...: There is a difference between saying "this dead guy was a jerk because he was a leftist of poor character" and saying "I hope this guy dies (died) a slow agonizing death because he is a conservative."

Bingo. And, "one mo' once" (as the immortal Count Basie used to say), on behalf of all the slow kids in the cheap seats: the American left well and truly whizzed any sub-sub-atomic vestiges of "moral authority" on this topic down its collectively anthropmorphised leg during the last eight years of presidential assassination death porn and gibbering, bug-eyed moonbats frantically waving giant papier mache heads about while shrieking "BUSHITLER!!!" over and over again at the very tip-topmost of their dear little lungs.

Hence, our simply rolling eyes and snorting disdainfully at all the Gloria Swanson-esque clutching of pearls and whatnot, re: "disrespecting" poor, tragically martyred Saint Teddy of the Four Roses.

You maniacs spent the last eight years doing every last thing in your spiteful, scabrous power to poison the well of civil public debate. Kindly spare us the transparently faux drama queening over how you now find the hard, metallic aftertaste of said liquid a cold and comfortless one.; 8/27/09, 4:27 AM
MadisonMan said...: Sorry Freeman, I couldn't remember who'd done it and I'm fundamentally too lazy to go back through multiple threads :)

I really enjoyed reading the bit, though, and learned something. Thanks!; 8/27/09, 8:17 AM