...that Lieberman and Snowe were not acting in good faith on healthcare. First, TPM on Republican Senator Olympia Snowe:
Hindsight's 20-20, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid now thinks he and leading Democrats, at the behest of the White House, flushed months down the toilet courting Sen. Olympia Snowe's (R-ME) support for health care reform.
"As I look back it was a waste of time dealing with [Snowe]," Reid is quoted as saying about the White House in a forthcoming New York Times Magazine piece, "because she had no intention of ever working anything out."
In a preview of magazine profile of Reid posted on the paper's website Wednesday, reporter Adam Nagourney writes that Reid was infuriated by Lieberman's Dec. 13, 2009, appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation." Reid felt betrayed, Nagourney reports, because Lieberman had reportedly given him the impression he would back leadership during a closed-door meeting two days earlier.After Lieberman's bombshell interview, an incensed Reid fumed to unnamed associates, "He double-crossed me. ... Let's not do what he wants. Let the bill just go down," according to Nagourney.
I'm glad it will take a shitty healthcare bill that will cause far more suffering than needs be for Reid to have his epiphany. I realize that the Democratic establishment believes that the rank-and-file are all Dirty Fucking Hippies, or worse, bloggers, but we do have one advantage: we don't, by and large, have personal relationships with people like Lieberman and Snowe. This allows us to judge them by their actions, and view them more objectively.
Cuz I thought Lieberman was 'with us on everything but the war.'
- Log in to post comments
In the words of some great philosopher, somewhere: "well... duh!"
They forgot the number one principle of dealing with people:
If you trust, have a backup plan.
Actually, you must ALWAYS have a backup plan .
The thing that bothers me the most about the whole health care "reform" process, is that it is based on Obama pragmatism, which he feels can bring the democrats and republicans together. Instead there is indeed a compromised bill from the majority democratic perspective, but one that no republicans, and some ridiculous back stabbing children like Lieberman don't even support. This is where compromise isn't really compromise, just bad policy. Very disappointing.
I thought it was "trust, but keep your promise to retaliate overwhelmingly if betrayed."
I give Nancy Pelosi high marks for finally stepping up after three years of being way less effective than she's capable of; she may yet prove to be the first worthwhile Democratic congressional leader since George Mitchell or even Tip O'Neill. (She's got a lot of ground to make up though.) But although I respect Obama's desire to be bipartisan, he rode that horse way too long and it's on the verge of biting him in the ass. And Harry Reid continues to be completely worthless. Put me on the list of people waiting for Chuck Schumer to step up.