ZOMG, Health Care Reform!!!
Hi everyone. Victory! After all the months and months of speeches, punditry, smears, tea parties, yelling, lies, and whatever the hell else we just went through, we are finally going to get our health care reform--though a watered down version to be sure. It's not perfect by any means, but it's going to change the lives of millions of people for the better. Social Security didn't come all at once either. Now we have a foundation of which to build. So, do you feel hopey?! Because this is definitely the change I voted for.
That all being said, after Sunday's massive C-SPAN marathon, I'm a little health care reform-ed out at the moment. And yeah, that's right, I said C-SPAN. Except for a literal minute or two here and there, I pretty much shunned our friends at CNN and their Best Political Team on Television (BPTOT). I can't take it anymore, people! Sometimes you just want them to shut it, you know? I don't need my historic moment tainted by some talking head. Anyway, like I said, I'm a little burnt out on the subject, so we're just going to blow right through some of this pretty quickly. Ready? Onward!
We begin with a recap of Sunday's festivities and then Anderson Cooper takes us to the Magic Wall for a breakdown of exactly what we're going to be getting and when we're going to get it. Very nice, though a little annoying that this wasn't all hammered home before the vote--you know, when it would have really mattered. Still nice though.
Next up, we have an Ed Henry piece about the bill that calls out John Boehner for untrue charges regarding abortion, Sarah Palin for fear-mongering about military benefits, Michele Bachmann for shrieking about a government takeover, and Barack Obama for making statements about the deficit that no one can really predict. Okay, WTF is going on? That was, dare I say, almost unbalance-y. It's like Ed told us the truth without even caring that the Republicans look like way bigger liars! My world is spinning, people. If they keep this up, I don't know what I'll do. Actually, yes I do. I'll be happy. More please.
On now to an interview with Congressman Bart Stupak, who after annoying the hell out of everyone by holding up the vote due to abortion, finally came down on the right side. And boy did he get crap for it. I'm of course referring to Representative Randy Neugebauer screaming "baby killer" at him on the House floor. Classy! That guy must be friends with Joe Wilson. For the record, Neugebauer claims he yelled "It's a baby killer!" referring to the bill and not Stupak. Okay then. We had to wait a while to get this explanation because he took his sweet time coming forward. Weren't there a bunch of his colleagues standing right next to him when he yelled? Apparently 'stop snitchin' extends beyond the inner cities.
Anyhoo! The interview with Anderson starts out on the "baby killer" subject and whether or not there should be an official apology and blah blah. Personally, I think that kind of thing is just stupid and a distraction. But Stupak makes the good point about leading by example, given there are people outside hurling slurs at elected officials. They then get stuck on the topic of the executive order with regards to abortion. Anderson challenges fairly aggressively, but I'm not sure it was really needed. In the end, Stupak pretty much schools him, and our anchor is out of ammo.
Moving on to an interview with Utah's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, one of 11 AG's around the country who want to fight the individual mandate on the grounds that it's unconstitutional. Oh brother. I'm not a fan of the mandate (without the public option) myself, but c'mon. Also, for the record, the mandate was originally a Republican idea. Anyway, they talk commerce clause and precedent and all that jazz and our anchor does a pretty good job at feet-to-the-fire holding.
Anderson brings up a report that says those AG's doing the challenging actually are from states that received a lot of industry money. Interesting. But he only asks if this is true. I really wish they would have researched this guy beforehand with regards to that. Meh, maybe they did and it didn't pan out. I don't know. It definitely feels like something I would have liked them to pursue further. I loved Anderson's little smile when he asked Schurtleff if he really believed this wasn't political. That was the "you are telling me BS" look. I wonder if he realizes he does that. Shhhh.
Transitioning now to...the Best Political Team on Television! Yeah, you didn't think you were escaping them, did you? Tonight we get a mini version, consisting of Paul Begala, Dana Bash, Joe Johns, and Ed Rollins. And...I got nothing.
In the headlines tonight we had some Tiger Woods news. Oh, I don't actually know nor care what it was. I just wanted to point out that it was only a headline. The baby Jesus loves me! Okay, yes, this probably has more to do with historic legislation just being passed than it does with 360 deciding to take a pass on a sensational story, but, eh, I'll take what I can get.
On now to a Dana Bash piece that explores the next step of the bill: Senate approval of fixes. Yeah, it's not actually all over quite yet. But almost, people. Almost! Good piece.
Back to the BPTOT and we're talking polls. Yay? Anderson tells us that 58 percent disapprove of how Obama's handling health care. Paul then pipes up that many of those are liberals who think the bill doesn't go far enough. And according to CNN's own polling, he's right. A majority of Americans either support the bill or do not think it's liberal enough. This is not something that should be left for a pundit to add. This is context that should be included in all reporting.
Also of note is the group talking about how the parties will "sell" the bill. From Anderson: "In terms of the appealing to independents, I mean, is this socialism argument something you think that has resonance?" It really drives me crazy when they have conversations that imply facts don't matter. Socialism? There's not even a frickin' public option in the bill, much less single payer. And as I stated before, the mandate was originally a Republican idea.
They bring up the recent nastiness (people yelling slurs) as well. Our anchor notes that it's just a few people in a large crowd, and while that might be true, this isn't new. This is the same crap that's been going on since the Palin campaign. Yes, every movement/party has their crazies and it's very unfair to paint everyone with the same broad brush. The difference here is that the leadership seems to almost be embracing it, which makes them liable. I mean, Glenn Beck is practically the anointed saint of the tea party movement. That's a problem. Not to mention the Palins and the Bachmanns and the Limbaughs. You get the picture. We shouldn't be surprised people are yelling horrible things at members of Congress. Hell, we're damn lucky that's as far as it's gone.
The "shot" tonight is a remembrance of photojournalist Margaret Moth, who seems to have been one cool chick. Read more here.
The show wasn't bad. They didn't need to do the whole hour on one subject, but at least what we got was pretty factual, save a little too much punditry. Anderson seemed pretty aggressive tonight, which was nice. Maybe he just ate his Wheaties. Anyhoo, that'll do it.
That all being said, after Sunday's massive C-SPAN marathon, I'm a little health care reform-ed out at the moment. And yeah, that's right, I said C-SPAN. Except for a literal minute or two here and there, I pretty much shunned our friends at CNN and their Best Political Team on Television (BPTOT). I can't take it anymore, people! Sometimes you just want them to shut it, you know? I don't need my historic moment tainted by some talking head. Anyway, like I said, I'm a little burnt out on the subject, so we're just going to blow right through some of this pretty quickly. Ready? Onward!
We begin with a recap of Sunday's festivities and then Anderson Cooper takes us to the Magic Wall for a breakdown of exactly what we're going to be getting and when we're going to get it. Very nice, though a little annoying that this wasn't all hammered home before the vote--you know, when it would have really mattered. Still nice though.
Next up, we have an Ed Henry piece about the bill that calls out John Boehner for untrue charges regarding abortion, Sarah Palin for fear-mongering about military benefits, Michele Bachmann for shrieking about a government takeover, and Barack Obama for making statements about the deficit that no one can really predict. Okay, WTF is going on? That was, dare I say, almost unbalance-y. It's like Ed told us the truth without even caring that the Republicans look like way bigger liars! My world is spinning, people. If they keep this up, I don't know what I'll do. Actually, yes I do. I'll be happy. More please.
On now to an interview with Congressman Bart Stupak, who after annoying the hell out of everyone by holding up the vote due to abortion, finally came down on the right side. And boy did he get crap for it. I'm of course referring to Representative Randy Neugebauer screaming "baby killer" at him on the House floor. Classy! That guy must be friends with Joe Wilson. For the record, Neugebauer claims he yelled "It's a baby killer!" referring to the bill and not Stupak. Okay then. We had to wait a while to get this explanation because he took his sweet time coming forward. Weren't there a bunch of his colleagues standing right next to him when he yelled? Apparently 'stop snitchin' extends beyond the inner cities.
Anyhoo! The interview with Anderson starts out on the "baby killer" subject and whether or not there should be an official apology and blah blah. Personally, I think that kind of thing is just stupid and a distraction. But Stupak makes the good point about leading by example, given there are people outside hurling slurs at elected officials. They then get stuck on the topic of the executive order with regards to abortion. Anderson challenges fairly aggressively, but I'm not sure it was really needed. In the end, Stupak pretty much schools him, and our anchor is out of ammo.
Moving on to an interview with Utah's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, one of 11 AG's around the country who want to fight the individual mandate on the grounds that it's unconstitutional. Oh brother. I'm not a fan of the mandate (without the public option) myself, but c'mon. Also, for the record, the mandate was originally a Republican idea. Anyway, they talk commerce clause and precedent and all that jazz and our anchor does a pretty good job at feet-to-the-fire holding.
Anderson brings up a report that says those AG's doing the challenging actually are from states that received a lot of industry money. Interesting. But he only asks if this is true. I really wish they would have researched this guy beforehand with regards to that. Meh, maybe they did and it didn't pan out. I don't know. It definitely feels like something I would have liked them to pursue further. I loved Anderson's little smile when he asked Schurtleff if he really believed this wasn't political. That was the "you are telling me BS" look. I wonder if he realizes he does that. Shhhh.
Transitioning now to...the Best Political Team on Television! Yeah, you didn't think you were escaping them, did you? Tonight we get a mini version, consisting of Paul Begala, Dana Bash, Joe Johns, and Ed Rollins. And...I got nothing.
In the headlines tonight we had some Tiger Woods news. Oh, I don't actually know nor care what it was. I just wanted to point out that it was only a headline. The baby Jesus loves me! Okay, yes, this probably has more to do with historic legislation just being passed than it does with 360 deciding to take a pass on a sensational story, but, eh, I'll take what I can get.
On now to a Dana Bash piece that explores the next step of the bill: Senate approval of fixes. Yeah, it's not actually all over quite yet. But almost, people. Almost! Good piece.
Back to the BPTOT and we're talking polls. Yay? Anderson tells us that 58 percent disapprove of how Obama's handling health care. Paul then pipes up that many of those are liberals who think the bill doesn't go far enough. And according to CNN's own polling, he's right. A majority of Americans either support the bill or do not think it's liberal enough. This is not something that should be left for a pundit to add. This is context that should be included in all reporting.
Also of note is the group talking about how the parties will "sell" the bill. From Anderson: "In terms of the appealing to independents, I mean, is this socialism argument something you think that has resonance?" It really drives me crazy when they have conversations that imply facts don't matter. Socialism? There's not even a frickin' public option in the bill, much less single payer. And as I stated before, the mandate was originally a Republican idea.
They bring up the recent nastiness (people yelling slurs) as well. Our anchor notes that it's just a few people in a large crowd, and while that might be true, this isn't new. This is the same crap that's been going on since the Palin campaign. Yes, every movement/party has their crazies and it's very unfair to paint everyone with the same broad brush. The difference here is that the leadership seems to almost be embracing it, which makes them liable. I mean, Glenn Beck is practically the anointed saint of the tea party movement. That's a problem. Not to mention the Palins and the Bachmanns and the Limbaughs. You get the picture. We shouldn't be surprised people are yelling horrible things at members of Congress. Hell, we're damn lucky that's as far as it's gone.
The "shot" tonight is a remembrance of photojournalist Margaret Moth, who seems to have been one cool chick. Read more here.
The show wasn't bad. They didn't need to do the whole hour on one subject, but at least what we got was pretty factual, save a little too much punditry. Anderson seemed pretty aggressive tonight, which was nice. Maybe he just ate his Wheaties. Anyhoo, that'll do it.
Labels: Bart Stupak, BPTOT, health care reform, Margaret Moth, yes we did
posted by eliza at 11:59 PM
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