1. everyone is an expert. there are those, comfortable in their armchairs, sitting in some dark room with a laptop (I know this because that's exactly where I am!) who know more about politics than anyone in the upper echelons of power, including the President and his multiple advisors.

Homeruk, for the past sixty years we've left healthcare up to "the President and his multiple advisors." For sixty years insurance companies and big pharma have gotten enormous, their campaign contributions and bribes to politicians ever larger, and we the "inexperts" (ie citizens in a democracy) have gone broke and gotten sick. At what point do we stop trusting the greedy elites to look out for us, at what point do we stop acting like complete chumps when Obama lies to us?

I'm clad you own a comfortable armchair. But have you seen the comfort that the elites live in? Remember AIG, the enormously wealthy company that our elite politicians gave our money to so that AIG could distribute it to themselves as bonuses? Have you seen the news on the AIG's CEO's palatial villa in Croatia? That guy doesn't just have a comfortable armchair, he has a different crapper for every day of the month and then some. Our tax dollars, quite literally down the toilet. "Every bathroom is a work of art," he says. Eh, good for you, asshole. Could American borrow a couple squares?

2. everyone ignores what Obama has said all along. He came to power promising to change the ways of Washington and part of that was to seek to find common consensus among all people. His outreach to republicans is an explicit part of fulfilling that promise; now granted that hasn't been taken up by his opponents in the way that he wanted but is the answer to give up right now?

Yeah, consensus among "all" people, and so far "all" has meant the ultra-wealthy and ultra-powerful and ultra-right wing. So, when is Obama going to seek consensus among people outside of elite business people and politicians and Republican wingnuts? I have no doubt that rank and file Democrats and Republicans have common interests and desires for health care coverage. We find consensus everyday and these issues, even as we argue. But we average people have been totally left out of the the elites equation as they seek to divide the spoils of mandates amongst themselves. How about a little outreach that reflects the people's interests?

Obama called the Republicans liars. He got a "back at ya." Then he whined about civility. And now Joe the Dumber is a racist redneck? Way to snatch hubris from the jaws of victory, Dems.

I could give a rip about the elites being civil to each other. I wish a Democrat had had the gonads to yell YOU LIE to W.'s yellowcake bakeoff. Maybe a few more young people would have eaten a few more birthday cakes if they had. Instead our ever-so-polite Secretary of State voted FOR the Iraq War and now is killing us off an expanded war in Afghanistan.

Speaking of the young, anybody catch the other theme of the week: Obama reprimanding the young for being "irresponsible"? Not boomer politicans, mind you. Not bankers or other elites. The young. The ones who will be paying for the insurance program and everything else.

This whole civility campaign is just a way to make us commoners shut up.

I don't know what's in the elitist minds of either Joe or Barack, but here's something in Jack's mind: I want everybody on US soil to get necessary medical treatment! I don't give a shit if you're an "illegal" or not! Let's not be offing babies to score political points! Shame on Obama and the Republicans.

Those guys in the jeans and cowboy boots at the day labor sites are scapegoats, yes,but racism is just the inarticulate expression of the real problem: the Clintonian version of globalization that continues to gut labor movements, wages, the environment, and social programs for nonelites world wide.

If I could afford a car.

Leonard sets up a false dichotomy. The choice wasn't between doing nothing and saving these crooked institutions (which in turn buy our politicians and corrupt democracy).

A trillion dollars + citizen benefit and FDIC backed cash accounts would have built a kick-ass central bank (Andrew Jackson be damned).

The financial public option, if you will. The corrupt banks could sink or swim. Without such an option, to borrow a phrase, there's nothing to keep the private banks honest. Without such an option, there won't even be new and decent regulations on private banks, despite Barney Frank's conniptions.

Monetarism remains relevant economic theory, Keynes and Friedman are like dance partners doing the tango.

Both theories are antiquated and limited, however, by their insistence on a unitary monetarized valuation tool, and their refusal to acknowledge other quantified fungible valuation tools. Krugman and Pelzman are like telegraph operators still tapping Morse code in an iPhone age.

While Joan and Salon writers run about crying "Racist! Racist! Racist!" at even the slightest of racial slights, Obama has pulled off a drive-by on the public option.

I hope folks take the time from your Mod Squad era racial fantasies to read David Brooks in the NYTimes today. Obama is using the same weapon that the First Black President (sic) used to whack social programs--false fiscal responsibility.

Like Link would say: heavy.