and pour honeyed words into the camera.

Then he'll go back to his office and propose Dr Kevorkian for Surgeon General.

Turns out Sarah P was right; he's not used to having actual responsibilities.

(Sorry for being cynical; it's because I've been hurt so many times in the past ;) )

Great Post, Joan; Here's to Wednesday!

I am not compromising on this one. If he screws us on this I'm done. Done with O and done with the Dems. No more money, no more votes, no more help of any kind. I am damn tired of being lied to, taken for granted and shat on.

A bill birthed by Grassley and Baucus is not change we can believe in. This is just another way of giving the health insurance companies 40 million more hostages.

I think Max Baucus should recues himself from this process. According to the Montana standard, fully a quarter of his campaign contributions come from "insurance interests".

http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2009/06/14/state/hjjajdifjijigd.txt

The President needs to take charge of the most important agenda of his presidency. Wednesday, he needs to come out in a clear and compelling way for a robust health reform plan, with the public option at its core.

It will be a sad day for the Country and the Democratic Party, if the Congress and the White House pass a health care bill without a robust public option. The coop idea will work as much as the credit unions have managed to keep financial institutions honest. The millions of people who pinned their HOPES on seeing fundamental change brought about will be disappointed and turned off by the ways of Washington once more. The disappointment will be that much greater because the campaign, the rhetoric, the whole effort was built on HOPE and CHANGE.

Thank you for putting into words what I was feeling. I hope that President Obama reads and reacts in a positive way to your messsage. He has all the potential in the world but he needs to fullfill that potential by following his own advice.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink - I think the Republicans are acting like a cousin of a horse - lower down on the food chain so to speak - muleheaded comes to mind - jacka... is another.

The commentary around the healthcare fight has been supremely disappointing both on the right and on the left. On the right we hear lies, etc. so outlandish that sometimes it's just not worth the effort to rebut. But, we expect that - let them get mired in their own waste.

But what's more disappointing to me is the chorus of "liberal" whining (I use "liberal" in quotes since I am a proud liberal but definitely not proud of the people I'm talking about) which has just about boiled down to: I agree with Obama but his tone isn't quite right, he's argued for the public option but he hasn't threatened a veto, he's wanted to try to get a bipartisan solution when he should know that republicans are just idiots that won't compromise. Well sorry, those complaints are just childish and this column just about distils every bad thing from those complaints. "Obama is back" you cry, because he spoke in a manner that pleases you; well whoop de do! he's managed to get that exact combination of passion, intelligence, showmanship and rhetoric that you like so now he's doing something right.

Well no, actually. He's been one of the most constant and consistent voices on the healthcare debate but has been largely derided because of - what I don't know. He's been saying the same thing over and over again - as you intimate in your column Joan. Why is this not recognised? In terms of bipartisanship, the idea of reconciliation was introduced as far back as July - on Obama's instigation. Why is this not recognised? There is no healthcare bill now precisely because there hasn't been a backing down on the public option (without that, there could have been a deal ages ago). Why is this not recognised?

You describe the summer of hate has HIS summer of hate - even though the things you mention are totally the actions of a few small minded and hateful people - and yet your and other liberal blogs' obsession with Rush and Beck only gives them more legitimacy as worthwhile opponents.

My view? Obama has been severely let down by his so-called supporters in the media village. I subscribe to Sully's view that America is so lucky to have a sane voice in this nutty time.

One good thing about last night's speech - it got Obama fired up - he was shown as he hasn't been shown for some months - that the people who voted and cheered for him in the campaign are still out there despite the news of fading popularity and the enormous whinging from the left.

Dear Ms. Walsh:

Let's try again. Some parents who do not want any president to make a plea to students that, as originally planned, includes an admonition or suggestion for them to write a letter and/or think about how they can help the president, are very informed, very happy, and only paranoid in the sense that they value the freedom of deciding for themselves if and/or when their kids should become politically active and subject to the president's, any president's, desire for "help" and are ony fearful that liberal activists, who already determine that so many issues in schools contain a political agenda, will, yet again, manage to sneak one past them.

Perhaps the answer for all of us, is the end to government schools. At that point, any school who wants a student would be forced to compete in the market place and parents would, one assumes, have a variety of schools to choose from at prices they can afford and with goals they can approve.

Calling them ignorant, sad, paranoid, etc., is certainly no argument against their desire to free their children from political activism and, of course, says something rather sad, actually, about you.