6/23: No More Compromising!

While liberal bloggers have been extremely frustrated by recent developments in the health care reform negotiations, they received a small dose of good news yesterday. First, the netroots were delighted when Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) cited the apparent widespread support for a public option and suggested that Dems may have to pass health care reform without GOP support. The netroots were also pleased when Senate Budget Cmte Chair Kent Conrad (D-ND) -- whom lefty bloggers have repeatedly criticized for his assertions that a public option isn't politically feasible -- reportedly embraced aspects of Schumer's proposal. Liberal bloggers clearly want Senate Dems to stop compromising on health care reform in order to win GOP votes, so they see Schumer's comments (and Conrad's response) as a step in the right direction.

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Liberal bloggers (Marshall, Benen, Yglesias, Aravosis) and conservative bloggers (Erickson, Bandow) are buzzing about SC Gov. Mark Sanford's (R) hiking trip along the Appalachian Trail, which included a four-day stretch "during which staff and state officials said they had not heard from him." Many liberal bloggers (Lewison, Singiser, watertiger) and a few conservative bloggers (Lewis, Allahpundit) are criticizing Sanford's conduct.
• Conservative bloggers (Johnson, Mirengoff, Lane, Boot, Goldfarb) are criticizing the Obama admin. for not rescinding its invitations to Iranian diplomats to attend July 4 celebrations at U.S. embassies.
• In yet another example of the growing influence of blogs, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) cited a Powerline blog post while telling MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell that the NYT/CBS News poll showing widespread support for a public health insurance option was "skewed." The author of the post, Powerline's John Hinderaker, reacted to Cornyn's comments by writing: "It's gratifying to be read by some of the Senate's leading adult voices." However, liberal blogger Ryan Powers argues that Hinderaker's criticism of the NYT/CBS News poll is "unfounded."

HEALTH CARE REFORM: Chuck Has Had Enough

The netroots were pleased when Schumer cited the apparent widespread support for a public health insurance option and suggested that Dems may have to pass health care reform without GOP support:

• The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen: "Schumer has not always been a consistent progressive champion, but by all appearances, he's showing some real leadership on this issue right now. To his credit, Schumer even rejected the co-op proposal gaining steam among Republican and 'centrist' Democrats."
• dday: "Now, Schumer's vision of a public plan is a compromise from the House vision of a public plan, which is a compromise from single-payer health insurance. But things are moving in a better direction today than yesterday, when DiFi flat-out said Democrats don't have the votes to pass anything."
• The Washington Post's Ezra Klein: "This is what we call a 'clarifying moment.' [...] Republicans, [Schumer] suggests, are standing lockstep even against efforts to create a private co-op system that could offer an alternative to for-profit insurance. Their concern with the co-op plan is not that the government would be taking over the health-care system. It's that the current insurance providers would face unexpectedly aggressive competition in the marketplace. Which raises an interesting, and potentially clarifying, question: Are Republicans in this to preserve the healthy functioning of a competitive private market or preserve the profits of the currently dominant insurance companies?"
• Think Progress' Matthew Yglesias: "[T]hus far, for all the whining about the public plan I'm not seeing the evidence that [GOP senators are] actually willing to embrace the rest of the health reform agenda, either. In which case, you may as well go forward with a robust public plan. And I think it's important for Democrats to stop hiding behind Republicans on this. People who say they're leery of a public plan because they want a bipartisan bill need to either produce some Republicans who are willing to support their ideas, or else admit that it's they themselves who are blocking the public option."

HEALTH CARE REFORM II: Conrad Gets On Board?

The netroots were also pleased to learn that Conrad is reportedly embracing aspects of Schumer's proposal:

• Daily Kos' Jed Lewison: "Conrad has spent the better part of two weeks working against the public option. Hopefully, his change in direction is an indication that he understands that the public option is overwhelmingly popular -- even with Republicans, at least at the grassroots level."
• AMERICAblog's John Aravosis: "I'm still skeptical as to what all of this means. Lots of things can happen at the last minute when you're working on legislation -- things you won't find out until it's too late. Still, it's the first good Health Care Reform news we've had in a while."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Enough About Iran; What About Iraq?

Booman Tribune's Steven D thinks the media has been ignoring the recent violence in Iraq:

"I know Iran is the total and complete focus of every media person on the planet right now, but in all honesty, I see stories like this one about the ongoing slaughter in Iraq all the time and I wonder where all the outrage and concern over this cornucopia of death and misery went? Why isn't this story getting as much media attention as the death of Neda [Agha-Soltan]? [...]

Maybe because they are so ubiquitous no one here in America cares anymore, or certainly no one who reports the news on the TeeVee. But if this was happening in Iran there would be front page headlines screaming about the violence and the usual suspects questioning President Obama's failure to do something about it. I guess everyone in the news biz has 'moved on' but for the Iraqi people [George W.] Bush's Folly continues to be the gift that keeps killing them.

Just remember, there is little Obama or the international news media can do to change the course of events in Iran. But back in 2002-2003, there was a lot that our news media, our renowned journalists and institutions, could have been doing to expose the lies of the Bush administration. But they didn't."

LEST WE FORGET: New Hampshire Passes Law Forcing Old People To Watch Gays Marry

From The Onion:

"CONCORD, NH -- Less than two weeks after legalizing gay marriage in the state, New Hampshire legislators enacted a new law Tuesday making it mandatory for persons over the age of 60 to attend three same-sex weddings every year for the rest of their lives. 'Beginning July 1, all senior citizens must publicly condone gay unions by RSVPing to the rainbow-colored invitation, putting on nice church clothes, and spending an afternoon celebrating the wedded bliss of two men or two women who like to have sex with each other,' bill H.B. 437 read in part. 'Any grandparent who refuses to weep joyously when the grooms kiss may be subject to harsh penalties.' Gay marriage advocates are already protesting the new statute, which they say unlawfully forces homosexuals to have gross old people at their weddings."