Thursday, September 10, 2009
On to the Next Speech [Mark Steyn]
For what it's worth, I didn't think the president helped himself last night. He reminded me of the smart kid who feels he doesn't need to prepare. The speech was very inconsistent in tone, from don't-frighten-the-horses utilitarianism to the grandiosity he finds so hard to resist (the this-is-the-moment stuff*) to the petulant imputations of bad faith to anyone who disagrees with him (which is at least as unbecoming as what that no-name Congressman did).
I don't think he was served by the setting and the unearned ovations that come with it: There's a reason why joint sessions have mostly been reserved for foreign policy. The ritual suits affairs of state. But health care is an affair of you and your body — that's why his numbers tanked over August, as people realized it wasn't just about helping "the uninsured" but about potentially dramatic changes to their own health care. The parliamentary frippery subliminally underlines what increasing numbers of voters don't like about it — that your hip replacement is now in the care of Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank.
So I don't think it'll help. On the other hand, how much help does he need? If I were Obama, I'd be planning on ramming something — anything — through and relying on my charisma, the media, and GOP clubfootedness to see me over the rough patch. Not saying that'll work, but, given the extraordinary complacency of the speech, evidently the president and his courtiers still feel they've got it all over anybody else.
(*If memory serves, "This Is The Moment" is the big bombastic ballad from the Jekyll & Hyde musical. Which, doctor-wise, feels vaguely relevant.)
[UPDATE: Memory does, indeed, serve. Here it is performed by David Hasselhoff. I look forward to Obama singing it ast his next State of the Union.]
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2 comments:
Good post! Well said!
I just watched part of the speech on You Tube. What continues to amaze me is the acrobatic evasion of the American peoples' genuine concern about the "reform" the President proposes. Instead, anyone with a question is promptly escorted to the "There are those..." seating section.
The President repetitiously declares what the "reform" will do and strategically avoids discussing the evidenced repercussions of such actions. To put this in environmental terms (talk about irony!), this reform, and the non-debate surrounding it, is like a developer demanding coast-front mega malls and bypassing the Environmental Impact Report!
We "There are those" want an honest intellectual accounting of the footprint this Health Care reform threatens to leave, and all we get are more declarations and praise for the foot. That is why the President can make such charged statements about the reform plan Not including so called "death panels" for seniors - labeling anyone who would approach the idea, a cynic. He speaks exclusively about an incubated plan and ignores the predictable, logical, and evidenced (economic and political) reactions to such a plan!
The presence or absence of explicit "death panel" instruction or mention in the Health Care Bill is irrelevant. The fact is, the Government's stamp on an industry does not make it immune to economic forces, and eventually costs will have to be cut (we can't endlessly drill for debt, and we won't always have the top producers to tax). And this is only one example in a string of billboard promises.
This a rhetoric game with potentially devastating consequences. The road of avoidance is paved with pathos-laden appeals (stories of individuals without Health Insurance... ect.) designed to criminalize anyone with a valid question.
Well said,Karen (sometimes so well said I had to look up some of the words you used in the dictionary!). The president has not spoken truthfully to the American voter since he stepped onto the campaign trail. His healthcare reform proposals will bring a lot of nothing to Americans while creating everyone great expense on many levels, the worst of which is the loss of individual choice and quality care as government determines/regulates our health needs and methods of treatment.
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