As Nancy Pelosi stepped out last night beginning her victory cry with ‘Oh what a night!’ as a tribute act to The Four Seasons, Democrats, and a single Republican, had voted 220-215 to send the gavel down on the side of the ay’s, propelling the health reform legislation, along with the public option, to the Senate for consultation. Pelosi’s instigation of disco, through a paralysed grin, offered an eerie image of the momentary nature of this triumph. Undoubtedly a landmark for President Obama too, he was notably cautious to reveal what the final legislation would look like when it arrives on the Resolute Desk.
For anyone observing, the journey towards this narrow victory has been far from smooth or gracious. Members of the minority party have already been found to be playing tantrum with the issue of health insurance coverage. As a number of Democratic congresswomen stepped forward to request unanimous consent to extend their support for the bill, Republican men, and a couple of women too it must be said, stepped forward to steamroll their expressions of affirmation with a mono-tonal barrage of ‘I object!’ (see the link below for video). This was filibustering in its laziest form. With a single present participle phrase, the GOP attempted to stonewall the chamber.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/07/i-object-tom-price-tries_n_349587.html
The image was prophetic. No sooner had the bill received the 218 votes required to pass, the Grand Old Party began to flood every network with diviners of impending doom for the legislation at the hand of the upper chamber. Sen. Joe Lieberman, that weathervane of public opinion, has already thrown his hat in the filibustering arena in order to ‘cripple’ any like-minded legislation. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is meanwhile adding his softly spoken support to Lieberman’s threat. The unfortunate fact is that this strange duo is probably right. The health care bill from Congress is unlikely to retain its commitment to the public option, and is, in Graham’s drawling passive aggressive pronouncement, ‘dead on arrival’.
You have to wonder, though, whether these political figures understand that their language is severely off-putting. Speaking of inanimate bills, printed on paper, in terms of invalidism and fatality, ignores the central issue of sustaining and protecting human life at the crux of this debate. The 96% of Americans who would be covered under private and public health insurance options under this plan, must be the driving statistic in the weeks and months to come, not inappropriate metaphor which dehumanizes the lexicon of medicine.
A Travolta style dance move must be given in tribute to Rep. Joseph Cao (R), who stepped across the aisle last night to cast a lonely vote in favour of the Democratic bill. His bi-partisan recognition that faction must give way to conscience, should serve as a guiding beacon for the Senate’s future considerations. Accusations are already flying that Cao is a Democrat in the closet; a mutineer in the ranks. Maybe, or perhaps he’s just a Republican who refuses to to dance the robot…
And finally, that today the UK remembers the contribution of human life, past and present, in protecting the foundational values of freedom and democracy, serves as a sobering bass note for anyone observing the rigmarole of the increasing politicization of the patient in the American debate.
