We are looking at specifically what Obama proposed and saying, “Ugh. This is the best sausage he has to offer?” We are disappointed with a specific proposal. Instead of telling us why we ought not be disappointed with that proposal, you are lecturing us on what government is capable of doing.

That category of response is called concern trolling, in polite circles.

What if affordability credits are as reliable as Social Security checks, and insurance regulation is as well enforced as food safety regulation? (That is to say, imperfectly, but you don’t have to send every food product you buy to a lab before eating it.)

The failures of the Bush Administration are not merely a reflection of the Platonic essence of government, no matter how badly the Bush Administration would like you to believe that. Government can do better than that, and in fact, usually does.

Would be glad to be wrong, too, especially when it comes to my suspicion that any public option we’ll get will be weak and unsatisfactory.

And it shouldn’t surprise me that people are genuinely moved by the “we will fight the battalion and win the charge and save the day from the evening sun and we will be on the last frontier and we will win it” style rhetoric, but all it does for me is make me wonder how the Medium Lobster would have spun it.

Thanks for bouncing the question back – would be more convenient to have a thread about it as it is rather an important moment in rather an important debate.

I’m not in a position to do laundry whilst listening to Obama speeching on the radio, so I’m not a most qualified commenter. That being said, living in a place where even the most extreme leftist versions of the plan would lead to national striking, his speech was generally well received here – and I guess it is because generally we feel he’s risking a lot to finally import a bit of our common sense in the Land of Opportunity.

As you say, we’ll see what comes out in the end but I think salient is wrong. Wrong in general on rhetoric but specifically wrong here. Obama, I think, did a good job in waiting for his moment & in that moment the least he achieved is to clear the air from the nonsense of the past months. He needed to wait because he needed it to get out in order to confront it. He needed to confront the nonsense in order to have a sensible discussion.

There’s room for that discussion now. After waiting for 30 years or so, these 3 months won’t be the worst that could happen. I’m sure that the insurance companies at least are ticked off – seen as they’ll have to scrap all of that glossy-glitsy now outdated marketing stuff.

Listened on radio while doing laundry. Obama’s inflection was great, toward the end especially. He managed to plead without sounding like he was pleading. Lots of booing, I thought, at weird times.

I was nonplussed, unmoved, given less reason to be optimistic. Empty rhetoric about “getting things done” doesn’t impress me. Does it impress anyone? Doesn’t everyone react the same way to that rhetoric: by rolling their eyes and recalling every excuse-making braggadocio they’ve ever known?

I guess we’re going to get an individual mandate to buy insurance that is maybe slightly less crappy, and plenty of people will be expected to pay 13% of their income to get that insurance. I somehow doubt Parallel Universe President McCain’s plan could be get much worse, except possibly by eliminating Medicare.

The only way I can see to assess the speech is whether it increases the chance of passing a decent bill, that is, one which will attract no Republican support (excluding maybe Snowe/Collins) and doesn’t undermine the long-term viability of reform through unnecessary concessions to Max Baucus and similar. I don’t have a feel for this yet. Any other thoughts?

Why? Do you think they are very numerous and are simply hiding because they aren’t treated deferentially enough, or because they’re constantly reminded that their actions demonstrate they’ve forgotten theirs is not the predominant view?

Maybe they think Chris Dornan presented a good case and they don’t see a reason to answer him. We’ve only seen a very small number of attacks on what he posted (very strong attacks, to be sure), which is not evidence of what the others think. I suppose it’s even possible there might be creationists who find him embarrassing.