We put politics aside on Hackwhackers yesterday to observe the passing of Sen. Kennedy. The legacy he most wanted was to have universal, quality health care for all Americans, and it's tragic that he didn't live to see his greatest wish fulfilled. Many opponents of health insurance reform are claiming that Sen. Kennedy would have made a difference in negotiations with Senate Rethugs, despite the fact that they've shown no willingness to do anything but stall, obstruct, and lie about the Dem proposals. The Rethugs had an opportunity in the years starting in 1994 that they controlled Congress, but did absolutely nothing, not surprisingly.
Now we have the clownish Rethug National Committee Chairman Michael "Tin Man" Steele writing an op-ed in the WaPo -- and shame on them for loaning the page to a propagandist like Tin Man -- about the evils of health insurance reform. But Steven Perlstein's column offers a good antidote to Tin Man's nonsense. He calls out the "lies, distortions and political scare tactics" that Tin Man and his Rethugs have used to "poison the national debate over health reform." Good work.
