Wellington

So when Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) declared that the GOP would beat President Barack Obama on healthcare reform and hence his whole Administration, he was partially right. Tonight's successful -- for Democrats -- vote passing healthcare reform in the House of Representatives was, indeed, Waterloo. Only DeMint's the Napoleon Bonaparte and Pres. Obama = Duke of Wellington, who beat Nappy's sorry ass back on Sunday, June 18, 1815.



Clearly there's reconciliation fixes and other future improvements to be had, but for now we will be able to get health insurance without worrying about preexisting conditions, without worry that it can be yanked away once we become sick, with the ability to change jobs or start businesses -- The American Way -- without fear of losing coverage for our families.

Republican David Frum is particularly savvy on how the GOP lost b-i-g on this process by stonewalling -- and any GOoPer who says they didn't have a chance is simply lying. Just ask Jim "Waterloo" DeMint. Per Frum:

I’ve been on a soapbox for months now about the harm that our overheated talk is doing to us. Yes it mobilizes supporters – but by mobilizing them with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead. The real leaders are on TV and radio, and they have very different imperatives from people in government. Talk radio thrives on confrontation and recrimination. When Rush Limbaugh said that he wanted President Obama to fail, he was intelligently explaining his own interests. What he omitted to say – but what is equally true – is that he also wants Republicans to fail. If Republicans succeed – if they govern successfully in office and negotiate attractive compromises out of office – Rush’s listeners get less angry. And if they are less angry, they listen to the radio less, and hear fewer ads for Sleepnumber beds.

So today’s defeat for free-market economics and Republican values is a huge win for the conservative entertainment industry. Their listeners and viewers will now be even more enraged, even more frustrated, even more disappointed in everybody except the responsibility-free talkers on television and radio. For them, it’s mission accomplished. For the cause they purport to represent, it’s Waterloo all right: ours.

And what of the opposition? They seem transfixed by the teabaggers, who have shown their true colors this weekend with racist and homophobic epithets hurled at members of Congress. The GOP caucus cheers them on when they disrupt the Chambers. It seems to have been a GOP Congressman, probably from Texas, who yelled, "Baby killer!" at Rep. Bart Stupek (D-MI), an ardent anti-choice Dem who even got the President to sign an executive order reaffirming that no Federal money could be used for insurance plans which cover a woman's right to choose.

And, most horrifically of all, a Conservative blogger posted this tweet today:



Followed by this:



That's currently being investigated by the Secret Service and is punishable either by fine or five (5) years in prison. I'd vote for the latter.

The fact is that we now have on our hands, after he's been called dead-in-the-water so many times, a Class-A President, one who will go down in history as having a successful First Term, ideally a couple, barring (of course) scandal or great disaster. Even if they do what Solly will, ideally, serve time for advocating. Check out his accomplishments in a year and a quarter, from blackwaterdog:

1. He saved the economy.

2. In a few months he'll end the war in Iraq.

3. He actually has a plan and strategy in Afghanistan.

4. America is finally joining the world fighting climate change and aspiring for energy independence.

5. He single-handedly restored America's place and reputation in the world.

And now there's this little thing called health care reform.

This is an historic victory and, as Andrew Sullivan points out:

This is what we’ve learnt this year: Obama does not mind defeats if they are procedural or about others saving face. He’s happy to admit error; to give his opponents a chance to lunge at his jugular; to let opponents enjoy a day in the sun; to shave off any small stuff as long as the big stuff remains. He seems oddly impervious to personal insult: he doesn’t mind being affronted by the Chinese or humiliated by Netanyahu as long as it’s a matter of symbolism. On substance, he wants what he wants; and, on the big stuff, he has given up on nothing yet.

He shares this victory with many others, foremost being House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who has also confounded the naysayers who have often written her off, and delivered one of the most productive House sessions in decades.

Yep, it took the first black President and the first woman Speaker to get done what seven Presidents tried and failed, what President Theodore Roosevelt (BTW, a Republican back when I guess it meant something very different) first dreamed of 100 years ago.

The heck with the haters and naysayers. The American people, who voted for these Reps and this President, just got a reasonable version of what they wanted. And even those who didn't vote for them won tonight -- they just don't know it yet.