Reply #44: No they can't. And they certainly won't.

[calimary]

That will be the worst of all worlds.

It will:

A) further empower and embolden the Party of "NO."

B) grow big, bright, fat yellow stripes down the backs of wavering Dems who MIGHT have been arm-twistable here - finally finally finally to get something accomplished on this issue for the first time since Harry Truman's day.

C) likely ensure that we lose the majority in 2010, or come close enough that revisiting health care reform thus hobbled isn't even considered an option any longer.

D) give more momentum to the glenn peckers and the tea baggers who'll LOUDLY and WIDELY call this a big personal victory, which may also give them more of their own running for and maybe even winning Congressional seats of their own.

E) dispirit and discourage TOO MANY Democratic grass-roots activists who gave their all AND THEN SOME last year to win workable majorities in both Houses of Congress EXPRESSLY to address some of these long-overdue necessities. And we saw full well how a discouraged base tends to say "the hell with it" and stay home on Election Day.

We will VERY PROBABLY NOT get another shot OF ANY SORT at this - for maybe another generation if we fail now - while we still have a chance!!!! Do you really want to risk that? I say we twist her arm til it damn near breaks off. As i - if she wants or expects ANYTHING for her district besides a used snot rag, she better find a way to be okay with this. Sometimes you've gotta go for it while there's still time. Because the longer this drags out, the less and less hope we have for a positive outcome of ANY sort. Which is exactly why the bad guys are trying desperately to string this out as long as they can. People lose their guts, their enthusiasm, their resolve, after awhile. If you can wear 'em down, you've stolen their win. It's too much to risk.