Lawrence O'Donnell, defending firing of the Washington, D.C. insurance commissioner.

[No Elephants]

To review: Obama thinks Obamacare is great, but fixes the cancelled policies issue by saying he allows the insurers to continue, for one year, issuing the policies that Obamacare had outlawed. (He does not force the insurers to issue them, only allows them to.) However, his caveat is that insurance commissioners may overrule him (Obama) as to substandard policies, if they choose.

Meanwhile, Pelosi says the Republican-initiated bill to allow people to keep so-called substandard policies is a knife in the back of Obamacare.

So, the D.C. Commissioner says he is not going to approve continued issuance of the substandard policies.

Bam. Next day, he's fired.

On this scenario, O'Donnell (on Morning Joe this morning) says "Washington, D.C. is run by Congress. He can't say something like that without checking with the Mayor first."

Well, gee, Larry, wasn't he only doing what he thought his President authorized and might even prefer?

And, everytime anyone tries to say Obama is responsible, we usually get the baloney that every agency of the federal government is "independent" (baloney) and Obama is not a dictator. What if, under the laws of D.C., this insurance commissioner is supposed to be independent, too? What if he is not supposed to check with the Mayor before setting policy.

Oh, First Amendment, Larry. This guy is not supposed to get fired for doing his job.

My guess is that some House Republican put in a call to the Mayor, saying this guy was undermining their Keep your Insurance Policy Bill, but that's sheer speculation on my part.