LiveBlog: President Obama's Measured Plea for Death Panels
9:16 – So, what did you think about this speech? Did Obama find the America's G spot? Did he make fireworks go off inside its head? Or was America really just thinking about the left over Lamb Korma in the fridge?
9:15 – Welp, that was that. Obama's speech seemed like a good speech. It's a shame that we don't have a system of government in which good speeches will make crazy people stop talking loudly. Oh, well.
Oh, and my dad's friend. I guess his speech was okay, too. It was short. I like short.
9:11 – That was it? It's over? He didn't even give me a chance to start paying attention whatever he was saying.
9:10 – Oh! I know what's going on. This is one of those Jeff Dunham puppets!
9:09 – Very smart of the GOP try to match Obama's level of energy. This guy is on fire.
9:08 – Ugh. Who turned on the informercial show?
9:06 – Charles Boustany is talking now. Who's this guy again? He knows my dad, right?
9:05 – CNN is saying that some Republicans were waving things around during the speech. Apparently, they thought they were at the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
9:04 – What? Josef Stalin didn't get a shout out? What gives?
9:03 – From the comments: "His head seems to have grown by one tenth of one percent in the past half hour." – meredithQ
9:01 – From Wonkette: "Ted Kennedy. He died. Anyone who doesn't vote for my bill will be charged with murder."
8:59 – Hey, remember that guy Ted Kennedy? He was nice, right? So, wattaya say we pass this fucker, huh?
8:56 – From Wonkette: "ERIC CANTOR IS SEXTING!"
8:55 – When you think about it, that's only $90 billion a year. It's much more easily manageable to think of it that way. You know, take it a billion birds by a billion birds.
8:54 – $900 billion over ten years?! But how many dead Iraqis will this produce?
8:52 – Yay! The Republicans get their chance to stand and cheer. Everybody gets their chance! Yay!
8:50 – "I will protect Medicare." Just so long as he doesn't socialize it.
8:47 – I wanna speak directly to seniors for a minute. You are going down. Suck it, Grandma!
8:46 – "I will not sign a bill that adds one dime to our deficit. Either now or in the future." Oh, so this bill is going to be made out of magic. Nice! I like magic bills.
8:44 – To my Republican friends, I say, instead of just making a bunch of shit up, why not not just make a bunch of shit up? How about that?
8:42 – From a friend: "Does every woman in congress tell her kids, look for me I'll be the one wearing the fuschia pantsuit?"
8:41 - "Insurance companies don't do this because their bad people." Heavens no. They do it because you're bad people.
8:40 – Whomever it was, yelled "Lie!" Touche, asshole.
8:39 – There's a heckler on the Congress floor? What is that, an Insane Clown Posse concert?
8:38 – Death panels! He's talking about them! Yay, stupidity!
8:37 – I apologize for putting this in your head, but just try to pay attention to the rest of the speech with Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi having their blinking contest in the background. She's winning.
8:34 – Andrew Sullivan: "He's fired up. This is the campaign Obama, appealing to the center against the old politics."
8:32 – "There's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer"??!! Obama wants to give us all breast cancer!!! Someone get Michelle Malkin on the phone!!
8:30 – "Nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have." So, what? I don't have the right to wave my right to have the right to choose my coverage? Typical.
8:27 – The best ideas of both parties? The Democrats and the Socialists?
8:26 – From the comments: "I never understood all of the applause in these events… It's like they're TRYING to stop him from speaking." – NordicOten
8:25 – Our health care problem is our deficit problem? Really? I'm not an economy guy, but that sounds like a not true thing.
8:24 – What's this about us paying more taxes?! I'm against it!
8:22 – This speech is a bummer. All the characters in this speech die. Why is everyone clapping so hard?
8:20 – Dingell.
8:19 – "I'm not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last." Is he really planning on screwing it up that hard?
8:18 – "I can say with confidence that we have pulled this economy back from the brink." If this were a movie, this is when a dead body would fall from the rafters.
8:17 – Wow. Our congress sure is good at clapping. No wonder they don't want to stop. It's the one thing at which they truly excel.
8:15 – Pay attention. That's the last round of applause the president will receive for the next four years unless he passes the health care bill. Also, the sun will bleed spiders. It's true.
8:10 – If you're not near a television, you can watch the speech live over here. And if you're not near a bunch of ducklings trapped in a pool, you can watch that over here.
8:07 – Hillary's in the room. And she's wearing the same colored dress as about twelve of the congresswomen. Is that on purpose? Is there some significance to salmon?
8:02 – Oh, look, here comes Michelle dressed up as a little french school girl. She can pull it off, I think. Only her and David Vitter.
8:00 - Death panels!!! Eldercide!!!!!! Wooooooooooo!!!!! Let's get this thing started!!!
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The whole time of this Speech Barry's thinking: I cannot wait to get home and play Beatles Rock Band.
His head seems to have grown by one tenth of one percent in the past half hour
The concern for the plight of others trapped in our underwater car….
Ted Kennedy. An important figure. I'm thinking President Obama won't get into the whole Jack, Bobby, Jackie O sex-o-rama. So I will.
That had to have been the smallest flag pin of all time. Terrible.
Wait. We have to liveblog Rep. Boustany. He has mega-star power and a blue tie.
I liked BO's speech.
Automaton the Thrice Sued for Malpractice Dolt that got suckered by one of those foriegn email scams for "Send me your money and bank account and i'll give you 1 mill" Moron's speech did not Give me any indication that the GOP is worth Not launching into outerspace to Colonize the sun.
I do believe we have a President who actually speaks from his heart and I was energized by his speech.
President Obama hit the mark when he said "DO NOT FEAR the Future but Shape it" and "The Status Quo is NO Solution!"
President Obama missed a mark when he neglected to address Individual Responsibility regarding Preventive Health Care: there are too many millions of US who sit on our ass all day, consume nutrient deficient junk food, smoke and drink to much and that all adds up to diseases such as diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, etc.
NOW is the season for Compassion, Common Sense, Accountability and Responsibility: these are true American values and the time has come to put an end to the childish bickering that has mired US in the slush of partisan politics.
NOW regarding the Money:
Obama promises US he will NOT sign a bill that will add to the deficit now or in the future.
I have a suggestion where we can find a quick $3.4 BILLION a year and it would also make Israel quit building the illegal settlements!
If Obama would just cut off U.S.A. Military Aid to Israel which is being used in violation of The U.S. Arms Export Control Act (U.S. Public Law 90-829) which prohibits the use of U.S. weapons against civilian targets-and yes, I know that Palestinians have attacked Israeli civilians with their dirty bombs- but those weapons were not provided by the USA.
Case in point: In 2002 White House Spokesperson Ari Fleischer described Israel’s missile strikes in Gaza City using U.S.A F-16 fighter jets as “a deliberate attack against a building in which civilians were known to be located” and that it was done with the knowledge “that innocents would be lost.”
IMAGINE how many USA citizens currently without any health coverage could receive it NOW and NOT in the four years President Obama spoke about, if he would only do that!
Eileen Fleming, Retired RN, Senior Correspondent and Founder of WeAreWideAwake.org
Author of "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
Producer "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu"
I'm not with the how-great-the-speech crowd. Insurance Salesman in Chief, sigh.
Comparing health insurance to car insurance is not comforting to anyone who needed a car but couldn't get one because of high rates in the city. Are you supposed to register your body at your parent's house so you can afford to keep your body with you? Can you drop collision but just keep liability since your old body isn't worth repairing anyway? People can give up car insurance by giving up their cars, which is better for the environment. But unless they're talking about death panels, giving up your body is not really an option unless you're in a fatal car accident and you're an organ donor. Oh wait, that's the system we've got now… But at least you can buy uninsured motorist coverage since that law about everyone getting car insurance really works.
For a scary halloween costume, why not dress up as Single Payer Medicare for All.
I love America. The Greatest Show On Earth!