The Senate held a historic vote on health care reform Sunday night at 1 AM. Splitting exactly along party lines--that is, if you call Joe Lieberman a Democrat--the health care bill made it through a cloture vote and is one step away from final passage and the conference committee.
To get so-called moderate Democrat Ben Nelson on board, however, Harry Reid had to agree to a decidedly un-moderate compromise on abortion rights. It's not Stupak language--but it's close.
Stupak's staffers, meanwhile, were sending frantic emails to Catholic bishops and top Republican staffers asking for their help to keep his amendment in the final bill. If that's bipartisanship, they can keep it.
So who says these guys are so moderate, anyway? Politico, for one. The Washington Post as well. The Wall Street Journal called them "centrists," as did the New York Times. Interesting that moves that would radically alter women's right to choose are moderate.
Maybe the media's idea of moderate has something to do with who they're talking to. Look at the Sunday talk shows, for instance. Meet The Press had not a single woman on to discuss health care. You know it's bad when FOX News Sunday features a pro-choice woman, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and the biggest show on Sunday doesn't. CBS's Face the Nation was the only one to feature two women.
As Ann Friedman pointed out in the American Prospect, white men are the least likely to identify as progressives. So why do Democrats--and the media-- continue to act as if their opinions are the only ones that matter?
The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.
Follow Laura Flanders on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Gritlaura
Weakness of political perceptions by the media is why they draw so much ridicule to themselves.
The first ten or so minutes of Fahrenheit 911 should be required viewing by all journalism students. How NOT to be swayed by professional propagandists.
Dear Senator,
I think it's very important for senators to have an awareness of how language is used to distort the positions taken by your colleagues. For example, Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, and Blanche Lincoln are generally referred to in the media as conservative or moderate Democrats. However, as you know these three senators failed to vote for any public option amendment in the Senate Finance Committee. The fact is the public option would save billions of dollars as mentioned here:
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/cbo-good-public-option-saves-even-mor
There isn’t anything moderate or fiscally conservative about selling out the lives of their constituents to big pharma and insurance profiteers. It would be more accurate to refer to these senators as corporate-owned Democrats.
http://www.dailykostv.com/w/002013/
So, why is this seemingly minor issue of language important? Because if health reform passes without some type of competitive public option which effectively helps drive down health care costs in the private sector, I foresee all elected Democrats in the House and Senate going down with this ship. Mandated health coverage for Americans would then simply be a giveaway to health insurance companies who are already making sizable profits on the backs of their squeezed and downsized members.
http://www.startribune.com/business/51360167.html
Let's make sure health reform doesn't become the Titanic for Democrats by giving Blue Dog Democrats the false cover of being called "moderate."