Democrats try incoherence as argument for health care bill

James Taranto:

President Obama tried to convince lawmakers in his own party that America’s “crisis” in health-care financing would turn to catastrophe if Congress did not radically expand government power over health care by this month. He failed. Despite huge Democratic majorities, neither house of Congress passed any such legislation by the Obama deadline.

The president’s insistence on action without deliberation heightened the sense that ObamaCare was dangerous. He, and friendly media outlets, asked voters to trust his assurances that their medical coverage would not adversely affect them. But if that was true, why the haste? If ObamaCare is as good as Obama says it is, why is he acting as if it cannot withstand scrutiny?

Was this merely a tactical error? Was an inexperienced administration overeager in attempting to sell an essentially meritorious plan? Recent events suggest not.

If the plan were good, you would expect its proponents to be staking their arguments on its merits. Instead, they are turning this into a debate about the plan’s opponents. A telling video clip of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) on MSNBC’s “Hardball” has been making the rounds....

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Most of the ensuing criticism has centered on Boxer’s weird fashion commentary. This may reflect no more than a regional difference: Californians tend to be more casual in their sartorial standards than regular people. Still, it’s a head-scratcher why Boxer would think it is to her opponents’ discredit that they are “well-dressed”--i.e., that they look respectable.

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Boxer is not alone in this. An even more bizarre video clip shows Speaker Nancy Pelosi being quizzed by a reporter:

Q: Do you think there’s a legitimate grassroots movement going on here?

Pelosi: I think they’re AstroTurf. You be the judge. They’re carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on health care.

“AstroTurf,” also a trademark for a brand of fake grass, here is a play on “grassroots,” a dysphemism for what is sometimes known as “community organizing”--professionally staging protests and lending them credibility via the false impression of spontaneity. As far as we know, Pelosi’s claim about “swastikas” is the product of a fevered imagination. If there were swastikas, they would hardly be a sign of professionalism.

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So, let’s review the arguments:

• Republicans are bad, they lost the last election, and they have partisan motives for wanting to stop ObamaCare.

• People who are angry about this are crackpots who display swastikas and other invidious symbols. Also, their anger is insincere, and they are shills of the RNC. They wear nice clothes, and this is not to their credit.

• Some of the arguments against ObamaCare are false, according to Obama.

• If ObamaCare is defeated, Obama would be hurt.

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There is much more and I urge you to read it in full. He points out that what is missing is a serious argument for the merits of the bill. Since they have not been able to settle on a bill that could be a problem, but their incoherent attacks on opponents are not very persuasive.

While the President has tried to argue that the bill is not about him, his supporters seem to be arguing that it is about the opponents of the bill. That will not sooth the anger of those asking the questions of Democrats. It sounds like the Democrats are making the argument that people should support the bill because it makes Republicans and Independents angry.