Over?...Did Pelosi Say Over?

 

One of my favorite movies of all time is Animal House.  I saw it a few months after it came out at the old Highland Park Theater, which was one town over from where I grew up.  I was 13 years old and the scenes of toga parties, food fights in the Faber cafeteria, and free flowing, well…let’s just say at the Delta House there were many things that were free flowing, is what made me want to go to college.  Animal House will always have a special place in my heart because of that. Then just last week something happened that reminded me of a particular scene from Animal House.  The scene was the one where Eric Stratton, a Delta, thinks he is going to meets Mandy, one of the Omega girls, in a hotel room only to find five of the Omega men ready to do “a little dance” on his head.  He finds his way back to the Delta house, bruised and battered only to be told by D-Day, they’ve all been expelled.
   
Now what happened, that reminded me of this classic scene from Animal House, was when Nancy Peolsi got up in front of a huge press core, with the American people watching, and announced that the Public Option would not be included in the House health care reform bill.  She announced this unbelievable statement with these facts in place.  First, forty one senators have signed on to pledge there support for a health care bill that includes the Public Option, leaving only nine more senators necessary to seal the deal.  Of the senators that are left, none have said they would not support it and at least nine have indicated in the past that they would support the public option if it was in the final bill.  In addition, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin has said that he will push through any bill that comes from the house including one with a Public Option.  Next, the majority of Americans, once they understand what a Public Option is, support it.  And finally, the House already passed a bill earlier that included a public option.  So what possible explanation could there be for Nancy Pelosi announcing to the world that the House bill will not include the Public Option?  Only one thing, Animal House.  You see, here is what I think happened…
 
Some time in the afternoon of March, 11th, Nancy Pelosi got a call from newly elected and former Cosmopolitan magazine's "America's Sexiest Man" of 1982, Scott Brown, asking if Nancy would like to meet him at a hotel room at the Watergate to discuss some future pending legislation that he would like to aggressively “ram” through her House.  She indicated that she would love to help an “up and coming” Congressman “ram” anything through her House, and would be happy to meet him there to discuss the details.
 
Speaker Pelosi arrived at the Watergate later that evening anxious to discuss Rep. Browns "pending legislation".  After getting a key from the front desk she opened the door to the hotel room only to find that Scott Brown was nowhere to be seen, but instead standing there, was John McCain, John Boehner, and three unnamed health insurance lobbyists.  Without getting into too much detail, if you have seen Animal House you know what happened next.  (Being a liberal progressive myself, I do not approve of this type of behavior, but hey that’s a Republican for you.)  The next morning, Nancy Peolsi, with the aid of Senator Harry Reid stumbled into the Oval office where President Obama was slamming down Red Bull with Joe Biden.  The President asked what happened and Pelosi replied, “No public option…it’s Over!”
 
That’s when it happened.  Joe Biden crushed his Red Bull can against his head, stood up and yelled, “OVER?..Did you say OVER?...NOTHING’S OVER UNTILL WE DECIDE IT IS!  Was it OVER when Iran invaded Kuwait?”  Reid looked at Obama and asked, ”Iran?” Obama replied, “Forget it, he’s rollin’.” Biden continued, “Hell no! And it’s not over now!  We may not support the public option but HELL if we’re gonna let health reform die!  So who’s with me!?  LET'S DO IT!……”  And that’s when he ran out of the room, fist in the air, with no one following him.  Now this is all speculation, of course.  It may not have happened exactly like this, but I' m sure it's pretty close.
 
Later that day, a recomposed Pelosi held her news conference. Caving to the pressure of the republicans, the lobbyists, and the conservative democrats, she announced that the public option would not be a part of the health reform legislation to come out of the House.  To the dismay of the Senate democrats who have the votes to pass it, and the majority of Americans who support the public option this announcement was both shocking and disappointing, but just like Joe Biden said, “Nothing’s over untill WE decide it is!”  We the People want real competition in Health Care!  We the People want lower premiums! We the People want the insurance companies to be held accountable! We the People want a Public Option!  SO LET'S DO IT!… (c’mon, don’t leave me hangin’ here people.)
 
 

Call your Representative and Speaker Pelosi today and demand the Public Option.

You can e-mail Speaker Nancy Pelosi at http://www.speaker.gov/contact.

You can write your Rep at https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml.

Check to see if your Senator is supporting the Public Option at http://whipcongress.com/.

Sign the petition to include the Public Option in the House Bill at http://www.democracyforamerica.com/activities/311.

 

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