Eyes Wide Shut

Olbermann is back, and he doesn’t seem to have gained any brain cells during his absence, despite new scientific studies that suggests that brain cells do continue to develop throughout life.

In his ongoing comedic attack on the Republican party, he is not even bothering to misquote Senator John Cornyn in order to lampoon him for making a perfectly fairly reasonable statement. Perhaps Keith didn’t actually read the statement before quoting and clowning about it, or perhaps he simply doesn’t know what the “health care reform” bill which Senator Cornyn voted against actually contains.

First, since he did so well for them on the stimulus, they were against it before they were for it, the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman, Senator John Cornyn, a memo to GOP candidates urging them to take credit for the popular things in the bill and decry the other stuff, like the means to pay for it.

Quoting, “On the trail, it‘s critical that we remind people of the fact that it was Republicans who fought to force insurance companies to compete with one another over state lines for Americans‘ business. It was Republicans who fought for policies that protected Americans with pre-existing conditions and it was Republicans who proposed health care reforms that didn‘t cut Medicare by $500 million and raised Americans‘ taxes by $400 million. It‘s Republicans who continue to believe that we should focus on reforms which actually lower health care costs for Americans, first and foremost.”

Even though all of them did vote against every part of that.

Well, Keith, no actually they did not. The “health care reform” bill does not contain reforms that require “insurance companies to compete with one another over state lines,” so they did not vote against that. It does not contain “reforms that didn‘t cut Medicare by $500 million,” it contains reforms that do cut Medicare by $500 million, so your accusation is off target on that one too.

If you take the word “every” out of your last sentence, Keith, you would be okay, because they did vote against a reform which “protected Americans with pre-existing conditions.”

Although, “Even though all of them did vote against part of that,” doesn’t sound all that damning, does it?

Olbermann’s first question to his guest is, “So, the Republican line will be: give us credit for the good stuff in the bill even though we all, each and every one of us, voted against it?”

That lends credit to the idea that he has quoted Cornyn’s statement several times without actually noticing the words which he is reading. What Cornyn is talking about in his statement, with one exception, are things that are not in the bill and yet Olbermann says that Republicans will be claiming credit for “the good stuff in the bill.”

His guest responds with words to the effect of, “Yes, it’s really idiotic,” and the conversation goes downhill from there. The clown show continues.