Saturday, December 19, 2009

Ben Nelson: Profile in Cowardice

As Smitty mentioned, the Nebraska Democrat caved overnight:
Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, was prepared to announce to his caucus Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas.
"We're there," said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), as he headed into a special meeting to announce the deal. . . .
Michelle Malkin reports the morning press conference:
Nelson announces support at press conference. Says he is satisfied by abortion language. He reads a perfunctory statement praising Reid and White House, then says with the most passion in his voice: "I reserve the right to vote against the next cloture vote if there are material changes" made in conference.
UPDATE: Dan Riehl points out the most important consideration: "What's in it for Ben?" His vote was bought, which may be the first time the phrase "thirty pieces of silver" has appeared in federal legislation.

UPDATE II: Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:
Nelson caved on abortion and sold out for an extra year of federal Medicaid subsidies.
From his press conference speech:
Nelson compared the bill to the creation of Social Security and Medicare.
"I truly believe this legislation will stand the test of time," he said. "The lives of millions of Americans will be improved."
Those "millions"? Bureaucrats. Tell your kids to forget about a business career. Bureaucracy is the future!

UPDATE III: Philip Klein of the American Spectator walks it forward:
Next month, the House and Senate will reconcile their bills, which will then have to pass both chambers again before President Obama can sign it, which he hopes to do before his State of the Union address. At this point, the smart money would have to be on Democrats getting it done, but there are still obstacles to reaching a final agreement.
"Obstacles," indeed. Ben Nelson could realize how badly he has dishonored himself and commit seppuku. Unlikely, of course, but theoretically possible.

UPDATE IV: Readers who think I'm actually advocating that Nelson engage in ritual disembowelment are mistaken. Seppuku is an expression of the shogun's honorable acknowledgement of his own dishonor. Nelson obviously has no sense of honor. He's a Democrat.

Speaking of Democrats and dishonor, what about the progressive netroots? Total punks, says Moe Lane:
I've been involved with the political blogosphere since 2002 or so, and the next time I see the left side of its leadership stand up to entrenched Democratic party interests over something important will be the first. . . . [I]f they swallowed heavily and accepted being betrayed on FISA/rendition/same-sex marriage, they’ll accept whatever monstrosity that the current ruling party comes up with with regard to health care rationing.
Swallowing heavily, indeed.

UPDATE V: "Which is better, a whore or a slut?"

"If Nelson was really such a staunch pro-life advocate, why is he a member of the Democrat Party?"

UPDATE VI: (Smitty)
That's Right considers a new line of ballot suppositories. Sorry, Russ: Hugo Chavez just declared the evil of capitalism over in Copenhagen.

19 comments:

  1. Cowardly is not the right term...

    Whore is the right term.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 'cuse me

    I'm a Nebraskan and you need to know two things:

    1. We know he's a Democrat. We voted for him and have been voting for him for years.

    2. We don't appreciate outsiders tell us how to think or how our senators ought to vote.

    Finally, why do republicans continue to flirt with him when you know he's a democrat?

    He's betrayed no one. He acts for us - not you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1) Readers who think I'm actually advocating that Nelson engage in ritual disembowelment are mistaken. Seppuku is an expression of the shogun's honorable acknowledgement of his own dishonor.

    Wikipedia defines seppuku as: Seppuku ("stomach-cutting") is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment.

    2) Ben Nelson could realize how badly he has dishonored himself and commit seppuku.

    If Sen. Nelson doesn't have enough honor to 'take his Lugar and go into his den and do the right thing', it seems to me this may be the right time to revive the old Patriot custom of Tar & Feathering. Such times seem to cry out for such measures.

    3) Come On People...
    It's Time To ROC 'N' ROLL:
    Restore Our Constitution & Restore Our Lost Liberties!

    ReplyDelete
  4. haha!
    High Five!
    Whore, Slut, Coward...name calling isn't policy ,my friends.
    Perhaps one day in the distant future a new generation of Conservatives will learn this and perhaps back up policy criticism with ideas of their own. In the meantime you'll just have to settle for the disappointment that comes with the intellectual vacuity of the Right.
    And to think, someone out there thought that flying a small plane with a sign attached to it that read "Obama Stop Destroying Our Country!" was a brilliant idea.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "it seems to me this may be the right time to revive the old Patriot custom of Tar & Feathering. "

    Brilliant!Let's revisit 19th century tactics! Seems logical considering how your entire party has been driven to the ingenious idea of voicing opposition by way of--gasp!--18th century tactics!
    Yeah, nothing says 21st century like tea bagging.
    Seems like Conservatism is engaged in a pistol duel with itself...
    BTW--restore our constitution and lost liberties? Please, can someone finally let me in on which liberties they've been deprived of? Paranoia can only take you so far...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Stacy, Stacy, Stacy. "The fundamentals still suck," remember? And they suck harder now than they ever have before.

    Our glorious Welfare-Warfare State is unsustainable, and it will all collapse sooner rather than later, and the cheap whores will go down with it!

    Merry Christmas!

    There Is No Way Out Of This Box....:

    The facts are in and the math is incontrovertible.

    To the politicians of both major political parties:

    You can either deal with reality or have it slap you upside the head in the form of political, economic and civil collapse.

    To the people of this nation:

    You can either deal with reality and be prepared for the politicians refusing to deal with reality, or you will suffer the consequences of being unprepared when, not if there is political, economic and civil collapse.


    Can the Rampaging Leviathan Be Stopped or Slowed?:

    [T]ake heart from the knowledge that ultimately this criminal enterprise will attain such bloated size and scope that its own survival will no longer be possible, and it will implode, as the Soviet Union and other similarly overreaching politico-economic orders have imploded. Governments that grow and grow ultimately find that their predation becomes greater than their prey can support, at which point such predators are doomed. Thus, the present system of government in this country and many others contains the seeds of its own destruction...

    ReplyDelete
  7. If LA Senator Landrieu got $300M for her state to offset the cost of this monstrosity, I'm sure Nelson was able to eek out HALFABILLION!!! Traitors. Every. Single. One of them!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey Mr. “We don't appreciate outsiders tell us how to think or how our senators ought to vote.” Well then stop expecting us to pick up the tab for your sh*t heel state!

    “Under this language the federal government will forever cover the costs of Medicaid expansion in Nebraska. Taxpayers in every other state will forever be responsible for the expanded Medicaid program in Nebraska.” http://tinyurl.com/yzawlez

    So when you are done giving the don’t tread on me lecture to all of un NON NEBRASKINS who don’t know sh*t but will be picking up the tab on your new WELFARE STATE of NEBRASKA, when you are done get yourself a big glass of STFU and put down your spoon because the STUPID SOUP is really taking its toll on your ability to reason. Moron.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I might miss my guess, but I do not think RSM was advancing a policy position. His response was directed more toward the qualities of someone who sells out a principled position for monetary gain.

    If it is poicy you are looking for, the policy is pretty simple: lawmakers should stop making new laws. The best government is the least government. Expanding the Federal government futher into the control of the healthcare industry will result in worse care and decreased delivery of services for people like you and me. None of this are you likely to learn until you experience it yourself first hand. This is unfortunate, for there were ample opportunities for you to access how well the Federal and State governments deliver services. Ever been to the Post Office or the DMV?

    Well, you'll see.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Young4Eyes: There's only one thing worse than a troll invading your site and that's a boring troll doing it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It's over. I'm moving to New Zealand.

    ReplyDelete
  12. @Bob Belvedere,
    Now, Young 4 Eyes is our zampolit, and we love him, for all of the stuff that dribbles out of his head, making a mess on the floor.

    @RightKlik,
    I was having that very thought while shoveling the driveway.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, don't pile on Y4E.

    He was dropped on his head as a young child and suffered a frightful amount of damage.

    ReplyDelete
  14. @Smitty1e: I had to respond in some way as the commissar insulted me and honor must always be defended, even when the insult comes from a unhaired lad.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Young 4 Eyes never underestimate paranoia as a survival strategy and in the interest of catching up on old times I was not a “union buster in the 30s” but I have read several books on the subject, sends a thrill…naaa too easy.

    ReplyDelete
  16. kris: check out some of the comments of others from Nebraska. They voted for a "Democrat" that was conservative and they feel betrayed. Two polls show that Nebraskans were almost 2 to 1 to be inclined to vote against Nelson in the next election if he voted for the bill. That means somebody feels "betrayed." People of other states have a right to complain, seeing as how we're paying for Nebraskans Medicaid money out of our own pockets, yet we don't get a voice in your elections.

    ReplyDelete
  17. If people weren't pissed at the power-drunk Dems before, they likely are now...

    These tools like Nelson will soon regret the day they did this for Obama, he'll pull all them right-over the abyss with him... and the coming GOP majority will just rescind it anyway-

    ReplyDelete