Slog
News & ArtsFriday, January 29, 2010
Politics Health Care Talk on C-SPAN? Check. Fierce Advocate? Check. Must-See TV? Check.
Posted by Eli Sanders on Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 12:24 PM
Everyone's talking about Obama's 90-minute appearance today before the House Republicans. It turned into a debate over health care, jobs, and everything else, all live on C-SPAN, and Obama beat back every Republican talking point while also revealing the fraudulence of conservative claims that they're proposing serious alternative policies and/or trying to work with him on Democratic proposals.
Klein: "Transfixing." Ambinder: "An amazing moment." Hayes: "The most I've liked the president since inauguration day, probably." Sullivan: "Remarkable." Scherer: "Historic and fascinating." Smith: "GOP aides telling me it was a mistake to allow cameras in."
Watch it:
UPDATE: Looks like the fact that everyone in the world is now linking to this has caused C-SPAN's video servers to crash or something. Hold tight, hopefully it will come back shortly. (Or, you can try watching the MSNBC version, though it doesn't have the full event.)
UPDATE 2: And it's back. For now. Enjoy!
2
@1 It's just the headline. The priorities of Slog have been messed up from (the evening of) Day 1.
5
Okay, so there's a poor quality video on youtube in multiple parts (audio is fine which is all I'm looking for). Here's the first part:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2m2XUmkI…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2m2XUmkI…
6
Cool, he can win a debate.
How does this translate into getting the votes to pass the fucking bill?
How does this translate into getting the votes to pass the fucking bill?
8
C-SPAN is "down for maintenance" - the video -should- be here:
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2010/0…
Video clips (useless) and a transcript can be found here:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/obama…
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2010/0…
Video clips (useless) and a transcript can be found here:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/obama…
11
Here's a good quality version of the speech, I haven't found anything good with the Q&A yet, just bits and pieces.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKgS1xU75…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKgS1xU75…
16
Wow, nuance. This kind of discussion is why I love following politics.
I really hope these events can become a regular thing. Even if the Republicans don't invite Obama to their meetings anymore, he should invite them to chats like this. And he should do the same thing with Democrats.
While we're at it, the elected officials in Congress should have discussions like this among themselves, outside of official meeting times so the people can get a better picture of the process.
You hear anger from the people because the when we elect them, these politicians seem to go into a dark room and only peak their heads out to tell us why we should be angry at the other side for doing things we can't see in the room.
Let's have more transparency, then maybe the media will have a reason to air more intelligent discussion like this.
I really hope these events can become a regular thing. Even if the Republicans don't invite Obama to their meetings anymore, he should invite them to chats like this. And he should do the same thing with Democrats.
While we're at it, the elected officials in Congress should have discussions like this among themselves, outside of official meeting times so the people can get a better picture of the process.
You hear anger from the people because the when we elect them, these politicians seem to go into a dark room and only peak their heads out to tell us why we should be angry at the other side for doing things we can't see in the room.
Let's have more transparency, then maybe the media will have a reason to air more intelligent discussion like this.
17
Oh, and we the people need to start demanding of our politicians these kind of discussions. If they don't engage with us, that should be the end of their career.
19
@17 there's a process for this. Voting. Don't like stonewalling from your representatives? Vote for their opponent.
21
Yes, the state of the union and this help pull back the veil on the president and what he's been up to.
Since the inauguration, a lot has been going on and the relative infrequency of his public appearances have allowed our projected discontents to run away with themselves. But looking at this, I can see he's still the same person I voted for---despite reports to the contrary.
We can have a future built to the specification of the politics of personal destruction and idelogical hubris or a constructive politics suited to address the future aspirations of us citizens, to paraphrase the man himself.
We make our choice everyday.
Since the inauguration, a lot has been going on and the relative infrequency of his public appearances have allowed our projected discontents to run away with themselves. But looking at this, I can see he's still the same person I voted for---despite reports to the contrary.
We can have a future built to the specification of the politics of personal destruction and idelogical hubris or a constructive politics suited to address the future aspirations of us citizens, to paraphrase the man himself.
We make our choice everyday.
22
@6
Just by doing this kind of thing. "Winning" a debate isn't merely a matter of overcoming an opponent. It's a matter of convincing spectators to go for your side. So when he has this kind of open discussion, people can see what he's about and decide whether they want to do it his way or the obstructionists' way (and by obstructionist I don't merely refer to the Republican party or the right wing).
Just by doing this kind of thing. "Winning" a debate isn't merely a matter of overcoming an opponent. It's a matter of convincing spectators to go for your side. So when he has this kind of open discussion, people can see what he's about and decide whether they want to do it his way or the obstructionists' way (and by obstructionist I don't merely refer to the Republican party or the right wing).
23
Relative infrequency of his public appearances? I like him, for the most part, and voted for him, but I think he's been if anything OVER-present in the media. Not this sort of discussion, though, you're right there.
26
We already know the GOP is utterly bankrupt -- of ideas and morals. Why are we so surprised that Obama can level them without breaking a sweat? The real question is, why, if he can, aren't we moving forward faster? Why is the bar so ridiculously low for Republicans and so high for Dems?
27
@26 I feel like that sort of talk is exactly one of the main things Obama was talking about. If we go around all day talking about how the Republicans are completely without any ideas or morals, how is it going to be possible for us to work with them to push things forward? Believe me, I totally agree that they have (by and large) been more obstructionist than helpful over the last year, but I think the tone needs to be welcoming on both sides of the aisle.
28
@27:
But, at some point there has to be a line drawn. Reaching out to offer an open hand that is repeatedly slapped away eventually becomes an example of the old adage, "insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet always expecting a different result."
How many times does the GOP have to resort to their blatant obstructionism ("whatever the other side is fer, we're agin' it") before Obama and the Democratic Party decide they've had that hand slapped once too often? Because, you can bet (and to which the previous eight years were irrefutable proof), if the Republicans were back in power tomorrow, they wouldn't even make the offer of reconciliation in the first place.
That's the difference (and essential problem) between the two parties: our side always wants to "play nice", "be inclusive" yadda-yadda - qualities inherent in our basic philosophy of fairness; while the GOP just wants to get their way, no matter what.
But, at some point there has to be a line drawn. Reaching out to offer an open hand that is repeatedly slapped away eventually becomes an example of the old adage, "insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet always expecting a different result."
How many times does the GOP have to resort to their blatant obstructionism ("whatever the other side is fer, we're agin' it") before Obama and the Democratic Party decide they've had that hand slapped once too often? Because, you can bet (and to which the previous eight years were irrefutable proof), if the Republicans were back in power tomorrow, they wouldn't even make the offer of reconciliation in the first place.
That's the difference (and essential problem) between the two parties: our side always wants to "play nice", "be inclusive" yadda-yadda - qualities inherent in our basic philosophy of fairness; while the GOP just wants to get their way, no matter what.
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