Open Thread

It’s a long, but beautiful, drive from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. I have just completed the trip and will write a few pieces over the next few days about what I saw and learned at the Netroots Nation conference. I am very grateful to everyone who made my trip possible with their contributions.

Maybe we could use this thread for the people who didn’t go to the conference but paid attention to the national narrative while I was gone. When you go to these conferences you kind of lose touch with the pulse of the nation. So, I really have no clue what is going on. What did I miss? Where do we stand?

7 Comments

Oui on August 16, 2009 at 5:02 pm

.
Where in my lifetime, world records on the 100 m were counted in 0.01 increments for improval, today Usain Bolt smashed his own record by 0.11 sec. Just amazing, similar to the explosive 8.90 m long jump in Mexico City in 1968.

"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

ask on August 16, 2009 at 6:37 pm

I read somewhere early today that he said he could do 9.59 – what a delivery!

Ed J on August 16, 2009 at 5:08 pm

a permanent home between his legs. From the NYT:

White House Appears Open to Insurance Co-ops

By JOSEPH BERGER
Published: August 16, 2009
The Obama administration sent signals on Sunday that it has backed away from its once-firm vision of a government organization to provide for the nation’s 50 million uninsured and is now open to using nonprofit cooperatives instead.

Later,

The health care industry prefers that format, even though many liberal Democrats have argued that cooperatives would not have as much sway over the prices Americans pay for health care.

Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, has fought to retain the government insurer in the Obama health plan but conceded last week that the White House might not have a choice.

Of course they have a choice. Obama could challenge the Republicans to repeal Social Security and Medicare if they don’t want socialism in America. That’ll make grandma drive her electric scooter into the fuckin’ TV – but maybe she’ll begin to separate reality from fear mongering. At any rate, the White House would go down fighting and show a little backbone.