As the BJ front-pager whose main contribution to the Great PTDB Push was staying the heck out of everyones’ way, I want to thank Tim F. (and commentors MCC and Moses2317) for so earnestly and effectively keeping us focused and on-target. Tim is the guy who’s been posting about the arcane Congressional travails of H.R. 4872, the Health Care & Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, keeping us up on the Congresspersons and the numbers involved as circumstances evolved, nagging us to get involved despite all our blogger-introvert instincts and preference for quirky snark over earnest activism. Tim, even if you never posted so much as a one-line Open Thread notice ever again, your work here over the last many weeks has made a place for you in the record books far beyond the borders of Balloon Juice. You have made the world a better place!
*****
In the same celebratory vein, the Boston Globe has a statement from Victoria Reggie Kennedy:
“As Ted Kennedy said, across the decades, in the best and the most discouraging hours, health care was the cause of his life. Tonight that cause becomes more than a dream, it becomes America’s commitment.
__
“This landmark moment belongs to President Barack Obama, to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the courageous members of the House, and to the colleagues he cherished in the Senate. Most of all, it belongs to America — and it is one of the rare legislative achievements that belongs to the ages.
__
“When Ted stood with Barack Obama in 2008, he said he had new hope that we would break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American — north, south, east, west, young, old — would have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege. And now they do and from now on they will… “
Yutsano
Goddammit. I knew I was gonna start tearing up when I read Victoria’s statement. This is so much for Teddy as it is for all of America.
Oh and xie xie ma Tim. :)
Stroszek
The AP’s Liz “Sprinkles” Sidoti already declaring HCR passage to be excellent news for John McCain!
Just in case you were wondering if the concern trolling would ever stop…
asiangrrlMN
Ok, who broke BJ again? Yeah, I teared up, too, when reading Victoria Kennedy’s statement. God. He worked so damn hard for healthcare reform.
Tim F. was a beast for HCR.
@Stroszek: Gaaaaaaaaaah!
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
from commenter Joe from lowell on Yglesias’s blog:
“This is their Bush vs. Gore. This is their 2004 exit polls.
It isn’t just that they lost, but that they had victory snatched from them after they’d tasted it. They thought they had won months ago. They had already popped their champagne after Scott Brown’s election.
This one hurts. Bad.”
fucen tarmal
word is bong.
freelancer
@asiangrrlMN:
Tim F deserves a medal of freedom. And not in the insincere crony faction that is George Tenet.
As a regular, who has been embedded in the BJ community for the last 2-3 years, it’s kind of hard to appreciate the lengths that he has gone, as well as the activism that he has inspired over the last 6-8 months. I don’t know how much of a difference that BJ has really made in the last year, but am really inspired and proud of what we have done. If you had asked JC three years ago if he could’ve made this much of a difference, he probably would have scoffed.
booch221
Will everyone please join me in singing Waterloo, with ABBA?
http://www.last.fm/music/ABBA/_/Waterloo
Martin
On to financial reform, and hopefully more work on the jobs front.
This was a great victory, not because this HCR bill is awesome, but because the GOP forced it to become a great victory (and because Nancy and Obama rose to that challenge). Gettysburg isn’t that special a place, other than an important battle was once fought there. When the smoke dies down, I think people will find that HCR isn’t the downfall of society, will do much good and a bit of ill, but otherwise wasn’t deserving of all the energy the GOP dumped into it. That said, I hope the GOP butthurt never fades, particularly when 20 years down the road, the gaps filled in and smoothed over, we look back on this as a foundation for a truly progressive health care system.
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
@booch221:
Wow. The audio sync is really bad on that video. It looks unnerving (or like they’re speaking swedish)
Oh, and in this theme, you can’t forget the awesome Bush version of the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSuhuopoLiI
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
Hmmm. Sorta. In our parliamentary system, Obama would be pm and Nancy would probably be deputy pm. We have a governor general who is nominally the equivalent of the President (but aside from being the Queen’s representative, has almost no actual power). The pm runs the country. Our speaker is an administrative role with no actual role in governing.
Tattoosydney
Oh, and “NANCY SMASH! Raaaaaaaaaagh!”
Cain
I think though we also need to credit one other group. Our opposition, if they were even remotely rational they could have stopped this. But since they got so batshit crazy, plus being under thrall of Malkin, Erickson, Rush, and Drudge has caused us to finally break the deadlock and push healthcare reform.
Thanks guys, couldn’t have been done without you!
“Waterloo” the headliner song of the Democratic Convention!
cain
Cain
Goddam, there is at least one person thinking we’ve reached ‘peak wingnut’. Isn’t that something John came up with?
from here
cain
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
Nutpicking over at Redstate and one regular there is going Galt on his taxes! Ok, he is filing an extension so he can pay them later. Ok, he is paying his taxes on time and filing the extension once someone pointed out to him that he can’t do what he originally intended without breaking the law. What is funny is that his recommended diary has comments about topics like McVeigh only dreaming about what people are able to get via the internet today, a bulk fertilizer purchase, a wish to sell home chemistry sets from the 60’s and a recommendation to purchase fertilizer from many places and in small quantities.
Toss in a confession to tax fraud as the whipped topping and you have a small wingnut masturbation festival at Redstate!
Fucking crazy assholes.
Linkmeister
@Cain: Now wait. Let’s not get carried away. That song’s good enough for the moment, but . . . ;)
asiangrrlMN
@Cain: True. They really gave the Dems no choice but to pass the damn bill. Hee hee.
@freelancer: Damn right. He even got ME to call my rep, and that’s saying a lot. This blog really raised the bar in urging the readers to participate in the democratic process. A raised glass of champagne to us all!
Alex
I guess the one taint on what is such a glorious night is reading what conservatives and libertarians have said about the bill, and seeing just how heartless, hateful, and ignorant so many of them are, and how much power they still hold. This was a blow that needed to be struck against them, to show them America doesn’t belong to them just yet.
robertdsc
Perhaps we should call our reps this week to say thanks for the vote?
Martin
So, think anyone will remind Rush that he promised to move to Costa Rica?
Soul On Ice
So much WIN tonight, but I confess I felt an extra-special Chris-Matthews-tingle-up-my-leg when Bartleby The Stupak got branded a “baby-killer” during his House speech. Must have been like if Javert had been called “a fucking bread thief”
Peter
I love the smell of frothing, apoplectic teabaggers in the morning. It smells like governance.
ds
Everyone throw some money at Betsy Markey and others who showed some guts. I just did and I rarely contribute.
The sociopathic streak has really come out in the last few days.
Imagine, someone somewhere will be able to sleep at night knowing that they won’t be bankrupted by an unexpected illness. ARMAGEDDON.
Things that I used to think everyone agreed were unpleasant facts about life they practically worship. To conservatives, dead poor people = freedom.
The Tim Channel
We’ve seen Obama’s ability to pass legislation. Perhaps now we’ll get a chance to see him enforce some? There are torturers and war criminals on TV every Sunday. Maybe he’s been too busy to notice?
Enjoy.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
I hear that Calamity Jane and her Butt Hamsters are pissed that this passed with the mandate, calling it “fascism”. I learned of this via Free Republic so make of it what you may. The freeper is thrilled that they have a “COMMON CAUSE” with “the folks over at that lefty blog firedoglake.com” so it’s probably true…lol! Another freeper says that Hillbuzz is on board with them too.
I’m paddling along on a river of wingnut, teabagger and firebagger tears, just enjoying the scenery and taking it all in.
Napoleon
Hats off to the House on a job well done.
Of course the Republican’s prove again they can not lose with dignity and someone had to yell baby killer at Bart Stupak.
Today is going to be sweet on the intertubes as the right wing kicks on the afterburners on their freak out.
chowkster
YES! You guys did it. Awesome! A big “Thank You” to all the Balloon Juicers – especially professor Tim and our host John Cole. I don’t post here nearly as much as I would like to, but I lurk here ALL the time. I love you all!
Thanks to you, and the Democrats who uncharastically grew some balls and dragged the United States to the steps of 21st century, my sister and her family in US have one less thing to worry about. And thanks to you guys, my girlfriend can finally start her own business. And now I can finally get serious about moving back to the US.
Thank you President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and the House Democrats! And thank you Juicers!
denverjeninpdx
The “yes we did” headliner kills me.
Yes we fucking did. This site actually helped change something. Thank you fpers, but mostly thank you Tim F. You were tireless. And a nag, but we need that sometimes.
stuckinred
robertdsc
YA think I should call Paul Braun??? I’m a refugee from Firedoglake and it look pretty sane over here.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
I can’t wait for the news cycle to begin later today. The Republicans have to double down on their rhetoric, they really have no other choice. If the voters think that the Democrats did something good for them then the Repubs are going to suffer this fall. They have to do everything they can between now and November to make it appear that this bill has already failed. They are going to be pumping up every single ‘issue’, claim that everything about the bill is an abject failure and point to it as the reason they didn’t vote to pass the bill. They have to sell the public on the idea that this is a total failure and the voters have to turn on the Democrats by restoring the Republicans to power.
If not then they are up shit creek without a paddle this fall. We need to keep the pressure up and call the wingnuts on the bullshit that they are going to be furiously dumping on us between now and then.
This ain’t over, not by a long shot. But it sure feels good to celebrate for a few before the next round of shit begins. :)
Napoleon
Ugh, they have outtakes of an interview with Zack Space (the only Ohio Dem to vote against the bill) on my local NPR station and he is spewing Republican talking points.
Kobie
As a semi-regular (i.e. not extremely active) commenter here and on the GOS and a few other commie blogs, I will admit that I had HCR dead and buried just a few weeks ago. I’m glad to see we (and by we, I mean the people who can actually do something) got something done.
I frequent some other off-the-beaten-path forums, and facebook and all that shit, and all I see is “socialism” and “communism” and the related nonsense. Thankfully, I have BJ to hit up when it gets to be too much.
I really do love this place.
RedKitten
Tim F., kudos. You were tireless and you really made a difference. It’s beautiful to see people not just wanting something, but working their damned asses off to make it happen. This was a prime example of how to get the best out of your government.
To the rest of my friends from “the States” — congratulations. Your country has just become much more humane and gracious towards its people. May this be the first of many such victories.
Kobie
@Napoleon: Supposedly, the “baby killer” comment came from California’s George Radanovich. No firm confirmation, but that’s what Max is saying. http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/03/who-called-stupak-baby-killer/
RedKitten
Oh, and a certain someone also wishes to pass on his congratulations.
A Mom Anon
@RedKitten: OMG,RK if that kid gets any more adorable he’ll become a vortex of cute that could suck in the entire planet. What a face.
Aimai
I was at a wedding yesterday all afternoon and evening. Solid dem, everyone pro bill. No one but me seemed to have an iPhone so I spent thebentire night dancing , drinking, and giving people updates on the vote. I was like the guy with the teeny transistor radio under his tuxedo who jumps up and shouts “score” while the bride and groom are doing their first dance.
We got back to the hotel and watched the final votes and speeches on cspan . What an incredible night. And what a pleasure to see “the mop topped zygote fetishist” forced to get up and adenoidally gasp his way to repudiating his own amendment. I think I saw the marks of John dingells crutches on stupak’s head, next to a few ruler marks.
Aimai
MikeJ
@DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal):
My theory is that at some point she figured that it would just never get done, nothing would ever pass, and figured that it was better to succeed at killing it than fail at passing it. In other words, she was doing exactly what Democratic politicians have been doing to annoy us for decades.
Could this actually teach Dems what it’s like to win? Maybe make them like it and want to do it again?
R-Jud
@Peter:
Word. Nice work, Tim F. Way to nag… for JUSTICE!
Brien Jackson
So who gets pens? Vicki Kennedy, obviously. Pelosi, Reid, Dingell, and Hillary. Anyone else?
Jrod
Thanks Tim.
SiubhanDuinne
@Brien Jackson: by rights, one of them should go to Tim F.
MikeJ
@SiubhanDuinne: Jane Hamsher did more than anyone to solidify support for the bill on the left. A lot of people had purity problems with it early on, but when she sacrificed herself by hanging out with Grover Norquist, everyone with any sense saw what lay down the “kill the bill” path and got in line.
pixelpusher
Thanks again, Tim, for that daily whipping. Besides feeling good, it actually made a difference.
It’s good to know that the Internet can be used to counter big money. Why do candidates need so much dough? To pay for TV ads. And in 2008, we had the irony of Obama collecting vast sums from the Internet in order to dump them into the TV market. Hopefully, as time goes on, the Internet won’t be the game-changer. It’ll just be the game. This is how it begins.
slightly_peeved
Keep at them like this, and it never will. There’s a reason the Libertarians don’t win any political contest anywhere else in the world – because while people don’t trust politicans, they know that government can do things for them.
Great work from Tim, mcc, and everyone else who called and fought for this bill. Once the exchanges are formed, every American will have access to an insurance scheme which better than federal public servants have now. That’s not Europe, but that’s a big improvement.
So… Obama’s been in office just over a year, and he’s prevented a second great depression AND made the biggest move towards universal health care ever made in the US. I think that deserves a picture…
gogol's wife
@slightly_peeved:
God, I love that picture. I love this blog. Thanks Tim F. and everyone else. This has been an incredible experience.
Kairol Rosenthal
I am a young oncology patient and healthcare blogger. Thank you Moses 2317. I posted your congressional call list on my blog and mobilized scored of young adult cancer patients to make calls.
The cancer community is shockingly silent when it comes to mobilizing patients around healthcare issues. Most cancer organizations are more worried about offending the slim minority opposed to healthcare reform than they are about fighting for the interests of their uninsured young adult constituents – many of whom are diagnosed at later more advanced stages of cancer because of lack of coverage. Leading up to the vote (and throughout this entire debate) advocates in the cancer community tweeted about their mocha lattes and walks for the cure, but not a word about reform.
I am again so grateful to Moses2317 and Tim F. at Balloon Juice for posting that targeted call list, which I circulated widely to the young adult cancer community. Today I am flooded with emails, phone calls, and facebook messages from 20 and 30-something cancer patients thanking me for posting that list and enabling them to make calls and make a difference!
Kairol Rosenthal
Everything Changes:
The Insider’s Guide to Cancer in Your 20s & 30s