Almost a Law

Over the past year I've had my doubts, but it finally happened. The House has narrowly approved the healthcare bill.

And although I've watched Schoolhouse Rocks a hundred times, I'm kind of fuzzy on the next step in this process. The Senate still must vote on a reconciliation package. Then comes the part where President Obama signs the bill. Then I guess we celebrate... in 2014, when most of the legislation kicks in. Some of the bill's benefits, though, will be immediate.

Of course, not everybody will be celebrating. The racist, bigoted, xenophobic teabaggers have gone (even more) batshit insane at the top of their lungs this week. I think it's now obvious to everybody (except Fox News) that teabagger anger has nothing to do with healthcare or even taxes. Teabaggers would rather die than live in a country that provides any kind of welfare to blacks, Hispanics, the poor, the disabled or anybody they deem inferior to their ignorant white asses. Makes me embarrassed to be white.

And yet the strangest twist in the last year has to be the confederate flag toting teabaggers equating President Obama to Hitler. Well, maybe it's not strange. Comparing your political rivals to Nazis is completely predictable, but the wingnuts don't know history so well. The Nazis aren't really remembered for healthcare, you know.

I could almost laugh except these paranoid teabaggers did influence the debate... in the worst way possible. Republicans brought no viable alternatives to this piece of legislation because, well, they couldn't be seen making deals with people who wanted to kill grandmothers. What would Rush Limbaugh have said?

But in the end, all that angry shouting proved ineffectual. The bill passed. Teabaggers feel defeated and impotent. Now they are making blatant threats of violence as they become even more unhinged.

Kind of ruins that hopefulness we should all be feeling right now.