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Politics

Real American Genius, Health Care Summit Edition

Matt Welch | 2.25.2010 4:28 PM

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Are you the type of normal American who hasn't spent hours today watching our nation's best and brightest pretend that they're having a discussion that will ever lead to legislation, about health care? From what little I understand of it, the purpose seems to be for President Barack Obama to be able to say that at least the Republicans around the table agreed that proposed regulatory increases don't literally mean "total socialist takeover," the gist of which he has said on multiple occasions (including when asked during a break to summarize the day's events). Also, many politicians have received letters from actual people.

If you watch the Evening News tonight, this Obama-on-McCain violence is probably what you'll see.

Not sure the clip does justice to just how spent a force the Arizona senator seemed, even if he was right on points.

Obama is pretty good at this stuff, even when I disagree (which is usually), but it's hard to see how it will matter much, except as a way to rally his base on Twitter. Of the Republicanoids, the only ones I liked were everyone's favorite Rand-bot, Rep. Paul Ryan, and the not-McCain senator from Arizona, John Kyl.

Oh, and did Joe Biden say something comically incomprehensible? Joe Biden did! Your moment of zen, care of former Reason intern Jeff Winkler over at the Daily Caller:

I think it requires a little bit of humility to be able to know what the American people think, and I don't. I can't swear I do. I know what I think. I think I know what they think, but I'm not sure what they think.

Click the link for video. Joe!

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Matt Welch is an editor at large at Reason.

PoliticsPolicyBarack ObamaJoe BidenHealth Care
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