I accidentally tuned into President Donald Trump’s speech today on the Healthcare bill.
Mike Price and Mike Pence each gave introductions, then Trump came in to bluster about healthcare he completely (and, apparently, deliberately) misunderstands. It’s all Obama’s and Hillary’s fault, of course. Obamacare is failing so terribly that anything — literally anything , even being smacked around with a 2×4 — must be better than that terrible, failing Obamacare.
Trump’s staff got a bunch of sick people — mostly children — lined up behind him so he’d have scenery. Trump is projectile-vomiting at the camera whatever lies he thinks will fly, but I’m watching the people behind him try to keep still. It looks hard. They’re jammed in so tightly that many have to stand diagonally. (I imagine a press guy yelling “Gimmie more sick kids! No, dammit, the cute ones!”) They’re pushed so close, shifting their weight side-to-side gets them off-screen glares.
Trump is shouting at the teleprompter, oblivious to all that. What a perfect metaphor.
Now Trump is spitting that it’s all the Republican’s fault they haven’t ‘won’ yet. I’d write more about that, except, you know, I don’t care.
When I saw the smallest girl standing was bandaged down to her hands with lesions on her forehead, my first thought was, “Get that sick child a chair!” Trump made them all stand, of course, although he did gesture back at the ‘poor butterfly girl’ with skin so sensitive she couldn’t be touched. Trump used her as an example of… something terrible about the ACA, I’m sure. I wasn’t listening. The girl looked tired.
OK, it finally ended. Trump turned around for a quick set of handshakes. That’s better, even if it was perfunctory. Thankfully, Trump didn’t grab the tiny butterfly girl, settling for moving his hands all around her as he spoke to the taller people standing behind.
Mike Pence, glad-handing his way right after Trump, was actually looking down at the front row, which seemed better until he almost grabbed the butterfly girl’s hands before stopping at the last second. I think the bandages tipped him off.
Unsurprisingly, there was nothing in Trump’s speech but lies and more lies. This was Trump, after all. He might have lied about gravity and the speed of light, just to keep in shape, but I’d stopped listening long before.
Bigger picture time. The Senate is expected to vote to dismantle healthcare coverage as early as Tuesday. The Senate hasn’t been given a copy of the bill they’re expected to vote on tomorrow for review. The CBO hasn’t been given a chance to rate the bill they haven’t seen. They’re voting anyway. That apparently makes sense in Republicanland.
On a positive note, because of the way Mitch McConnell is squeezing the bill through, the Senate Parliamentarian (yes, there is such a position) shot holes in the Republican’s attempt to misuse Senate procedures to lock out Democrats. So there’s that.
But this is hugely important stuff that Republicans are treating like bad reality TV. They need a ‘win’, however they can get it, or they lose points… somewhere. Republicans and, to a lesser extent, press headline writers seem indifferent to the reality that this isn’t winning for anyone, and their own people hate it. It’s almost as if their constituents aren’t really who they work for.
Huh.
So, big money and political ideology versus the best interests of their people. Wonder how it’ll turn out?
