My Christmas wish this year is that progressives in the House

[rateyes]

stick to their guns and refuse to pass any conference health care bill that does not include a public option for ALL.

If progressives cave on this one, and we get a weak health care bill simply for the sake of getting a "victory" (that will be no victory), then I have given my last dime, my last minute of knocking on doors, my last thought of trying to help the Democratic Party gain a majority in Congress and control of the Executive.

If we can't do any better than this with the majorities we have, and keep letting the likes of Lieberman, Reid, Nelson, et al hijack the party from its base, then there is no more reason to work my ass off getting Democrats elected.

I will support any real progressive trying to unseat a Blue Dog---but, that will be the extent of my activism.

I draw this line in the sand for myself. Either the progressives in the House stick together and refuse to compromise on a "Medicare Option for All" kind of health care bill, or the game is over for me.

Don't forget the STRONG public option IS a compromise---Single-payer was the starting position. If we give away the strong public option for the sake of "bipartisanship" then the last vertebrae in our back is gone.

(And, don't get me started on war. Over 8 years we've been in Afghanistan, and it's worse than it was before we went in. And, what is the plan? Do more of what we've been doing. "If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got.")

Peace out.

[jefferson_dem]

1. Any Democrat who obstructs reform - blue dog or purity progressive - deserves to lose.

Many will. If nothing passes, Democrats will get slaughtered in 2010.

[rateyes]

2. If "anything" passes,

and it's not REAL reform, then the Democrats will get slaughtered in 2010, and they'll deserve it. Again, let's not forget that a STRONG public option voted for by progressives does not constitute a "purity progressive" position. A "pure progressive" is a single-payer progressive.

[CTLawGuy]

3. It's disgusting

that we are playing right into the Republicans hands. They are obstructing everything and people are talking about Democrats losing 2010, not voting Democratic in 2010. Guess who is going to benefit from that?

[rateyes]

4. Yet, the truth is

that if the Democrats had spines the Republicans could obstruct NOTHING. It's not just the Republicans doing the obstructing (unless, of course, you count Blue Dogs as Republicans.)

[CTLawGuy]

5. umm it's not about spines

some "democrats" are just not democrats. That has always been true. Those that live south of the Mason Dixon Line

[Cha]

6. There's always a possibility that rateyes won't

get his Christmas wish.