“At a minimum, there should be very strict regulation of all insurers, on and off the exchange, to promote competition and fair prices and substantial subsidies to help low-income people buy insurance. If competition among private plans fails to hold down insurance costs, there should be a provision to introduce a public plan.”

To which I say: “If”??????????

And I am wondering, given the metaphysical certainty that mere “strict regulation of all insurers” (ROTFLMAO at that one, anyway) will “fail to hold down insurance costs,” why would a Senator who opposes the public option support a process that will inevitably lead to a public option?

That kind of online messaging (but using true messages about true reforms worth fighting for) and mobilizing around them is what *we* ought to be doing as well, instead of just moaning about how *they’re* doing it. I know eRobin is doing just that in the Philly area; I wish more like that was visible at the national level.

The right-wing conspiracy is vast and fairly well-coordinated, each piece relying on the other pieces to set up the atmosphere in which it can work. Armey’s astroturf plot wouldn’t have worked had it not been for the RWNM’s stars - Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, WorldNutDaily, Fox et al - constantly whipping up anger with a combination of lies and distortions that fill talk radio and FoxNews hour after hour day after day. Astroturfing doesn’t stand alone. It is part of a much wider mechanism to control citizen activism and aim it in the direction they wish it to go. No, they can’t always control it - losing control is one of the risks - but it is a risk they’re willing to take. Note that the outing of Armey’s role and even his firing isn’t going to stop the oil industry from setting up astroturf groups to rile people up a la FreedomWorks against global warming and any effort to slow it down. That’s because they know that even with the bad press, astroturfing works - it will get them what they want just as the healthcare astroturfing got a public option sidelined.

The participants are fringe for the most part, at least in terms of beliefs and “information”. They have been riled up over transparent lies and are people who can’t tell the difference between death planning and forced euthanasia. You’d better hope they’re fringe because if they represent some kind of center, we’re fucked.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that government alternative to private health insurance is “not the essential element” of the administration’s health care overhaul. The White House would be open to co-ops, she said, a sign that Democrats want a compromise so they can declare a victory.

Even if you see it coming, it still hurts when it hits you. You’re probably right about the end game. Just got this from OFA:

Are you frustrated about the lies circulating about health care reform? Do you watch TV, read the blogs, read the paper and want to scream? If so, the best response is to DO SOMETHING to support Obama’s health care reform and this week in Montgomery County THAT SOMETHING IS PHONEBANKING!!! We need you to pitch in. … Please help make these calls to activate Obama supporters in key states. Please RSVP now.

I answered:

Activate them to do what? What does *Obama* actually support? Don’t tell me *you* know — I don’t think *Obama* knows until Rahm hands him the Blue Dog whip count each day.

UPDATE, 8/17: Marc Ambinder reports that Sebelius “misspoke.”