I did not mean to imply we’re numbskulls. I meant to imply that we’re so overdramatic that what we call aggressive advocacy the rest of the country would call grandstanding.

For example there was the time Mayor Young referred to the Governor as a motherf*cker. During a press conference. Apparently Young thought the Governor was moving far too slowly on the Poletown plant issue.

And as far as most Detroiters are concerned there’s no difference.

A big part of a Congressman’s job is to advocate for the things he thinks would be best for the country. That’s been Conyers M. O. since Detroit elected him way back when.

I understand your point about advocacy, But let me remind you what Conyers said:

“I’m getting tired of saving Obama’s can in the White House. I mean, he only won (health care reform) by five votes in the House, and this bill wasn’t anything to write home about.

Maybe that’s advocacy to you. To me, it’s grandstanding.

The part of legislating you’re talking about (horse-trading) is important, but it’s not the only thing a Representative does. In fact in most countries Legislators don’t actually do any horsetrading. Party leaders do.

Captcha: chairman hurried.

If Conyers doesn’t to propose, debate, argue, negotiate, compromise and settle on an imperfect result that fixes some things and not others, then…

…why the F__K did he run for congress in the first place?

And if wants to be the person who makes the decisions of the commander in chief, then he needs to run for President.

Here’s the thing: I just have no sympathy whatsoever for anyone who elected Barack Obama to be some sort of Bagger Vance magical negro. Politics is hard, and it’s tough, and the 435 members of congress are hardened pros. Politics is not a game, it’s a business. That means that the President can’t usually put his arm on the shoulder of a senator and say “shucks America needs this” and part the red sea. It’s unfortunate that many folks were ever this saturday-evening-post-naive, but discovering the hard truth was always a “when” question, not an “if” question.

BTW: this whole “we’ll call anything a win” stuff is crap. The current plan is primarily about extending health insurance to way more Americans who don’t have it. Many folks think its about controlling costs, too. I really wish it was but I really don’t think it actually is. Not right now. [Whether it should be is a different debate.]

Now, I personally don’t think that the methods being used to extend coverage to more of the currently uninsured folks is especially clever or artful or creative or even wise, But it will be a win for the people who’ll gain coverage, and that’s a huge part of what Obama said he wanted to do. So objectively, it WILL be a win for him.

It’ll be the signature accomplishment of his admin, celebrated by the left as a huge advancement and excoriated by the right as a disaster regardless of the constellation of effects it brings about. You can take THAT to the bank.