Worth noting. And hoping for something a little finer in the future:
In an interview with the Washington Post that hit the Internet Tuesday afternoon,
President Obama sought to defend himself from the criticism he's faced
from the left over the way the healthcare reform debate has ended up...
"Nowhere has there
been a bigger gap between the perceptions of compromise and the
realities of compromise than in the health-care bill," Obama told the
Post. "Every single criteria for reform I put forward is in this bill."
...
At the same time... a candidate
questionnaire sent out by Newsday, does show again that this really is
a question of Obama trying to get cute with semantics.. Asked to keep
each of his answers to 50 words or less, Obama's summary of his
healthcare plan was, "I have pledged to sign a universal health bill
into law by the end of my first term in office. My plan will ensure
that all Americans have health care coverage through their employers,
private health plans, the federal government or the states. For those
without health insurance I will establish a new public insurance
program."
Please don't spin me, Mr. President. I get that it's harder to deliver the
transparency you touted than you thought, and that you can't
immediately inspire civility across the board in a long-festering
swamp... but, you must stay authentically true and plain-spoken - it's the one thing that really is in your control - or
there's no hope for the kind of democratic change we need to bring our
elected government back to even the beginnings of something approaching
health.
Yes, we can...ALL be more straight-forward and clean.