The healthcare debate needed this. Instead of the "birthers" & "deathers" we needed a dose of reality. Straight Talk. Begrudgingly, this morning (I typically can't stand the smugness and self-righteousness which is Joe Scarborough), I turned to Morning Joe and became riveted to the television.I couldn't remember the last time I heard as thorough an argument against the current system of healthcare while dropping balanced rhetoric explainingwhy a single payer system, while not perfect, would constitute real healthcare reform and why a public option is the least that progressive democrats can settle for.

I think I have a pretty good handle on the politics here. The President wants a bipartisan bill and the polls seem to indicate that the American people want both parties to work together. I completely understand this sentiment. The problem seems to be that while the President has reached out to Republicansthe ideological gap between the two parties seems to indicate that the Republicans will not vote for any compromised bill. They will not vote for single payer, thepublic option or the co-operatives that have been recently discussed. The Republicans will not vote for any version of a healthcare reform bill that they have demonized and demagogued and that their shrinking political base has railed against for weeks now. They truly are the party of no. Bipartisanship is a means,not an end. And it seems disingenuous to me for Republicans to claim the Democrats are averse to the bipartisanship that they refuse to commit too. FrankLuntz put out the GOP talking points months ago. Republicans were instructed to say they were in favor of reform but to attack any reform measures as an attack on personal liberties and to frame the debate around the notion of a government takeover of healthcare. This practice is in full effect. It's time to turn the tables and I think Rep Anthony Weiner (D-NY) may have just helped our cause.