WHAT A JOKE. I've lost most of my respect for this individual over the last 4 years. But this takes the cake. What a preposterous statement.

ridiculous. the state of our nation's health care system is tied to our economic security. I can't pay for health care now, even though I have a job. that's something that needs to be fixed and Obama knows it. thank God.

Charlie is losing touch with reality. As James points out in his comment, health care is an economic issue deeply felt by millions of Americans -- and the rising cost of health care affects the US economy at large. I'd like to give Charlie the benefit of the doubt on his incredibly poor analogy of health care to Iraq, so I will merely point out that Bush's "miscalculation" on Iraq led to the deaths of thousands of people. How this compares to reforming health care is anyone's guess.

"How this compares to reforming health care is anyone's guess."

60611,

Iraq and HCR are actually diametrically opposite one another:

Iraq led to the deaths of thousands upon thousands upon THOUSANDS of Iraqis and Americans.

Health care reform will SAVE the lives of thousands upon thousands upon THOUSANDS of AMERICANS.

This guy just made a career-defining (if not ending) blunder. More disgusting than pathetic. Either way, he should apologize to the families of the more than 4,000 American troops, and to Obama for that matter, for his unbelievably insensitive, totally outrageous, totally boneheaded comments.

Between me and my husband we've owned more MP3 players over the years than I can count, including Sansas, iRivers, iPods (classic

I agree with Charlie Cooks’ bottom line that President Obama's effort to take on health care has been a disaster. However, Obama's reasoning was sound in that, despite Republican assertions to the contrary, our health care system is badly broken. In particular, the health insurance industry is a malignant cancer.

The President underestimated the Republicans willingness to throw the Country under the bus for short term political gain. Furthermore, after enduring countless rebuffs from the Republicans to be bipartisan, the President continued to reach out to them to the point where he looked ridiculous. Similarly Senator Max Baucus handed the Republicans a major victory by the way he mismanaged the healthcare bill in the Senate. Baucus looked incompetent. The President underestimated the extreme dysfunction of the U.S. Senate. Max Baucus' hubris in thinking he could overcome the Republican agenda of sabotaging the President and healthcare reform was monumental.

If our Nation is fortunate, and I have my doubts, three positive things could rise out of the ashes of the lack of leadership and mismanagement of healthcare reform.

First, and it seems unlikely, the President and his team could learn from their breath-taking political mistakes.

Second, contrary to Senator Byrd’s assertion that the Senate is the greatest deliberative body on earth, the U.S. Senate is a national embarrassment. Maybe enough U.S. Senators will be sufficiently embarrassed to change the Senate.

Third, the current Republican leaders do not put their Country first; they put their Party first. This will change only if the Democrats overcome denial, demonstrate governing leadership and competence, and win elections.

So, yes, Charlie Cook was correct, the mismanagement and lack of leadership on healthcare has severely wounded the Obama Administration. ~ richard allbritton, Miami,

Thanks for piecing this together - this is a great article for those of us with our heads buried in the keyboard all day.

Doing some web surfing and noticed your blog looks a bit screwed up in my K-meleon browser. But luckily hardly anybody uses it anymore but you may want to look into it.

If you're still on the fence: grab your favorite earphones, head down to a Best Buy and ask to plug them into a Zune then an iPod and see which one sounds better to you, and which interface makes you smile more. Then you'll know which is right for you.

How do I add this to my RSS reader? Sorry I'm a newbie :(