A couple of my favorite excerpts:

There is a growing meme that Mr. Obama is too impressed by credentialism, by the meritocracy, by those who hold forth in the faculty lounge, and too strongly identifies with them. He should be more impressed by those with real-world experience. It was the "small people" in the shrimp boats who laid the boom.

There is still a sense about Mr. Obama that he needs George W. Bush in order to give his presidency full shape and meaning. In this he is like Jimmy Carter, who needed Richard Nixon, or rather the Watergate scandal, which made him president. Mr. Carter needed Richard Nixon standing in the corner looking like he'd spent the night sleeping in his suit as it hangs in the closet. The image is from Joe McGinnis's "The Selling of the President, 1968." Mr. Carter needed to be able to point at Nixon and say, "I'm not him. He dirty, me clean. You hate him, like me." Carter's presidency was given coherence and meaning by Nixon, Watergate, and without it that presidency seemed formless. Mr. Obama, in the same way, needs Mr. Bush standing in the corner like Boo Radley, saying "Let's invade something!" But Mr. Bush is wisely back home in Texas finishing a book, and the president never sounds weaker than when he suggests his predicament is all his predecessor's fault.

I think Ms. Noonan article highlights the effect of this ineptitude on the view of mainstream media and those just left of center. The complete lack of executive experience of any kind whatsoever has never been more evident during his presidency than during this crisis. Anyone who has ever managed a project knows at the very least the President should be meeting weekly with the governors of the stats who have been impacted to find out what they need and how he can help them. He coud accept the offers of foreign assistance, like that offered by the Dutch, by wiaving the Jones Act. He could do things like make sure that red tape  does not stand in the way of oil vacuums being grounded while the Coast Guard counts life jackets or waiting weeks on end to only approve 2 of the requested barrier island rebuilding that Governor Bobby Jindal requested. His leadership has been absent. Cursing in a TV interview only shows that he thinks he is Patton when he is more like Carter.Perhaps worst of all, instead of problem-solving, he has devoted his energy to pushing his ridiculou National Energy Tax (Cap and trade) which will only further damage our weak economy.

• We now know who the pro-life Dems really are.
• Kudos to Jason Altmire. If you called him to urge him to vote against the bill, don't forget to to call him and thanking him for doing just that. I truly believe he showed authentic courage this weekend. He should be able to sleep at night.
• 80% of Americans currently like their healthcare. Exactly why are we dismantling the entire system instead of fixing the broken pieces? I'll tell you: redistribution of  wealth. In a word, Socialism.
• This thing will get be tangled in court for years. Let's hope we can get a court to issue an injunction. If Massachusetts files I think the have the best case. I believe there are several arguments that can be made that call into question the Constitutionality of the bill.
• If you are unhappy with the results you must change what you are doing. What I mean is that it is no longer enough for you to expect other people to volunteer politically both of your time and money. Make it a priority to donate some money to the GOP, this month, preferably this week.
• Even progressive John McCain would not have wrought this nightmare upon us and you can bet his administration would have shown more character. No shower visits from him.
• It's not over. The Senate "fixes" have not been passed yet.
• It can be repealed. It might not be easy, but it can and must be done, ASAP.
• In case you missed it, the bill also included the government takeover of student loans. It was another BOGO for socialism.
• I don't think that 95% of Dems believe it was a good bill. Some hope it will be repealed and some hope to expand it.
• I am ready to launch the Hayden Grover for Senate 2030 campaign today.

It appears as though Deem and Pass (AKA, "the Slaughter Rule"), the procedural maneuver around a straight up and down vote is dead in the water. This could signal that Democrats believe they have the votes to pass the bill or that they realize the fallout is too great to move forward with this method.

Jason Altmire campaigns for Pres. Obama Aug 28, 2008

Locally, Jason Altmire has strongly communicated he is a "No" vote and Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper is in the "Yes" camp right now. Tim Murphy reiterated his strong opposition to the bill yesterday despite the Obama organization's campaign against him this week (I got their email.)

Banner displayed during the 2008 election in Mt. Lebanon, PA

I was hesitant to overstate the significance of tomorrow's healthcare vote, but I do believe it is true. The left has scoffed those of us who consider socialized medicine the gateway to Socialism, but nonetheless, the healthcare bill before Congress this weekend is dangerous and will fundamentally change our government. I considered going to D.C. to join the crowd there, protesting the healthcare bill, but a bad cold has kept me house-bound. A few of the "low-lights" of this bill include:

• Taxpayer funded abortions (about 1/2 of Americans are opposed to abortion and even more opposed to taxpayer funded abortions)
• It fails to compensate doctors appropriately for Medicare patients (the Medicare fix) and that is expected to be added later, raising the cost of the bill
• The cost to businesses and individuals. Caterpillar claimed yesterday the bill would cost them $100 million in the first year alone. The middles class can expect at least an 11% increase in taxes, and premiums are certain increase and likely double in cost.
• Both the size and power of the IRS increases dramatically (16,000 more employees)
• It does not actually lower the cost of healthcare by addressing the reasons causing higher costs
• It is dependent upon fixing Medicare fraud - when have you ever seen government fraud fixed?
• It is will increase our already out of control debt.
• Despite all of the white coats that appeared with the President, most healthcare professionals do not support it. Ask your doctor, chiropractor, or other regular healthcare provider what he or she thinks about it.
• Both the President and Nancy Pelosi have indicated that they will let us know what is in the bill after they pass it. You see, they are wise enough to know what we need, but we are not.

The fact that most of these Democrats are willing to do the opposite of what their constituents desire and that polls have consistently shown that it will cost them their seats is an amazement, since for decades most of these people have cared about one thing: getting reflected. This is the culmination of leftist, elitist thought. They know what is better for us than we do, and that is a sure sign of the tyranny often associated with socialism. This bill isn't about reforming healthcare, it's about changing our government.

We need to remind Congressman Altmire that he will pay a price at the polls if he votes for a bill his constituents don't want.

John Piper has called out the Tea Party movement, and I agree with John Piper. He references this article in the NY Times that discusses how the Tea Party purposefully avoid social issues.

This article identifies an issues symptomatic of a bigger problem aloft in the Conservative movement, it is a movement that centers around economics and avoids social issues. The are known by different names, "Fiscal Conservatives", "Moderates", but they attempt to marginalize Conservatives who stand firm in their social values, even to the point of falsely representing them as not being conservative enough from a fiscal standpoint. This part of the Conservative movement has little patience for the pro-life part of the movement, and almost act embarrassed by them. It's part of the reason Christian Conservatives were willing to embrace someone with an iffy pro-life record, like Mitt Romney, and through a clearly strong pro-life candidate like Mike Huckabee under the bus.  In other words, it is fiscal value that define what is Conservative to this group, not social values.

We need to continue to push the Conservative social issues agenda as well. Anyone who knows history knows that a nation's economic stability is closely connected to its moral compass.