What did your government do for you today?

So for the record, I am not on the Affordable Care Act.  I am thankfully supplied health insurance by my employer.  But as the liberal neo-socialist I am, I cannot be happier for the 24 million Americans who have been given a reprieve today by the defeat of the rushed and ill-thought Republican health care bill.  They will not have to fear the loss of their current benefits.  Those with pre-existing conditions will continue having coverage.  Planned Parenthood will not be defunded.  Medicare will continue to exist.  Thank you to all of the members of Congress who were set to vote against the bill before President Crazypants and Speaker Wonderwonk took the cowardly way out and pulled it.

That said, fuck you to the Republican members of the House who were going to vote against the bill because it didn't go far enough to drive out all memory of the ACA.  Your vote was going to be for the absolute wrong reasons.  Let me be clear: I actually do believe that those Representatives who say they were afraid for their constituents who were poised to lose everything related to their health care should this bill have passed.  I am cursing those who were voting in their own self-interests; those who have been part of the seven-year long tirade against the ACA who just want to see it and anything else President Obama accomplished wiped from history.  These are the politicians who again need to be reminded that they work for us.  They were elected to be the voice of the people who for voted for them, not to just toddle off to Washington to fight like children playing King of the Hill. Today, that voice of the people was heard, and a travesty was avoided.

Now let's turn, regretfully, back to our Oval Office man-child.  He whined that it's all the Democrats' fault; they now own it and it is going to explode.  As he always does, he called out his "losers" in the scenario.  He thanked people who stuck by him like he was giving an Oscar speech.  In an unusual attempt at subtlety (which was really subtle as a freight train), he made a dig, instead of a direct attack, about "learning about loyalty," clearly a jab at the Republicans who broke rank and were going to vote against the bill.  And then should his prediction that Democrats come to him with a desire to build a bipartisan plan when the ACA fails come true, you know he will lord it over them like the fascist he is.  Listen to him here if you can stomach it:

I don't care what anyone says, I like CNN's reporting.  This panel discussing the defeat of the bill and 45's comments after is excellent.  David Gergen, who was an adviser to several presidents on both sides for years, says this may be the worst first 100 days we have ever seen for an American president.  Listen for John King's great analogy around the 2:00 mark.

So as I said after the first ridiculous travel ban was blocked, don't ever let it be said that protesting, attending rallies, and speaking out for your beliefs doesn't work; today we saw another crushing blow to this tyrant.  We can only hope they continue and more members of his party prove just how loyal they are, not to the president, but to their constituencies.  Forty-Five, and frankly all politicians, have to stop treating their jobs as "us against them" between their parties and get back to doing what we sent them there to do, which is to govern how we want them to, not how they and their lobbyists want them to.