An Observation or Two Before the Big Speech:
(The Rude Pundit will be live whiskey-blogging the President's mostest stupendously momentous thing ever said ever in the last couple of months [also known as his health care speech to Congress and, you know, the rest of us] tonight.)

So enough, enough, enough already. The children have thrown themselves on the scuzzy floors of the local Wal-Mart to wail and bray that they want their Super-Soakers now. They've gotten it out of their system, even if they'll piss and moan all the way home. Summer's over, you little shits. It's time for the grown-ups to get to work. And just because you don't understand what Mommy and Daddy do at their jobs doesn't mean you won't be grateful that they do it.

1. The Rude Pundit is remaining agnostic about the whole speech. He needs to hear that some things are worth fighting for, he needs to know from the dude whose balls he cupped through an entire campaign that there's gonna be a fight, he needs the assholes and maniacs taken to the woodshed and spanked with a switch until their bare cheeks bleed, and he needs to know that there are some goddamned principles at work here. He wants to continue believing in this President, but he's gotta be shown why. Or, to put it another way, no matter what white bag of douche Saxby Chambliss says, Obama better show no "humility" tonight.

2. In "her" Wall Street Journal editorial today on "health care reform," insignificant attention whore Sarah Palin offers a nugget of wisdom: "Common sense tells us that the government's attempts to solve large problems more often create new ones. Common sense also tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy. And common sense tells us to be skeptical when President Obama promises that the Democrats' proposals 'will provide more stability and security to every American.'" She doesn't say why common sense tells "us" such things, but she doesn't really need to, one supposes, because it's common sense and you either have it or you don't. Alaskans love a good tautological argument.

Sarah Palin's role in the world right now is to have her face photoshopped onto pictures of spread-eagled, nude MILFs, with the images emailed around the dorms of Dartmouth or Pepperdine so that she provides fresh spanking material for young conservatives who just want to jack their spunk onto her glasses. It puts her in the pecking order of usefulness somewhere between tribute bands and moon shoes.

3. Here's a few quotes from a few different people from the last month:
Sen. Richard "My Forehead Is Too Big For My Face" Shelby: "I think rationing is underlying all of this. There's a lot of denial out there, but you look at the other plans -- you look at the Canadian plan, the British plan and so forth, and you have long lines. People decide who's going to get treatment and when. That's rationing health care. If you don't get health care when you need it, you know, ultimately it's going to affect your life."

Sean Hannity on government-run health insurance: "There's rationing, there's long lines."

Neil Cavuto on the same: "It is going to be spread between a lot of folks and there will be long lines and rationed care."

The threat of "long lines" is invoked by other members of Congress, like Representative John Fleming (R-LA) and the hilariously named Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-Starb...VA).

You get the idea. You've heard it all a million times over. Here's the problem: if you're afraid of "long lines" for health care, then you advocate rationing that care. Because what you're saying is that you don't want more people to be able to go to the doctor. In other words, you want to deny people medical treatment because you (mostly irrationally) fear there's a possibility you may not be next in line, that some impoverished woman on a public option might go before you.

In even other words, if you're afraid of "long lines," you are part of a de facto death panel. Your convenience comes at the cost of other people's misery and demise.

Now, why can't we win this argument?