The Knights

That Go "KNicght!!"

I am a huge Monty Python fan dating from my high school days in London. There is a hysterical skit of "The Knights that go Knicght!!" These fancy armored nobility just say loudly "Knicght!" No! to everything. They gallop on fancy horses in iron vests shouting "Knicght!! Knicght!!"

This reminded me of the republicans during the health care debate. They calculated wrong-rather than play "lets make a deal" they thought that they could sabotague everything by just holding fast in their delusional corner of consternation. Senator Dodd said yesterday that "no one really comes here with the intention to just say 'No' to everything." Why would you spend all the time and money running for office if all you did was sit there as an obstructionist to say no to everything. At some point you will want to be remembered for something you actually did.

This struck me as a pretty good way of saying- what's your program people. What's your agenda. What do you think you are actually going to accomplish here other than take up space and get free health care on the taxpayers' nickel. Start cooperating- we have work to do. We are all in this great country together.

Dodd was very gracious in noting that it would have been easy for everyone to throw in the towel on the health care bill- he particularly congratulated and thanked Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama for having a larger vision and sticking with it. No one would have faulted Obama for failing on this, he noted, because we have been trying for a hundred years and no one could pull it off. Presidents don't often make major reforms or changes and they have only a certain window of time to make a real difference. They have to be concerned with re-election and this can eclipse a real progressive agenda, they then get stuck as lame ducks their last term and its harder to mobilize public support. But this time something truly unique happened- and the most significant piece of legislation since the 1960s some say was actually made a law, that will have real legal consequences that help millions and millions of Americans.

It's astonishing really that our democracy, with all the pieces, special interests, stake-holders and points of view can pull off collectively something so monumental as the Health Care legislation.

It's something regardless of your political stripe for which you can be proud to be an American.