Rope-a-dope

[underpants]

Obama did it in both campaigns-to Hillary and McCain- he gets warmed up, gets the lead if you will, and then lets the opponent flail and tire themselves out finally taking one last toes-off-the-floor lunge for a killing blow...because they have nothing left.

We saw this last night. Cantor was twittering (as twits do), Boehner looked like he didn't get any onions on the sh*tsandwich he was eating, and Joe Wilson took his last exhale with "YOU LIE".

In all the pre-speech discussion and the after-speech "analysis" there was almost no mention of lobbying money and its influence. Seasoned DC insiders such as David Gergen acted like they had never heard of it. The cynicism was complete when CNN's John King literally read off his laptop how Obama only mentioned Medicare because of the voting block that seniors represent.

This morning Morning Joke is like a morgue. Mika is actually wearing funeral black.

Obama wore them out. All the posturing and misinformation now looks like wasted energy. The energy that IS left is the money that insurance companies and others will pour into the process. The laugh about "working out the details" was not from a we've-been-here-too-long-to-know-better it was the glee that everyone (EVERYONE) in the audience felt in knowing that their pockets are about to get fatter. The energy will be wasted on promoted tort reform (the tests will fail to show any real savings) much like any discussion of a Republican showing their ass publicly has to be partly consumed with the "Did he have a right to say it?" nonsense. The public option proposed is like inviting a vampire into your house and they know it-THAT is where the focus will be and the real, immediate changes (preconditions, benefits caps, and breaking contracts) will get through. A good first step....which you can do when you aren't winded, gasping, and desperately throwing haymakers.