How strange is the thinking in the Beltway Village?

The Beltway Villagers really do think the health reform fight is all about slapping down the hippies. Just amazing. Check out this cartoon from the New York Times dated 09/04/09 by Patrick Chappatte:


Given the news of the day, I have to assume the reference is to the pressure from the labor movement and the Democratic base to include a robust public option in health care reform. This cartoonist apparently shares the same attitude toward health care reform as we've seen throughout out celebrity press: it bores them to tears and they don't really give a rip about it.

Mark Shields on the PBS Newshour yesterday slipped up and violated the guild rules by giving us a peek at their thinking when asked about Obama's Wednesday speech:

The political class, of whom I guess I'm one, we're -- we're all frustrated sportswriters, and we want it to be third and long. It's the Hail Mary pass. It isn't that. It's a key moment in the health care -- health care effort by the president. [my emphasis]

All they really want to talk about is the horse-race stories. And sex.

This is our press corps. This is how important reforms die. And eventually, this is how democracy dies. (On the latter point, see Dick Cheney.)

Tags: establishment press,health care reform, patrick chappatte

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