Dick Morris asked recently if the Democrats are nuts. Maybe but I don't think so. I think there's more going on here in this push for nationalized healthcare than just lunacy -although insanity might very well be playing a role. Morris wrote:

If the Democrats obey Obama's commands and pass health-care reform legislation by the August recess, they will be committing partisan suicide, akin to lemmings going over the cliff en masse...

The more word gets around about what the bill contemplates, the firmer opposition is going to become. That's why Obama wants to push it through now, while he still has some popularity left.

And, if the bill passes, then what? The howls of protest from the elderly the first time they are denied health care will be something to behold. It will become evident that immigrants -- legal and not -- are being given the health care now reserved for the elderly, and the anger will be enormous and instant.

I'm not so sure they're nuts. There are a few scenarios I have in my mind as to why many Democrats will go along with ObamaCare. But my first reason is I think that it's not so much the Democrats acting like lemmings as Dick Morris suggested but as scorpions.

1) The Scorpion and The Frog
Everyone's heard this story:

A scorpion set out on a journey through the forests and hills until he reached a river. He couldn't see any way across so he asked a nearby frog for help getting across.

"Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?" he asked while approaching the frog.

"Slow your roll there, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.

"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for I cannot swim!"

Seeing the logic in this, the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He allowed the scorpion to crawl onto his back and they were about halfway across when the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

"Dude!" croaked the frog, "Now we're both gonna die! Why did you do that?"

The scorpion simply said, "I couldn't help myself. It is my nature."

Then everybody died.

You see, I think there are Dems who know that this will likely hurt the Party's chances in the next election cycle but they can't help it. They're liberals. Socialists even. It's in their nature to expand government. They see the poll numbers crashing for Democrats but they can't help it. They just figure they'll work out the whole "paying for it" thing later.

#2 They're Martyrs
It's possible some Democrats might see themselves as martyrs to the liberal agenda. This one actually scares me the most for obvious reasons. Because this means there's no scaring them into doing the people's will.

#3 Playing the Long Con
The Dems see ObamaCare as a short term electoral disaster and a long term win for the party. Because once it's in place, I think we can all agree, there will be no getting rid of it. Nobody, and I mean not even the most fiscal conservative, is going to run for office on taking away people's "free" healthcare. Look at Social Security. It's going broke. Everyone knows it's an unsustainable model. But everytime Republicans talk about a "private option" they get killed. If you've noticed, the GOP hasn't talked about it in a while. They figure it'll be the same with with ObamaCare.

The Democrats know that every time a Republican comes along trying to cut things out of our "free" healthcare the Dems will have an easy method of demonizing them.

In the end, I think it could be a mixture of all three that will carry the day for the Democrats and push America into a socialized healthcare model.

Socialized medicine is only going to make things worse. Life and death decisions will be decided by bureaucrats with nearly zero accountability to people. The very issue of life itself will become a weight to be measured in a cost/benefit analysis. And there will be no arguing with the bureaucratic leviathan over whether it treated so and so fairly or unfairly. (At least you can sue and HMO) Or if this were the right call or wrong call on that patient. Bureaucracies are impersonal. That is their nature.

A Prayer Before the Blessed Sacrament for the Increase of Priestly and Religious Vocations

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Eternal Father,
Son of the Virgin Mary,
we thank you for offering your life in sacrifice on
the Cross, and for renewing this sacrifice
in every Mass celebrated throughout the world.

In the Power of the Holy Spirit
we adore you and proclaim
your living presence in the Eucharist.
We desire to imitate the love you show us
in your death and resurrection,
by loving and serving one another.

We ask you to call many young people to religious
life, and to provide the holy and generous priests
that are so needed in you Church today.
Lord Jesus, hear our prayer. Amen.

+Justin Cardinal Rigali, Philadelphia

The state of Connecticut's efforts to go after the diocese of Bridgeport have fallen into the category of EPIC FAIL once again. The state Attorney General just called on the Office of State Ethics to stop attacking the Church.

The Attorney General stated today that Connecticut should drop their efforts to force the Diocese of Bridgeport to register as a lobbyist because "[t]here is no denying the profound and serious constitutional concerns in enforcing the lobbyist registration laws against the Church under these circumstances."

This is the second straight smackdown the Diocese of Bridgeport has given to the dimwits in the state government of Connecticut. Seriously, the diocese is starting to whip up on Connecticut like that's its job (maybe it is?).

The Office of State Ethics in Connecticut was investigating the diocese for allegedly lobbying state lawmakers when, in fact, the diocese was simply trying to fend off an unprecedented power grab from the state.

You see, it all started when a couple of dopey legislators last year got it in their tiny brains that as revenge for the Church's stance on gay marriage they were going to try to wrest the power of the Church away from bishops and forcibly hand it over to elected lay boards in each parish.

In response to the power grab, the Diocese of Bridgeport appropriately arranged for busloads of people show up at the state capitol to protest the bill. And the legislators scurried away like rats at daybreak giving the Church a win.

But the state came back, saying that because the Church attempted to influence legislation, the state's Office of State Ethics (OSE) ordered the Church to register as a lobbyist organization. If the OSE had their way, the state would've had unprecedented power to direct the internal operations of the Church. Experts agreed it was a violation of freedom of speech and a blatant attempt to threaten religious organizations that if they spoke out the state would come after them too.

Well, unfortunately for them, the state picked on the wrong Church. The diocese of Bridgeport didn't sit still for this. No. Bishop William Lori put the foil on, suited up, made a video, issued press releases, wrote on his own blog, and then hired himself some fancy lawyer types with degrees and everything and went after the state with a lawsuit.

And guess what? The state buckled. So that's two in a row for the diocese. Zero for the state. I'm calling it a mismatch. Connecticut might as well be saying, "Thank you Sir, may I have another." Seriously, Connecticut needs a safety word.

Make no mistake about it. Connecticut will be back. This isn't the end. No. Connecticut's the kind of crazy that stays crazy. Like Gary Busey crazy. Connectict can now officially be labeled a zombie. No matter how many times they're killed they'll just keep getting back up and coming back.

Kudos to the diocese. Thanks to the Attorney General. But especially thanks to Bishop Lori. Take a break. Hit the lockers. And wait for the next brawl. Because it's coming.

The Attorney General's letter is here. Read between the lines. They'll be back.

No surprise here...from The Politico blog:

--

For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper’s own reporters and editors.

The astonishing offer is detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he feels it’s a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff."

The offer — which essentially turns a news organization into a facilitator for private lobbyist-official encounters — is a new sign of the lengths to which news organizations will go to find revenue at a time when most newspapers are struggling for survival.

And it's a turn of the times that a lobbyist is scolding The Washington Post for its ethical practices.

"Underwriting Opportunity: An evening with the right people can alter the debate," says the one-page flier. "Underwrite and participate in this intimate and exclusive Washington Post Salon, an off-the-record dinner and discussion at the home of CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth. ... Bring your organization’s CEO or executive director literally to the table. Interact with key Obama administration and congressional leaders …

--

Considering that the main stream media is a full partner in the socialization and destruction of the Republic as the founding fathers built it to be in pursuit of their evil leftist ways, this is no surprise. The venality of it astounds, but I guess it's to be expected.

More here.

From The Pewsitter:

--

For more than a decade, Catholic health care workers have been the targeted for unionization by some of the country’s most powerful, radically anti- life union bosses, efforts that have included slick television advertising campaigns that demonize Catholic hospitals as a public health risk.

For the unions, unionization of Catholic health care workers would be the goose that never stopped laying golden eggs until it died a horrible death from exhaustion. With 600,000 health care workers in 600 Catholic hospitals, the annual money flow into union coffers could easily reach $ 500 million per year, an awfully large amount of money to push the radical, left- wing agenda the union bosses have embraced over the past few decades, an agenda which has put abortion and homosexual rights at the top, the elimination of conscience clauses for health care workers, and the cutting out of employees in any discussions between union bosses and corporate management.

In Chicago, for example, Resurrection Health Care, which employs 15,000 people at its eight hospitals, is today subject to a vicious TV propaganda campaign by the AFSCME ( American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) bosses, asserting it is guilty of thousands of health care violations, broken laws, had poor quality doctors, overcharged patients, etc. ( See the web site ResQuality. com for examples of the commercials airing.) " It is one of the most shocking, irresponsible things we’ve ever seen," Resurrection spokesman Brian Crawford told the Chi- Town Daily News’ Alex Parker. " We think it’s outrageous and we don’t see what it has to do with the union organizing."

---

Read more of this article, from The Wanderer aticle by Paul Likoudis, editor.