By Joshua Pugh

I don’t believe I really need to get into the details of the healthcare debate that has gripped this country in recent weeks, based on the relentless MSM coverage of events. But it is important for all observers and participants to have a grip on reality in order to hold frank and informed discussions. Progressives in many circles are losing hope in the abilities of Congress to man up and get a comprehensible (and comprehensive) piece of legislation on the table. The misinformation war is raging, and the good guys are losing. Sarah Palin’s recent screed on her Facebook decried the use of “death panels” (end of life counseling for seniors) even as the media found a proclamation issued by her as governor, which has since been scrubbed from the state of Alaska’s servers, declaring a “Healthcare Decisions Day.”  You guessed it – essentially the same program.

The anger I’m feeling, and have been sensing from many of my colleagues associated with OFA and on the left, stems from the fact that Organizing for America has not been playing hardball with messaging. The only resources that dedicated volunteers have at their disposal are a couple shiny brochures with the President’s face and a new email address [flag@whitehouse.gov] for countering lies. This just isn’t good enough for those who want to help spread the truth about healthcare reform. Now I know that a measure of patience is necessary, as the legislative process takes time and compromise is inevitable. But if the President is serious about forging true change regardless of the consequences, and really getting progressives on his side, as he has repeatedly promised, he needs to press forward and seize this moment. Otherwise the wall of opposition will continue to mount from both sides, and the road to re-election will truly be an uphill fight.

1. Appoint a legislative mastermind, a la LBJ, who can push the bill through at any cost:

2. Designate a PR man who will tout the benefits of the bill to a public too bored to care about the details.

3. Introduce the bill into Congress

4. Let the chips fall where they may.

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There is no doubt that Heath Care Armageddon, Part II is going to take place in the next three years. The parallels to ’92 are uncanny; while history might not repeat itself, it certainly does rhyme (Hat Tip: Mark Twain). The problem is that the opposition is too distracted by dark visions of “card check” to muster any sort of resistance. And certainly, EFCA is a no-good, bad, horrible, awful bill that should be opposed with great stridency. But the establishment of a national health care system has the power to literally change voting constituencies for decades. Besides, EFCA has already had a national advertising campaign leveled against it, and is far less likely to pass — it’s easier to demonize the sordid past of unions than the sordid future of government-controlled doctors.

The last thing that conservatives need right now is to be caught off guard and sent back a decade; the second-to-last thing that conservatives need to be is to be caught, years later, defending a national health system in the name of institutional stability*.

* – Don’t get me wrong — conservatism, rightly understood, defends institutions. The rub is in preventing wrong-headed institutions from being established in the first place.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Howdy, I’m H. Michael Karshis