Maybe it's not all bad news

All the details of crumbling Senate negotiations and selling out of varous provisions have gotten me down about the prospects for healthcare reform worth caring about. Rafe (at rc3.org) offers some helpful alternative viewpoints. In particular, this from Kevin Drum:

Ten years ago this bill would have seemed a godsend. The fact that it doesn't now is a reflection of higher aspirations from the left, and that's great. It demonstrates a resurgence of liberalism that's long overdue. But this is still a huge achievement that will benefits tens of millions of people in very concrete ways and will do it without expanding our long-term deficit. Either with or without a public option, this is more than Bill Clinton ever did, more than Teddy Kennedy did, more than LBJ did, more than Truman did, and more than FDR did. There won't be many other times in our lives any of us will be able to say that. So pass the bill. The longer we wait, the worse it will get. Pass it now.

I hope he's right, and I hope we can!