Oy Vey: Michael Steele Says Obama Should Have Had Healthcare Summit Last Year. He Did!

Apparently, Dissenting Justice has a soft spot for underdogs. While other Democrats rushed to condemn Sarah Palin (even before she imploded on the national stage), I argued that they should treat her seriously and hear what she had to say. When Michael Steele was chosen to head the RNC, I also parted from liberals who raced to skewer him. After President Obama and the New York Times went after New York Governor David Paterson, I supported him (until the latest news emerged about possible undue influence in an assault case). I even pleaded with liberals to extend due process to Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich, who absolutely deserved the benefit of a rational process like any other accused individual. And I argued, rightfully, that in the absence of a showing of improper conduct, Roland Burriss deserved his Senate seat.

Supporting the underdogs, however, comes with risks. Palin turned out to be an intellectual lightweight. Burriss might have actually purchased his Senate seat. Paterson might have used the weight of his name to convince a complainant to withdraw charges against an aide.

Meanwhile, Michael Steele has certainly failed to bring a sophisticated voice to the RNC. Instead, he has provided much comic relief. In the latest round, Steele argues that President Obama should have held a healthcare summit last year. Great -- but there is a major problem with this argument: President Obama held a healthcare summit last year! Caught in the embarrassing moment, Steele says that last year's summit "didn't count." Interesting.

This is not the first time that Steele has been caught in the headlights. Last August, for example, Steele stuttered while trying to defend his blatantly contradictory positions supporting Medicare and demonizing public-sponsored health plans as "socialized medicine."

Nevertheless, I will continue supporting underdogs -- when it is the right thing to do!

Here is video footage of Steele on the healthcare summit.

Stunning News: White House Might Actually Release a Specific Position on Healthcare Reform

The White House recently sent out invitations for yet another round of talks regarding healthcare reform. A few bloggers -- and now mainstream media sources -- have noticed that the invitation includes the following language: "[W]e will post online the text of a proposed health insurance reform package" (emphasis added). If this in fact happens, it would represent the first concrete and specific legislative position on healthcare reform by the White House.

Many critics have faulted the White House for not taking specific positions during earlier stages of the reform process. Other commentators believe that White House leadership is essential to break the deadlock and to reach a compromise between the disparate House and Senate bills.

Perhaps, the White House has now stepped up to the plate. Or maybe this was the strategy all along -- for the White House to remain stealth until all of the "bloodshed" happened in the House and Senate and in public discourse. The merits of this possible strategy are certainly debatable.

Note: I first read about this last week on Nate Silver's blog. Ezra Klein reported it in the Washington Post today.