How Did This Happen?

UPDATE: They aren't Canadians and I'm pretty sure their last names aren't McKenzie but both Bob and Doug linked to here.

PREVIOUSLY:

To borrow a metaphor, it was a perfect storm that brought us here.

And Philip Klein summed it up better than I could:

The question conservatives should be asking though, is how did we get in this position in the first place? How come, over the course of two elections, Democrats were able to take back the White House and amass substantial majorities in both chambers of Congress, allowing them to enact this sweeping legislation with no Republican votes – and huge defections in their own party? How could a generally right-of-center nation be taken over by liberals from Chicago and San Francisco?

The answer, of course, is that none of this would have been possible without George W. Bush -- or more broadly speaking, Bush era Republicanism. While they were in power, Republicans squandered an opportunity to push free market health care solutions. When they did use their power to pass major legislation, it was for policies like the big government Medicare prescription drug plan, which was (until today) the largest expansion of entitlements since the Great Society. They took earmarks and doled out farm and energy subsidies. They earned a reputation for fiscal recklessness and corruption and incompetent governance. President Obama ultimately forced through the health care bill in spite of the political consequences to his party because he’s ultimately a true believing liberal. But it was only because of the failures of Bush-era Republicanism that an ideological liberal with little experience was able to capture the presidency on the abstract notion of change.

But let's not spend all of our time reflecting on what happened. Time to look ahead as to what's next. This was a touchdown for the other team and the clock has run down but a referee is looking to throw a flag on the field too.

By the way, the initial report from the CBO about the Health Care Takeover? Think of it as food bins filled with sand with a scattering of grain over the top to make them look full.

This shouldn't be a time to despair. Look at it this way, ObamaCare was supposed to be passed in the middle of last year. It was delayed and delayed until last night when the Democrat Leadership in Congress couldn't push back the hot potato any longer. The Tea Parties and others who helped pressure Congress did some good.

On January 20, 2009, when Obama took office, and then again in April when Arlen Specter jumped ship, did any one of you think we could hold off Obamacare beyond July?

In August and September, did you think we would make it to the end of the year, and then in early January 2010, did any of you (other than me) think Scott Brown could win and we could prevent a Democratic super-majority?

Your hard work has paid off, even if the end result was not what we wanted. But trust me, without you it would have been much, much worse.

And there's this to take solace in. Obama is losing the voting center. About time they woke up.

Thanks to The Other McCain for some of the links.