In Weekly Saturday Address, Obama Drops the Kid Gloves

Posted on 17. Oct, 2009 by Collin Orcutt in Uncategorized

Good moooornnnniiiiiing President Obama. In his latest weekly Saturday radio/internet address, Obama laid into the insurance companies, calling them out as the biggest obstacle in health care reform (full transcript here):

“The history is clear: for decades rising health care costs have unleashed havoc on families, businesses, and the economy. And for decades, whenever we have tried to reform the system, the insurance companies have done everything in their considerable power to stop us.

…

It’s smoke and mirrors. It’s bogus. And it’s all too familiar. Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, ‘Take one of these, and call us in a decade.’ Well, not this time.”

And to this I say: IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME! In spite of all the turbulence his presidency has gone through so far, Obama’s been speaking with pillows in his mouth since he took office. We all know one of his biggest assets is his oratory skills, yet it seems like for the last nine months he’s been throwing his changeup rather than coming with the high heat.

Maybe no longer. The New York Times write up about his weekly address said Obama used “unusually harsh terms” in his “sharp attack.” And on his own White House blog, the video is introduced with a caption saying (in stunning alliteration!) “the President denounces the desperate and deceptive last-ditch efforts of the health insurance companies to derail it.”

“Harsh,” “sharp,” “denounce.” We’re not in Kansas anymore.

Lets face it, America’s in a tough spot right now. Just yesterday we found out the country is $1.4 trillion in the hole, the Afghanistan debate continues to rage on and then, of course, there’s this health care things. People have strong opinions on these matters. I understand the need for level-headed thinking and calming talk from our president so as not to escalate anything, but he’s held his tongue on a lot of matters (personal attacks and national issues alike) for too long.

It’s nice to see him show some emotion. I reminds us that he’s got a lot invested in this too, that he’s right there with us. Here’s to hoping there’s more where that came from.