Friday September 11, 2009: From Congressman John Campbell

Full post (here).

Many of you probably watched the President's Wednesday night address to a joint session of Congress on health care. Such addresses to a joint session are usually done for the State of the Union or a national military emergency (9/11). It is quite rare to use this for a single policy address.

I was frankly surprised at what went on. This was really more like a lecture than a speech. Rather than accept the legitimate concerns of those (including this writer) who disagree with the president's health care plan and discuss potential for compromise, Mr. Obama chided and taunted his opposition. You can't say "we will call you out" in reference to people who will say things with which the President disagrees, and then expect to work with and be trusted by those same people. The President's tone was haughty and condescending. As a result, the atmosphere is the room was extremely acrimonious. Maybe this mood didn't come across on TV, but you could cut the air with a knife in that room. That is why there were more outbursts than usual.

The President sets the tone, and the tone was one of confrontation and about as far from bipartisanship as could be. His message was basically this: ‘Here is my health care plan and if you oppose it, then you are against reform at all.’ As one Republican Senator remarked, he said ‘it's my way or the highway.’