The health care reform bill (whose final form we have yet to see) puts all Good Demcrats in a bind.
On the one hand, the bill would cure a whole host of major ills and abuses. On the other, it makes foolish concessions that we find nearly impossible to stomach. Purists are incensed by the flaws, while apologists fall all over themselves to make excuses for Dems who voted "no."
My own sense is that overall this bill is far more beneficial overall than it is flawed. We need to position ourselves between the two poles of the purists and the apologists -- one which would stop reform until it is perfect, the other which makes convenient excuses for not achieving a better outcome.
So please read on for the rationale, which speaks not only to the current health care debate, but also to how political sausage is made in general ...