When The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was first introduced and debated in Congress, polling on the individual parts saw an overwhelming majority of Americans approving. Well, with Democrats in charge of our framing, we all knew that wouldn't last.

Enter Frank Luntz and the Republican Dirty Framing Machine and we got Death Panels killing grandma and it was all over but the funeral.

Democrats screwed the pooch on this because in the 30+ years Luntz has been teaching Republicans how to talk, Democrats have refused to fight back with equally compelling language that illustrates our policies using our moral frames.

This may be a battle that is so long into the siege that it can no longer be won, but I'm not going to go down without fighting for what I believe is the best way to turn this conversation around and start winning back all those people who liked what was in the bill in the first place, but have been talked out of supporting the bill by the Fright Wing Party of America.

President Obama is a brilliant man. But like anyone else on this planet, he's also capable of being led astray. I don't know who advised him to try to "own" the pejorative "Obamacare," but they were dead wrong. Dead wrong. The president's little Twitter hashtag game completely backfired when Republicans started using it to continue their disparagement of it in the nastiest terms possible. "Obamacare" is no more embraced by those who would potentially support it if they understood it than it was last summer.

And there was nothing about that hashtag that would have made it look utterly stupid for someone to be objecting to!

That's why I'm proposing that we forget "Obamacare," and that we even abandon the here-to-fore "official" name, The Affordable Care Act. That's become a joke now, too. "Affordable care — yeah, right. My premiums went up 20 percent the minute the damn thing passed!"

But how ridiculous does it sound to oppose Patient Protection? Who (in their right mind) could be against that?

So I have a challenge for each and every one of you:

Fire up your Twitter accounts and start tweeting the hashtag #PatientProtectionAct, along with something it protects. Here's a list of my tweets using it — copy them and tweet them yourselves. And post your own here, too, so the rest of us can copy and tweet them, too.

(Tweets below the fold.)

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Do you remember the book by Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People? Neither does Rep. Allen West.

West called out not just President Obama, but Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and fellow Floridian Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

“Take your message of equality of achievement, take your message of economic dependency, and take your message of enslaving the entrepreneurial will and spirit of the American people somewhere else. You can take it to Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it to the North Pole, but get the hell out of the United States of America.”

He pledged that he will do everything in his power to stop President Obama from “destroy[ing]” the country.

I've got nothing to say to this hyperbolic absurdity except to note that it is only those least-versed in American history who can make such un-American statements. That he feels comfortable saying such things without fear of the House leadership condemning him (can you imagine the outrage if some Democrat said that about George W. Bush during his term? Quelle horreur!) shows how far down the dialogue has degenerated in the Republican Party. Nonetheless, West is becoming such an embarrassment to the Republican establishment that they are taking pains to redistrict West out of existence.

The teahadists eat that sort of thing up with a spoon, naturally. But the Florida GOP, which has a supermajority in the state legislature and is headed up by GOP Governor Rick “Voldemort” Scott, has undertaken a project to redraw the state’s districts—after being compelled to do so by votes on a ballot initiative in 2010. And it looks like Mr. West might be headed south.

Who would rob the nation of such a fiery demagogue? Wingnuts can’t pin this one on the Dems, who are pretty much powerless in Florida. But Colonel Mustard has a clue:

One of the rising stars of the Tea Party is about to be sacrificed by the Republican establishment in Florida, led by someone spinning for Mitt Romney.

Don’t say you weren’t warned.

It was Will Weatherford in the Conservatory with a wrench! Well, the truth is, West was in some trouble with voters anyway. I don’t live in his district, but from what I understand, voting in a certified loon like West was something of an aberration for that area, and it’s possible they find West’s constant grandstanding a bit embarrassing.

DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz told Wolf Blitzer on CNN that Rep. Allen West had not apologized for his outrageous behavior, which he sealed in a letter.

BLITZER: Now there's reports out there as of this moment that he called you and apologized.

SCHULTZ: That is absolutely untrue. I have not received an apology. I haven't received a phone call. I know he has my e-mail, I haven't got an apology on my e-mail nor on my fax machine in my district office or my congressional office in the Capitol or at the Democratic National Committee.

BLITZER: He's quoted in this Roll Call as having told a "Huffington Post" reporter, 'I just apologized.'

SCHULTZ: That's simply not true.

A Huff Post reporter asked West about his sexist and sophomoric attack against Rep. Schultz, and he claimed that he did apologize.

Following Rep. Allen West’s (R-FL) tirade yesterday against Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), the Tea Party Republican told the Huffington Post that he had “just apologized” to his fellow Floridian this afternoon. Wasserman Schultz told CNN this afternoon, however, that reports of West apologizing to her were “absolutely untrue.”

Allen West never did formally apologize to her. Let's face it, he would never have behaved like this to another man in Congress. Roll Call breaks it down: The Allen West Apology Mystery

Did he or didn’t he?

Shortly after Roll Call reported Wednesday afternoon that Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said that he had apologized to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) for calling her “vile, unprofessional and despicable” in an email, the phones started ringing off the hook.

Wasserman Schultz aides said there had been no apology, and West’s office adamantly denied the report and demanded a retraction.

So, what exactly happened?

West said, “I just apologized,” when asked by a Huffington Post reporter about the situation in the Speaker’s Lobby before votes Wednesday afternoon, according to a tape of the conversation.

The Huffington Post reporter repeated the question later, asking about it in the context of a group of female lawmakers preparing to hold a news conference to condemn him. The Members planned to call on the leadership of both parties to rebuke West. In response to the question, West reiterated that he had apologized before walking into the House chamber.

But West spokeswoman Angela Sachitano doubled down, saying it was Wasserman Schultz who should do the apologizing. Sachitano strenuously denied that West had apologized to Wasserman Schultz and even denied what he’d told Huffington Post...read on

His people even lie about what West said to the Huffington Post.

CNN Transcript via The Situation Room below the fold:

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This above video of Debbie Wasserman Schultz from the House floor provoked Rep. Alan West, another new favorite plaything of the wingnuts and the Villagers, to new lows of incivility, proving yet again how really thin-skinned he is.

Florida GOP Congressman Allen West this afternoon dispatched a scathing personal email to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, calling her "vile, unprofessional ,and despicable," "a coward," "characterless," and "not a Lady," and demanding that she "shut the heck up."

Wasserman Schultz, in whose neighboring South Florida district West lives, provoked his tirade with remarks after he left the House floor today, in which she responded -- without naming him -- to the Tea Party freshman's support for "Cut, Cap, and Balance" legislation to raise the debt ceiling.

"The gentleman from Florida. who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, as do I, is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries, unbelievable from a Member from South Florida," Wasserman Schultz said, saying the legislation "slashes Medicaid and critical investments essential to winning the future in favor of protecting tax breaks for Big Oil, millionaires, and companies who ship American jobs overseas."

Her criticism of the legislation -- more or less what most Democrats are saying today -- provoked a furious response. West copied members of House Republican and Democratic leadership on the email, as well as his chief-of-staff, Jonathan Blyth.

So the new Tea Party creed is 'Shut the Heck Up!' Can you imagine if anyone from the Democratic Party told Sarah Palin to shut the heck up? OMG, the seas would part with the fire of hatred from the entire Fox News team. Yet I'm sure David Gregory will snap West up on Meet the Press as soon as he can come on again. Liberals would be vilified and banished from news shows for a similar type of outburst.

This man has a screw loose and doesn't try to hide it. Maybe he can try to "act like a man." Was the Republican bill titled Cut, Cap, and the Unbalanced?

"Congressman Weiner departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person," the statement reads. "In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well. Congressman Weiner takes the views of his colleagues very seriously and has determined that he needs this time to get healthy and make the best decision possible for himself, his family and his constituents."

Weiner's abrupt departure comes on the heels of the news that Weiner had had private messages with a 17 year old high school student, although both Weiner and the minor's parents insist that no inappropriate messages were exchanged. Weiner did not absolutely rule out the notion of treatment at his press conference Monday, but made a point of saying that this was not a subject for which he felt could be eliminated by treatment but rather was an error in judgment.

Unfortunately, Weiner leaves as pressure for him to resign ratchets up. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and DCCC Chair Steve Israel have all called for Weiner to resign, despite the fact that polls show his constituents do not want him to and there's a great likelihood his seat will be districted out next year.

The House Democratic leadership went public today with their unequivocal desire for Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) to resign his office as a result of a scandal involving sexual conversations and explicit photos sent over the Internet. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), DNC Chair and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and DCCC Chair and fellow New York Congressman Steve Israel simultaneously released statements calling on Weiner to resign.Pelosi's statement:

"Congressman Weiner has the love of his family, the confidence of his constituents, and the recognition that he needs help. I urge Congressman Weiner to seek that help without the pressures of being a Member of Congress."

Wasserman Schultz:

"It is with great disappointment that I call on Representative Anthony Weiner to resign. The behavior he has exhibited is indefensible and Representative Weiner's continued service in Congress is untenable. This sordid affair has become an unacceptable distraction for Representative Weiner, his family, his constituents and the House - and for the good of all, he should step aside and address those things that should be most important - his and his family's well-being."

And Israel:

"Anthony's inappropriate behavior has become an insurmountable distraction to the House and our work for the American people. With a heavy heart, I call on Anthony to resign.

"I pray for his family and hope that Anthony will take time to get the help he needs without the distractions and added pressures of Washington, DC."

Notably, James Clyburn broke from the Democratic leadership (such as it can be called in this instance) and supported Weiner.

Personally, I think this whole event is indicative of the weak leadership we have in Congress. Without defending Weiner (and with the caveat that if anything inappropriate was exchanged with the minor, all bets are off), the Democrats caving to Republican politicking and haymaking shows why it's such a struggle to move that Overton Window to the left. As long as Weiner's communications with the minor remain appropriate--and all indications so far is that they will--then Weiner's committed no infraction to require this abandonment from his own party. Did the Republicans do that for Vitter? Ensign? Coburn? Hell, have they done it for Boehner and his lobbyist girlfriend who is not his wife? No, no, no, and hell no.

But the Democrats are only too willing to give up on someone who was openly targeted by conservative smear merchants, who has broken no laws and who still enjoys the support of the majority of his constituents. Party of the people? Not so much. Hey, how 'bout we pay as much attention to the clear ethics violations of Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife as we do to Anthony Weiner?

The Republicans in the Senate have thrown down the gauntlet: 44 Republican senators have signed a letter saying they won't confirm anyone -- anyone at all -- to be the director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unless the new agency is made toothless. It is this kind of way-over-the-top overreaching that has hurt Republican governors like Walker and Kasich so badly because of their attempt to wipe out public-sector unions, and has made the Ryan budget the most unpopular bill in front of Congress in years. When you are so clearly willing to do everything the Wall Street bankers could ever ask, you paint a very big target on your back.

Democrats should seize this opportunity and strike while the iron is hot, just as they did in standing up to Walker, Kasich, and Ryan. Being willing to stand tall and fight back against those unpopular right-wing policies, and the moneymen behind them like the Koch brothers, has already paid off enormously for Democrats. Just think how picking a fight with the most unpopular entity in America (now that Osama bin Laden is dead) --the big banks on Wall Street -- could help them politically. The President should immediately announce he is appointing Elizabeth Warren as director of the CFPB, and when the next recess comes, immediately put her in as a recess appointment. There is no longer any reason not to, because the Republicans gave us our opening: if they are going to oppose anyone no matter how weak in that job, there is no reason to offer a compromise candidate. Obama should just give it to the person who would be the best director, which Elizabeth would clearly be. Having a big blow-up with Republicans, with us fighting for consumers and homeowners and them fighting for the banks, would be a great political fight to have.

I suspect at the end of the day, that will be the conclusion the Obama team comes to as well, although they are taking their own sweet time on this CFPB decision. And their options of who to appoint got narrowed a lot by that Senate GOP too. The White House already has had several feelers rejected by candidates who didn't want to be seen as taking the job Warren should have, which is a big factor in making Elizabeth's appointment more and more likely. The bottom line is that this letter probably just sealed the deal for her getting the job, so we can once again thank overreaching Republicans for helping get something good done.

Unfortunately, though, this rather obvious notion of picking fights with incredibly unpopular Wall Street bankers isn't a universally held Democratic strategy. Take a look at the dynamics on a couple of other fronts.

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h/t David

From This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn and Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz get into one of those discussions over this week's breast screening recommendations in which the Republican simply constructs an alternate reality:

BLACKBURN: ... Debbie is right when she says they forgot about people. Indeed, they did. But we have to realize, this group that made this recommendation, this isn't some outside group. This is a part of HHS. And when you look at the...

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: It's an independent group. That is not accurate.

BLACKBURN: ... 118 -- when you look at the...

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: It is not a part of HHS.

BLACKBURN: No, it is a part of HHS.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: No, it is not.

BLACKBURN: And when you look at what is going to happen with these 118 new bureaucracies with 62 directives that are given by the health choices commissioner on what insurance can be offered in this country after 2013 and what is going to be paid, you know that this is the bureaucrat in the exam room. This is how it's going to happen.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Marsha...

BLACKBURN: And this is the first step.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Marsha, there's an insurance company bureaucrat in the -- in between the patient and her doctor right now.

BLACKBURN: This is breast cancer. Well, and people don't like that, and we need to get rid of...

(CROSSTALK)

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: And your bill -- your -- your alternative...

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKBURN: We need to get rid of all of those insurance bureaucrats.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: ... does nothing to...

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: I'm going to have to -- I'm going to have to stop this right now.

Yes, George. Because your job is to provide a showcase. You're not supposed to confront the guests when they make things up.

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[Video from The Sun-Sentinel.]

Politico:

A bunch of Broward County, Fla. Republicans convened at a local rifle range to talk politics and squeeze off a few rounds at bullseyes.

One of them was a poster of a scary dude in a traditional Middle Eastern headdress -- another was human likeness with the initials of local Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

Among the members of the Southeast Broward Republican Club shooting their handguns and AK's Robert Lowry, who is waging an uphill campaign to unseat the popular Democratic incumbent in a district where D's outnumber R's two-to-one.

Lowry's target -- a paper silhouette -- had "DWS" written on it, a stunt Lowry first called a "joke" and later a "mistake."

You gotta love that "Culture of Life" the Republicans like to tout. Shooting at a target with your election rival's initials on it? Classy, classy, classy.

At what point will the Republican party repudiate the undercurrent of violence that falls into their reactions, like these political signs in Arizona that were painted over with the words "Kill Obama"? Who will be hurt before that? Howie Klein has more...

UPDATE: Wasserman Schultz has released a statement:

"There is nothing light or funny about pretending to shoot someone. At a time in our country when people are bringing guns to Town Hall Meetings and a preacher is calling for the death of our President, I find this type of action serious and disturbing. Tonight I am going to have to talk to my young children about why someone is pretending to shoot their mother. Trivializing violent behavior is the kind of extreme view that has no place in American politics."

(h/t Heather)

I don’t pretend that I am some great political genius, but I do know that there are some truisms in America politics. One big truism is that senior citizens vote as a much higher percentage than other subset of the population and the biggest way to ensure that they will come out to vote is to threaten the programs upon which they rely.

That’s what makes announcing the intent to cut spending to Medicare by $1.3 trillion such an odd, Bizarro-world choice on the part of the McCain/Palin campaign.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show to confirm that those all-too-critical 27 Florida electoral votes don’t look like they’ll be heading into the McCain column:

You are so right when you say that this is a third rail – of Florida politics – certainly, and politics nationally among senior citizens is Medicare and Social Security and John McCain and Sarah Palin are shockingly wrong on both of those issues. I mean, it’s bad enough that he clearly and consistently has supported privatizing Social Security. Especially considering that this morning the stock market was down 797 points at one point and he thinks we should just be investing—the best thing to do is invest people’s Social Security funds in the stock market. [sarcastically] That’s a really good idea, right now.

But then, on top of that, he goes so far as to say in order to cover about five million more people out of the 47 million that don’t have health insurance, his plan is to cut Medicare $1.3 trillion. Now there is 3.2 million Floridians that are covered by Medicare; we have the second highest number of Medicare recipients in the country and a higher percentage even than California of our population. I can tell you, I represent a district in South Florida for sixteen years, between the Legislature and Congress and there is no way that my senior citizen constituents are going to be supporting John McCain. They are really concerned about two things: making sure they don’t have their safety net yanked out from under them and making sure that their health care, that they have fought for and earned in the golden years of their retirement.

For the record, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have both signed off on Health Care for America Now.

Download | play Download | play (h/t Dave)

If you ever wondered how it was possible that we could possibly have this close an election when the vast majority of the American people highly disapprove of the job George W. Bush has done, yet there is still a disconnect with John McCain supporters that his would be a third Bush term, look no further than what passes for political debate on this morning's Face the Nation. My head is still hurting from the stupidity of it.

Still playing to the media narrative that the selection of Sarah Palin should somehow bring women to the McCain camp, they bring on four female proxies--Kay Bailey Hutchinson and former Mass Gov. Jane Swift for McCain, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and FL Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz for Obama--to frame the debate as Obama vs. Palin. Strange that. All this time, I thought it was John McCain running for the office. You know, the same guy that calls his wife an unforgivable slur and laughs at Hillary Clinton being referred to as a b*tch, and now the Republicans saying they're going to call out sexism when they see it? Maybe my silly little female head got confused.

And when Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz throws down the gauntlet on all the GOP distractions and says that the truth matters and Gov. Swift opts to spin this into an inane deflection of whether Palin was actually in Iraq, wasting close to four minutes of airtime. Wasserman Schultz holds her ground, pointing out that these embellishments to her record just show what a lightweight Palin truly is, but it's host Bob Schieffer that has to side with the Republicans by pointing out that Palin's actions 'have been alleged' to be less than her claim, but it's up to the voters to decide "the truth."

Um, Bob, isn't that supposed to be your function? To help the voters know the truth from the spin?

Transcripts below the fold

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