Whatever you think of the bill itself, last night's passage of health care reform is a major achievement for the Democrats. Both Republican and Democratic Congresses have tried to reform the health care system and failed. The new bill will have an immediate impact on the lives of millions of Americans, and will frame the political debate between the two parties not just in the fall, but for years to come. I'll talk more about what the passage of the bill means in future posts. But as usual some of the best—or at least the crassest and most amusing—commentary comes from the smart-asses on Twitter. Here's some of what the commentwitteriat had to say, put together with help of the always entertaining favstar.fm.
@WadetoBlack: Flipping back and forth between the Life documentary and CSPAN tonight makes me think at this hour, the debate needs more Komodo dragons.
@pourmecoffee: End Times. 2:00 p.m.—Boehner set to get his last tanning session as a free man.
@tj: Here's a list of all of the Republicans arguing against government-run health care who have opted-out of government-run health care:
@atrios: Pretty sure boner pills included in HCR. Not sure why repubs so upset.
@spinchange: Very crafty of them not to have the mandate & public exchanges kick in until 2014, AFTER the world ends in 2012. Well played, Democrats.
@pourmecoffee: Sarah Palin updating her Facebook status to "Tyrannized."@lhnatko: The healthcare bill has already improved the lives of Americans: it's knocked Justin Bieber off of the "Trending Topics" list.
@pourmecoffee: GOP to hold their breath until #hcr is repealed, and they [stomping upstairs] hate you, hate you, hate you!
@mayjah: Yay! The healthcare reform bill passed! Waitress, a round of celebratory abortions for all my friends!
@BrilliantOrange: Who wants to help me drag a Republican to his healthcare barcode tattoo appointment?
@jimray: You have to admit, healthcare reform sure beats the most lasting domestic reform of the last guy: warrantless wiretaps.
@CcSteff: What you're feeling, Republicans, is the ghost of Ted Kennedy's nuts on your chin.
@Ali_Davis: I think we know who has the biggest gavel in this room.
@abba_ks: That "hopey-changey thing" *is* working fine, thank you.
Thank goodness there's still some humor left...