http://www.mlgoodell.webs.com

A wise man once said a writer’s greatness is determined by his neologisms. In my illustrious career I have coined only one new word, as opposed to countless malapropisms. That word, a splendidly facile combination of self-effacing and self-deprecating, is self-defecating. Many people, upon first confronting the word in use, assume what we body linguists tend to describe as “a squirmy, icky posture.”

I suppose it is easy to understand their reaction, given its evocation of certain bodily functions, yet I maintain the term’s legitimacy, and am undeterred in my belief that it will soon sweep the word.

This tortured introduction serves only to support my claim that as a self-defecating individual I do not resent the media’s failure to give me due credit as the architect of the Republican triumph during yesterday’s epic Health Care Reform Summit. Yet the fact remains, the GOP escaped the ambush because they followed my instructions.

You no doubt recall my recent essay, “Heading for an Ambush?” I advised Republicans to stress that they do not support the mammoth bills already passed by the House and Senate, “and should emphasize that the majority of Americans support their position. They should say this, not once, but constantly. “

The Republicans did this.

I also wrote, “Beyond blanket opposition to the existing bills, Republicans should reiterate their, and the public’s opposition to any wholesale make over, or takeover, of the medical industry.”

Check.

How about “They should delineate their proposed reforms. They should fill the airwaves with their proposals, not just describing them, but offering detailed explanations of what they entail, and what benefits will accrue to the public.”

Done.

I don’t need credit. I’m happy to have been of service, though, honestly, how hard is it to say “Thank you?” Eric Cantor? Paul Ryan? Mitch McConnell? C’mon guys, credit where credit’s due.

Oh well. No doubt the acclamation will come later, once they are apprised of my neologistic prowess. In the meantime, a brief recap of the Shootout at the No Way Corral. President Barack Obama (D-Chi) kicked off the summit with his now rather shopworn bipartisan imposture, larded with a mendacious and condescending assurance to the Republicans that he really is interested in any ideas they may have.

This was, of course, the key to his strategy, to expose the opposition as shallow, recalcitrant, utterly devoid of useful ideas. However, the GOP refused to fall into that trap. They took him at his word, and offered idea after idea, explaining and justifying them, and whenever the President or his legislative henchpeople (another neologism!) claimed the idea was in their bill, they respectfully said, “No, it isn’t.”

It wasn’t supposed to play like this, and it didn’t take long for the President to change his tack from “Give me your ideas,” to “Let’s find things we can agree on.” There were in fact many goals held in common. Where the sides differed was how they could best be achieved. For the Republicans, it was simple. They can’t be achieved in the existing bill.

Obama’s scorn was palpable when Paul Ryan hoisted the mammoth bill on his desk. “Don’t tell me,” he sneered. “That’s the bill, right?” He dismissed Ryan’s ploy as mere stagecraft, as trickery not in the spirit of the summit. He repeatedly cut off Ryan, Cantor and any other Republican who attempted to read from the bill, suggesting the content was irrelevant. Yet it was entirely relevant.

It is the bill, the devil in the unspoken details, that is the point. It is why the Republicans, and most of America, are opposed to it. The Republicans reiterated their assertion that the bill was the problem, that it needs to be scrapped, that we need to start over with something manageable.

At the end of the day the positions were made indelibly clear. Republicans want to give the American people more choices, more freedom, and the mechanism to drive down the cost of health care. Democrats don’t trust the American people to make their own decisions. The summit concluded with Obama calling for the Democrats to go it alone, and to face the consequences next November. “That’s what elections are for,” he said.

Now Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are engaged in their own game of chicken, each calling for the other to go first. Both have serious doubts about their ability to muster even a simple majority in their respective houses.

One has to ask why Obama is so eager to drive his party over this electoral cliff. Why is he so intent on authoring the greatest political collapse in the history of Congress? Is it his arrogant belief that he knows better than the American people what is good for him? Is it a fit of pique at the Democrats’ failure to come up with a workable bill? Or is he perhaps in thrall to a vision of 72 legislative virgins waiting at his beck and call?