Friday, June 15, 2012

Pelosi Does Things

Nancy Pelosi is confidently predicting that the Supreme Court will uphold health care reform by a 6-3 margin.  I and many other people aren't so confident.  But this is right thing for her to say: “I think we are ironclad on the constitutionality of the bill. We believe in the Constitution. We believe in judicial review."  Here's Pelosi's argument:  Health care reform is constitutional.  The Supreme Court gets things right.  So the Supreme Court will declare it constitutional.

Obviously, everyone and their cats are nervous about whether the Supreme Court gets things right, or whether 4.7 of the 9 justices just do what Rush Limbaugh says.  Dahlia Lithwick and Scott Lemieux would be on shaky ground in making Pelosi's argument, because they're trying to correctly predict what will happen.  Pelosi isn't really trying to do that.  There's really nothing gained by being a correct predictor here.  What she needs to do is use her time in front of the microphone to assert utter confidence in the constitutionality of health care reform.  All the better to respond with fury if the court decides otherwise.  She was betrayed by an American institution that she did her best to believe in.

You score pundits on whether they say the right things.  You score politicians on whether they do the right things.  The responsibilities of talk are different from the responsibilities of action.

1 comment:

bbw said...

i think it is not only the right thing to say, but that she is correct.