The Guardian: Live Blogging Health Care Debate

Well, I didn't - couldn't, because of schedules - really watch the day long health care summit that was televised live last week at the Blair House in D.C. I watched some highlights, enjoyed the recap on "The Daily Show" (they're so funny). But I just ran across this live-blogging summary in the UK's "The Guardian" that is short (maybe shortened for the final version) but also helpful and funny. Sounds like they did a good job of highlighting things. Here's the link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/feb/25/live-blog-healthcare-summit-obama-republicans

Some funny parts from the blog (just things that made me laugh - there's much more substance in the body of the blog) - funniest line is at 3:27 p.m.:

10.03am: You could cut the tension with a tissue. So far: lots of mainly old white men sitting around a table reading bits of paper. In other words: what most of Washington DC looks like most of the time...

10.21am: Now it's the Republicans' turn – via Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. He's not the most exciting person in the world, but compared with the Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell he's dynamite. But then so is mold. "I'd like to begin with a story. When I was elected governor..." great, thanks Lamar. (Is narcolepsy a pre-existing condition on my health insurance?)...

12.57pm: Slaughter relates a tale of a woman unable to afford dentures – and so wore her dead sister's dentures. "Did you ever believe that in America, that's where we would be?" asks Slaughter. My colleague Ewen MacAskill mentions that this used to be quite common in Scotland, 20 or 30 years ago. So, ah, another triumph for the US healthcare system....

Presidental Cigarette Break / House Vote / Lunch: What better time to sum up where we are, after nearly three hours. Um...

2.48pm: Biden's still going ... bending the curve ... and so on. I've got the sound down. Shot of John Boehner, who appears to be chewing a thistle. He really does look like a character out of Mad Men. Meanwhile, Mike Enzi hunches forward and thinks about selling shoes in the good old days while slowly scratching the side of his face. John McCain looks vaguely angry...

3.27pm: Republican House leader John Boehner speaks: "This bill is a dangerous experiment with the best healthcare system in the world." What, this bill also affects Japan?

3.55pm: And the Republican big finish comes from ... John Barrasso! What do you mean, who? John Barrasso – the former chief executive of the largest hospital in Casper, Wyoming. And now senator.

4.00pm: Oh, wow, John Barrasso thinks all members of Congress should only have "catastrophic" health insurance – so, just cancer and big stuff. Why? asks Obama. "Because then we'd have more skin in the game," says Barrasso. And so people would save more. "But what if you were on $40,000, John?" says Obama. That floors Barrasso, who struggles to come back with a fish imitation ("glub glub glub") about park rangers... Fantastic – this was by far the best exchange of the day so far. It clearly shows the difference between the two sides.

5.08pm: Obama's performance, whether you like him or not, has been impressive here. For seven hours, with just 45 minutes off in the middle, he's kept this up, and is still talking and making sense under the spotlight. It's hard to imagine some former presidents managing something like this. I thinking there of .. let's see ... Calvin Coolidge. Coolidge's father was once asked to describe his son. He paused for a considerable period before replying: "He ain't sassy."