In a moment sure to bring out the Abe Simpson in any member of the Professional Left™, Meet The Press host David Gregory appeared on Morning Joe to make the cockamamie pronouncement that Sen. Mitch McConnell said something which “resonated…that the President got everything he wanted and it didn’t work.”

The only problem with Gregory’s statement is that it’s complete balderdash. Balderdash, I tell you!

Assuming Congress passes the “less than satisfying” debt ceiling measure that puts an end to the Tea Party-invented default crisis, this week will mark the Dawn of Doomsday Politics™, an era in which all bets are off, and the immolation of our way of life has become a political bargaining chip. At Monday’s White House briefing, I asked Press Secretary Jay Carney why the President even allowed this conversation to happen in the first place, and how he might deal with the default threat when it comes up again, in his second term.

The public health insurance option has been declared dead more times than the red-shirted guy in the Enterprise landing party, yet it somehow manages to pop back up every time. Now, at the 11.99th hour, the incredibly popular provision’s best hope lies in its most vociferous opponents’ hands. Now that the Senate is trying to pass the reconciliation fixes, the Republicans are looking to find any technicality that might send it back to the House for final passage. If they do, they also crack open the door for the public option.

Actress Heather Graham is back this week as the star of a sequel – she’s in a new MoveOn.org ad as “The Public Option.”

She first appeared in the race-themed ad in October, and now with the public option back in the news, she’s back as well. Check out the ad inside.

Just two months after devoting an episode-long Special Comment to the urgent need for health reform, Olbermann announced last night that he had given up on the health reform bill as it had evolved, calling it a scheme for “medical mobster protection money.” Olbermann even made the (just a bit melodramatic) claim that he would go to jail rather than buying whatever government health insurance emerged from the “hollow shell of a bill:”

On Wednesday, Business Insider reported that Facebook users were being plied with virtual cash (for games like Mafia Wars) to email their Senators to oppose a public health insurance option. The health insurance industry-backed website to which the ads directed users, Get Health Reform Right, is down today. We contacted the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, who runs the site, to find out why.

At today’s White House press briefing, Robert Gibbs was asked if the President’s support for the latest healthcare reform compromise, a gumbo of increased Medicare availability, access to the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, and a trigger for the public option, constituted a “second-best” to the robust public option that the President has favored all along. His response was not what you would expect from an administration whose party holds both houses of Congress.

The senators of this great nation have agreed to give up their Saturday to cast the first vote for health care reform with the initial roll call expected around 8 p.m., according to the Associated Press. Where should those engaged citizens hoping to tune in for coverage of the debate turn? It all depends on your obsession level with the United States Senate, health care reform and CSPAN.

What the Fox? On last night’s Countdown, Keith Olbermann noted the shocking development that Brit Hume corrected Bill O’Reilly’s contention that “the folks” don’t want a public health insurance option, noting that polling suggests it’s “kind of popular.” Hume’s correction needs correcting. The public option isn’t “kind of popular,” it’s overwhelmingly popular (even with “folks” like Bill O’Reilly).

The fortieth anniversary of Sesame Street makes me wonder if our long-drawn-out debate on health care might have been better served by the likes of Kermit and Big Bird than by the current cast of pundits — maybe then Americans would actally know what was in the bill! To that end, here are three Sesame Street-inspired explanations of the three core concepts that make up the current health care reform bill.

At 11:15 pm last night, the House health care reform bill passed by a vote of 220-215 to elated cheers from the Democrats. There were 39 Democratic “Nay” votes, and one Republican “Yea,” Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La). The Senate still has to pass its version of the bill, but for now, this is a moment of celebration for Democrats and proponents of health care reform. We’ve got video of the bill’s passage, and a statement from the President.

There’s a Youtube clip going around that has alarm bells going off about the White House’s support of Harry Reid‘s opt-out public option bill, versus a public option trigger that had the support of GOP Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). In the clip, NBC News’ Chuck Todd tells Joe Scarborough that White House sources are telling Reid, “Don’t come crying to us for that last vote.”

Sometimes it seems that Rachel Maddow is the Glenn Beck of MSNBC….merely in so far as she is able to explain things simply, engagingly, often with the aid of props! Behold her explanation of the various public option options facing the Senate and the country after yesterday’s announcement by Harry Reid that some form would be included in the Senate’s legislation.

At the final day of a conference by health insurance lobby group America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a group of protesters set themselves apart from the usual tree-chaining, offensive-sign-carrying, poorly thought-out chanting that we’re all used to by combining political protest, musical theater, and flash mob spontaneity.

If the Republican party wants to take a major chunk of seats in 2010 from the Democratic majority, maybe listening to Rush Limbaugh (the de factor head of the Republican Party) isn’t a good idea. And Michael Steele – the actual head of the Republican party – hasn’t exactly excited the masses. Hannity? Beck?

How about Jon Stewart. The Daily Show host delivered a crushing critique of the Democrats ineffectiveness last night.

Move over, Harry & Louise, there’s a new health care debate going on, and this one’s takin’ it to YouTube. Oh, wait, Harry & Louise switched sides, but the point is, online video has made it really, really easy to take to the Internets to try and move the debate — and activist humor is [...]

In the tradition of “Prop 8: The Musical” and a satirical echo of the “Yes, We Can” video, comedians and celebs like Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Donald Faison (Scrubs) and Thomas Lennon (Reno 911) star in the latest “Funny or Die” video spoofing health care PSAs, vowing to “protect” insurance companies from the [...]

Even his biggest fans probably wouldn’t argue that Keith Olbermann is a transcendently non-partisan journalist. But is Olbermann, who considers himself a serious journalist and not just another pundit, crossing the line by appearing in a political ad? Update – Earlier we asked if Olbermann was crossing the line by appearing in a political ad, and it turns out that he did not give permission and MSNBC is asking Change Congress to stop using it in their ad.

In June, I wrote a story that raised big questions about the value of the government’s $80 billion deal with Big Pharma, and wondered if the deal came with the trade-off of killing legislation that would enable the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices. Such a trade-off would be indefensible. That [...]