Coming this fall on NBC: Grumpy Old Man & The Night HCR Passed, Saving Christmas

NBC has announced their line-up for Sunday's Meet the Press and...shocker...it is going to be John McCain. As Benen points out, Sunday's appearance will mark the 20th time McCain has appeared on a Sunday morning talk show since President Obama's inauguration. McCain has averaged 1.5 appearances a month, every month for over a year.

Why?

Seriously...who is John McCain? Obviously, anyone who knows about his history knows he is a bitter, spoiled man. But he has always been that. We're asking who he is now, other than the guy who lost to Obama? He holds absolutely no sway in the national Republican party. He is hanging on for dear life right now in his re-election bid for Senate. He is in trouble in that race for good reason: McCain is full of shit. Seriously, he has spent his post Presidential-nominee time being wrong (See here & here), palling around with terrorists, and being a snarky ass (see here & here) to the man who whipped him fair and square.

So the question is, why does he get rewarded and put on tv? Gosh...NBC even went so far to tout his upcoming appearance as such in their release, "This Sunday: Exclusive! Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)." Wow. An "exclusive!" with an exclamation point and everything. Maybe they like putting McCain on because of his "straight talk." You know, like the straight talk he gave David Gregory back in July when he was explaining how Sarah Palin did not "quit" when she quit as Governor of Alaska.

The truth is, we have no idea why McCain keeps getting put on. Seriously, if you are a Republican, do you want this guy getting national air time? If so, WHY? Does McCain really have anything to do with the future of your party? Anyone?

But here is our prediction. You will see McCain continue to spout the current line of GOP bullshit about HCR, which is how reconciliation is wrong, bad and should not be used to pass something as big as HCR. He will do so and probably throw in the same misstatement about President Obama opposing its use on Judges, probably using the term "nuclear option." That's crap, because it was not being threatened to be used to appoint the Judges, the Republicans were threatening to use it to change the Senate rules to get rid of the filibuster (which would have been fine with us), after which they would have moved to appoint the Judges.

McCain will do this without batting an eye at the disingenuous nature of his remarks. Why will they be disingenuous you ask? Because the truth is, and John McCain along with every single Republican in Congress and Republican pundit knows this, HEALTH CARE REFORM HAS ALREADY BEEN PASSSED!

What's that you ask? 'Pine, how can this be? If HCR has passed, what's all the hubbub about? No...it's true, little one. HCR was passed way back on Christmas Eve of ought nine. It was a historic night. You see, there was a very long debate in the United States Senate over the HCR bill. After that very long debate, being the party of NO such as they were and having no plan of their own to try to reform our skyrocketing health care costs, the Republicans in the Senate mounted an effort to filibuster the HCR bill. But, undaunted, Senate Democrats overcame that filibuster attempt with the help of 60 YAY votes. The bill passed 60-39. It was a joyous occasion. Many of the 30 million Americans who have no insurance felt as though they had gotten one of the greatest Christmas gifts of all: healthcare. There had been plenty of debate. There were no tricks. There was not abuse of any rules. Our Democracy worked just as it should.

But 'Pine, you ask...what is all this talk about "reconciliation"? Well, little one, reconciliation is simply a process by which budget fixes can be implemented on legislation. In other words, reconciliation was created for just this kind of thing. It's not a trick, little one, it's actually part of the process. Little one, you know what, Ronnie Reagan was actually the great-grandaddy of reconciliation. Really. He loved it. Used it to effect all kinds of massive changes. Reconciliation is how we got the CHIPs program which helps give you health care. Or COBRA, which we had to use when your dad got laid off from the plant. Truth is, all the smack about reconciliation is really just much ado about nothing.

And that is how health care reform was passed and saved Christmas.

Hell...if Chris Matthews and Chuck Todd (see video) can understand that, we feel pretty confident intellectual heavyweights and good stewards of the public trust such as McCain, Eric Cantor and John Boehner can too. But that is not what you will see Sunday. Or any other day next week, next month or next year, from John McCain or any other Republican figure.

Why? Because they are completely full of shit and willing to say anything.

Why? Because it does not matter. They are not talking to rational, logical and reasonable people. Because the rational, logical and reasonable people know this already.

Instead, this Sunday and every other day for the foreseeable future, John McCain and his Republican colleagues are going to be talking into the void of irrationality that exists in the FoxNews universe, where Obama is a Kenyan Manchurian candidate who is turning the good ole U. S of A into the CCCP. Doing so while taking away your guns. And killing unborn babies. That you will have to eat. While you are plugged into his energy pods. That will power Ipods worn by the black Muslims who will rule the world. And win American Idol while sweeping the CMTs. And we can't have that, now can we?