Missed it by that much

Right about now Il Duce is feeling the sting of defeat. And the Vulture is enjoying the bliss that is schadenfreude. Why? Because health care legislation the forcible take-over of 1/7 of the American economy by the federal government has gone down in flames.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that she lacks the votes to move the Senate's bill through the House and to Obama's desk. Under a plan backed by the White House, the new law would be followed by a separate measure making changes sought by House members, such as easing the Senate's tax on higher-cost health plans.

"Air Force 3" lacks the votes? But...the American people demand government health care! Il Duce said so!

The turning point? No surprise there: it was the election of Scott Brown as Senator in Massachusetts.

Pelosi, D-Calif., spoke to reporters after House Democrats held a closed-door meeting at which participants vented frustration with the Senate legislation.

Many rank-and-file Democrats said the stunning defeat in this week's Massachusetts special election — in which Republicans captured the Senate seat held for decades by the late Edward M. Kennedy — meant it was time to seek more modest health legislation.

Let me translate. Team Donkey Congresspukes saw one of their own go down in flames in the most liberal place in America outside of Berkeley, and it occurred to them that their cushy gig in Washington would surely meet a similar fate if they were caught on the wrong side of the steaming legislative turd crafted by "Air Force 3" and Harry Reid.

One vote. One special election turned the tide. Pelosi and Reid and Il Duce were simply going to hijack 1/7 of our nation's economy, the people be damned. One vote saved us from that.

We missed this fate by the narrowest of margins (as Maxwell Smart would say, "Missed it by that much!"). We just missed having our very lives consigned to Der Staat, signed, sealed, and delivered. We would have gone from citizens to property overnight.

Now is the time to ponder whether Il Duce is a skilled politician or simply an ideologue who's in way over his head. As I wrote prior to Duce's inauguration, he can overreach and recover, like Clinton. Or he can overreach and expose himself as a simpleton W-A-A-A-A-Y out of his league, like Carter. Or - the worst scenario of all - he can go all Woodrow Wilson on us and unleash the deadly power of Der Staat against its citizenry.

Interesting times. Interesting times indeed.