Let's put ourselves in them.
The president took a gamble on Thursday moderating the health care summit. For seven hours, Republicans and Democrats bloviated, but not much was accomplished.
"Talking Points" liked the exercise, however. The folks should be able to hear both sides.
But there is no question that liberals and conservatives are not going to agree on Obamacare.
Simply put: Many Republicans want small government. They do not trust the feds to run the health care system. But many Democrats say federal power is the only way to get affordable health insurance to poor and working Americans. The GOP says it wants reform but on a much smaller scale.
Here's how Nancy Pelosi is dealing with that:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY PELOSI, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The other debate that you saw, let's start over, eensy weensy spider, little teeny tiny. You can't do it. There's certain things, unless you do them together, it doesn't have the impact. It doesn't have the synergy. It doesn't hold the insurance companies accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Don't you just love the spider part?
"Talking Points" is reminded there is an old movie called "The Spider Woman." It was pretty scary. Just an aside, nothing more.
But back to President Obama. He has to know that if Obamacare is not passed, he loses big. If his reform does get through Congress, he loses smaller.
But it's obvious the folks are very skeptical of the whole deal, so Obamacare is perilous for the president.
When you think about it, President Obama has something in common with President Bush. Both have taken daring gambles: Mr. Bush on the Iraq surge, Mr. Obama on trying to ram through an unpopular health care bill.
President Bush succeeded in the surge, but that did not help him much in the court of public opinion. President Obama may succeed in getting his health care vision passed, but like President Bush, I don't think it's going to help him very much.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
One of the bad things about being in the news business is that you can't cover every important story.
In Haiti, there are still millions of people suffering, but attention is diverted elsewhere as the story down there is pretty much the same every day. But there are some famous people doing good work in Haiti, like actress Sienna Miller.
Click here to watch "Pinheads & Patriots"!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIENNA MILLER, ACTRESS: The need for immediate medical care is enormous. If you can help, your donation to International Medical Corps will save lives today and help Haiti rebuild tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
For her work on behalf of International Medical Corps, Ms. Miller is a patriot.
On the pinhead front, an environmental Web site called carbonfootprint.com is hammering actor Harrison Ford. Apparently the Web site doesn't like the fact that Ford is a pilot and flies around all over the place.
But some of this might be the actor's fault, as he told a magazine that he likes flying so much, he'll use a plane to pick up a cheeseburger.
We think Mr. Ford was being facetious, but it really doesn't matter. If you want to fly, you should fly. This is America. The pressure group is in pinhead territory.
— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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