Merry Christmas…

…Here’s some health insurance reform! Lord know it ain’t perfect and is lacking in those sweeping reforms that might have been included (proving, once again, that business bottom-lines trump populist rage in this country- how do you think Dick Clark stays popular?) Still, as the Senator Klobuchar says, it is “an important step forward,” mainly in that it is a step anywhere. Atul Gawande at the New Yorker made a persuasive case about how the lack of an over arching plan but lots of pilot programs has worked in the United States in the past (farming reform a century ago.) So here’s to the American process of trying things and keeping the best results- think Brian Wilson and Pet Sounds- and everyone staying healthy and warm today.

Also, because he voted for the bill and because he is one of the best presents we got in 2009, here is Senator Al Franken proving that he indeed belongs in the Senate, because at least he knows where all the other states are.