In the aftermath of the disastrous defeat in Massachusetts yesterday, the Obama administration has insisted that the best course of action for Democrats in Congress is to pass something — anything — on health-care reform and declare a victory.  Yes, an overwhelming number of American citizens hate the bill and the manner in which Democrats produced it, but Barack Obama argued in Massachusetts on Sunday that, er, we’d learn to love it, or at least learn to live with it.  Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), who once demanded a single-payer system and “Medicare for all,” colorfully characterizes the folly of Obama’s approach and counsels a halt to the ObamaCare push instead (from Greg Hengler at Townhall):

They’re talking as if, like “what our deals are, what our negotiations are at the White House.” Yeah, and the last line is, “Pigs fly out of my ass,” or something like that. I mean, you know, it’s just, it’s just — we’ve got to recognize that we’ve got an entirely different scenario …

When you large numbers of citizens in the United States of America who believe this is going in the wrong direction, there’s a limit to which you can keep saying that “OK, they just don’t get it. If we just pass a bill, they’ll get it.” No no! I think that maybe we should internalize that we’re not doing things entirely correct here.

Give Weiner credit for some common sense here.  Congress has acted as haughty to the strenuous entreaties of its constituents as Massachusetts Democrats acted to the voters in their state over the last three weeks.  It’s no small wonder that anger at the disconnect between the electorate and its representatives resulted in this unexpected loss, and it’s no secret that it will result in a boatload more in November if this paternalistic attitude continues.  The Obama “they just don’t know what’s good for them” prescription is nothing less than assisted political suicide on the issue of health-care reform, and Weiner’s at least honest enough to admit it.

It doesn’t look like Obama and Nancy Pelosi are convincing anyone with their bravado this week.