The Speech 1
Who was the president's speech for? It ought to have been aimed at America's over 65s, the people most mistrustful of his plans, the people who depend on healthcare most.
Some of them may have qualms that the president intends to send out death panels to terminate them in their final illness. These people are unlikely to be reassured by the president's fierce denial. After all - that's just what a president bent on killing the elderly would say, wouldn't he?
The larger worry on display at this summer's town halls was that the creation of a major new healthcare program might jeopardize or divert money that could otherwise be devoted to Medicare. That's why the president's promises of deficit neutrality are so important. (Sorry, Mickey Kaus!) If his plans worsen the deficit, they aggravate the already parlous condition of Medicare and frighten the most readily frightened of healthcare constituencies.