A decent health care discussion took place yesterday on Greg Sargent's Plum Line. Or at least the best someone is going to get from so-called conservatives about their opposition to a "public option." If you can put the Tea Bagging aside, the conspiracy theories and the wingnuts, and begin the debate with "basic sanity," it's very possible to narrow down right wing opposition. Their opposition is mainly just opposition to any idea from the president because as you can see from SBJ, he supports publicly funding private insurance carriers and publicly funding public carriers as well. He doesn't oppose any of it. And he's a self-described "conservative Libertarian." Very macho if you ask me.

His only opposition to a "public option" for health care comes in the form that he doesn't want government to shut down private providers. But government, as I pointed out, has a pretty good track record of not shutting down private business. Consider the government-run post office hasn't shut down private providers. The government-run Social Security hasn't shut down private investors. The government-run PBS hasn't shut down private network television. The government-run VA hasn't shut down private hospitals. The government-run Medicare/Medicaid hasn't shut down private providers. Consider all that and the government's track record of providing competition to private industry without destroying it is rather good. The right wing knows it too. Once the conversation gets to that point, SBJ-- like all of them-- runs and hides. But remember, beginning the debate with a "basic sanity" without the president being a foreign-born enemy with death squads is crucial for an honest debate.

The wackos will believe what they want. But a large portion of independents and even sane-thinking conservatives like SBJ will come around if for no other reason than not wanting to side with the wingnuts.