The Hill’s whip count is at 39 No’s; and a shocking video of Stupak showing him to be a liar

As of the last update at 2:47 p.m., The Hill’s whip count shows 39 votes in the No category, one more than the 38 needed to stop the bill, resulting from two more Democrats announcing that they will vote no. That’s the first time since I began following the whip count several days ago the No’s have been at 38 or above. If those 39 hold, the Democrats cannot pass the bill.

However, the current whip count still lists Stupak and his group in the No list, which some would say is highly questionable. The Hill has left them there, because, as Bob Cusack explains, Stupak’s office has “strongly” denied that he has made a deal.

However, in keeping with the Perils of Pauline character of this day, simultaneously with picking up on that very good news, I received this very bad news from A. Zarkov concerning Stupak’s real intentions. It’s a video of him talking to constituents in November of last year in which he says that if he tries to pass the Stupak amendment and it fails, and if he likes the bill except for the abortion funding part, then he “could” still vote for the bill. He makes this statement more than once and he makes it emphatically. This is absolutely stunning and suggests that he has been deliberately lying all along. I can’t believe that Stupak is so evil, to have deliberately deceived the entire country for these last many weeks and months, just to create a “cover” for himself. Or maybe the explanation is that, notwithstanding his stolid, upright demeanor, he’s a narcissist who loves being in the spotlight and will do anything to stay there.

In any case, my mantra for the last 12 days, Put not thy trust in Stupak, has been confirmed in spades.

However, here is a more hopeful way of seeing this situation—and it’s a scenario, not a prediction. Stupak’s original intention may have been self-seeking, dishonest, and fraudulent, but, as a result of what started as a fraud, he is now so deeply committed to the position of not voting for a bill that contains abortion funding that he will not be able to extract himself from that position, despite his own desire to do so, and will end up voting no. As in the story of Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery, man’s wicked intentions may be used by God for a good result that no one could have expected.

A. Zarkov writes (3 p.m.):

Gateway Pundit presents a video of a constituent meeting Stupak had last year. He said that he will try to get an amendment prohibiting funding for abortion. But if he can’t, he will still vote for Obamacare anyway. He got booed. He didn’t know he was being recorded (says Gateway).

He will vote for Obamacare. He just trying create a lot of smoke to mask his true intentions. He’s been lying to everyone. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think so. Hold on. You are going to get Obamacare. This isn’t it dream, it’s really happening.

That may be true, but, as I have said repeatedly, with such uncertainties swirling around us, we should not make definitive predictions—especially of defeat. Let’s not claim to know the future.


Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 21, 2010 03:18 PM | Send
    


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