It was enough to make a conservative yearn for the good old Bush-era days of "Dissent Is Patriotic" . . .
For there on Morning Joe today was former Obama official Melody Barnes, warning Americans to "back off" their Reagan-inspired opposition to big government in general and Obamacare in particular. Instead, instructed Barnes, Americans should focus on making Obamacare work. View the video after the jump.
Joe Scarborough was having none of it, asking why he should back off opposing something that he and millions of other Americans, thinks is harmful to the country. Opposing Obamacare is not "unpatriotic", observed Scarborough.
MELODY BARNES: It is to everyone's benefit that people back off of what was the Reagan administration legacy that government is bad, government workers are bad and think about how we're going to make this work because what we've seen time and time again with Katrina and moving forward is if we don't have an effective federal government people get hurt. In fact people can die.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Hold on a second. why would I back off if I think health care policy is bad for the country in the the long run, the federal government is not competent enough to run it, and the launch has been terrible. Sam Stein asks the question are Republicans going to do their best to help this implementation? No, I don't think they are. And I don't think it means they are unpatriotic if they don't. Obviously what happened over the past few weeks, Sam, absolutely idiotic and self-defeating but why should the Republicans say hey listen we want to help you implement a program that we think will end private insurance over the next decade? That goes against everything I believe and millions and millions of Americans believe.
