Rep. Cantor's Magic Bullet

Much has been made recently of threats and acts of vandalism perpetrated against Democrats that voted for health care reform over the weekend. Those Congressmen and women have spoken up about this intimidation and that his has no place in American politics. That all sounds reasonable enough, except....

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor thinks the Democrats are making too much political hay of these acts. Then he drops the supposed bombshell publicly disclosing, "A bullet was shot through the window of [his] campaign office in Richmond this week." Of course, here's the problem. It doesn't match the facts. From the Richmond Police Department it appears a bullet was fired into the air, fell back toward the earth (as gravity is want to make objects do) and broke through a window pane in the same building that Cantor's office is housed in. It broke the window pain, but not the blinds and it fell at a downward trajectory.

That seems like a gross overstatement on Cantor's part and a false comparison as opposed to lawmakers that have face thrown bricks and cut propane lines.

HCR Passage Popular?

First post-Healthcare Reform Gallup Poll finds 49% of the American people think passage of the Healthcare Reform Bill is a "good thing" compared to 40% of Americans viewing it as a "bad" thing. Democrats are predictably thrilled about its passage while Republicans are just as predictably not thrilled. Independents split basically even.

Process may have been the problem after all.

Monday Round-Up

• Happy Health Care Reform Day. Last night, the House passed both the Senate Health Care Reform Bill and a Reconciliation Bill. Meanwhile, a Thomson Reuters report finds that, despite the Great Recession, Healthcare costs increased last year.
  
• Jane Mayer takes on Marc Thiessen's new book in the New Yorker. We've addressed Thiessen here and here recently.
• The internationally supported Transitional Federal Government reiterated its now stale vow to launch an offensive and take control of Somalia.
• The Times Online reports that Iran is training Afghan Taliban fighters in small unit tactics. If true, this is notable because Iran initially supported US/NATO intervention in Afghanistan.