....to demonstrate how despicable the Republican right really is.

An ugly finale for health-care reform

By Dana Milbank
Monday, December 21, 2009; 2:00 AM

Going into Monday morning's crucial Senate vote on health-care
legislation, Republican chances for defeating the bill had come down to
a last, macabre hope. They needed one Democratic senator to die -- or at
least become incapacitated.

At 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon -- nine hours before the 1 a.m. vote that
would effectively clinch the legislation's passage -- Sen. Tom Coburn
(R-Okla.) went to the Senate floor to propose a prayer. "What the
American people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote
tonight," he said. "That's what they ought to pray."

It was difficult to escape the conclusion that Coburn was referring to
the 92-year-old, wheelchair-bound Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) who has been
in and out of hospitals and lay at home ailing. It would not be easy for
Byrd to get out of bed in the wee hours with deep snow on the ground and
ice on the roads -- but without his vote, Democrats wouldn't have the 60
they needed.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the number-two Democratic leader, went to the
floor to complain about Coburn's unholy prayer, which followed an
unsuccessful request from Democrats for an earlier vote because of
Byrd's "significant health problems." Said Durbin: "When it reaches a
point where we're praying, asking people to pray, that senators wouldn't
be able to answer the roll call, I think it has crossed the line."

.. . .

But all of that put together wasn't quite as noxious as the two
sentences that escaped Coburn's lips on the Senate floor. The Oklahoman,
who led the effort last week to stall proceedings by forcing an
hours-long reading of legislative language, had already lobbed a grenade
onto the floor when he said that, because of the legislation, Medicare
recipients are "going to die sooner."

On Saturday, Coburn likened the current situation to the period
preceding the Civil War. "The crisis of confidence in this country is
now at an apex that has not seen in over 150 years, and that lack of
confidence undermines the ability of legitimate governance," he said.
"There's a lot of people out there today who...will say, 'I give up on
my government,' and rightly so."

Earlier Sunday, Coburn, a medical doctor by training, held another news
conference and accused Democrats of "corruption" in drafting the bill.
He then went out onto the floor two hours later to discuss his prayer
that one of the Democrats wouldn't make it to the chamber. A few days
earlier, Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Sam Brownback (Kansas)
joined a public prayer for the bill's defeat -- but Coburn, as usual,
went further.

Durbin, learning of Coburn's prayer, went to the floor 45 minutes later
to challenge him to a rhetorical duel. Coburn declined to return. "I
don't think we should be wishing misfortune on either side of the
aisle," Durbin said of his absent colleague.

Coburn was wearing blue jeans, an argyle sweater and a tweed jacket with
elbow patches when he walked back into the chamber a few minutes before
1 a.m. He watched without expression when Byrd was wheeled in, dabbing
his eyes and nose with tissues, his complexion pale. When his name was
called, Byrd shot his right index finger into the air as he shouted
"aye," then pumped his left fist in defiance.

- - -

Ahhh...**** you, Coburn.