| Maybe its a perpetual lack of sleep; maybe its having watched waaaaaaay too much TV when I was a kid... But, for some reason, whenever I see or hear an item about Sen. Max Baucus (R-The Pocket of Big Insurance), my synapses are slow to fire (or perhaps they fire too fast) and the senator's name first registers, not as Baucus but as Backus. And now - after the senator from the Cliffs of Insurance Insanity revealed his owners' solution for the healthcare crisis - it finally makes sense. 
It was a sign! I really was seeing Backus - Jim Backus - and it really does make sense. Why?, I'm sure you're asking. Simply put: He's perfect for the job. Now, I wouldn't have said that a few months ago - but now, the assertion is unassailable. So... What makes him perfect for the job of dealing with healthcare reform in September 2009? Is it his experience as Mr. Howell on Gilligan's Island? No (although I think, were Mr. Howell a real person, he'd loooooooove Sen. Baucus.) Is it his experience providing the voice of Mr. Magoo? No (although, let's be honest: most members of Congress are able to 'see' the reality of the lives of real Americans as well as Mr. Magoo was able to see in general.) Is it even his very quick appearance at the end of Myra Breckinridge? No (though, given that this is an LGBT blog, I felt I needed to toss that in.) Then what is it? Well - its the obvious. He's been dead for twenty years - meaning that he is physically incapable of doing what the ostensibly-living Max Baucus did yesterday. Yes, Jim Backus may be dead - which means he can't possibly produce a healthcare bill which, if enacted into law, would make things worse than they already are. Lewis Black once made a rather strong case for why we should elect a dead president. I think that what Max Baucus unleashed yesterday is, in and of itself, the case for electing dead senators: They can't possibly make things worse. |
