New Hotness On The Left: Obamacare Was Sabotaged!!11!

Serious You Guys

If a group under siege can demonstrate “that there has been a conspiracy, which has transformed politics and society,” the British writer David Aaranovitch, astutely observed in Voodoo Histories, then they can convince themselves that “their defeat is not the product of their own inherent weakness or unpopularity, let alone their mistakes,” but is instead “due to the almost demonic ruthlessness of their enemy.”

This observation has screamed back into my mind this week as I watched the disastrous rollout of Obamacare’s much-vaunted health-care exchanges provoke apologists into spreading nonsense. Somewhere, deep down, the president’s allies must know that their man blew the launch — and blew it good. Nevertheless, some of the brighter members of the movement have caught themselves in a trap, responding to the widespread criticism of their signature achievement with the ludicrous allegation that it is being thwarted by outside forces — namely, Republicans and their donors. Indeed, even Barack Obama has proven susceptible.

In the course of a defiant speech at the White House, the president rode bravely into the realm of magical thinking: “It’s time for folks to stop rooting for its failure,” Obama said, adopting the panicked tones of a cheap infomercial salesman. Why? “Because hardworking middle-class families are rooting for its success.” For her part, Nancy Pelosi offered her own insinuation yesterday, suggesting that Republicans who continued to oppose the law were guilty of “sabotage.”

That piece is by Charles C.W. Cooke, so of course you should read the whole thing. He got a little ahead of himself, though

Amusingly, the president’s defiance has simultaneously inspired his base and irritated the press corps. Friendly journalists such as Ezra Klein, Greg Sargent, and Ryan Lizza have been brutally honest about the scale of the mess, while, in the alternative universe that progressive users of social media inhabit, frustrated defenders of the rollout have started to blame the usual suspects. Do a quick search on Twitter for the words “Koch sabotage” and you’ll find an astonishing number of results. The same goes for “Koch Obamacare” and “Koch ruined,” too.

... leading to this inevitable update:

They'll all come around eventually.

As for myself, I usually don't go in for these conspiracy theories. When Team Orca screwed that system up royally, there were those on the right who floated the theory that it must have been DDoS'ed or something, when in reality it was obvious that it was a botched rollout.

But in this case, there's something to this sabotage idea. And I only say that because the HQ has obtained an exclusive photo of the saboteur in action.

That, right there, is the man who screwed up the federal exchanges. To paraphrase Hanlon's razor, never presume malice when incompetence is an adequate explanation ... and that guy is chock-full of incompetence.

posted by Andy at 02:30 PM

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