WHAT?  YOU MEAN THESE PEASANTS ARE ALLOWED TO EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS?  WHAT IS THIS – AMERICA?  – AT 8:45 A.M. ET:  Oh dear, oh dear, those people in flyover country have been permitted by the local, non-Ivy-League authorities to have a say on health care.  This voting business has got to stop.  From The New York Times:

Missouri voters on Tuesday easily approved a measure aimed at nullifying the new federal health care law, becoming the first state in the nation where ordinary people made known their dismay over the issue at the ballot box.

The measure was intended to invalidate a crucial element of President Obama’s health care law — namely, that most people be required to get health insurance or pay a tax penalty. Supporters of the measure said it would send a firm signal to Washington about how this state, often a bellwether in presidential elections, felt about such a law.

And...

“This really wasn’t an effort to poke the president in the eye,” said State Senator Jim Lembke, a Republican. “First and foremost, this was about defining the role of state government and the role of federal government. Whether it’s here in Missouri with health care or in Arizona with illegal immigration, the states are going to get together on this now.”

Residents in Arizona and Oklahoma are expected to cast ballots this year on amendments to their Constitutions aimed at accomplishing the same idea.

That must be scaring the daylights out of the Armani crowd in Washington.  They never noticed that the name of the country is the United States of America.  They don't like the states.  Real people live in those things. 

Missouri is sending a message.  I think there'll be many more.

August 4, 2010