The symbolism is emblematic of the Bush Administation's revolutionary expansion of executive power in the US: Bush backs the Fatah Palestinian executive branch, President Abbas, in his struggle with Hamas, which was elected to lead the Parliment, the branch closest to the people.
Bush can say the word "democracy," but he means the "freedom" of economic power to have its way, which invariably means a minority of the "haves" exploiting opportunities at the expense the majority "have-nots". It flies in the face of the underlying democratic principle of "one person, one vote."
We could all drive ourselves crazy following the twists and turns of the Senate healthcare legislative process, but that would be very stressful. The word is that the Senate will likely pass healthcare without a public option, thereby gaining the necessary 60 votes for cloture. Then, the legislation will go to the conference committee to be reconciled with the House bill, at which point the public option will be put into the bill. Then the Senate will vote on the reconciled bill with only 51 votes needed.
