The Question McIlheran Didn't Ask

Pat got to know Dan Zeidler. But Pat pulls the punch.

Zeidler, who lives in Wauwatosa, is a pro-life activist, mainly with Latin American human rights groups. He showed up at Marquette University in September, where Kohl made a rare appearance before his public on the subject of health care. Zeidler feels he got Kohl to promise something, a promise on which Zeidler says he's been stiff-armed ever since.

Yah, well. That's Herbie.

...Kohl isn't keen on input from the shmoes on this issue that nearly sank (and may still sink) his party's deepest desire. If he wanted your opinion, he'd ask.

Actually, he doesn't want anyone's opinion. He wants to look at his basketball players and live on his zillion-acre ranch in Wyoming.

As to ObamaCare, the subject of the Dairy Queen's stonewalling?

The House passed one version of Obamacare and the Senate a markedly different one. That usually means a conference committee. This time, the Democratic leaders who own Congress are skipping the usual open process and embracing a so-called "ping pong" of closed-door bargaining designed to cut out not merely Republicans but even Democrats who worry too much about what's in the sausage.

...the doors are closed precisely to enable unsavory compromises that preserve the scant margins by which the bill can pass. They're closed to keep the priorities of passionate voters from coming into play. We out here are distractions.

McIlheran is careful not to ask the payoff question: when should the Herb and Rusty Act be terminated with prejudice?