Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

The Senate Republicans lost their health care battle once Monday night when two senators became four. in opposition to the 'repeal and replace' plan. And they lost their health care battle again earlier today when, looking at a 'repeal only' bill, three defected.

President Trump couldn't bring them around, in part because he couldn't bring himself to talk about it with people who were on the fence and looking to be convinced,  and because he was more interested in talking about his trip to France and the parade he got to see, and, for all we know, the hot first lady of our oldest ally. VP Pence couldn't bring them around either, n part because the governors he met with didn't believe what he was selling, and because he slammed one of their own, John Kasich, a many whom many wish was the Republican nominee..

Mitch McConnell couldn't bring his own party to heel, either because the bill was not conservative enough for the conservatives, or not moderate enough for the moderates, or not Republican enough or the rest of the folks were were just happy to not have to be the vote that screwed things up.  Heck, even having disabled protesters didn't do enough to rally the gang.

So, who is to blame?  Let's ask the president!

So there you have it: Congressional rules. Democrats. Republicans. Governors. Mike Pence...

Maybe now that we've got the blame all allocated, we can get everyone sitting at the table to see if they can make some changes in the bill that will improve it.