Some reactions:

• I was initially, wowed. It’s hard not to get swept up by Obama. His nuanced explication of the American creed and his ability to capture ‘the moment’ in words are second to none. I thought the end of his speech with his line about “We did not come here to fear the future; we came here to shape it,” was particularly powerful.

• It was a remarkable political tactic to “level” on the issue of tort reform / malpractice reform while not actually including anything in the plan. Subconsciously, anyone going back to read past critiques of this plan that derided it’s failure to address tort reform will have in the back of her mind, “yes, but he knows about that and will address it.” Obama is often at his best when he’s in his “I’m now leveling with you modes,” a zone he entered often and effectively in this speech.

• It’s completely unclear to me or any rational being why there would ever need to be a “public option” that is entirely unsubsidized, as Obama suggests it would be. Wouldn’t such an entity be a perfect candidate for a… nonprofit? Besides, why is the “public option” getting only 5% of the market? is it a bad plan? If so, why are we creating it? None of this made sense to me, and I suspect it doesn’t actually make sense to Obama; he just had to make one last, lackluster defense of a doomed idea.

• I don’t think Obama is leveling with us on costs… or the lack of benefit cuts. One or the other, not both. We shouldn’t be ‘saving money’ by expanding care to 30 million uninsured… and frankly, it’s fine if we’re not. If there are actual cost-cutting measures in the bill (I didn’t hear much about them, and magic expert panels don’t count), we don’t need to pretend that expanding coverage is one of them. Let’s put a price tag on universal coverage and admit that’s what we need to pay for a more humane society.

• I still don’t understand why we need employers involved in providing health insurance. If there’s going to be an exchange where individuals and small businesses can purchase competitively priced insurance plans, why go through the hassle of policing & fining employers? Why not just let those who aren’t being provided for by their employers just purchase through the exchange?

• Overall, Obama is pursuing a sub-optimal policy direction; I wish we were headed for what’s optimal (my comments after you read that link: yes, I do think people can make choices about their health care. yes, I think they would make mistakes, but so would the government. yes, sometimes people would have to forego care because they don’t want to spend money. yes, that person is in a better position to judge how to allocate his/her money than any of the alternatives).

• Something’s going to get passed… on balance, probably a good thing…

• I am not an expert on health care policy, and I have no idea why I just wrote this.

A final note: Keith Olbermann is a bully. No sooner did that poor Louisiana congressman Charles Boustany finish the Republican response, than Olbermann blurts, “This man has been sued for medical malpractice 3 times. He is a birther…” …and then I changed the channel. As if Boustany was relying on his eminent ‘stature’ viz the President to make his case on health care. Olbermann didn’t need to sink so low, as he too often does, to dismiss what was already a hapless effort.