On the merits of rhetoric

Digby notes the criticism of Obama's failure to offer specific details about his health care plans by Kevin Drum and others disagrees. I'm inclined to go with Digby on this:

I have no idea what Obama's intentions are, but I disagree that there is no utility in engaging in sweeping, inspirational rhetoric on this without a lot of specific proposals to back it up.

I agree that as an abstraction health care is easy. Why not? But it's also important to understand that the issue has not yet reached one of those transcendent places that makes massive change seem imperative and that's where some soaring Obama rhetoric is very useful.

This is quite good:

On this January morning of two thousand and seven, more than sixty years after President Truman first issued the call for national health insurance, we find ourselves in the midst of an historic moment on health care. From Maine to California, from business to labor, from Democrats to Republicans, the emergence of new and bold proposals from across the spectrum has effectively ended the debate over whether or not we should have universal health care in this country.

This is important. Universal Health Care, the concept, is far from settled, but Obama is just seizing the issue and saying that it is. And he's doing it with inspirational rhetoric that makes you feel as if it's an inexorable tide of progress, daring those who would try to stop it.

We are a long way from any plans and frankly I don't particularly want to hear about them yet in detail. I just want to know if the Democrats are prepared to say that they believe in universal health care. If they don't believe that then I want to hear why. That's the bright line that Obama is drawing and I think it's pretty smart.