people. i was reading this again last night. this is from an incredible book, the good soldiers from david fingle and follows one man and his unit in iraq in 2006. this is a passage about the colonel going to visit a soldier who served under him in san antonio at the burns unit. he decided to start with duncan crookston. he put on protective gown and boots and gloves and walked toward a 19-year-old soldier whose left leg and right leg was gone, right arm was gone, left lower arm was gone, ears were gone, nose was gone, and eyelids were gone and who was burned over what little remained of him. so the costs of that war are going to be with us for decades and for generations. one of the things that i was interested in last night, richard, in listening to the president s speech is that he sort of danced around the structure that is left in baghdad, which i am told, by
vanderbilt? i think the line is five points. i m not super optimistic about the season. maybe you take the wildcats. morning joe starts right now. we have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in iraq and spent vast e sources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home. we perseveres because of a belief we share with the iraqi people, a belief out of the ashes of war, a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilization. through this remarkable chapter and the history of the united states and iraq, we have met our responsibilities. now, it s time to turn the page. welcome to morning joe. time to turn the page. that s the headline this morning. i m willie geist. joe and mika have the day off today. what? that means i got to sit next to this meathead, mike barnicle. what? luckily, we have cut the barnicle with some chris jansing and mr. dan senor is with us and margaret carlson, bloomberg news political columnist and washington edi
rose: welcome to the broadcast. in what may be a historic day on the way to health care reform, the senate finance committee by a vote of 14-9 passed a bill. we ll talk about it with ezra klein of the washington post. there are two things. one is snowe s involvement is a really big deal. the other is that democrats have a realization they didn t have in 1994. so in 1994 health care reform began to get unpopular, clinton was suffering under a number of scandals at that point and they began to abandon it basically. what happened then is they suffered losses like they have never suffered before and as far as i know haven t since in the 1994 elections. they lost the congress for the first time in 40 years. they lost more than 50 seats. so i think s a real understanding among both moderate and liberal democrats among the leadership, among the white house that either this passes and we can all run on a success together or it fails and we can all lose our elections together.
get more. so they weren t invested in things they had already gotten into the bill. they didn t feel like they had won any battles yet, so they didn t support it. they were trying to change it. but at that point, the bill was a very delicate compromise and couldn t be changed. this year they let all those groups come in at the beginning and, you know, you could say they got too much or gave away too much. but what it meant was as it rolled on everybody had something they liked. even if they didn t like everything. everybody had something they were fighting for. liberals had subsidies and conservatives had deficit reduction and interest groups had new customers. and everybody had parts of it that up set them, too, but they felt invested in the process, think had been part of it from the beginning. and that allowed the white house to come in pretty much near the end and use that sort of power of the presidential bully pulpit to push those final ten yards. to come in with that s
rose: welcome to e broadcast. in wt may be a historicay on the way to health care reform, the sete finance committee by a vote of 14-9 passed a bill. we ll talk about it with ezra kleiof the washington post. the are two things. on isnowe s involvement is a really big deal. the otheis that democratsave a realizationhey didn t have in 1994. so 1994 health care reform gan to get unpopular, clinton was suffering under a nber of scandals at that point and they began to abandon it basically. what happened en is they suffer losses like they hav ner suffered before and afar as i kw haven t since in the 1994 elections theyost the congress forthe first time in40 years. they lost re than 50 seats. so i think s a real unrstanding among both modete and liberal democra among the leadership, among the white house that eher this passesnd we can all run on a success together or it fails an we can all lose our elections togeth. rose: and then afgnistan as the presidt pondershis choices