I can honestly say I didn’t see this bit of spin coming, but it’s very instructive.

Pelosi is claiming that the Democrat health care bill is bipartisan.  Yes, bipartisan.  This despite the fact there aren’t going to be any Republican votes on it should it pass.  Her reasoning is along the lines of ‘Well, it’s bipartisan because the Republicans made an impact on it‘ (not a direct quote).

Translation:  We don’t want to own the damage we know our power grab will cause.

How do the RINOs fit in to all of this?  Well, those that say “Vote Republican no matter what” always quote percentages when defending the election of RINOs.  It’s something along the lines of “such and so has a higher conservative voting percentage than the Democrat.”

This may be true enough, but that’s not the real threat or irritation in RINOs.  RINOs are constantly giving Democrats the cover of bipartisanship.  They form things like Gangs of Fail and crossover vote on destructive legislation, which undermines their party under cover of a fictitious “compromise”.  You can tell from Pelosi’s very strained logical leap of convenience here that when she can’t get real “bipartisanship,” she’ll proclaim its existence regardless.

I’ve read numerous instances of excited blog commenters all but jumping for joy over a possible return to Republican majorities.  I’ll take the opportunity to remind you and them again that Republican majorities are meaningless if they’re made up of RINOs.  The Democrat agenda may not be advanced as quickly with them in power, but they’ll provide all the cover the Democrats need to spin their well-deserved blame onto the opposition.  Once the Republicans take the fall for it, the Democrats will then pick up where they left off.

Nothing has changed.  Better smaller gains with reliable people than majorities where we’re constantly wondering which RINO is going to blow it next.  Granted, the end result in 2010 may be somewhere in between, but the former goal is a better place to aim.