Here, in a nutshell, is why healthcare reform is in danger of being disconnected from life-support.

The president is utterly unwilling to provide leadership on the issue.

Congressional Democrats — both species, House and Senate — are utterly unable to realize that it is in their own re-election self-interest to get healthcare reform passed.

There is apparently nobody in the Democratic party — not Senate/House leaders, not elder statesmen — who can get Congressional Democrats to see how comprehensively they will be committing electoral suicide if they fail to pass healthcare reform.

There is apparently nobody in the Democratic party who can get President Obama to see that if he fails to provide leadership on healthcare reform, and it dies, then he’s really not looking at being a mediocre two-term president or a really good one-term president, he’s looking at being a really mediocre one-term president (which will also end up costing me $20 to Matt, more’s the pity).

The blame for where we are on healthcare reform, and where we seem to be headed (on healthcare reform, and a host of other things too, that will fall by the wayside if they manage to kill off healthcare reform) rests quite jointly on the President and on Congressional Democrats.

A pox on both their asses!

***Update, 5:25 p.m.***

How pathetic is this?

Giving up on overhauling the nation’s health care system is not an option, the top House Democrat said Wednesday as lawmakers looked to President Barack Obama for guidance in his State of the Union address on how to revive the stalled legislation.

There is no direct channel of communication between President Barack Obama and House Democrats? All they can do is look to his public speeches for guidance?

It could be worse, of course. At least they are not going around sacrificing small animals and trying to read the entrails to divine what His Presidentiality wants of them.