On Stupak's retirement

So Bart Stupak, 18-year veteran of Congress, has announced that he's calling it quits. You will know of course that Stupak was the House Democrat who nearly snuffed the healthcare bill over abortion language but then at the end struck a deal with the White House -- a deal that was considered a sell-out by anti-abortion forces -- and voted for the bill.

Since the vote the tea party has been hounding him. Stupak says that has nothing to do with his decision, but, you know...

Lots of people were really furious at Stupak during his pirouettes, and it always seemed to me that the difference between the Stupak language and the Ben Nelson language (the version of abortion language that was in the bill) was minimal. So he behaved pretty badly for most of the debate.

But then, at the end, he came through. The executive order he agreed to was a bit of a capitulation on his part, and he did the right thing and voted for the bill, and he stood on the floor of the House just before the roll was called and gave a pretty darn excellent speech, during which some yahoo Texas Republican called him a "baby killer" as you'll remember.

His stalling infuriated liberals, and that's what many liberals may tend to remember. But I say, remember his vote and his speech. He did the right thing knowing the right would put a target on his back.

His district, incidentally, seems far from unwinnable to me. It's rural, including all of the "UP" (upper peninsula) and rural parts of the "glove" of the state. But Obama carried it 50-48% and Stupak usually wins by two-to-one.

Maybe he's just sick of it. Who isn't, in a way?