Are we talking about the tremendous college basketball upsets, the passage of health-care reform, or both?
After all, little-known Northern Iowa shocked No. 1 Kansas on Saturday in the NCAA tournament. Cornell beat Midwestern powerhouse Wisconsin the following day, the first time in 30 years an Ivy League school has advanced this deep into March Madness.
Then there's the action in Washington, with its impassioned speeches and angry crowds hurling insults.
The U.S. House Sunday passed health-care reform, an effort believed earlier this year to be as fruitless as everyone's busted NCAA bracket. Compared to basketball, the House's 219-212 vote, after months of haggling, was equal to a last-second buzzer beater.
Democrats passed the bill in both chambers of Congress without a single Republican vote. The president is expected to sign it later this week.
Democrats are justified in celebrating a decisive victory that aims to (a.) provide health care insurance to as many as 30 million Americans and (b.) strengthen the coverage others already have.
The bill's opponents are defiant in defeat. Republicans say they will campaign hot and heavy against Democrats who supported reform. Some are even vowing to repeal the law if they are rewarded with congressional majorities this fall.
Over the course of the debate, we've heard words like "death panels," "socialism" and "government takeover of health care."
These are excellent for debating. They have, according to polling, turned a sizable portion of the public against reforms that would most likely help the vast majority of citizens.
However, the expiration date on these scare tactics nears. When Republicans' head-for-the-hills predictions don't pan out, then what?
Over time, the public will see Obamacare — a 2010 conservative's favorite cuss word — in action. They will eventually look around and sniff to the Republicans, "You made all that fuss about this?"
That's our prediction for the long run.
In the short run, get ready for legal challenges. Dozens of state attorneys general plan to head to court, seeking to overturn health-care reform. Among them is Alabama AG Troy King, who told the Associated Press that the bill's health-insurance mandate "tramples state sovereignty."
Expect the same rhetoric from supporters of a state Legislature bill to exempt Alabama from the federal legislation. State Rep. Robert Bentley, a Tuscaloosa Republican who is running for governor, said the reform bill will "transition America into a European-style nation with a socialized system of medicine."
Since the late 1940s, when President Truman attempted but failed to create universal coverage, those inflammatory (but substance-free) words have carried a powerful punch. It's been enough over the ensuing 60 years to allow the rest of the developed world to surpass the United States when it comes to covering all of its citizens.
Sunday's vote was a step in the right direction. It's not perfect, but when enacted it will do more than the status quo.
Instead of this tired debate, here's an idea for all sides to coalesce around. The United States is too great to allow so many of its citizens to go without health insurance. If American exceptionalism means anything, it ought to mean that.
