Those sensitive pachyderms are beginning to twitch, hem and haw over a growing chorus of accusations that they are being hypocritical in calling for repeal of federally-subsidized health insurance for working people while accepting it for themselves (see my backgrounder on the topic here). Well, not absolutely all of them…yet.
Into the fray rides Bill Johnson, incoming freshman Republican from northeastern Ohio, who maybe, just maybe might be the one exception, who practices what he preaches regarding the Affordable Care Act, as Jonathan Riskind reports following an interview he conducted with Johnson for the Columbus Dispatch:

“I have not made a final decision, but I am leaning toward not taking it,” Johnson told The Dispatch last week on Capitol Hill as he and other incoming members of Congress went through orientation classes and voted for party leaders.
But Johnson, who as a retired Air Force officer also has veterans health insurance available to him, seems to be in a minority among the new GOP House majority in drawing a comparison between criticizing the health-care reform law and participating in a congressional health plan.

“Leaning toward” — wowsers, what a masterful example of principle and integrity. We await his “final decision” with baited breath.
Riskind reports that other Republicans are trotting out the old “apples and oranges” cliche to deny their hypocrisy on the topic. Happily, by the time they are finished explaining the nuanced distinctions between their acceptance of government-subsidized insurance and that provided to everyday working people under the ACA, they sound like Irwin Corey on speed.

Fun to watch the Republicans stumble and trip all over themselves in search of a non-existent justification for their unbridled hypocrisy on the topic of health care reform. It appears Dems have a potent attack weapon here, and they should not hesitate to wield it with all of the ferocity at their command.