When the going gets tough, it appears Sen. Jay Rockefeller does a complete 180 flip-flop. The man who spent all year trying to depict himself as a strong advocate for the public option, is now trying to stop an attempt to revive the idea:

“I don’t think the timing of it is very good,” the West Virginia Democrat said on Monday. “I’m probably not going to vote for that, although I’m strongly for the public option, because I think it creates, at a time when we really need as much bipartisan[ship] … as possible. ”

Rockefeller added: “I don’t think you [pursue] something like the public option, which cannot pass, will not pass. And if we get the Senate bill–both through the medical loss ratio and the national plans, which have in that, every one of them has to have one not-for-profit plan, which is sort of like a public option.”

If you plan to vote against something, you are not allowed to call yourself a supporter. Worrying that the public option would make health care reform appear “partisan” is such a stupid excuse, it is comical. The Senate bill already passed on a pure partyline vote, with every Democrat voting “yes” and every Republican voting “no.” By definition, that is as partisan as anything can get. With the only path forward for the current Senate bill a purely partisan reconciliation measure, worries about looking bipartisan are just silly.

Finally, Rockefeller is saying currently existing not-for-profit insurance companies like some of the Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers are “sorta like a public option.” This is worse than nonsense, this is a bald face lie. They are sorta like a public option in the same way a fine pearl necklace is sorta like a loop of used dental floss if you wear around you neck.

Why would Rockefeller tell this lie? Maybe it is to justify breaking his word to vote against anything without something like a public plan:

SIEGEL: Can you imagine voting against a bill because it lacks a public option?

Sen. ROCKEFELLER: No. I will vote against a bill that doesn’t have something that is very similar to a public plan. Give it any name you want, but it’s got to have – it’s got to be no profit. It’s got to challenge the insurance companies. I mean, they’re in the business of making money.

Rockefeller went from promising to vote against any bill without some form of a public alternative to the current insurance companies, to promising to vote against any effort to create a public option. He now says the exact same insurance companies he railed against are “sorta like a public option.”

Right here is a perfect example of why Americans hate Washington. This kind of nonsense is why the Democratic base will have such low turnout in November.