When even evil is not a strong enough word

Sat Aug 01, 2009 at 12:05:38 PM PDT

Out of all the shameless and shameful conservatives anti-Obama and anti-health-care-reform campaigns, this one takes the crown.

blackwaterdog's diary :: :: Not the imbecile "Birthers" attack and not even the racism overflow, turn my stomach upside down like this Kill Granny’ media campaign.

A campaign on conservative talk radio, fueled by President Obama's calls to control exorbitant medical bills, has sparked fear among senior citizens that the health-care bill moving through Congress will lead to end-of-life "rationing" and even "euthanasia."

The controversy stems from a proposal to pay physicians who counsel elderly or terminally ill patients about what medical interventions they would prefer near the end of life and how to prepare instructions such as living wills. Under the plan, Medicare would reimburse doctors for one session every five years to confer with a patient about his or her wishes and how to ensure those preferences are followed. The counseling sessions would be voluntary.

But on right-leaning radio programs, religious e-mail lists and Internet blogs, the proposal has been described as "guiding you in how to die," "an ORDER from the Government to end your life," promoting "death care" and, in the words of antiabortion leader Randall Terry, an attempt to "kill Granny."

I saw my grandmother and my father declining in a slow and painful death, and because they never told us what to do if and when, none of us had the guts to take the right decision. As a result, my family already know exactly what i want to be done, if and when, and we all feel better because of that.

To accuse Barack Obama, who was so visibly heartbroken after his grandmother died, that he's going to kill granny - It makes my knees too weak to even stand on them.

What kind of a person goes out and scare old, vulnerable people, by telling them such awful lies, just to score political win??? I wish every one of the minds behind this abomination a slow and painful death, preferably after losing their health care insurance.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/8/1/760671/-When-even-evil-is-not-a-strong-enough-word

This debacle is dragging on and on for a reason.

Obama and the Democrats had such overwhelming political capital they could have instituted single payer overnight.

This is just politics as usual.
Plausible deniability.

then I think you're working with a false set of assumptions. First of all, I'd be surprised if even half of Democrats in the House personally believe in it. I suppose we will see when it gets a vote in September. In the Senate, of course, it wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell.

Furthermore, the amount of obstructions that can be thrown up in our system, where it is *supposed* to be difficult to pass legislation, would be endless no matter how much political capital the Democrats have/had. The Democrats have no sway over people like Inhofe, Kyl etc. who could have used holds etc. to block legislation. No matter what, Barack Obama is not the PM of a parliamentary system.

:shrug:

With Medicare, let's say that took 17 years from the inclusion of universal health care language in the Democratic platform at the 1948 convention to the time it actually materialized in 1965. Social Security was passed in an era when parliamentary blocking tactics were much less commonly used and when the Democrats had even greater majorities. Not to mention that this is not the Great Depression. Not to mention that Social Security became law in August, 1935, more than two years after FDR became President in March, 1933.

Some counseling for people to help ensure there's a Medical Power of Attorney in place, a living will, a REAL will, funeral arrangements, etc. -- those are all decisions that should be made when people are healthy and thinking clearly, not under the duress of an illness or accident. Yes, it may include discussions of what Hospice care is, and conceivably, in states where it's legal, assisted suicide. But it's a far cry from "Soylent Green" as the "Deathers" seem to believe.

are so totally inept at using their function of reasoning that they believe that stuff! Rick Mercer had a segment in Canadaian TV called "Talking to Americans" where he'd interview people on the street here in the US, and on one show, he told people that Canadians put old people on Ice Flows and shove them out into the Arctic Ocean as a way of dealing with the cost of caring for them and cutting costs, and people BELIEVED him! Yes, the opponents of the left have the incredible gall to use this shit because they KNOW that 40-50% of Americans are so utterly brain dead that they will soak up anything the TV says! Best to just ignore their crud.. it'll just make you mad... I"d find it quite laughable myself at the statements and the people who believe it if it weren't for the fact that it's so damn sad that humans can be that stupid.

They'll eagerly and enthusiastically believe anything, no matter how ridiculous, that will reinforce their racist hatred of our president.

in a lot of cases. The folks I know who believe BS like this manage to think rationally about most other things.

And the master manipulators of such folks know just what racist buttons to push. Even they must be amazed how easy it is to do.

I don't blame people for feeling this way because it was one of the coldest things I've ever seen.

People can frame this as some rethuglican meme, but it's something both sides of the aisle need to be outraged about.

Life BEFORE profits. Bottom line.

to me to understand how and why this goes on. But you're right. and Thankfully, SOME repuglians have come out to admit he's an American and stuff like that. But they really all need to grow the fuck up and act like adults. Watching those repubs dodge the interviewers trying to get them to admit that Obamas an American just blew my mind! I mean... these people are leaders! Seeing them act like that, running away, makes me think, If I was a repub, would I vote for that person again if he or she acted like that to me?

and then laughs about it with their friends. We know who, and what, these people are.

"What kind of a person goes out and scare old, vulnerable people, by telling them such awful lies, just to score political win?"

Well who funds the Americans For Prosperity?



That's some of their tripe.

-Hoot