Jed Lewison posted this at Daily Kos TV, Jan. 13. The video displays Sarah Palin associating the 9/11 attacks with Iraq twice during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
From Angie Drobnic Holan, published 18 December 2009:
Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood out from the rest.
“Death panels.”
The claim set political debate afire when it was made in August, raising issues from the role of government in health care to the bounds of acceptable political discussion. In a nod to the way technology has transformed politics, the statement wasn’t made in an interview or a television ad. Sarah Palin posted it on her Facebook page…
Read More ~ PolitiFact | PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year: ‘Death panels’.
Politifact’s treatment gives me occasion to crosspost my own assessment of the “Death Panel” meme, published Aug. 18, 2009, at Care2.com:
Conservative Dishonesty in the Health Care Reform Debate
So the opponents of health care reform are sticking with the “death panel” talking point and the mob tactics it inspires. Admittedly, the strategy has yielded some results for… well, it’s unclear what they want aside from railing against President Obama. Regardless, the anti-reform crowd finally landed a punch. Good for them, I suppose. Conservatives have been flailing wildly since Obama took office with little to show for it, save a lot of embarrassing You Tube clips. Despite this, there is reason to remain optimistic about getting a reform bill ready for Obama’s signature this year.
Among the ethically challenged Republicans maintaining the “Death Panel” myth are Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, and Iowa senator, Chuck Grassley. All three of them are political opportunists, frankly, playing upon the fears of their dwindling, radical constituencies. At this time and in this debate, it is a losing political strategy.
Grassley’s Folly:
Grassley’s jumping on the crazy train isn’t much of a surprise, but it was unnecessary. Representing one of the most aged state populations in the U.S., the senator must have felt safer stoking the fear, rather than rebutting it. However, during his recess town halls, Grassley has failed to mention he — along with many other Republicans — voted in favor of a similar measure in 2003.
From Amy Sullivan at TIME.com’s Swampland Blog, August 13, 2009:
Remember the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill, the one that passed with the votes of 204 GOP House members and 42 GOP Senators? Anyone want to guess what it provided funding for? Did you say counseling for end-of-life issues and care? Ding ding ding!!
Let’s go to the bill text, shall we? “The covered services are: evaluating the beneficiary’s need for pain and symptom management, including the individual’s need for hospice care; counseling the beneficiary with respect to end-of-life issues and care options, and advising the beneficiary regarding advanced care planning.” The only difference between the 2003 provision and the infamous Section 1233 that threatens the very future and moral sanctity of the Republic is that the first applied only to terminally ill patients. Section 1233 would expand funding so that people could voluntarily receive counseling before they become terminally ill.
Palin’s Density:
As much as I would prefer not to mention Sarah Palin, her peculiar insistence upon furthering the “Death Panel” lie demands it. It is fitting, though, that her efforts are now publicized via Facebook rather than Governor’s Office press releases. Her August 7, 2009 post on the subject is the one that really gave the term “Death Panel” its legs within the mainstream media:
The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil…
Palin followed up this lunacy with a call for civility during the health care reform town halls scheduled by Alaska’s representatives in an August 9 Facebook post. While it wasn’t a reversal of her previous post, it was a tacit admission that her rhetoric, at least in part, added fuel to the thuggish nonsense displayed by the right-wing at town hall discussions elsewhere.
Then she did something remarkably dense. Sarah Palin, following the above mentioned comments from Sen. Grassley, declared victory against the dreaded death panel legislation within her August 13 post:
I join millions of Americans in expressing appreciation for the Senate Finance Committee’s decision to remove the provision in the pending health care bill that authorizes end-of-life consultations (Section 1233 of HR 3200). It’s gratifying that the voice of the people is getting through to Congress; however, that provision was not the only disturbing detail in this legislation; it was just one of the more obvious ones.
Forget for a moment that Sarah Palin had, to put it kindly, a questionable record as Governor of Alaska when it came to elder care. Her above assertion displays a profound ignorance, not only of the present health care reform debate, but also of the basic mechanisms of the legislative process.
First, the Senate Finance Committee has nothing to do with HR 3200. The “HR” is for House of Representatives, of course, and HR 3200 is but one of five health care bills being considered by that body. Second, there is a Senate bill being considered by the Finance Committee, however both Houses of Congress are presently in recess. They are not presently “removing” provisions, or adding them for that matter.
Finally, Palin’s suggestion that the “provision was not the only disturbing detail in this legislation,” is simply another fear tactic. One she likely learned from her new mentor: Newt Gingrich.
Gingrich’s Hypocrisy:
Gingrich is supposed to be the conservative with the most formidable intellectual chops; yet, when he attempted to defend Palin’s comments on ABC’s August 9 broadcast of This Week, he complained about the bill’s length. “The bill is a thousand pages of setting up mechanisms,” he said. “You are asking us to trust turning power over to the government, when there are clearly people in America who believe in establishing euthanasia, including selective standards.”
Sounds scary, right? However, consider the former House Speaker’s own words from a July 2, 2009 article at The Washington Post:
More than 20 percent of all Medicare spending occurs in the last two months of life. Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin has developed a successful end-of-life, best practice that combines: 1) community-wide advance care planning, where 90 percent of patients have advance directives; 2) hospice and palliative care; and 3) coordination of services through an electronic medical record. The Gundersen approach empowers patients and families to control and direct their care. The Dartmouth Health Atlas has documented that Gundersen delivers care at a 30 percent lower rate than the national average ($18,359 versus $25,860). If Gundersen’s approach was used to care for the approximately 4.5 million Medicare beneficiaries who die every year, Medicare could save more than $33 billion a year.
The emphasis added to the above — again, they are Gingrich’s words — describes, in general terms, what the current health care legislation-in-progress is designed to do. It is the same idea for reform. It is the same proposal which Sen. Grassley told his constituents they were right to fear, that Sarah Palin claimed victory for killing, and Newt Gingrich thought was such a good idea just a few short months ago.
Reasons For Optimism:
The “death panel” talking point has absolutely no basis in fact. It is a false argument, and its success is contingent upon fear: frightening the oldest among us into thinking their country wants to kill them. (Wow! I had to wash my hands after typing the preceding sentence… Stay classy, conservatives).
The hypocrisy, fear mongering, and intellectual dishonesty described above have been employed by conservatives for years. They are the same cynical strategies that have been employed in the fight against health care reform since the Truman administration. They are also the same tactics that were employed against Obama during the 2008 campaign. Obama’s election, then, is proof positive that this cynicism can be defeated.
Progressive advocates for health care, myself included, and members of the punditocracy have been highly critical of the president for pursuing this reform agenda in an bipartisan fashion. As Thom Hartmann often says, “We have to hope that Obama is playing chess and not checkers,” with this contentious issue. Without going into further detail, Obama doesn’t strike me as a checkers man.
In closing, it is important to note that, while optimism for health care reform is warranted, complacency is not. Tell your representatives you want meaningful reform by signing this petition: Support Historic Health Care Bill
Crossposted at Care2.com‘s Political Causes Blog – 18 August 2009
The satirists at Saturday Night Live melded a trailer for ‘2012’ with what would amount to a very real political disaster: A Palin Presidency! Hilarious.
Fortunately, this is as close as she’ll ever get.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
more about “Sarah Palin’s 10 Most Awkward Media M…“, posted with vodpod
How McCain Lost Himself Before He Lost the Election
Esquire‘s Chris Jones offers his assessment of what causes historians will attribute to the collapse of the McCain campaign in 2008. Of course there are numerous causes for the McCain/Palin loss to Obama/Biden, but Jones tracks a personality transition following the Republican’s surprising primary victory in New Hampsire.
For Jones, who had extrordinary access to the campaign throughout the primaries and general election, the final straw was McCain’s selection of the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his running mate.
From Esquire.com, posted by Chris Jones, 5 November 2008:
(emphasis added)…Then he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. I’d like to think someone else picked her for him, but how’s that the better option? She represented everything wrong with the Republican Party — the same intolerant elements that McCain had fought so hard against years earlier — and now there she was, smiling on the stage beside him. Historians will no doubt cite the collapsing economy and the legacy of George W. Bush as impossible obstacles for McCain to overcome. But for me, he lost the election when he picked Palin, because he lost the last vestige of his former self…
The popular historian/documentary film maker describes McCain’s running mate selection as “cynical.”
Like many political addicts/observers, I was shocked when John McCain hastily selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. I totally lost sleep the night the Alaskan Governor gave her acceptance address at this year’s RNC in Minneapolis. Between her naming and acceptance it was already clear that Palin’s resume was -putting it kindly – thin. The speech was pure political theater, packed with crap designed to rally the base, and it was delivered in a – again, kindly – sarcastic tone. (continued below Daily Show clip)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
I’m sleeping better now that the Palin/convention bump in the polls has faded, and while the McCain team has effectively sheltered her from MSM scrutiny, the top of the ticket is keeping the campaign compettitive, they are only doing so by spouting half-truths and outrigt lies. It is not a sustainable strategy.
Now my sleep will improve further thanks, mostly, to the below article (excerpt below). Paul Gough describes Burns, whose comments were solicited at panel discussion associated with this week’s Emmy Awards, as appearing firm in his assessment. I don’t always buy in to historian commentary when present or future events are at issue, but in this case, I believe Burns is spot on. Historians –
or any astute observers willing to focus beyond the MSM lens – are perfectly qualified to recognize that Sarah Palin is not the caricature presented and protected by the GOP.
From the hollywoodreporter.com September 22, 2008 post by, Paul J. Gough:
“He (McCain) selected someone who is so supremely unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency and he has turned the selection process into a high school popularity contest and an ‘American Idol’ competition,” Burns said. He said that McCain made a “cynical” pick in what he said was the most important decision of his presidential candidacy.
Burns, whose lifelong work is in American history, said that “in the whole history of the Republic there has been no one with as thin a credential” as Palin. He said it was, for McCain, a “Hail Mary pass” that will be decided in November…
Related Video: If you have 12 minutes to spare, view the below clip. In it, Lawrence Lesig compares Palin’s experience to every American Vice President.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
HNN Breaking News AP @ Care2.com News Junkie – news, politics, & opinion AP’s FaceBook Shares Rachel Maddow This Day in World History
Past in Print Weblog 
The Death Panel Lie ~ Conservative Dishonesty in the Health Care Reform Debate
A couple of weeks after publishing this Care2 post, I was overjoyed to discover that Dickipedia.org linked to it on their Newt Gingrich page. Whoever did it, I offer my heartfelt gratitude.
Originally posted on Care2.com’s Political Causes Blog 16 August 2009:
So the opponents of health care reform are sticking with the “death panel” talking point and the mob tactics it inspires. Admittedly, the strategy has yielded some results for… well, it’s unclear what they want aside from railing against President Obama. Regardless, the anti-reform crowd finally landed a punch. Good for them, I suppose. Conservatives have been flailing wildly since Obama took office with little to show for it, save a lot of embarrassing You Tube clips. Despite this, there is reason to remain optimistic about getting a reform bill ready for Obama’s signature this year.
Among the ethically challenged Republicans maintaining the “Death Panel” myth are Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, and Iowa senator, Chuck Grassley. All three of them are political opportunists, frankly, playing upon the fears of their dwindling, radical constituencies. At this time and in this debate, it is a losing political strategy.
Grassley’s Folly:
Grassley’s jumping on the crazy train isn’t much of a surprise, but it was unnecessary. Representing one of the most aged state populations in the U.S., the senator must have felt safer stoking the fear, rather than rebutting it. However, during his recess town halls, Grassley has failed to mention he — along with many other Republicans — voted in favor of a similar measure in 2003.
From Amy Sullivan at TIME.com’s Swampland Blog, August 13, 2009:
Palin’s Density:
As much as I would prefer not to mention Sarah Palin, her peculiar insistence upon furthering the “Death Panel” lie demands it. It is fitting, though, that her efforts are now publicized via Facebook rather than Governor’s Office press releases. Her August 7, 2009 post on the subject is the one that really gave the term “Death Panel” its legs within the mainstream media:
Palin followed up this lunacy with a call for civility during the health care reform town halls scheduled by Alaska’s representatives in an August 9 Facebook post. While it wasn’t a reversal of her previous post, it was a tacit admission that her rhetoric, at least in part, added fuel to the thuggish nonsense displayed by the right-wing at town hall discussions elsewhere.
Then she did something remarkably dense. Sarah Palin, following the above mentioned comments from Sen. Grassley, declared victory against the dreaded death panel legislation within her August 13 post:
Forget for a moment that Sarah Palin had, to put it kindly, a questionable record as Governor of Alaska when it came to elder care. Her above assertion displays a profound ignorance, not only of the present health care reform debate, but also of the basic mechanisms of the legislative process.
First, the Senate Finance Committee has nothing to do with HR 3200. The “HR” is for House of Representatives, of course, and HR 3200 is but one of five health care bills being considered by that body. Second, there is a Senate bill being considered by the Finance Committee, however both Houses of Congress are presently in recess. They are not presently “removing” provisions, or adding them for that matter.
Finally, Palin’s suggestion that the “provision was not the only disturbing detail in this legislation,” is simply another fear tactic. One she likely learned from her new mentor: Newt Gingrich.
Gingrich’s Hypocrisy:
Gingrich is supposed to be the conservative with the most formidable intellectual chops; yet, when he attempted to defend Palin’s comments on ABC’s August 9 broadcast of This Week, he complained about the bill’s length. “The bill is a thousand pages of setting up mechanisms,” he said. “You are asking us to trust turning power over to the government, when there are clearly people in America who believe in establishing euthanasia, including selective standards.”
Sounds scary, right? However, consider the former House Speaker’s own words from a July 2, 2009 article at The Washington Post:
The emphasis added to the above — again, they are Gingrich’s words — describes, in general terms, what the current health care legislation-in-progress is designed to do. It is the same idea for reform. It is the same proposal which Sen. Grassley told his constituents they were right to fear, that Sarah Palin claimed victory for killing, and Newt Gingrich thought was such a good idea just a few short months ago.
Reasons For Optimism:
The “death panel” talking point has absolutely no basis in fact. It is a false argument, and its success is contingent upon fear: frightening the oldest among us into thinking their country wants to kill them. (Wow! I had to wash my hands after typing the preceding sentence… Stay classy, conservatives).
The hypocrisy, fear mongering, and intellectual dishonesty described above have been employed by conservatives for years. They are the same cynical strategies that have been employed in the fight against health care reform since the Truman administration. They are also the same tactics that were employed against Obama during the 2008 campaign. Obama’s election, then, is proof positive that this cynicism can be defeated.
Progressive advocates for health care, myself included, and members of the punditocracy have been highly critical of the president for pursuing this reform agenda in an bipartisan fashion. As Thom Hartmann often says, “We have to hope that Obama is playing chess and not checkers,” with this contentious issue. Without going into further detail, Obama doesn’t strike me as a checkers man.
In closing, it is important to note that, while optimism for health care reform is warranted, complacency is not. Tell your representatives you want meaningful reform by signing this petition: Support Historic Health Care Bill
- commentary
- Politics
on October 3, 2009 at 9:36 pm Leave a CommentTags: charles grassley, congress, conservative, death panel, debate, end of life, grassley, health care, health care reform, hr 3200, hypocrisy, medicare reform, newt gingrich, obama, political, Politics, republicans, sarah palin, section 1233, senator