Quotes of the day
posted at 10:52 pm on August 11, 2009 by Allahpundit
“Senior White House aides expressed utter bewilderment and a bit of frustration on Monday with criticism of their health care agenda from conservative figures — particularly former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
‘I don’t even know where to begin,’ said one top-ranking official, when asked about Palin’s remarks that the president was creating a ‘death panel’ that would determine whether to euthanize the sick. ‘I mean. I re-read the House bill this weekend. I don’t even know what she is talking about.’”
***
“Q: How did this become a question of euthanasia?
ISAKSON: I have no idea. I understand — and you have to check this out — I just had a phone call where someone said Sarah Palin’s web site had talked about the House bill having death panels on it where people would be euthanized. How someone could take an end of life directive or a living will as that is nuts. You’re putting the authority in the individual rather than the government. I don’t know how that got so mixed up.”
***
“But somehow liberals have drifted into a strange servility toward big government, which they revere as a godlike foster father-mother who can dispense all bounty and magically heal all ills. The ethical collapse of the left was nowhere more evident than in the near total silence of liberal media and Web sites at the Obama administration’s outrageous solicitation to private citizens to report unacceptable ‘casual conversations’ to the White House. If Republicans had done this, there would have been an angry explosion by Democrats from coast to coast. I was stunned at the failure of liberals to see the blatant totalitarianism in this incident, which the president should have immediately denounced. His failure to do so implicates him in it.
As a libertarian and refugee from the authoritarian Roman Catholic church of my youth, I simply do not understand the drift of my party toward a soulless collectivism. This is in fact what Sarah Palin hit on in her shocking image of a ‘death panel’ under Obamacare that would make irrevocable decisions about the disabled and elderly. When I first saw that phrase, headlined on the Drudge Report, I burst out laughing. It seemed so over the top! But on reflection, I realized that Palin’s shrewdly timed metaphor spoke directly to the electorate’s unease with the prospect of shadowy, unelected government figures controlling our lives. A death panel not only has the power of life and death but is itself a symptom of a Kafkaesque brave new world where authority has become remote, arbitrary and spectral. And as in the Spanish Inquisition, dissidence is heresy, persecuted and punished.”
Blowback
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We put folks in prison down here for that.
Limerick on August 12, 2009 at 12:47 AM
Maybe it was Arugula flavored Tofu…
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 12:48 AM
Lily on August 12, 2009 at 12:39 AM
I kind of had a feeling it was like that. One of those things I try not to think about.
Candy Slice on August 12, 2009 at 12:49 AM
the big story is that the GOp now has a leader on the healthcare front. we are fighting not Obama not the dems. but are fighting death panels, rationing, big government run away spending. Palin moved the debate away from the personal and onto policy. this is not Obama’s waterlooanymore, nor the dems must have bill. this is now personal to the American people. this is about our lives, our quaility of live and not a horserace thanks to Palin. Why do the liberals always underestimate their enemies?
Must be something in their makeup
unseen on August 12, 2009 at 12:49 AM
Candy Slice on August 12, 2009 at 12:25 AM
I am hospice nurse, one night I had a down’s syndrome woman pass from Alzheimers disease. The parents had cared for her.
I will never forget her father saying to her mother. “Mommy, we had her for fifty years,” as he cried.
She was the love of their lives.
tessa on August 12, 2009 at 12:51 AM
Good analysis. They underestimate us to their detriment every time.
Geochelone on August 12, 2009 at 12:52 AM
‘I mean. I re-read the House bill this weekend…’
Whoa, he read 1,000 pages in one weekend?! what speed-reading course did he take? /sarc
Aslans Girl on August 12, 2009 at 12:26 AM
Not that I wish to take sides on whatever was said, but reading the bill over a w/end is not outlandish. Terribly boring yes, out of the question not.
Last w/end I spent about 6 hrs at the pool reading The Fountainhead again, put it down for while and picked it up late that night. Finito-done! 700 pages in less than a day.
Don’t know if he or didn’t , but entirely plausible.
Archimedes on August 12, 2009 at 12:53 AM
I’m beginning to think that Palin is Obama’s krytonite.
In her new role, she’s also able to act like a sniper. In fact, she’s kind of like those pesky, annoying colonists shooting at Obama in his red uniform from behind trees.
Go Sarah Patriot.
BuckeyeSam on August 12, 2009 at 12:54 AM
tessa on August 12, 2009 at 12:51 AM
Don’t be mean to Obama!
TexasJew on August 12, 2009 at 12:54 AM
That’s another part of Josh’s life that I tend not to think about.
If you told that story to Ezekiel Emanual or Peter Singer – they would be dumbfounded at those parents. They just could not relate to them on any level whatsoever.
Candy Slice on August 12, 2009 at 12:54 AM
I know a guy who read the Lord of the Rings trilogy in a weekend.
Some people are quick readers. I’m slow because I savor the moments in stories.
Sapwolf on August 12, 2009 at 12:54 AM
AP the disrespectful photos of Sarah Palin do not bother me as much anymore because the substance of her argument via her FB posting (no less!) has not only gotten between Obama’s big ears but has re framed the debate down to the nitty gritty.
There is no doubt this is an attempt toward single payer/socialized health care delivery. Add in the millions getting “free” care and there will rationing. A governing board will have to make limitations on procedures, treatments, medications, etc..These decisions will not only affect the quality of life but the length as well. Hence the brilliance of the two word soundbite from Alaska.
Having been on the end of life battlefield personally (on both sides of the bed) these decisions are highly personal, and individual and deeply difficult. To even think that a piece of legislation/bureaucracy should enter into these matters is downright ghastly. I agree with SP’s characterization as evil.(no hyperbole intended on my part)
The radicals in OB’s kitchen cabinet(or the unconstitutional shadow cabinet if one prefers) are a sick twisted bunch. Here is a glimpse into Ezekiel Emmanuel’s psyche.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18280675/Principles-for-Allocation-of-Scarce-Medical-Interventions
Thanks for the link to Camille Paglia. As I was reading, it occurred to me that I “knew” the writer. She has an unmistakable style that is enjoyable despite my personal rejection of some of her positions. She seems to have such an accurate BS detector. Perhaps it is time for her to also shed her lingering childhood affection for Democrats. It will be very interesting to read her reaction when the cult of THE personality evaporates.
Buckeye Babe on August 12, 2009 at 12:56 AM
Amen. It is not the destination that matters, it is the path to get there.
Limerick on August 12, 2009 at 12:56 AM
I couldn’t draw a stick figure of someone who actually looked like a stick, but… someone has got to come up with an editorial cartoon of Obama dressed like Fonzi ski-jumping over a shark labeled ‘Health Care Reform’ while being towed by a boat named ‘The Death Panel’ being driving by a winking Sarah Palin. Just sayin’
Knott Buyinit on August 12, 2009 at 12:58 AM
I know a guy who read the Lord of the Rings trilogy in a weekend.
Some people are quick readers. I’m slow because I savor the moments in stories.
Sapwolf on August 12, 2009 at 12:54 AM
Something like a Le Carre I’m in a rush to see how it ends, the Obanable Health Plan, not so much.
Archimedes on August 12, 2009 at 12:58 AM
driving…drivenKnott Buyinit on August 12, 2009 at 12:58 AM
Good for Paglia to speak up. I’m just having a ball watching all of this crumble underneath their feet.
I saw a headline on Olbermann today that said “unhealthy debate”.
When I saw Palin’s “death panel” line I had the same reaction she had. Plus I rolled my eyes.
But she has touched a nerve. The O people just assumed that this would pass BEFORE all of this sh*t hit the fan.
They assumed that no on ein this country would know what the hell was in the bill and the stupid sheeple would just say “hey, O did it, it’s cool!” Now that the country is waking up, they have no idea how to handle it.
They just attack.
Their stupidity knows no bounds. Reading Paglia it makes me wonder when she’s totally see the light and stop supporting the Dems. She must see they’ve lost their mind.
She wants to think O knows what he’s doing, but she’s not seeing it.
I was listening to Rush a little this morning, which I hardly ever do, and he played OBama’s answer to what would happen to a 100 year old woman who needed a pacemaker.
Turns out she got it, and lives 5 more years.
Obama clearly suggested “hard” choices would have to be made and brought up maybe she should be put on another pill.
That’s the death panel. That’s what his vision is.
To reduce costs, you know. Much cheaper to give out the pills and save the 5 grand, then to let the old hag live another 5 years. Imagine how much money the gov’t could save!
“Soulless collectivism.” Wow. That’s a really good phrase.
I think now that the admin will let OBama care die this year with an intent to fully revive it next year when all this mob-like craziness is over.
They WANT to pass this. And they’ll be damned if some old people will stop ‘em.
Obama is a cold and heartless guy. Iran showed that to me.
This just backs it up.
B Man on August 12, 2009 at 12:58 AM
My reading of Camille Paglia’s stuff over the years is that yours is an accurate assessment. I too think that she still carries an unexamined trauma re her early relationship with the Church, conflated, I would assume, with family issues.
This is a profoundly human person, brilliant, unafraid and with a great amount of pain. So much of what she takes for granted is, I believe, misguided, but it should be apparent to anyone that her loyalty is to the beautiful dream of ’60s liberalism and idealism, not the hopeless swamp of their Leftist betrayers.
I disagree with her worldview in absolutely fundamental ways, but I know that her fierce loyalty and brilliant range of thought would make her an unmatchable friend. Altogether a difficult woman and impossible to minimize.
If you ever get a chance, you should hear her speak. Her intensity causes the ideas to come out like they’re being spit at you, and it’s only on reflection that you realize every argument is perfectly constructed and delivered in crystalline prose. I can only hope, of course, that these columns in Salon will cause a bunch of Leftie heads to explode.
warbaby on August 12, 2009 at 1:00 AM
I couldn’t draw a stick figure of someone who actually looked like a stick, but… someone has got to come up with an editorial cartoon of Obama dressed like Fonzi ski-jumping over a shark labeled ‘Health Care Reform’ while being towed by a boat named ‘The Death Panel’ being driving by a winking Sarah Palin. Just sayin’
Knott Buyinit on August 12, 2009 at 12:58 AM
As imagery goes, I thought this was apt,
http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dobama%2Bdeath%2Bstar%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dslv8-ytbm%26fr2%3Dtab-web&w=499&h=500&imgurl=static.flickr.com%2F3283%2F3084279648_45a4d9c446.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F34457952%40N00%2F3084279648%2F&size=128k&name=Obama+Death+Star…&p=obama+death+star&oid=74b3db79d3af2e14&fr2=tab-web&fusr=Meng+Bomin&lic=4&no=2&tt=75&sigr=11lbs0gou&sigi=11gfknfjq&sigb=131ag5dkc
Archimedes on August 12, 2009 at 1:01 AM
Damn, midnight. Time to take the mutts for a stroll.
Keep the faith.
God save the Republic!
Limerick on August 12, 2009 at 1:03 AM
‘night
Be sure to pick up those doggy blocks – else we are likely to Flag you.
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:04 AM
Sapwolf on August 12, 2009 at 12:54 AM
My little daughter’s Guinea Pig Celia read Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope” over the last weekend.
Of course, she peed on it 22 times and rolled some poop around on it to improve the smell. She thought the pages tasted like dried alfalfa.
Of course, she could have finished it more quickly if she spent a little less time sniffing her anus.
Anyway – mission accomplished!
She’s eagerly awaiting the new David Frum book we ordered from Amazon. It’s be in on Thursday.
TexasJew on August 12, 2009 at 1:06 AM
Nite Limey!
Archimedes on August 12, 2009 at 1:07 AM
Even if by killing one person simply because it would bring eternal happiness for all for all time, it would still be wrong.
Once you accept the premise that one human is worth more than another, all kinds of evil follows.
“For us in Russia communism is a dead dog. For many people in the West, it is still a living lion.”
“Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence. Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle.”
Sapwolf on August 12, 2009 at 1:07 AM
From Solzhenitsyn.
Sapwolf on August 12, 2009 at 1:07 AM
Haha
+100
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:07 AM
“Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence. Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle.”
Sapwolf on August 12, 2009 at 1:07 AM
Great line, who’s is it?
Archimedes on August 12, 2009 at 1:09 AM
Have you seen where Palin’s people outed that troll pervert creep Gryphen, alias Jesse Griffin. He’s the one who thought it would be cool to say in his blog, aptly named the Immoral Minority, that the Palins were getting divorced. He attributed this to an un-named “source” which has turned out to be fictious. Not only that but it turns out that he was being paid as a no show worker at a Montessouri school by some Obama supporters whose educational company had just received 4 mil+ in stimulus money. Kudos to the Palin crew who unveiled these rats trying to do their dirty work while hiding from the spotlight that they are now under. Hopefully there will be lawsuits to follow. Soc et Tuem Sarah. She is doing great things with her new found freedoms!
shmendrick on August 12, 2009 at 1:09 AM
After 12, American Thinker’s Wed page should be up! Nite all!
Archimedes on August 12, 2009 at 1:11 AM
That’s funny.
When I still lived in Alabama, they had an old book sale at our Catholic Church. I bought all the Dan Brown books (only $.50/ea), walked right to the trash, and dumped them in. Then I did a victory dance.
Sapwolf on August 12, 2009 at 1:11 AM
Solzhenitsyn
Sapwolf on August 12, 2009 at 1:13 AM
And did you read here at Hot Air that Michael Moore has accused Obama of lying about his healthcare plan? Moore says he is just trying to fool the American people while his real agenda is a single payer system for all. Moore is cool, even admiring with this deceit as he explains this is just a tactic to get a bill passed. Then later Obama will morph it into a plan only he and the far left will love. At least he was being honest for a change.
shmendrick on August 12, 2009 at 1:15 AM
Trig is no more terminal than the rest of us. What criteria would they use to ration his care?
dedalus on August 11, 2009 at 11:07 PM
I concede your point for i to am sure that history will prove Trig a much more relevent contributor to society than you will ever be recognized for.
heshtesh on August 12, 2009 at 1:22 AM
Buckeye Babe on August 12, 2009 at 1:23 AM
Uh… wow… missed that one…
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:23 AM
Uh… wow… missed that one…
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:23 AM
There’s been so few trolls lately i could’nt help myself,make’s me wonder if i put them out in a field and whistled if they would pop up like a Ground Hog?
Oh the very thought.
heshtesh on August 12, 2009 at 1:31 AM
I enjoy reading Paglia because I can read her at my pace while she speaks faster than I can integrate. She has a special brain, and without insult I compare her to the idiot savante (minus the idiot), those rare folk who are wired differently so they do not fall in sync with their fellow man and are often to slow to function at many levels, yet run superspeed beyond our comprehension in their special neural pathways. Paglia seems to be a highly placed normal human with special neural skills to boot, a fem savant?
I do not expect her to ever be booted from Salon because of the liberal’s special concern for the ‘unfortunate’, and because of Paglia’s inevitable digression into G&L musings on the order of this:
Kafka was the seed of the decontructionist explosian that came from the Cruellian school of the late post Katorians, which leads me to the magnificent pectoral flexions of the delicately ordained princess of the famous L bar on 10th and Dragoon where wailing saxaphones caress her voluminous etceras …. (not a real quote, just an impersonation)
Palin did hit the nail on the head. EWTN has hosted various discussions of the bill, which offers financial incentive for providers to initiate this ‘end of life’ dialogue, which i none of their business to initiate. There is a built in pressure to pressure the patient.
Palin verbalized the underlying understanding of the Townhall protestors. You are telling me how to I will be allowed to be sick, you are taxing away my current safety net and replacing it with something written by euthanesia and abortion supporters. And we will be so deeply in debt when you are finished there will be no way for me to ever return to my old safty net. The National Health safety net is a trap and you think I am a stupid fish
entagor on August 12, 2009 at 1:32 AM
Re: HealthCare
You can cover some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not cover all of the people all of the time.
1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong
3. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
4. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
5. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.
6. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
7. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
8. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
9. You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
10 You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.
izoneguy on August 12, 2009 at 1:36 AM
Actually, dedalus isn’t a troll, but I usually disagree with him.
This last remark of his that you posted makes no sense. I thought people with Downs statistically speaking don’t have as long of a life span.
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:36 AM
When I still lived in Alabama, they had an old book sale at our Catholic Church. I bought all the Dan Brown books (only $.50/ea), walked right to the trash, and dumped them in. Then I did a victory dance.
Sapwolf on August 12, 2009 at 1:11 AM
I was stupid enough to pay full price. I’ve tried to read two of Dan Brown’s books – that “DaVinci” thing and “Angels and whatever”. He must be illiterate to write so badly.
I got about five pages into both books and had to be rescued to save what’s left of my brain.
TexasJew on August 12, 2009 at 1:41 AM
This last remark of his that you posted makes no sense. I thought people with Downs statistically speaking don’t have as long of a life span.
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:36 AM
It is my understanding thier lifespan is approx 20 less than average. If i’m mistaken about Dedalus my appologies,but thier comment struck a nerve.
heshtesh on August 12, 2009 at 1:43 AM
You know what word is fun to say? Kafka.
Kevin M on August 12, 2009 at 1:46 AM
Careful there. You’ve just passed close to the “Darwinian atheism is a humanistic religion” territory with your dot-connecting. Next you’ll be comparing the ecowarriors to the nature-idolizing pagans of Greece. Tsk tsk tsk.
TMK on August 12, 2009 at 1:46 AM
What is Kafka?
heshtesh on August 12, 2009 at 1:46 AM
This last remark of his that you posted makes no sense. I thought people with Downs statistically speaking don’t have as long of a life span.
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:36 AM
Read tessa’s post from 12:51PM. Down’s syndrome people can often live a very long time, and since their parents are statistically most commonly over 40 at the time of birth, they can easily outlive their primary caregivers. Like all people with developmental abnormalities, they often have health complications and require a lot of care.
Palin is simply repeating the fears of many Downs parents.
TexasJew on August 12, 2009 at 1:48 AM
Understandable.
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:48 AM
Yeah I saw her post.
My point was that I don’t see how dedalus thinks that someone with DS isn’t “more terminal” than someone with Downs.
Let’s not pretend that Trig wouldn’t be among the first who’s care would be rationed if rationing occurred… well, that is if we start talking about who has the potential to live longer.
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:51 AM
The thing I find amusing about this whole Death Panel argument (reguardess of weather it is an accurate statement or not), is that with one simple statement posted on her facebook page Sarah Palin managed to completely change the frame of reference of the Health care debate and send the Media, Punditry, and political class off on long winded diatribes and explanations about why she is right or wrong.
After the reaction this one facebook post provoked just imagine the sort response her book will receive when it comes out next spring?
Not bad for a renegade hockey mom from Alaska eh?
Hellrider on August 12, 2009 at 1:54 AM
Let’s not pretend that Trig wouldn’t be among the first who’s care would be rationed if rationing occurred… well, that is if we start talking about who has the potential to live longer.
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:51 AM
And be a contributing factor to society.
heshtesh on August 12, 2009 at 1:56 AM
Well, I don’t know what dedalus thinks about this.
I was going after his very convoluted comment…
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:57 AM
Let’s not pretend that Trig wouldn’t be among the first who’s care would be rationed if rationing occurred… well, that is if we start talking about who has the potential to live longer.
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 1:51 AM
Of course. And then there;s the whole abortion issue. Downs babies are the most commonly aborted late term (although far more in the first trimester – the central fear of all older parents in an amniocentesis) and have been left to die post partum in hospital closets, as nurses have testified.
An immoral society that would allow that sort of scenario to an almost-viable fetus would have no problem with denying procedures or medicine to an bothersome adult.
TexasJew on August 12, 2009 at 2:00 AM
After the reaction this one facebook post provoked just imagine the sort response her book will receive when it comes out next spring?
Not bad for a renegade hockey mom from Alaska eh?
Hellrider on August 12, 2009 at 1:54 AM
Imagine if she held a news conference. with detailed pg numbers of the bill and saying in simple english what those mean.
Liberal heads would explode.
unseen on August 12, 2009 at 2:01 AM
Yeah, I’m not sure if we are there yet as a society (as a whole).
I hope not, but we are coming dangerously close.
Upstater85 on August 12, 2009 at 2:04 AM
Hellrider on August 12, 2009 at 1:54 AM
Unfortunitly as much as i would like to open the window and listen to liberal heads pop in the night there’s just not that many available where i live. I’m not complaining.
heshtesh on August 12, 2009 at 2:04 AM
Good nite all,must be getting tired my spelling is becoming atrocious.
heshtesh on August 12, 2009 at 2:09 AM
Right now, they have more interest in controlling your every behavior. The smoking and trans-fat bans are only the beginning. Non-smokers don’t know how far these people are willing to go. Fat people are in their sights, and they will have all sorts of things to say about every kind of behavior … since the government will be responsible for your health care, they think that makes them ruler over everything that affects your health, which is everything you do.
These people know no bounds. And they are nasty, vindictive, arrogant, and stupid.
progressoverpeace on August 12, 2009 at 2:25 AM
Looking less like Atlas Shrugged, more like Brazil.
JoelD on August 12, 2009 at 2:25 AM
Wakening?
Kini on August 12, 2009 at 2:30 AM
Heh, indeed. Excellent.
warbaby on August 12, 2009 at 2:37 AM
This whole Sarah Palin thing is so much fun!
If she is sworn in as President, I’m going to throw a 3 day party, and indulge in such debauchery and schadenfreude that I may have to write a book about it.
Brian1972 on August 12, 2009 at 2:43 AM
If she is sworn in as President, I’m going to throw a 3 day party, and indulge in such debauchery and schadenfreude that I may have to write a book about it.
Brian1972 on August 12, 2009 at 2:43 AM
what happens if she cuts the federal budget, gives states and the people more freedoms and vetos every bill coming out of washinton for 4 years? I would ask the pope to make her a saint
unseen on August 12, 2009 at 3:05 AM
I would be the happiest MoFo that ever walked the planet. And I would be free at last…Thank God Free at last.
Geochelone on August 12, 2009 at 3:10 AM
I would be the happiest MoFo that ever walked the planet. And I would be free at last…Thank God Free at last.
Geochelone on August 12, 2009 at 3:10 AM
Wouldn’t it be great to once again live in the country we grew up in. where the fed gov was not in your face every time you walked out of your house, was not trying to tell you what to eat, what saftey devices you need to use, what to smoke what to drink at what age how much to drink, who can sell you a gun who can’t, how to raise your children, In the last 30 years the country I grew to love has been destroyed by daddy state GOPer’s and nanny state libs. Enough. I am an adult and I am still a free man and I demand my government to allow me to be free.
unseen on August 12, 2009 at 3:15 AM
I watched the Cardin townhall tonight….the whole thing. Thought it was going to be stacked…wasn’t.
One guy with a Downs baby referenced Emanumels graph (on p 428 in the copy attached by Buckeye Babe on August 12, 2009 at 12:56 AM
if you haven’t read the article please do, and forward to everyone….THis guy is Senior Advisor for Health Planning at OMB.
And now read this: (No I didn’t not write this…from Powerlineblog)
At the end of the day there is STILL no way to have all three simultaneously of: (1) universal guaranteed coverage; (2) comprehensive quality and choice; (3) cost control….cannot be done…you get two out of three at most. Clearly the Obamacrats intend on sacrificing (2) since they are massively constrained by deficits and the basic premise of the middle class entitlement state is that it will never cost (you) anything…only “them”…”villains” or the “rich”….so the only choice is limiting choice and quality….and that in turn requires a de facto single payer accomplished through the subterfuge of dictating the terms of “private” insurance, turning them into all but public utilities, engineering the transfer to the “public option” over a relatively short period of time, and then dictating payment terms to providers through rate setting, service bundling and, most important in this context, the MedPAC council which will determine “quality-adjusted effective” treatment protocols. The net effect is that an elderly person won’t get a hip replacement or a coronary bypass….and will have nowhere — in the US — to turn.
The disingenuousness of the left on this point is breathtaking. Perhaps some are just too stupid to get the point….but the issue is NOT euthanasia, living wills etc….that’s a pure straw man however insidious the proposal is and however dishonest they have been in covering it up or describing it. The real issue is the MedPAC council….there won’t be any actual “death panel” adjudicating case-by-case….there won’;t need to be!….the MedPac council will set up criteria and rules, more or less in secrecy….rules determined by “experts” and by design removed from Congress to prevent pressure to approve expensive protocols at the end of life….or for “life unworthy of life”….a faceless bureaucracy with a maze of rules will simply be built into the system….diffused responsibility, nobody accountable, just the way it will be, no one can do anything about it.
That’s why they MUST control all provision through a de facto single payer…and effectively outlaw private provision….otherwise it will be seen that treatments are available and that some are “unfairly” grabbing medical “resources”…and they will not be able to control cost with a global budget.
That’s the basic issue with Medicare…it’s single payer, universal for those over 65, permits unlimited demand and choice….and has no cost controls…and is bankrupting the government while simultaneously;y through cost-shifting wrecking the private market. Politically, it’s the only way to control Medicare costs: fold it into a universal single payer plan with effective global budgeting and cost controls.
Most people can see this or intuit it…and Obama and his minions have been effectively exposed as lying weasels….and liars who mistakenly assume that people are too dumb to figure out what’s going on and what their real intentions and plans are.
It’s another post but it is truly glorious to see them all hoist on their own petard of Medicare and demonizing the elderly after demagoging SS and Medicare for decades.
r keller on August 12, 2009 at 3:18 AM
Franz Kafka. He is the dude that wrote the Metamorphosis. You know where he wakes up and turns into a beetle. Sounds weird but just think about futility and uncertainly and a total loss of control in your life.
Like what the Fed wants to do to us.
I have the Metamorphosis and all his short stories along with his novel the Castle. They are very trippy, like Orwellian futility with extreme anxiety thrown in.
His short stories are mind expanding. But don’t read them if you are depressed. Feels like running on a tread mill for ever or like dealing with any government agency. Orwell must have read Kafka. Anyone can understand it if there is anything to understand at all.
Kafka’s The Hunger Artist is worth a read. Its short and you will be scratching your head.
Geochelone on August 12, 2009 at 3:22 AM
There are millions of people craving freedom. Just look at the town halls…explosive.
Americans have slept long enough. We are mad as hell and the fed better watch their ass cause we are becoming unified against them. There is a patriotic fervor like I have never seen or felt. Join or Die.
Geochelone on August 12, 2009 at 3:27 AM
Americans have slept long enough. We are mad as hell and the fed better watch their ass cause we are becoming unified against them. There is a patriotic fervor like I have never seen or felt. Join or Die.
Geochelone on August 12, 2009 at 3:27 AM
and why the media and the dems attack Palin. It is not her they are afraid of but her message. The same message that started a revolution in 1776. SOp for liberals is to attack the person not the message because they have no defense for the message. So they attack Palin, they attack reagan fred, beckley, goldwater. They can not defend against freedom and liberty. They must destroy the messenger so that those that believe in the message are seen as kooks following a nutcase.
unseen on August 12, 2009 at 3:31 AM
Its too late. The genie has been let out of the bottle. She has become inoculated. Resigning was a brilliant move. She can stop playing defense and go on the attack as a private citizen. I knew something was up. Ziegler gave us a clue and I think he knew her plan. I was not completely surprised when she resigned. She has guts and is unconventioanl and fearless. And that means unpredictable.
With us united and even moderates have seen the light (fear is a great motivator) it is little wonder that Dems have the look of fear and are totally off their game.
And that is how it should be. They need to fear us.
Geochelone on August 12, 2009 at 3:39 AM
100%
Geochelone on August 12, 2009 at 3:44 AM
Geochelone on August 12, 2009 at 3:22 AM
Thanks but i think i’ll pass,i have enough problems with the bureaucracy at the electric company.
heshtesh on August 12, 2009 at 3:44 AM
Pain has thrown the entire ObamaCare sales effort out of kilter, in case some folks haven’t noticed. They were set with their pitch and raring to go and along comes Palin with one short paragraph and suddenly the whole country is talking about either death panels or demanding that we stop talking about them.
Now this issue taps into a very emotional vein in people. And nothing but nothing riles folks more than to be told that a concern of there’s is stupid, silly, or otherwise invalid. So every time the more “enlightened” members of the ObamaCare sales force look down their noses and ridicule the question of death panels, they stir up more angst and anger amongst the opponents and undecided. The result of this is blown timing and a net increase in resistance to making the sale.
You may find Palin’s issue to be valid or invalid. But the impact was positively brilliant in derailing ObamaCare. For that alone, those of us who don’t want to see ObamaCare owe her a big vote of thanks.
DaMav on August 12, 2009 at 4:21 AM
Liar.
Lehosh on August 12, 2009 at 5:34 AM
Mrs. Palin is dropping HEAT rounds on Obama’s plans. She probably was sitting on a beach somewhere and banged out that little ditty about death panels. Good for her.
Good for Newt et al. who went to bat for her claims, as well as many others who came to the defense of her argument. Gives her freedom of movement.
ted c on August 12, 2009 at 6:54 AM
great point.
ted c on August 12, 2009 at 6:56 AM
This Camille Paglia has as sever a case of cognitive dissonance as I have ever seen in my entire career, both living and dead. Absolutely astounding. Enough for a whole chapter, if not a whole book.
Sigmund on August 12, 2009 at 7:01 AM
Fantasizing much? Luka is not looking for you. Never was. I know, unrequited love is the pits.
Luka on August 12, 2009 at 7:15 AM
Democrats seemed to think that Bush let people die during Katrina or that he was behind 9/11 or that he was really spying on the political opposition and not on terrorists, but they can not understand why ordinary citizens do not want more civil servants in their lives.
I looked at page 838 of that monstrous bill and it has a section all about children. Yes, they will create and maintain agencies to monitor child rearing…now what the hell does that have to do with health insurance?
Terrye on August 12, 2009 at 7:22 AM
Exactly. Hyperbole is an acceptable rhetorical device. Palin used it and the result is wide discussion of “end of life” philosophies. Good job, Sarah.
davidk on August 12, 2009 at 7:25 AM
Even more scary in some respects (since the NEA already has a pretty solid foothold on the indoctrinating children in the Obama way) is this end-of-life legislation. Sean Hannity was reading from the bill yesterday. The filthy liar in the White House is correct that it is voluntary for the patient but what he leaves out is that there is a monetary incentive for doctors to refer patients to these end-of-life services. For a party that insists doctors are removing tonsils for the cash, I find it hard to believe that scruples would intervene sending grandma to the death panels.
highhopes on August 12, 2009 at 7:30 AM
There is certainly a difference between reading something and understanding it. Mr Top Ranking Official may have read it (highly doubtful) but I bet he has no idea what he read.
Spectreman on August 12, 2009 at 7:32 AM
Bravo. This is the excellent point that needs to be made. The death panel is a slippery slope argument that, though certainly polarizing, is not always persuasive. If this is the government’s concern, I say fund a program to by TV ad time and run public service announcements.
Additional concerns (fiscal and privacy) are why create a federal bureaucracy of fat-ass AFSCME employees to shuffle papers that document these consultations and why allow the government to be aware that these conversations to be held. And if the government’s paying, what control does it have over the content of the consultations in order that the doctor gets paid.
Screw the government. It doesn’t belong in this critical conversation.
BuckeyeSam on August 12, 2009 at 7:50 AM
I beginning to come to the conclusion of some pundits that this is more than just a debate about healthcare. It is a proxy war against big government.
highhopes on August 12, 2009 at 8:00 AM
+1
gatorboy on August 12, 2009 at 8:01 AM
Ya think?
lol
How about starting with leaving office?
bluelightbrigade on August 12, 2009 at 8:06 AM
LOL, the best line of the whole Paglia piece is at the very end:
RedRedRice on August 12, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Does this mean AP is breaking up with Charles?
Stephen M on August 12, 2009 at 8:20 AM
If anyone had mentioned fifty million deaths in twenty-seven years when Roe was passed, I’m sure Liberals would have snickered at that as well.
Legalizing the killing of humans due to rape and incest immediately became killing for convenience. Since it’s legal, it’s OK. The same template works on the other end of life. Taking care of grand pop getting in the way of personal freedom and reporting him to the panel is OK since it’s legal and everyone else is doing it.
Hening on August 12, 2009 at 8:22 AM
If by chance you have a hard copy of the bill, I highly recommend wearing a garlic necklace and sprinkling the bill with holy water before opening it.
darwin on August 12, 2009 at 8:24 AM
Palin is simply repeating the fears of many Downs parents.
TexasJew on August 12, 2009
My mother was told by the experts that my brother Phillip would be lucky to live to age 14. He lived to age 24. (I think he did this because he was unable to extend his middle finger to the experts.) What chance would he have under Obama’s tender mercies? Yes, he gave nothing to society. What he gave us was immeasurable.
SKYFOX on August 12, 2009 at 8:25 AM
I love Camille Paglia. She defines enigma. But with this latest piece, her introduction is just way off. First, I am shocked that the Camille Paglia I have read and loved gives a rat’s ass what the world “abroad” thinks of us. And second, after waxing poetic about Obama’s “dignity and authority abroad” (of which she is wrong, by the way) she then goes on to say that this president she so adores is guilty of “blatant totalitarianism.” I am disappointed that Camille doesn’t see that the latter most certainly erases any and all benefit of the former. What good is it to have the French like us again if it requires that we all have our mouths taped shut and report our friends and neighbors to the federal government for “heresy”? I’d rather they continue to dislike us as we revel in our unique freedoms. I think Camille Paglia would, too, if she stopped to think about the cognitive dissonance of her argument for a moment.
Rational Thought on August 12, 2009 at 8:35 AM
Oh, I’m a quick reader too, I think sometimes I inhale books, lol, but “The Fountainhead” and LOTR have interesing plots to keep the reader interested, and in the case of LOTR, riveted-on-the-edge-of-your-seat (I haven’t read “The Fountainhead” yet, but imagine it’s pretty good ;)). I can’t really imagine reading a health care bill in one wknd. Esp. since noone else seems to be reading it at all.
-Aslan’s Girl who could definitely read “The Chronicles of Narnia” in one weekend ;)
Aslans Girl on August 12, 2009 at 8:36 AM
Yes – those of us having children with Down syndrome have nothing to fear in a single payer system. Our children would be well taken care of – just look at how the NHS treats its citizens with Down syndrome:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/mar/24/neglect-nhs-learning-disabilities
Headline: Man with Down’s syndrome dies after starving for 26 days in hospital
Candy Slice on August 12, 2009 at 8:40 AM
Vic on August 12, 2009 at 8:42 AM
Death panels
petefrt on August 12, 2009 at 8:43 AM
Obama’s science cazr, John Holdren, advocated for mass sterilization and forced abortions to weed out the “undesirables”.
Ezekial Emanuel,Obama’s special advisor to the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget for health policy, set out rules for whom should be treated under healthcare rationing in his Lancet article “Protocols for allocation of scarce medical intervention. Trig Palin would be at the bottom of the list to get treatment.
Cass Sunstein, Obama’s “regulatory czar” – whatever the hell that is-believes animals have rights equal to humans.
Peter Singer, an Obama healthcare adviser, says that it is OK to “abort” children up to one year because they really are not developed enough to be considered human.
I think this will give us an idea to the direction the WH and the leftist Congress is taking us
beedubya on August 12, 2009 at 8:46 AM
Palin is correct, read H.R. 3200. Obama’s words are misleading, obfuscating and irrelevant, the only words that matter are those within the legislation that will ultimately become the law. There is more than one way for the government to kill us. They can directly inject lethal poisons into our veins or smother us with a deadly toxic gas, or, they can refuse to give us the life saving medical care we may someday require. The government boards will have the power to refuse such care based on their opinion of our future worth to society and the cost-effectiveness of our survival. To designate them as “death boards” is perfectly appropriate. You may not like and it may make you squirm but it is true and accurate so stop waffling around the periphery and call it what it is. If you’re not scared to death, you should be.
rplat on August 12, 2009 at 8:49 AM
With two words Sarah Palin shone a burning spotlight on Obama DeathCare and made leftists shriek and wet themselves … and from a Facebook post no less.
I’m sure glad Palin has some balls because no other Republican out there seems to have any.
darwin on August 12, 2009 at 8:55 AM
Follow the logic liberals (if you can)
“public option” = National healthcare = taxpayer funded healthcare
Cheaper Public option + economic crisis = businesses dumping employee health benefits onto public plan
More people + taxpayer funded healthcare = rationing
Rationing = GOVERNMENT MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT IS GOING TO BE COVERED.
xax on August 12, 2009 at 9:12 AM
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