Death Panels, Sarah Palin, And Fear
Was there a secret death panel? Is that why the Senate Finance Committee withdrew its bill its bill the inclusion of advance care planning consultations, calling them too confusing? Maybe, or maybe the death panels were just a mock-up from Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh and the White House saw so many people running scared and confused that they gave in. Well, at least now the crazies at town hall meetings will have to scream about something else.
The Right’s scare tactic regarding death panels began only a short time ago, with Sarah Palin’s remarks both in front of the media spotlight and on her Facebook page. The death panels circus show was thanks to Palin’s comments, such as this one from her Facebook page where she uses her disabled son as a ploy in her fear tactic campaign. 
“And who will suffer the most when they ration care?” Palin asks. “The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. 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.” (New York Times)
What is so incredibly remarkable about Sarah Palin’s death panel remarks, and her obvious political savviness, is that before she became the face of the Republican Party she welcomed conversations about end-of-life decisions with your physicians.
In April 2008 she signed a proclamation declaring a “Healthcare Decisions Day.” It cited the importance of “the need to plan ahead for health care decisions, related to end of life care” and went on to “encourage hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, continuing care retirement communities and hospices to participate in a statewide effort to provide clear and consistent information to the public about advance directives.” (Politics Daily)
Come on, April of 2008 wasn’t even that long ago! Funny how extreme politics changes a woman…who actually isn’t even “technically” in politics anymore. The so-called death panels were yet another way for Sarah Palin to scare trusting Americans.
In reality, the provision was designed to allow Medicare to pay doctors who counsel patients about planning for end-of-life decisions. The consultations would be voluntary and would provide information about living wills, healthcare proxies, pain medication and hospice. (LA Times)
These consultations were no different than what Palin had proposed only last year in Alaska for “Healthcare Decisions Day.” And now, thanks to the incredible fear tactics that have worked for certain parties for so long, that have numbed Americans into a state of expecting-the-worst-at-all-times-and-trusting-absolutely-no-one, this part of the healthcare package has been scrapped.
For some real, factual information on healthcare, visit http://www.noinsuranceclub.com.
(I wonder what the rioters are going to yell about now? Probably something about the Nazi’s, socialism, government conspiracy, monsters in the closet, racism, Hitler, aliens, traffic, and, more than likely, they’ll continue to yell about those pesky death panels. I’m not sure many of the rioters read much, or listen to anything other than Rush, Glenn, and Lou….oh, and Sarah.
You know, here at the No Insurance Club, we really don’t get into politics that much…well, besides good old Aunt Sara. But I’m not going to lie. When fear is used as a campaign tactic, when hard-working, trusting Americans who are good people become so enraged by false claims that they taek extremes that they would never have taken before, it bothers me. When gynormous, oi-funded and trillion-dollar companies get behind the wheel and pull the strings, feeding good people lies and making outright false claims, it frustrates me. There are good people on both sides of this battle, and no matter where you stand on this healthcare reform issue, we should have at least some respect for the facts and at least an inkling of respect for each other.
Town hall meetings have been a part of our American history since the early 1600’s, when small-town folks would get together at their local schoolhouse once a month. It was our American tradition of free speech that led to respect for each other during these town hall meetings. Today, there is no freedom of speech when we yell over one-another and completely hault the historical process of town hall discussions.)
