babylonsister
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Mon Sep-21-09 03:59 PM
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http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/09/21/more-bad-republican-form/More Bad Republican Form Posted by Michael Scherer Monday, September 21, 2009 at 3:38 pm
About a month ago, a Republican National Committee mailer surfaced, showing that the party had sent out a bogus "poll." The poll asked recipients if they were concerned that Democrats would pass health care reform that would deny Republicans treatment because they were Republicans. This ridiculous and false notion, the mailer said, "has been suggested" by unknown forces. When I called the RNC for comment, a spokesman admitted the shameless ploy had been "inartfully worded."
Now comes word, via Sam Stein at Huffington Post, that the National Republican Senatorial Committee is trying to fool Americans with the same trick. Their bogus "poll" asks:
Are you concerned that health care rationing could lead to:
23. Denial of treatment in cases where the patient's prospects are deemed not good? 24. A "lottery" system of determining who will get priority treatment? 25. A "quota" system which would determine who would get treatment on the basis of race or age?
Needless to say, none of these things have been proposed in either house of Congress. None of them will pass. The mailer also suggests that the following ideas are "up for debate" in Congress over the coming weeks, including whether or not the government gets to:
• Pick who is "eligible" for certain medical procedures? • Pick your doctor for you? • Restrict certain medical procedures on the basis of age? • Put strict price controls on medicine and drugs? • Penalize you for choosing to see a private doctor • Seriously undermine private health care insurers who currently serve tens of millions of Americans?
In a just, fully functioning Democratic debate, there would be consequences for such fearmongering by a major political party. Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who signs the direct mail piece, would actually be forced to either defend the document, by backing up the claims with actual evidence that these claims are in any way relevant to the current discussion, or he would be discredited as someone willing to fool people--not to mention the elderly--for political advantage.
But this is not a fully functioning Democratic system. I have nonetheless, asked the NRSC for comment. I am told I will get a response, which I will post promptly.
UPDATE: Brian Walsh a spokesman for the NRSC did call me back, and defended the mailer, not as a description of any of the Democratic plans, but rather as an open-ended musing on possible health care reform ideas. "It simply poses questions," said Walsh. "In looking at it, it doesn't say definitely what the president's health care plan is." Walsh added that no one knows what the final Obama health care legislation might contain. "He has not put forward legislative text," he said. "We have no idea what the Democratic bill is going to look like."
So in other words, Walsh is maintaining that the most alarming parts of the faux poll do not describe anything that Democrats or Obama has proposed, but rather describe things that could still be proposed at some point in the future to surprise everybody. Needless to say, it is rather unlikely--call it completely inconceivable--that Obama or Democratic leaders would introduce an 11th-hour amendment to deny health care to Americans based on race. What may be more interesting is the tactic at play. This is another version of a "The Great Unknown" attack on Obama, a technique I have previously described, in which opponents choose to critique Obama not for what he is doing, but for what is unknown about his actions or what he might do.
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Ian David
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Mon Sep-21-09 04:01 PM
Response to Original message |
1. Fuck the Republicans. If they want to pay for healthcare, let them go to... to... |
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... fuck, where DO they still pay for healthcare?
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denverbill
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Mon Sep-21-09 04:15 PM
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2. "A "quota" system which would determine who would get treatment on the basis of race or age?" |
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Nice. One for the white-sheet crowd.
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treestar
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Mon Sep-21-09 04:17 PM
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3. Aren't these Republicans so succesful that they could pay for their own treatment |
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and the best treatment at that - I thought their whining had to do with paying for others?
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DrToast
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Mon Sep-21-09 04:33 PM
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4. Scherer going after the Republicans? What's this world coming to? |
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Edited on Mon Sep-21-09 04:35 PM by DrToast
Maybe there's hope for that guy yet. I guess everyone has a breaking point.
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babylonsister
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Mon Sep-21-09 04:43 PM
Response to Reply #4 |
5. That's funny; I never noticed his partisanship. I don't read |
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him all that often though.
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quiet.american
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Mon Sep-21-09 04:56 PM
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6. "Are you concerned that health care rationing could lead to:" --- |
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No wonder the GOP has little-to-no credibility outside of the south.
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Cha
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Mon Sep-21-09 05:07 PM
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7. Oh, they have plenty of brainwashed devotees up here |
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in upstate New York.
They eat that shite up.
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quiet.american
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Mon Sep-21-09 06:10 PM
Response to Reply #7 |
8. Granted. (Speaking more electorally.) :) nt |
Cha
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Mon Sep-21-09 06:17 PM
Response to Reply #8 |
9. Oh right..as in massively. My county |
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went 55% for mcpalin and that's way too much for moi.
I can't wait to retire next year to Kaua'i..the Islands of PO's birthB-)
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quiet.american
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Mon Sep-21-09 06:34 PM
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11. Yes, yes, I know about upstate. :) Hawaii - very nice. |
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Yeah, I have relatives who live upstate in Bumrush, NY -- it is seriously creepy there. But thank goodness, NY still appears as blue on the electoral map. :)
Ah, Hawaii -- I LOVE it there. That is awesome!
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tledford
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Mon Sep-21-09 06:31 PM
Response to Reply #6 |
10. Yeah, like all those "southern" states McCain carried last Fall... |
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Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Utah, Kansas, Missouri ...
:eyes:
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quiet.american
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Mon Sep-21-09 06:36 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
12. Alright -- I see I'm going to have to actually include a link to what I'm referring to -- |
tledford
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Mon Sep-21-09 07:18 PM
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13. The thing that the Mother Jones article proves is that the way people vote... |
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...doesn't have anything to do with whether or not they approve of Republicans. And there is complete lack of definition of the regions. Wyoming is certainly the "West" as is Idaho, and yet they vote solidly Republican. North Carolina is in the "South" yet Obama carried it (barely) in 2008, which thrilled me no end since I'm a lifelong white NC Democrat.
You're falling into precisely the trap that the Republicans and the power structure behind them have set for you -- namely, you've been lulled into a false sense of security, into thinking that the Republican party is no longer relevant.
But by leveraging their money and power (money *IS* power until campaign finance is made exclusively public) and the fear and hatred of the ignorant American populace, they *will* remain a serious political force for the foreseeable future.
It's sad, but it's true, and we need to be constantly aware of it in order to be prepared for it.
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quiet.american
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Mon Sep-21-09 07:31 PM
Response to Reply #13 |
15. Thanks for the lecture. (I hate lectures). |
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Don't worry, I understand your fear of complacency, but your assumption that I'm complacent is unfounded. I've been at this for some time, too. :)
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rasputin1952
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Tue Sep-22-09 05:45 AM
Response to Reply #6 |
19. I'm out here in Nebraska, there are plenty of brain dead goomers |
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here as well. Out here, it is all about "abortion, God and welfare". I've made progress explaining that "choice" means precisely that; no one is saying religions will be "destroyed"; and no one is taking their firearms away. The big thing is to get people to actually think; as opposed to being scared all of the time. After all, if ignorance truly was bliss, there would be dancing in the streets 24/7...:hi:
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Doctor_J
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Mon Sep-21-09 07:26 PM
Response to Original message |
14. Filthy, barely-human scum |
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There are almost no redeemable Repukes left.
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DCKit
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Mon Sep-21-09 11:22 PM
Response to Original message |
16. The fool. Every time a psychic hotline goes bust, the RNC gobbles up all the talent on the cheap. |
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Edited on Mon Sep-21-09 11:24 PM by DCKit
The RNC is bursting at the seams with fortune tellers, card readers and every other form of prognostication out there. They've cornered the market on goats and chickens, putting real economic pressure on the practice of Santeria as well as our local butchers.
Don't be obtuse: they know our minds, and they know our futures.
By the way, did anyone hear how the Rapture went today?
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KakistocracyHater
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Tue Sep-22-09 01:10 AM
Response to Original message |
17. so which is it? that healthcare is GOOD & 'they' are going to take it away, |
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OR is it that healthcare is BAD & no one should want it?
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Czar One
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Tue Sep-22-09 01:26 AM
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18. Is there any GOOD Republican form? |
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Except for the guy in RI?
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saltpoint
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Tue Sep-22-09 06:14 AM
Response to Original message |
20. Republicanism as a pre-existing condition? I like the concept. |
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Maybe file it under 'Behavioral Health' -- very likely an Axis II issue
Certainly highly characterological.
And of course the cure rate is very discouraging...
- - -
Rec'd.
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