Are the Republicans getting their "deather" talking points from Lyndon LaRouche?

[Joanne98]

One of the more baffling elements of the health care debate has been the sudden emergence on the right of the idea that President Barack Obama’s reforms would require old people to be put to death as a cost-cutting measure — an idea that, having no bearing in reality, appears to have arrived from some bizarre alternate universe.

Here, for instance, is GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx spouting this nonsense on the House floor:

VIDEO

And while Rep. Foxx has a habit of saying loony things, she’s not alone in pushing this particular bit of crazy.

Most outlets have cited a July 16th appearance on Fred Thompson’s radio show by Betsy McCaughey, who has been working since the early 1990s to prevent health care reform from becoming law, as the source of the meme. On Wednesday, Politico reported that the meme had been picked up by such GOP luminaries as House Republican Leader and tanning enthusiast Rep. John Boehner; House Republican Policy Committee chair Rep. Thad McCotter (seen here doing his amazing zombie impersonation); and 2008 Republican Presidential candidate and grumpy old man Fred Thompson. And now that “respectable” Republicans have gone on the record fearing that Obama wants to turn everyone’s grandparents into Soylent Green, a whole host of other Republicans have taken up the cry as well, including conservative radio blowhards Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

The charge has been thoroughly debunked (see here and here), but it’s spread quickly across the right anyway.

If you’ve been listening to all those Republican leaders spouting this nonsense and thinking “man, that sounds crazy”, there’s a good reason why. It’s because it is crazy. How can we tell? Because it is disturbingly similar to a line that has been pushed for a couple months now by an actual crazy person — political cult leader and full-on nutbar Lyndon LaRouche.


If you’re not familiar with him, LaRouche has been living on the American political fringe since the 1960s, first as an extreme Marxist, then reinventing himself in the 1980s as an extreme right-winger to capitalize on the popularity of Ronald Reagan.

Over all those years, though, LaRouche has been consistent in advancing some of the most downright crazy ideas ever introduced to American political discourse. Said crazy ideas include, but are not limited to:

•The world is secretly run by the British Empire!
•The international drug cartels are secretly run by Queen Elizabeth!
•The Beatles weren’t a band, but a psychological warfare campaign by the British government!
•Henry Kissinger was an agent for the KGB and the Trilateral Commission!
•Vice President Dick Cheney was a puppet of British intelligence!
•This spring’s swine flu outbreak was orchestrated by the World Wildlife Fund!
•The anti-tax “tea party” movement is a creation of liberal billionaire George Soros — and popular social-networking site Twitter was created by Soros to control it!
And on and on. Even 20 years ago, LaRouche’s weird rantings had gained him enough of a reputation as a nut that Saturday Night Live was making fun of him:

It would almost be comical, if his little cult didn’t have a record of embezzling elderly people and exploiting impressionable young people — with one such young person even ending up dead after attempting to break away.

So why do I bring all this up? Because for months before Betsy McCaughey and the GOP started peddling the Big Lie that health care reform meant euthanasia, LaRouche was peddling the same thing.

Consider this statement from a LaRouche publication dated May 16:

Today, the looters are inside the White House, in the persons of Larry Summers, Peter Orszag, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Nancy-Ann DeParle, and others. There, they are dictating how to continue the HMO looting rights, even to the point of death, under the banner of “saving money” by health-care “reform.” Citizens are receiving Hitler-era “reasons” for why they must accept drastic medical cutbacks, sickness, and death. For example, you must forego what is called “wasteful, excessive treatment,” during your end-of-life months.

President Obama has proclaimed this Nazi medicine/health “reform” his top goal. Congress, so far, is acting in lockstep, under the direction of Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), to whip up comprehensive reform legislation by this June.

Or this one, dated May 15:

“This is mass murder,” LaRouche said. “Obama has adopted Hitler’s program. There is no reason to hold one’s tongue. When the President of the United States has adopted Hitler’s program, that’s the time to unleash. This is exactly what I warned about on April 11th in my webcast. Obama has a Nero complex. Obama is the new Nero. This is exactly what is happening. This is Hitler’s policy now being echoed by Obama. Let’s not allow any compromise. You have to attack this directly. He has adopted Hitler’s genocidal health policy.”

Or this video, posted to YouTube on May 28, which makes the same wildly off-the-mark arguments.

Now, I’m not saying that McCaughey and the rest of the Republican Party are taking their arguments directly from LaRouche. (Though anything’s possible, I suppose; LaRouchies have circulated in right-wing circles before.) What I am saying, though, is that it’s deeply, deeply weird that the leaders of a major political party — a party that claims to speak for nearly half of the electorate! — are out there making arguments on national television and on the floor of the Congress that are functionally indistinguishable from the rantings of a legendary crank.

Why are so many big-name Republicans are lining up to buy a ticket on the crazy train? Who knows. Perhaps some enterprising reporter out there will ask them.

http://www.changetowin.org/connect/2009/07/crazier_than_you_think.html

[glowing]

1. The crazy thing is that I know people who I would normally put in the

liberal, peackenik category that have become batshit crazy wih anything Guvmint... there's a conspiracy every other corner.. and Obama is trying to kill old people.. I guess the saying is true.. so far to the wingnuttery, and you meet back full circle.

[Joanne98]

2. The right is making CT's look bad.

[Are_grits_groceries]

3. Ha! dear, dear Lyndon.

I remember back in the 80's when he was gadding about. GHWB hated broccoli, and during one presidential campaign he put up billboards with broccoli and Bush on them.

When he went to jail for whatever, he was in the same cell as Jim Bakker (Tammy Fay's better half). I would have loved to hear those discussions.

[notadmblnd]

4. don't any of these nutbags ever die?

Larouche, isn't he about a brazillion years old?

[gita]

5. Before Obama was elected, there were some LaRouchians with their material

set up in front of the Post Office. It's odd--the three times I have seen them in the area, they always set up shop in front of the local P.O. In any case, I was curious as to the content of their pamphlets so I asked if I could have one for free. It was very anti-Cheney.

As to the comment of it being wacko that Cheney is a puppet for Brittain, I dunno--sounds possible. I will have to read what they say about Obama, though, because it sounds like they are against him just as much...

[rogerhall]

6. Contact "Dr. Deather" Herself

Let Betsy McCaughey and her employers know that you do *not* appreciate her lies about healthcare reform!

http://www.cantelmedical.com/about/directors.html

Seth R. Segel
Executive Vice President

Eric W. Nodiff
Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

If you work for a health-care organization (or care for an ailing relative at home), please stop buying products from these Cantel companies:

Minntech
Crosstex
Mar Cor Purification
Saf-T-Pak

Let your sales representative know why!

Roger
(Cross-posted. Sorry. Hulk smash.)