Someone like Sarah Palin makes something up, exaggerates, uses hyperbole, connects disparate elements together to make what she thinks is a cohesive thought and then the media writes exactly what she says, without even debunking it. So in a way, Sarah Palin is right. The media is making things up. It's not unfair journalism to say, she's wrong. Her facts are wrong. In fact, it's a disservice to the reader to continue to print falsehoods. The whole idea of a death panel is absurd.
In Politico today, Palin defends her comments about "death panels," but once again, there isn't anything in the story that says what she's saying is simply not true:
“Yesterday President Obama responded to my statement that Democratic health care proposals would lead to rationed care; that the sick, the elderly and the disabled would suffer the most under such rationing; and that under such a system, these ‘unproductive’ members of society could face the prospect of government bureaucrats determining whether they deserve health care,” Palin wrote in a note on her Facebook page.I didn't say it was a good defense of herself.
“The provision that President Obama refers to is Section 1233 of HR 3200, entitled ‘Advance Care Planning Consultation.’ With all due respect, it’s misleading for the president to describe this section as an entirely voluntary provision that simply increases the information offered to Medicare recipients,” she continued.
“Section 1233 authorizes advanced care planning consultations for senior citizens on Medicare every five years, and more often ‘if there is a significant change in the health condition of the individual ... or upon admission to a skilled nursing facility, a long-term care facility... or a hospice program.’" Read the whole thing here.
I've read through Section 1233 and I just don't understand where they're getting this stuff. I think they see things that aren't there because they think Obama has this grand plan of socializing the nation. You can read the section here. Search "1233" and read it for yourself.
George Stephanopoulos did a good job of confronting death panels with Newt. Gingrich knows better. Maybe Palin even knows better. When they say things like "death panels" perhaps they're communicating with their audience, perhaps they're exploiting their audience. It makes no sense to someone who isn't inclined to think like they do (irrationally). They're trying to draw this big picture of Obama the socialist.
George Stephanopoulos did a good job of confronting death panels with Newt. Gingrich knows better. Maybe Palin even knows better. When they say things like "death panels" perhaps they're communicating with their audience, perhaps they're exploiting their audience. It makes no sense to someone who isn't inclined to think like they do (irrationally). They're trying to draw this big picture of Obama the socialist.
