Sliming A 12 Year Old over SCHIP.

[SirNitram]

Link

Two weeks ago, the Democratic response to President Bush’s weekly radio address was delivered by a 12-year-old, Graeme Frost. Graeme, who along with his sister received severe brain injuries in a 2004 car crash and continues to need physical therapy, is a beneficiary of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Mr. Bush has vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have expanded that program to cover millions of children who would otherwise have been uninsured.

What followed should serve as a teaching moment.

First, some background. The Frosts and their four children are exactly the kind of people S-chip was intended to help: working Americans who can’t afford private health insurance.

The parents have a combined income of about $45,000, and don’t receive health insurance from employers. When they looked into buying insurance on their own before the accident, they found that it would cost $1,200 a month — a prohibitive sum given their income. After the accident, when their children needed expensive care, they couldn’t get insurance at any price.

Fortunately, they received help from Maryland’s S-chip program. The state has relatively restrictive rules for eligibility: children must come from a family with an income under 200 percent of the poverty line. For families with four children that’s $55,220, so the Frosts clearly qualified.

Graeme Frost, then, is exactly the kind of child the program is intended to help. But that didn’t stop the right from mounting an all-out smear campaign against him and his family.

Soon after the radio address, right-wing bloggers began insisting that the Frosts must be affluent because Graeme and his sister attend private schools (they’re on scholarship), because they have a house in a neighborhood where some houses are now expensive (the Frosts bought their house for $55,000 in 1990 when the neighborhood was rundown and considered dangerous) and because Mr. Frost owns a business (it was dissolved in 1999).

You might be tempted to say that bloggers make unfounded accusations all the time. But we’re not talking about some obscure fringe. The charge was led by Michelle Malkin, who according to Technorati has the most-trafficked right-wing blog on the Internet, and in addition to blogging has a nationally syndicated column, writes for National Review and is a frequent guest on Fox News.

The attack on Graeme’s family was also quickly picked up by Rush Limbaugh, who is so important a player in the right-wing universe that he has had multiple exclusive interviews with Vice President Dick Cheney.

And G.O.P. politicians were eager to join in the smear. The New York Times reported that Republicans in Congress “were gearing up to use Graeme as evidence that Democrats have overexpanded the health program to include families wealthy enough to afford private insurance” but had “backed off” as the case fell apart.

In fact, however, Republicans had already made their first move: an e-mail message from the office of Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, sent to reporters and obtained by the Web site Think Progress, repeated the smears against the Frosts and asked: “Could the Dems really have done that bad of a job vetting this family?”

And the attempt to spin the media worked, to some extent: despite reporting that has thoroughly debunked the smears, a CNN report yesterday suggested that the Democrats had made “a tactical error in holding up Graeme as their poster child,” and closely echoed the language of the e-mail from Mr. McConnell’s office.

All in all, the Graeme Frost case is a perfect illustration of the modern right-wing political machine at work, and in particular its routine reliance on character assassination in place of honest debate. If service members oppose a Republican war, they’re “phony soldiers”; if Michael J. Fox opposes Bush policy on stem cells, he’s faking his Parkinson’s symptoms; if an injured 12-year-old child makes the case for a government health insurance program, he’s a fraud.

Meanwhile, leading conservative politicians, far from trying to distance themselves from these smears, rush to embrace them. And some people in the news media are still willing to be used as patsies.

Politics aside, the Graeme Frost case demonstrates the true depth of the health care crisis: every other advanced country has universal health insurance, but in America, insurance is now out of reach for many hard-working families, even if they have incomes some might call middle-class.

And there’s one more point that should not be forgotten: ultimately, this isn’t about the Frost parents. It’s about Graeme Frost and his sister.

I don’t know about you, but I think American children who need medical care should get it, period. Even if you think adults have made bad choices — a baseless smear in the case of the Frosts, but put that on one side — only a truly vicious political movement would respond by punishing their injured children.

While an op-ed, it really does drive home how flat out looney these motherfuckers are.

[LadyTevar]

Propaganda! Not just for Wars anymore!

This is just dirty ... but how do we stop the smears?

[General Zod]

Propaganda! Not just for Wars anymore!

This is just dirty ... but how do we stop the smears?

A defamation lawsuit is about the only way to practically get it to stop that I can see.

[Keevan_Colton]

Propaganda! Not just for Wars anymore!

This is just dirty ... but how do we stop the smears?

A defamation lawsuit is about the only way to practically get it to stop that I can see.

Good luck, you have to prove they knew what they were saying was false, rather then them having to prove it is true...

[General Zod]

A defamation lawsuit is about the only way to practically get it to stop that I can see.

Good luck, you have to prove they knew what they were saying was false, rather then them having to prove it is true...[/quote]

Unless of course you happen to have a better idea. . .

[Keevan_Colton]

Good luck, you have to prove they knew what they were saying was false, rather then them having to prove it is true...

Unless of course you happen to have a better idea. . .

Adopt the legal system of a country that doesnt have things arse backwards on defamation, then sue...other than that, in the US...not really...lying is a first amendment right after all...

[Glocksman]

Propaganda! Not just for Wars anymore!

This is just dirty ... but how do we stop the smears?

A defamation lawsuit is about the only way to practically get it to stop that I can see.

Good luck, you have to prove they knew what they were saying was false, rather then them having to prove it is true...

And in the case of 'public figures' you have to prove actual malice as well.
In this case, the Frost family, by injecting themselves into the S-CHIP debate in such a public manner made themselves into public figures and would have to prove malice if they sued for defamation.

[Big Phil]

It also shows just how much Republican cock the mainstream press are sucking. The Republicans are all but begging for someone to call them on their hypocrisy, but the press just won't do it. The CNN report parroting the language of McConnell's email is a great example of how pathetic the mainstream press has become.

[RIPP_n_WIPE]

And why can't we just whack idiots in the G.O.P?

[Glocksman]

It also shows just how much Republican cock the mainstream press are sucking. The Republicans are all but begging for someone to call them on their hypocrisy, but the press just won't do it. The CNN report parroting the language of McConnell's email is a great example of how pathetic the mainstream press has become.

I don't know if that's CNN sucking Bush's dick (I haven't seen the report you refer to) or the reporters simply being lazy, as I've seen lots of 'reportage' that lifts entire sections from press releases without attributing it to the press release.

Either way, the state of news reporting is so bad that I wind up getting most of my national and international news from the BBC.

[Rahvin]

And why can't we just whack idiots in the G.O.P?

Advocating violence against political figures is a very bad idea.

Besides, the goal should be a system where this sort of evil slander is punished legally. Actual violence is not an ethical response to words, even hurtful lies.

[Ritterin Sophia]

I can't believe any of you are surprised CNN is parroting it, the only reason Republitards call it liberal is because it's slightly to the left of Fox.

[Shroom Man 777]

I don’t know about you, but I think American children who need medical care should get it, period. Even if you think adults have made bad choices — a baseless smear in the case of the Frosts, but put that on one side — only a truly vicious political movement would respond by punishing their injured children.

In Sparta, all children are inspected. Should they be sickly or deformed, then they will be DISCARDED! Throw that 12 year old down a bottomless pit before he grows up into a treacherous Liberal hunchback in league with Xerxes' armies of Iranian Uruk-hai. Madness? This is America!

*sucks George Bush's cock*

[Big Phil]

It also shows just how much Republican cock the mainstream press are sucking. The Republicans are all but begging for someone to call them on their hypocrisy, but the press just won't do it. The CNN report parroting the language of McConnell's email is a great example of how pathetic the mainstream press has become.

I don't know if that's CNN sucking Bush's dick (I haven't seen the report you refer to) or the reporters simply being lazy, as I've seen lots of 'reportage' that lifts entire sections from press releases without attributing it to the press release.

Either way, the state of news reporting is so bad that I wind up getting most of my national and international news from the BBC.

Whether it's because reporters are afraid to report negatively on Republicans, or because they're all lazy, or they just happen to all be Republicans (or at least the corporate owners) is kind of irrelevant. The end result is any news story remotely negative about the Republicans gets slanted and/or forgotten after only a few days.

Take articles about Congress, for example. They generally focus on how the Democrats are unable to get anything passed, completely ignoring how the Republicans are responsible for this by filibustering everything they can. End of the day, Joe Fucktard reads his paper, sees that the Democratic Congress is a Do-Nothing Congress and can't get anything passed, and wonders why he wasted his vote last November. Joe Fucktard doesn't think critically about why Congress can't get anything passed... that would be too much fucking work. Apparently it is for reporters as well.

[The Spartan]

Link

See the thread above. I have a post in there regarding a family with an income of around $100k per year. And their 3 year old is about to cut off of healthcare because of a cap on treatment. I didn't reread the entire article so bear with me but as I recall the child has severe anemia and requires a variety of meds and occasional emergency room visits. His parents only recourse? To either apply for Colorado's family insurance plan that also has a cap on total care received or to divorce so that the mother can apply to go on welfare and get health insurance that way.

This is the same type of healthcare coverage that tWat refers to as "Golden".

But we can't have universal healthcare coverage even though it's demonstrably superior in ultimate outcome and, oh by the way, cheaper. No, no. Because that's socialism and some rich asshole might have to wait an extra week to get their surgery. So we have to make sure a partially(?) disabled child (in the OP) doesn't get coverage because his parents make a little bit above the median income but don't buy their own insurance.

How dare they.

[Elfdart]

Since Republitards have been stalking this kid and his family, it's pretty clear why they covered for Mark Foley when he was cyberstalking the kids who worked as congressional pages.

Where's Chris Hansen when we need him?

[Hamel]

I see that even after the right wingers were shown to be deceptive regarding the tuition, property value of the house, etc, they fall back on the "it's not my responsibility to pay for your health care" bullshit thinking they're going to save face.

Republicans love white people. They pretend to love hard working, red blooded Americans. They pretend to love entrepreneurs. I mean the Frost family is 3 for 3 and the repugs still cannot cut them a break.

I'll make a deal with those little republiblogotard sell-outs~ they can stop paying for kid's health care when if I can stop paying for our war on terruh, the NSA, ATF, FBI, CIA, etc. I can defend myself just fine, thank you vvvery much.

[PainRack]

Link

See the thread above. I have a post in there regarding a family with an income of around $100k per year. And their 3 year old is about to cut off of healthcare because of a cap on treatment. I didn't reread the entire article so bear with me but as I recall the child has severe anemia and requires a variety of meds and occasional emergency room visits. His parents only recourse? To either apply for Colorado's family insurance plan that also has a cap on total care received or to divorce so that the mother can apply to go on welfare and get health insurance that way.

This is the same type of healthcare coverage that tWat refers to as "Golden".

But we can't have universal healthcare coverage even though it's demonstrably superior in ultimate outcome and, oh by the way, cheaper. No, no. Because that's socialism and some rich asshole might have to wait an extra week to get their surgery. So we have to make sure a partially(?) disabled child (in the OP) doesn't get coverage because his parents make a little bit above the median income but don't buy their own insurance.

How dare they.

[scarasm]But how could you support Universal Healthcare? Don't you know that governments ration care and will refuse to pay for the people who need it most!?!?!?!?!?[/end scarasm]

I wonder how many americans truly understand how their health system works.

[Kanastrous]

In Sparta, all children are inspected. Should they be sickly or deformed, then they will be DISCARDED! Throw that 12 year old down a bottomless pit before he grows up into a treacherous Liberal hunchback in league with Xerxes' armies of Iranian Uruk-hai. Madness? This is America!

*sucks George Bush's cock*

I don't know who you are and I haven't got a uterus, but I want to have your baby.

[The Yosemite Bear]

See swiftboating isn't confined to people running for office.

[The Dark]

I wonder how many americans truly understand how their health system works.

Oh, that's simple.



It doesn't.

[The Yosemite Bear]

It works perfectly it makes money for all the big pharma companys, and lawyers.

[Knife]

Adopt the legal system of a country that doesnt have things arse backwards on defamation, then sue...other than that, in the US...not really...lying is a first amendment right after all...

Hey thanks for that realistic bit of advice and your stereotypical anti-US crap. Worth about as much bandwith as this post.

[Keevan_Colton]

Adopt the legal system of a country that doesnt have things arse backwards on defamation, then sue...other than that, in the US...not really...lying is a first amendment right after all...

Hey thanks for that realistic bit of advice and your stereotypical anti-US crap. Worth about as much bandwith as this post.

Feel free to point out what's wrong with it...that america wont do it isnt a fucking answer btw.

[Ariphaos]

It works perfectly it makes money for all the big pharma companys, and lawyers.

You forgot malpractice insurance.