The Latest Health-Care-Scare™ For Conservatives: Home Nurse Visits! Oh Noes!

I have come to the conclusion that the persons trying to drive the "Obama Evil Health Care Reform" truck are all crazy or stupid.

Or maybe both.

Since the "Obama Death Panels" is seeming to lose traction, now they've come up with something else to be Very Afraid™ of:

HOME NURSE VISITS!

Auuughhh! Run Away! Run Away!

When I first became aware of this via Paddy at The Political Carnival, I thought it had to be satire, like The Onion or something.

It's not.

As the Time article states:

Action hero and conservative activist Chuck Norris picked it up from there, penning a column sounding an alarm about "Obamacare's home intrusion and indoctrination family services, in which state agents prioritize houses to enter and enforce their universal values and principles upon the hearts and minds of families across America."

There's no doubt about it.

These people are batshit crazy.

I'm waiting for them to pick up and run with the startling Obamacare findings that my friend Elwood over at I Eat Gravel has revealed!

h/t to Paddy.

Jon Stewart, America's "Most Trusted News Source" Takes On Glenn Beck.. Again.

Jon Stewart notes the startling difference between the "CNN Glenn Beck" and the "Fox News Glenn Beck":

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www.thedailyshow.com
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It's no small wonder that at his town hall meeting, Congressman Rick Larsen (D-WA) used Glenn Beck as an example of the factually challenged:


Why anyone would actually listen to anything Glenn Beck has to say on any subject is beyond me.

Too Bad I've Already Awarded The Asshat Of The Week... Because Sarah Palin "Coulda Been A Contender"

This woman just won't stop with the insanity.

Yesterday, on her Facebook page, Sarah Palin reiterated the "Obama Death Panel" tripe.

Ex-Governor (but not a "quitter") Palin, just WTF is the matter with you?

When are you gonna stop "makin' stuff up?"

Sarah, I'm sure that even you have heard of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Hell, I'm willing to hazard a guess that your mom and dad are members.

But if you've never heard of it, here's a brief description:

It's a non-profit, well-respected organization that has been around for over 50 years.

They do their best to look out for the interests of older Americans.

They have a very powerful lobbying effort... and they've already weighed in on and debunked this myth.

Please go read the AARP's Fact Check on this lie. It's easy.

All you have to do is click here.

Unless, of course, your intention is to not speak the truth, but instead to continue pushing this outrageous GOP bullshit in order to scare the hell out of the ignorant.

If that's the goal, Sarah, then you are "downright evil."

h/t to Politico

Asshat Of The Week: Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley!

Even though the "Obama's Death Panels" myth has been thoroughly debunked by everyone who has half a frigging brain, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has proved that he's just the kind of asshat who is cherished by the Healthers:

He's willing to distort, obfuscate, and outright lie in an effort to defeat any meaningful reform in American healthcare.

At a recent town hall meeting, Grassley starts talking about "end of life" counseling... and he had the perfect opportunity to set the record straight.

From the AARP's Fact Check:

A provision in the House bill written by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., would allow Medicare to pay doctors for voluntary counseling sessions that address end-of-life issues. The conversations between doctor and patient would include living wills, making a close relative or a trusted friend your health care proxy, learning about hospice as an option for the terminally ill, and information about pain medications for people suffering chronic discomfort.

The sessions would be covered every five years, more frequently if someone is gravely ill.

Such counseling is not required by the bill, but if the health care recipient desires it, it will be a covered medical expense.

So... given this golden opportunity to be responsible, what did Senator Chuck "Asshat" Grassley do?

Why, he said:

"We should not have a government program that determines we're gonna 'pull the plug' on Gramma."

Iowa: Do the rest of America (and the world) a favor and dump this asshat in the next election.

Please.

h/t to Sam Stein at Huffington Post.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski Tries To Staunch The Hemorrhage Of Crazy&trade

While I still think her "let's slow this health care reform thing down (translation: Kill It With Kindness™)" talk is irresponsible as well, Alaska's Senator Lisa Murkowski has called for the asshats spreading lies to stop.

"It does us no good to incite fear in people by saying that there's these end-of-life provisions, these death panels," Murkowski, a Republican, said. "Quite honestly, I'm so offended at that terminology because it absolutely isn't (in the bill). There is no reason to gin up fear in the American public by saying things that are not included in the bill."

Well, it's something.

Of course, Lisa went on to say "I'll be honest with you. There are things that are in this bill that are bad enough that we don't need to be making things up."

It should be noted that Murkowski hasn't been targeted by the Healthers the way her colleague, Democrat Senator Mark Begich has... of course, that may change after this news.

It should also be noted that Murkowski believes that "the best hope for reform is a bill being worked on in the Senate Finance Committee. Three Democrats and three Republicans are working through the August recess on it."

Yeah. The committee chaired by Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.).

The same Blue Dog Democrat who's been paid $1,500 a day by the health care and insurance industries for the last five years, for a total of $3.4 million.

Baucus won't be looking after the interests of Alaskans, or of any of the American public, Lisa.

Trust me on this.

Baucus will be protecting his corporate owners.

A Protestor Brings A Gun to the President's Town Hall Meeting? WTF?

This crazy anti-Obama shit is getting completely out of hand.

From The Huffington Post article:

A man carried a handgun strapped to his leg to a town hall meeting being held by President Obama in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Tuesday.

It's legal for him to have the gun as long as it is unconcealed, the police told MSNBC. The man was on private property -- church ground on the roadway leading to the high school where Obama would speak. The church gave the man permission to be there. However, according to police officers, he is under constant surveillance and is not anywhere near where the president will speak.

I'll say it again. WTF?

The article went on to say that the man - William Kostric - was also holding a sign saying "It's time to water the tree of liberty" - a reference to a famous Thomas Jefferson quote:

"And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure." (emphasis mine)

Perhaps Mr. Kostric is merely exercising his First and Second Amendment rights... but when someone brings a gun to a town hall meeting, carrying such a sign, his motives must be questioned.

Rarely, in my opinion, does MSNBC's Chris Matthews get someting right. He almost did today.

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So does Cenk Uygur.

As Cenk notes:

This is the same exact quote Tim McVeigh was referencing in a shirt he wore... before bombing the Oklahoma City federal building.

This crazy shit has got to stop before someone gets hurt.

h/t to Bob Cesca, Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo.

Sarah Palin: "(Now That I've Thrown the Firebomb,) Can't We All Just Get Along?"

Damn.

I really, really want to stop talking about Sarah Palin. Really, I do.

But she's genetically incapable of shutting the F up.

Two days after she threw the Friday firebomb, claiming that Obama is planning "Death Panels" as part of his "fundamentally evil" health care reform plan, she's now calling for civility.

In her Sunday Facebook posting, she seems to want to change the subject, and talk about issues in a Very Responsible Way™.

Probably because even her conservative GOP friends were saying "WTF, Sarah?"

Her new verbiage, in part:

There are many disturbing details in the current bill that Washington is trying to rush through Congress, but we must stick to a discussion of the issues and not get sidetracked by tactics that can be accused of leading to intimidation or harassment. Such tactics diminish our nation's civil discourse which we need now more than ever because the fine print in this outrageous health care proposal must be understood clearly and not get lost in conscientious voters' passion to want to make elected officials hear what we are saying. (emphasis mine)

Wow.

NOW she's gonna act grown up?

Frankly, I don't believe it. I'm willing to bet a dollar against a doughnut that within a week, she'll return to insane talk... because I really think that in an attempt to mitigate the damage, one of her loyal following wrote her latest post.

h/t to Rachel Weiner at The Huffington Post

Before One Goes Batshit About "Socialized Heathcare..."

Perhaps one should take the time to become informed.

Yeah, I know, it's a novel concept.

It's much easier to believe whole cloth the crap being spewed by opponents of reform - who are actually just opponents of Obama (on ANY issue) and shills for insurence and the health care industry.

However - if you'd actually like to know what you're talking about, try navigating your way to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation health care reform web page.

You might actually learn something... like NO ONE is proposing "Death Panels."

And such as.

"I Am An American Conservative Shitheel"

This comment should make every "Socialism Is Bad Loud Noises!™" tea-bagger stop and think.

Maybe.

Written by someone calling themselves "randomnoise" at The Something Awful Forums, I found it through my friend Matt at Osborne Ink, who found it through Oliver Willis.

The grammar could stand some tweaking, and there are a few other federal, state, and local government agencies or programs we all take for granted that were missed, but the writer's message is nevertheless dead on:

"This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US department of energy.
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the national oceanographic and atmospheric administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the national aeronautics and space administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US department of agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the food and drug administration.

At the appropriate time as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the national institute of standards and technology and the US naval observatory, I get into my national highway traffic safety administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the environmental protection agency, using legal tender issed by the federal reserve bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US postal service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the department of labor and the occupational safety and health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it's valuables thanks to the local police department.

I then log on to the internet which was developed by the defense advanced research projects administration and post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right!"

Food for thought.