The Rocky Rethuglican Horror Show

Socialized Medicine. Takeover. Bureaucrat. Rationing.

Frank Luntz is certainly earning his money these days, focus group testing emotionally reactive words like these for distribution by the Medical Mafia and their mostly Rethuglican hit men and women on Capitol Hill.

As one vet wrote Senator Sanders this week:

“I’m active duty military. I have served in the Air Force for almost 13 years now. I have ‘government’ medical coverage. I may have minor complaints here and there, but over all I would say that it’s a good system. Seeing how much money my parents pay for health care makes my blood boil. I fail to see the difference between the insurance companies and a mugger who holds a gun to your head demanding ‘your money or your life.’”

Some 14,000 people join the ranks of the 46 million uninsured everyday. They already know who is “rationing” their health care and standing between them and their doctors. It isn’t the government that is denying expensive claims because of innocent omissions on their original application forms. (“Sorry, but you failed to mention that case of acne you had when you were a hormone flushed teenager.”)

One of the Rethugs’ favorite propaganda tools is aggressive projection– accuse the other side of the very things you or your policies are guilty of. This works especially well on the tube, where their hapless opponents reflexively spend the majority of their limited air time defending themselves, leaving their message in the dust.

Well, that little game has run its course. Works well in the abstract, when their intended audience is laying semi-comatose on their sofas after a long, hard day at work. But losing one’s job and medical coverage has a way of focusing the mind.

Laying on the Sofa, by Lycosia.

EVERYTHING WE THOUGHT WAS WRONG,
AND NOW THE LIGHT HAS GONE,
EVERYTHING WE THOUGHT WAS WRONG,
AND I’D BEEN WAITING SO LONG
EVERYTHING WE THOUGHT WAS WRONG,
HOW CAN WE CARRY ON.

2 Comments

  1. Propagandee

    Holy crap, nonnie!

    I exaggerated the teenage acne example for effect, and now you pass this on…

    (CNN) — Robin Beaton found out last June she had an aggressive form of breast cancer and needed surgery — immediately.
    Robin Beaton, 59, found out just days before her mastectomy that her insurance provider would not cover the procedure.

    Her insurance carrier precertified her for a double mastectomy and hospital stay. But three days before the operation, the insurance company called and told her they had red-flagged her chart and she would not be able to have her surgery.

    The reason? In May 2008, Beaton had visited a dermatologist for acne. A word written on her chart was interpreted to mean precancerous, so the insurance company decided to launch an investigation into her medical history.

    Beaton’s dermatologist begged her insurance provider to go ahead with the surgery.

    “He said, ‘This is a misunderstanding. This is not precancerous. All she has is acne.’ … He said ,’Please don’t hold up her cancer surgery for this,’ ” Beaton, 59, said as she testified at a House subcommittee hearing on the terminations of individual health policies by insurance companies.

    Still, the insurance carrier decided to rescind her coverage. The company said it had reviewed her medical records and found out that she had misinformed them about some of her medical history.

    … proving once again that, at least on this planet, truth is stranger than fiction.

    Medical Mafia, indeed.

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