Bits & Pieces

(via Andrew Sullivan)

That is Sarah Palin’s justification for writing her talking points on her hand.

My first five years of life we spent in Skagway, Alaska, right there by Whitehorse. Believe it or not — this was in the ’60s — we used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse. I remember my brother, he burned his ankle in some little kid accident thing and my parents had to put him on a train and rush him over to Whitehorse and I think, isn’t that kind of ironic now. Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada.

– Sarah Palin, supposedly opposed to government healthcare, speaking to Canadians. Ironic? That is not the word I would choose to describe it. It seemed to work pretty well for her then, huh?

From the LA Times:

FOR THE RECORD:
Sarah Palin: In some editions of Sunday’s Section A, an article about Sarah Palin’s speech to the National Tea Party Convention quoted her as saying, “How’s that hopey, changing stuff working out for you?” She said, “How’s that hopey, changey stuff working out for you?”

I’m glad they finally got the quote right.  Calling it out again by way of correction is just too good. (h/t TPM)

There was a Sarah Palin-Rick Perry rally in Texas on Sunday. The usual crown of intellectuals was in attendance.  More photos here via The Houston Press.

credit: The Houston Press

The above picture is very much like this classic from the last presidential election:

Stephen Colbert defends Sarah Palin’s defense of Rush Limbaugh:

Sarah Palin has frequently criticized President Obama’s use of a teleprompter. At least with a teleprompter nothing is hidden to those in the room.

But check out Sarah Palin’s low-tech iPad:

Oh yes, she is ready to be President.

More details and a closer shot here.

No, the headline is not a joke.

I think it is a good thing. That way we can watch two Fox News commentators wing-out over the coming months. The more entertaining will, of course, be Glenn Beck, but Palin won’t be far behind.

Following the turkey pardon, Palin gave this interview with some very unfortunate background slaughter.

Alternate view:

And here is her apology.

Trust me. Take a look.

Not really, but this is pretty cute. (via Fake Steve Jobs via iPhoneSavior)

Sarah Palin has a (boring) opinion piece in today’s Wall Street Journal, wherein she (or rather her ghostwriter) reiterates her fears about “death panels.”  She blames the government for high costs of Medicare and Medicaid yet says healthcare reform including reductions in costs as proposed by the President amount to “rationing.”

Now look at one way Mr. Obama wants to eliminate inefficiency and waste: He’s asked Congress to create an Independent Medicare Advisory Council—an unelected, largely unaccountable group of experts charged with containing Medicare costs. In an interview with the New York Times in April, the president suggested that such a group, working outside of “normal political channels,” should guide decisions regarding that “huge driver of cost . . . the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives . . . .”

Given such statements, is it any wonder that many of the sick and elderly are concerned that the Democrats’ proposals will ultimately lead to rationing of their health care by—dare I say it—death panels? Establishment voices dismissed that phrase, but it rang true for many Americans.

One wonders how healthcare costs can be reduced if plans to fund medical procedures that work, and eliminate those that do not, are not allowed to be enacted. There are huge amounts of wasteful spending throughout our healthcare system, public and private, and elimination of ineffective and unnecessary tests and treatments must occur to reduce costs and improve effectiveness at the same time. Characterizing elimination of waste as a type of “rationing by death panels” is shameful demagoguery. But is typical of the right in America today.

She also claims that healthcare reform will result in “unelected bureaucrats” making decisions affecting life and death healthcare matters. Well, even those of us lucky enough to have health insurance today must deal with decisions on life and death matters made exclusively by “unelected bureaucrats” in the private insurance companies or unelected employers deciding what coverage to offer.  She seeks totally private healthcare which, by definition, is filled with nothing but “unelected” (and therefore absolutely unaccountable) bureaucrats. I would rather have a group of experts under government supervision making life and death decisions, not those who are paid to make such decisions in a manner designed to maximize the profits of a private company.

Definitely not safe for work or children. (If you like it, and God knows I do, there is more here including his take on Apple, AT&T and iPhone.) h/t Fake Steve Jobs.

As I noted in an earlier post, a significant portion of the GOP believes in several fantasies. The situation is not getting better, and it is being noticed around the world. Take this piece by Johann Hari in The Independent.  He lists the fantasies chapter and verse and in particular focuses on the Sarah Palin claim of “death panels.”

This trend has reached its apotheosis this summer with the Republican Party now claiming en masse that Obama wants to set up “death panels” to euthanise the old and disabled. Yes: Sarah Palin really has claimed – with a straight face – that Barack Obama wants to kill her baby.

You have to admire the audacity of the right. Here’s what’s actually happening. The US is the only major industrialised country that does not provide regular healthcare to all its citizens. Instead, they are required to provide for themselves – and 50 million people can’t afford the insurance. As a result, 18,000 US citizens die every year needlessly, because they can’t access the care they require. That’s equivalent to six 9/11s, every year, year on year. Yet the Republicans have accused the Democrats who are trying to stop all this death by extending healthcare of being “killers” – and they have successfully managed to put them on the defensive.