American Thinker on Palin vs. ObamaCare

By Adrienne Ross from www.motivationtruth.com

Sarah Palin gets it, and The American Thinker knows that she gets it. People are not letting this health care issue die. While I hear some like Geraldo and Juan Williams still reprimanding Sarah for exposing the dangers of the health care bill, I can still hear the warning bell ringing from people who understand that she's not crazy. As is pointed out in the American Thinker article, "The impulse toward euthanasia is already active in American culture." The impulse to devalue life--period--already exists within our culture. Surely, Sarah did not pull her concern from nowhere. In fact, did she not have to say over and over to an unrelenting Katic Couric that she believes we must embrace "a culture of life"? And was it not at that point that Katie became even more vehement in her attack of Sarah Palin? Absolutely! So, excuse us if we don't trust others, including Washington bureaucrats, to make the right decisions when it comes to life and death decisions for the American people.

Sadly, it is not a preposterous notion that Americans must fight for transparency from the powers-that-be when it comes to care for our loved ones. If we don't fight, we get lies, generalities, or silence--and we cannot afford either one. So I say, "Thank you" to Sarah for putting her neck on the line once again and fighting the fight.

Through the elimination of Section 1233, Palin has accomplished more for this country than any of those people ever have or are likely to do. This action will loom very large in the legend of Sarah Palin. From here on, Palin is no longer simply a politician; she's on her way to becoming a historical figure. We await her next actions with fascination.

No doubt, Sarah Palin's willingness to stand up for this issue is something for which multitudes are grateful today and future generations will read about.

Read the entire American Thinker article below:

August 20, 2009
Palin v. ObamaCare
By J. R. Dunn


Once again we're presented with evidence that the health-care debate is occurring without adequate attention being paid to the record of established nationalized health-care systems overseas (Dunn, 2009, ¶1).

This has arisen as a result of Sarah Palin's superb maneuver in forcing the administration to drop Section 1233 of the ObamaCare act, entitled "Advance Care Planning Consultation." Section 1233, which we might as well call the "Let's Wrap it Up" clause, calls for "planning sessions" for Medicare clients in which the "continuum of end-of-life services and supports available" would be explained in detail. This "continuum" includes "palliative and hospice care", but is unlikely to be limited to that. Palin accused the administration of opening the door to euthanasia, with Section 1233 amounting to a first step toward "death panels" making life-and-death decisions amounting to such action (Dunn, 2009, ¶2).

Last week Section 1233 was dropped in toto. Palin forced this result through a single Facebook posting, a stroke that if carried out by anyone else but Lady Deerslayer would have been praised far and wide as masterful. But instead we got the usual attacks on Palin's personality, intelligence, and motives. In large part this involved such usual suspects as the mass media, Huffington Post-type blogs, and Obama himself. But center-right figures were also heard from, including (inevitably) David Frum. If Palin were to save the planet from alien invasion, Frum would have something kind to say for the invaders. But the editors of National Review were also critical in their customary indirect way: (Dunn, 2009, ¶3)

"To conclude... that President Obama's favored legislation will lead to "death panels" deciding whose life has sufficient value to be saved - let alone that Obama desires this outcome - is to leap across a logical canyon" (Dunn, 2009, ¶4).

In fact, it's no leap whatsoever, as would be apparent to anyone who has been paying serious attention, as opposed to media-level attention, to the problem of health care. The British National Health Service, the mother of all nationalized health systems, has had what amounts to a "death panel" system since 2005. Under the terms of the Mental Capacity Act, patients unable to communicate with hospital personnel are considered to be "due to die" and are removed from all forms of life support, including food and water. In other words, given the same treatment meted out to Terry Schiavo (Dunn, 2009, ¶5).

The most notorious recent case involving this act occurred last year when Mrs. Ellen Westwood, an 88-year-old retiree, entered Birmingham's Selly Oak hospital for shoulder surgery. While recovering she caught the inevitable iatrogenic "superbug" infection, a daily occurrence in British hospitals, and one which costs up to 30,000 lives a year. Without further ado, the Selly Oak doctors declared Mrs. Westwood "due to die" and began the process of shutting her down (Dunn, 2009, ¶6).

But the Westwood family refused to cooperate. After demanding that treatment be resumed, they were threatened with law enforcement action and effectively chased from the hospital. Returning with another doctor, they obtained a second opinion and had their mother released into their care. Once home, she recovered in short order and survives to this day (Dunn, 2009, ¶7).

How many times the Westwood story has been repeated remains unclear -- it's not, after all, something that the NHS would be willing to boast about. But it appears undeniable that "due to die" is standard procedure within the NHS system. Nor is it limited to older patients. There are several cases on record in which mentally disabled individuals have been left to die under the same circumstances: a girl whose easily-treated cancer was allowed to metastasize without treatment, a man whose broken leg festered to the point of infection and death, and a middle-aged man who was starved to death over the period of a month after suffering a stroke. That last individual's disability was Down syndrome, the same suffered by young Trig Palin (Dunn, 2009, ¶8).

"Such a system," to quote Governor Palin, "is downright evil." The connection between the Mental Capacity Act and Section 1233 are easily grasped. In this country today, a simple line exists. There are certain things you are not allowed to do. Once that terminus is erased, there is nothing to stop society from sliding into straightforward euthanasia, as has occurred in the UK. Forget any talk about "guidelines" or "safeguards"; they did not help Terry Schiavo, they did not help Ellen Westwood, they did not help the unnamed retarded man dying of starvation in his lonely bed. Quite simply, they are not meant to (Dunn, 2009, ¶9).

Why euthanasia is so critical to the progressive project is not so easy to grasp, but it is undeniable all the same. Consider the "Project on Death in America" established by George Soros. Funded in large part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this project was intended to promote palliative care as a method of dealing with end-of-life challenges, but somehow transformed itself into an exercise in promoting euthanasia in hospitals, hospices, and medical centers nationwide. (The Soros death project is covered in detail in my upcoming book Death by Liberalism. Be sure to order two copies -- one for yourself, and one for mom to read during that lengthy upcoming hospital stay.) (Dunn, 2009, ¶10)

The impulse toward euthanasia is already active in American culture. Sarah Palin understands this, as Obama, Pelosi, Romney, and sadly, the editors of the National Review do not. Through the elimination of Section 1233, Palin has accomplished more for this country than any of those people ever have or are likely to do. This action will loom very large in the legend of Sarah Palin. From here on, Palin is no longer simply a politician; she's on her way to becoming a historical figure. We await her next actions with fascination (Dunn, 2009, ¶11).

References

Dunn, J.R. (2009, August 20). Palin v. ObamaCare. The American Thinker. Retrieved August 20, 2009 from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/08/palin_v_obamacare.html

Forget POTUS and TOTUS The Real Power In America is LOTUS!

If you are even partially politically aware in this country, or saw the pilot episode of The West Wing, you know that POTUS stands for President of the United States. Kind of insider speak, if you will.

Now with our current President, we have been introduced to TOTUS, the Teleprompter of the United States. Anyone who has seen President Barack Obama speak both with the aid of TOTUS, and without his trusted friend by his side, knows that the tails TOTUS weaves on his blog, which you can read here, are true! Without TOTUS, Barack Obama is mostly a rambling, barely intelligible speaker, as shown here and here.

There is a lot of pressure on TOTUS, as well. Twice this year TOTUS has attempted to end it all as can be seen here and here. Though Allahpundit over at Hot Air thinks it might be something more nefarious.

But as we have found out, the real power in America lies not in POTUS or TOTUS, but in LOTUS, the Laptop of the United States!

Now unlike TOTUS, LOTUS does not take credit for being her owner’s actual brain.

No way!

You see The Laptop of the United States belongs to Sarah Palin!

LOTUS fully realizes she is a mere tool for Sarah Palin to rule the world with!

Sarah Palin recently used LOTUS to completely set the health care debate on it’s ear!

As we talked about here, here, and here, Sarah and used her straight shooting style to put Barack Obama on the complete defensive over his incredibly sinister plan to destroy the American health care system and have the government take control of a huge segment of our economy.

As Ronald Reagan spoke of way back in 1961, socializing the health care in a nation is the first step to becoming a full on communist state. We know Barack Obama was born and raised a Saul Alinsky style communist, someone who thinks America is an evil country and must be changed. So trying to destroy the American health care system with a communist plan of "socialized medicine" is just par for the course for this guy.

As Sarah Palin has already said, Obamacare is pure evil!

Obamacare must be stopped.

Thankfully, armed with her powerful Laptop of the United States, Sarah Palin will keep a close watch on Barack Obama and continue to call him out every time he tries to destroy the greatest nation the world has ever know with one of his insane schemes!

Her latest effort was to employ LOTUS to talk about Obama’s plan to send billions of taxpayer dollars to Brazil so they can drill for oil offshore. Of course, Obama, his Chicago thugs, and the eviro-nuts, go insane if you talk about drilling for oil in our country.

You can read Sarah’s latest comments here.

We have also found that Barack Obama’s best buddy, and puppet master, George Soros has invested over $800 million dollars in the very company that Obama is sending billions of our tax dollars to!

We’ll have more on this in the days to come.

But if you would like to follow LOTUS, the Laptop of the United States, you can get the inside story by reading her blog here.

Yeah? Well, Yo' Momma!

By Adrienne Ross

Debating health care these days elicits the same kind of response as saying, "Yeah? Well, Yo' Momma!" in New York where I grew up. Just ask Governor Palin. As one who is on the front lines of this debate, through the use of Facebook, she knows all too well what kind of response one can receive when she takes a stand, but she takes it nonetheless.

I just returned from Long Island where I was visiting family the last couple days. I have to tell you--and some of you can relate--there is nothing like watching someone you love grow old and battle illness. It's painful to see deterioration in a person who was once so full of vivacity and strength, once involved in every organization in a 50 mile radius, once incessantly bossing around everyone who was smaller and weaker--and that was all of us. That pain is only magnified when that person is someone who raised you, who made you who you are today. That's what I see when I go home to visit family.

This is the first time some of you have read my work, and already you know more about me than some people I work with everyday, and I want you to hear me as I echo Governor Sarah Palin's heart on this issue.

Seeing my aunt this time brought a plethora of thoughts to my mind. This is due, in large part, to the concerns that have been voiced by the American people regarding President Obama's plan for health care reform. Governor Palin, more than any other, brought to the fore an issue that needed addressing, and, as you know, she did so with a relatively brief statement. As I spent time with my family, I was reminded of one particular aspect of the governor's statement that received quite a bit of attention:

The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

I was hit hard by this the first time I heard it, but it hit me even harder while home with my aunt. I watched her, very much in her right mind, very aware of her surroundings, but certainly not the woman she used to be. What I thought about was this: Do I want the government determining her "level of productivity in society"? Does it have the right to weigh her worthiness to receive care in this her hour of weakness? The answer is unequivocally no. This is a woman who must go to dialysis three times a week. When she returns, she is content to sit in her living room chair, eat scheduled meals, take her medication, and make those around her smile. Is this a sufficient "level of productivity" for people elected to serve in the America that I, like Governor Palin, know and love?

Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to that question anymore--and this is precisely what Palin is saying. We don't know, and we should never have to try to figure it out. Government has no right determining who should have a pill instead of surgery, who has first dibs on that trip to the doctor, and who has exhausted their usefulness and is now ready to receive end of life counseling.

See, where a bureaucrat says my aunt's "level of productivity" has expired, those who love her see a woman who spent her life working her tail off. I see a woman who used up a large part of that life raising other people's children--nieces and nephews--because their parents weren't up to the challenge. I see a woman who came home from one job, cooked for and ate with her family, grabbed the kids (yes, that included me), and went to another job where we cleaned a medical building top to bottom. I see someone who was strict and drove me up a wall, but taught me to be respectful, instilled in me faith in God, encouraged my love for sports, and impressed upon me the value of education--and that is why I, as a teacher and a coach, have been able to do the same in the lives of young people.

So for government to even think about weighing her productivity level now is indeed wrong. It would not just be playing unfairly; it would be playing God--and that's a game it simply cannot win. See, what government may not recognize is that my aunt's productivity is alive and well, even as she sits in that chair, heads to dialysis, or just looks out the window. Why? Because it lives on in the lives she has influenced--people like me, my sister, and my brothers who continue to live out what she poured into us. And our "thank you" to people like her cannot be rationing their health care and putting a monetary value on their lives.

So Governor Palin has hit the nail on the head once again. Many in America do not want President Obama putting his two cents into life and death decisions of people we love. He has tried to refute Governor Palin's comments by saying he would never "pull the plug on Grandma." Pull the plug or not, his apparent desire for government takeover of the health care of people we love is a serious concern. He argues it won't be Yo' Grandma. Maybe not, but will it be Yo' Auntie, as in my case, or Yo' Momma? Again, where I grew up those are fighting words, and that's exactly why Governor Palin came out swinging--and why ordinary Americans are swinging with her.

www.motivationtruth.com