The GOP Fact-Free Alternate Reality (Health Care Reform Edition)

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." — Mark Twain

There was a time in this country when Democrats and Republicans could disagree with one another philosophically about public policy in reality-based arguments. (Watch some old Meet The Press episodes from the 1960s for some historical perspective.) Those days are gone.

The modern Republican Party has abandoned any pretense to membership in the reality-based world for their own fact-free "alternate reality." In an October 17, 2004 article for the New York Times Magazine, author Ron Suskind quoted an unnamed aide to George W. Bush:

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." … "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

The Republican alternate reality is made possible by a highly integrated conservative media empire of think tanks, newspaper columnists and commentators, talk radio, the Internet, and the jewel in its crown, FAUX News. Each regurgitates the other's talking points ad nauseam to create an echo chamber for their political talking points.

It is a closed-loop system: From the Drudge Report and the FreeRepublic.com to talk radio, talk radio to FAUX News and conservative newspaper columnists (Washington Post, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, etc.) and commentators from conservative think tanks (AEI, Manhattan Institute, Heritage Foundation, Hoover Institute, etc.), and back around again for the next day's news cycle. By then the so-called mainstream news media (the mythical "liberal media") is reporting the talking points as well because "everyone else" (i.e., the conservative media) is talking about it. Better to be first than accurate, they claim.

Even when the talking points are being criticized and debunked in the mainstream media, they are nonetheless being repeated and reinforced ("I don't care what you say about me just so long as you are talking about me") in the "us vs. them" mindset in which conservatives have been conditioned to think: if the "librul" New York Times and MSNBC says it's a lie, well then, it must be true! Republicans believe things that are demonstrably false and not based upon fact. The fact that they are not troubled by this makes them a threat to themselves and to our society.

This has been demonstrated in spades with the maliciously false representations being made about health care reform, not just by the conservative media, but by the Republican Party itself. The GOP has been rendered a party built upon a foundation of lies and ideas that are detached from reality and not based upon fact. It has created its own alternate reality.

First we had the "death panels" nonsense promulgated by Betsy McCaughey (Hudson Institute) in Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal, and amplified within the conservative media, in particular, talk radio and Rupert Murdoch's FAUX News.

The most recent version of this nonsense is the "death book for veterans" being promulgated by former director of the Bush White House Office of Faith Based Initiatives, Jim Towey, also in Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal The Death Book for Veterans – WSJ.com, and amplified by Rupert Murdoch's FAUX News and RNC Chairman Michael Steele. (Mr. Towey has a financial conflict of interest: he founded the non-profit Aging with Dignity, which produces a very similar publication for which he would like to have the exclusive contract with the VA. Business defamation to gain an unfair competitive advantage doesn't sound very Christian, Mr. Towey. Nor is it legal.)

Mike Wallace, the venerable dean of investigative journalism for 60 Minutes, must cringe in embarrassment and shame every time he sees his idiot son on FAUX News. It was Chris Wallace, the idiot son, who dutifully followed orders from Rupert Murdoch (and Roger Ailes) to "give legs" to this "death book" nonsense on FAUX News Sunday.

Not surprisingly, it turns out that Fox's attack is totally made up. Their so-called "death book" is actually an optional guidebook on drafting living wills that had been listed in a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) handbook by the Bush administration in 2007. Fox's "death book" lie (Jed Lewison analysis):

Here's more detail on the garbage being spewed by Fox:

1. Fox's alleged "death book" is actually a guidebook on preparing living wills

The thing Fox is calling a "death book" is actually a guidebook called "Your life, your choices" initially developed in 1997 to help veterans understand issues relating to advance directives and living wills should they ever experience a medical condition (such as a permanent coma) where they cannot communicate their treatment preferences. Although the guidebook can be downloaded, it carries a disclaimer noting that is currently being updated and revised for a 2010 release. (See this article for more information on the revisions.)

Despite Fox's claim that the guide encourages assisted suicide and euthanasia, it is solely focused on helping veterans determine what type of care they wish to receive if they should ever became incapable of making their wishes known. The guidebook specifically makes clear that it has nothing to do with assisted suicide, which is illegal.

2. Although Fox said VHA practitioners must give the guidebook to each of the 24 million vets they serve, there is no such requirement

According to a directive issued in 2007 under President Bush, the guidebook is merely an example of the type of document that VHA practitioners should give to patients who ask for help with living wills.

3. The Bush administration, not the Obama administration, included the guidebook in the VHA handbook.

In February 2007 the Bush administration's VA issued a directive listing the guidebook as an example of the type of documents VHA practitioners should give to patients who want help drafting living wills. In July 2009, the Obama administration issued a minor update to portions of that directive, but did not language on the guidebook at all.

A comparison of the language contained in the Bush directive of February 2007 and the Obama update of July 2009 reveals that the language used in 2009 was originally written by the Bush administration in 2007.

Moreover, although Fox called the July 2009 update a "directive," it was not. It was just a minor update to a small portion of the Bush directive and had nothing to do with the guidebook. The last directive was issued in February 2007, under Bush.

Finally, despite Fox's claim that Bush had banned the guide, it was used literally from the start of the Bush administration through to the end.

* * *

[T]here's no truth to Fox's claim that Pres. Obama gave new life to a guidebook killed off by Bush.

There's nothing surprising about the Fox propaganda machine peddling outrageous lies, but Chris Wallace's fabrication is one of the most despicable, reprehensible falsehoods Fox has ever put on air. It's bad enough that Wallace lied through his teeth, but the fact that he chose to exploit our nation's veterans for his dirty political game tells us everything we need to know about his integrity — or lack thereof.

On Monday, RNC Chairman Michael Steele introduced what he calls the "Seniors Bill of Rights," this time in an Op-ed in the Neocon Washington Post Michael S. Steele – GOP Would Protect Health Care for Seniors

And what does this "senior' bill of rights do? It protects them from imaginary [straw man] assaults on their medical care, as explained by Michael Steele who claims health care reform means cuts in Medicare benefits, that the government will make senior's health care decisions, that health care will be rationed, that there will be death panels, and for good measure, that it will screw over veterans and their families. Republicans Lie About Health Care Reform:

Naturally, it's not true:

• The claim that Obama and Congress are cutting seniors’ Medicare benefits to pay for the health care overhaul is outright false, though that doesn’t keep it from being repeated ad infinitum.

  … none of the predicted savings – or cuts, depending on one’s perspective – come from reducing current or future benefits for seniors.

• In response to fears that funding for CER allows the government to make decisions for doctors, FactCheck.org reported: "Some take that to mean the government would no longer allow certain treatments that are 'more expensive' to be prescribed. But there's no description of government force here.

• Comparative Effectiveness Research, Or CER, Simply Allows Doctors And Patients To Make Informed Choices About Treatment.

• Jon Keyserling, general counsel and vice president of public policy for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, which supports the provision, said the bill doesn't encourage seniors to end their lives, it just allows some important counseling for decisions that take time and consideration.

• PolitiFact: "Nothing In The House Bill Would Affect Veterans' Current Coverage."

Not that the facts will stop Republicans from repeating the lies (and the Washington Post from giving them a platform to do so)…

And in all the shouting, no one will remember that not only has Michael Steele and the Republican Party long called for cuts to Medicare, they never thought the program should exist in the first place.

In other words, the latest Republican attack on health care reform will be to falsely accuses Democrats of taking the Republican position on Medicare [known as projection].

On Tuesday, RNC Chairman Michael Steele appeared on "FAUX and Friends" (where else) to amplify the "death book" lie. GOP trying to scare seniors to death about reform:

Michael Steele peddles Fox's "death book" lie in an attempt to scare seniors to death about health care reform:

If you want an example of bad public policy, just look at the situation with our veterans, when you have a manual out there telling our veterans, you know, stuff like "are you really of value to your community?", you know, encouraging them to commit suicide, I mean this is crazy coming from the government, and this is exactly what concerns people and puts them in fear of what the government control of health care will look like.

There is no truth to Steele's claim. None. Absolutely zilch.

And this lie isn't coming from a fringe propaganda outlet on cable news (yes, that means you, Fox). This despicable, reprehensible lie is coming from the chairman of the Republican Party.

Finally having heard enough of these Republican lies, the Obama Administration Hits Back at "Death Book" Claim:

[The Obama] administration is fighting back with a detailed rebuttal.

The rebuttal includes a detailed fact sheet and a timeline, both of which were sent my way by an administration official and may be sent widely to reporters later this morning….

The claim — the right’s latest effort to frighten the vulnerable about Obama’s health care intentions — is that the manual steers veterans towards "predetermined conclusions" about "end-of-life choices." It’s gotten tons of right wing and even traditional media play.

The rebuttal points out that the manual, which is called "Your Life, Your Choices," is not an "advance directive" and "does not promote limitation of life-sustaining treatment, assisted suicide, or euthanasia." Rather, its goal is to help veterans "consider the types of health care they would want to receive if they were unable to make decisions for themselves" and to "think about and discuss their preferences" with family, friends, and doctors.

The fact sheet does note that the manual was determined under Bush to be in need of revision, and that it may be "too negative in tone and not sufficiently sensitive" to pro-life or disabled veterans. But the rebuttal strongly contests the core "death book" claim, and notes that the author of the original Op-ed has offered a competing book, which is for sale.

You'd think they couldn't get more despicable in their lies than trying to convince old people that Democrats want to kill them.

So what's next?

Eugene Robinson suggests in this segment of Countdown (below), "I think they swing for the fences, they go straight for 'Death by Democrats.' Vote for Democrats and you die, you die an awful death. Vote for Republicans and you live forever. That seems to be the next logical step." Robinson adds "this argument has become insane. It's become a fact-free zone." Exactly, Gene.

As the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) once said, "you are entitled to your opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts." The Republicans have sought to disprove this truism by creating their own fact-free alternate reality. For a frighteningly large segment of our population, it is proving effective. And that represents a serious threat to our society.