Posted on 10/11/2007 6:04:41 AM PDT by kristinn
Since then, Frost and his family have been introduced first-hand to something else that most kids his age haven't: the reality of how brutal partisan politics can be in the Internet age. It started over the weekend, when a blogger calling himself Icwhatudo put up a post on the conservative website Freerepublic.com noting what he had found by scavenging around the internet: that Graeme attends a private school, lives in a remodeled house near one that had sold for $485,000 in March and is the child of parents whose wedding was announced in the New York Times. The post also noted that his father purchased a $160,000 commercial space in 1999.
SNIP
And while they are still uninsured, they claim it is most certainly not by choice. Bonnie Frost says the last time she priced health coverage, she learned it would cost them $1,200 a month.
In short, just as the radio spot claimed, the Frosts are precisely the kind of people that the SCHIP program was intended to help.
SNIP
While the family continues to support the vetoed bill that would expand the program to 4 million more children, they are hoping to remove themselves from the middle of the storm. After giving a few interviews, Halsey and Bonnie Frost now say they don't want to say anything more, though network camera crews have planted themselves in front of their house.
SNIP
Politics has never been a gentle game. As far back as 1895, satirist Finley Peter Dunne's fictional saloonkeeper Martin Dooley observed that women, children and prohibitionists would do well to stay out of it, because "politics ain't beanbag." But surely, even Mr. Dooley could never have imagined a day would come when a mere seventh grader could be swift-boated.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
"My son Graeme has helped put on a human face, that of a young boy, representing the needs of children and families across this nation. We are a hard working family that has stepped forward to support SCHIP. Mudslinging from the fringe has now been directed at the messenger. To be smeared all over the Internet and receive nasty e-mail — my family does not deserve this retribution. It is both shameful and pathetic.
"Driven by a most dubious agenda, shortsighted cut-and-paste bloggers, lacking all the facts, have made a feeble attempt at being crack reporters. This is an aberrant attempt to distract the American people from what the real issues are. Hard working American families need affordable health insurance.
"I find it morally reprehensible, and the act of a true coward, to publicly (world wide) smear a man and his family and not sign one's own real name to what they have written. I sign my name to what I write. -Halsey Frost"
I see that “swift-boating” is now an officially accepted word meaning “Stating the truth about things the media is trying to hide from the public”.
If the latest manifestation of Hillarycare were the law of the land, this guy'd be a tax evader and could be imprisoned for life, or until he disgorged the cash.
If the latest manifestation of Hillarycare were the law of the land, this guy'd be a tax evader and could be imprisoned for life, or until he disgorged the cash.
Was this program intended to bail out middle class families that don’t want to spend money on health care?
It's not about the boy, it's about the parents spending on themselves what they claim to need for their children........
How admirable. Maybe instead of pimping your son out to socialists, you could sign your name to a check to cover his needs in life.
Oh, wait... you'd prefer I do that for you.
Politics is a messy & vile business. Maybe he should have thought of that before he put his family out there for public consumption.
But the question remains. Why should I or icwhatudo or anyone else pay for Graeme’s health insurance?
I would call it "investigative reporting". Ever heard of such a thing, Karen?
I’ve expressed concerns here about the assumptions stated as fact in icwhatudo’s early posts — they can damage our credibility and potentially get icwhatudo in legal trouble. However, I’ve got no sympathy for Mr. Frost — he brought this on his child and himself, by choosing to allow his child to be used for political purposes — and he’s now responding with inaccuracies of his own, particularly the claim that “Mudslinging from the fringe has now been directed at the messenger”. I have not seen a single criticism directed at the boy — only at his parents and the politicians who are responsible for using the helpless kid this way.
And notwithstanding specific inaccuracies in icwhatudo’s original expose and subsequent chatter on various conservative websites, this is most certainly NOT the type of family most voters had in mind when they expressed support for SCHIP to their congressional representatives, nor that most representatives had in mind when they voted for it. TIME is playing fast and loose with the facts too, and thus has no business pointing the finger at icwhatudo and other conservative bloogers for inaccuracies.
I guess you can put a price on your kids health. Just what kind of policy cost $1200 a month? What did they do, go to “Mike’s Insurance” and get a quote?
Fascinating.
I guess it's understandable, though. Some people like fantasy literature, and I guess that's what Time is.
when one lends one’s self to one side of a partisan issue as a pawn, shouldn’t one expect some response from the other side?
I do not beleive that ANY federal oprogram should help those who CAN, but chose not to, insure their children.
If their kids are so important and dear, why do they expect total strangers to pay for their needs?
Mr Frost should have been listening to Rush yesterday talking about the New Yorkers who have their child diagnosed with a convenient disability to gain access to a private school funded by taxpayers. These are rich people. Although Mr Frost’s income seemingly doesn’t rival those folks he could certainly afford to provide insurance for his family. That would entail making financial sacrifices though and he would rather the taxpayer make that sacrifice for him. In spite of his bleatings I find his self pity in this letter disgusting.
Mr. Frost. Stand on your own feet like a man and stop whining.
Hey Doc - Over here...
Hey Doc - Over here...
I am also noticing an increase in the use of the word "polarizing" in an attempt to equate conservatives with the Marxist Left as "extremists", so get ready. It's going to get ugly.
Now that was a good one.
So now the partisan bickering is the fault of people criticizing the Frosts? Not one word from the “mainstream” media is said about the vicious lies about how Bush hates kids, wants kids to be sick, wants to spend money on war instead of helping sick kids, etc etc.
Switboater? As opposed to being a Stalinist engaging in pushing socialism at all costs?
I loathe the media.
I think we can, based on the price they quoted, infer daddy's age (if not mommy's) and the existence of any preexisting conditions in this little group.
Some smart guy out there might even know how to figure out daddy's blood pressure with the information we have and the probability of his having rectal hemorrhoids.
Swift-Boating.....is TELLING THE TRUTH when ALL the LEFT is telling a LIE!!
When you put your life into the political arena as an example of why we need to expand socialism, expect people to look at that example and disect it.
To hide behind your kid after getting caught in lies by omission is disgusting. Then again, they are Democrat operatives.
Swift-Boating.....is TELLING THE TRUTH when ALL the LEFT is telling a LIE!!
Correct. I would like to post something and I will try to be careful. I worked with special needs children on an administrative level. The ‘right’ to an equal education has been interpreted by the courts that if the child is ‘disabled’, that can include the school district footing the entire bill for a special needs school placement. (Think $100,000/yr+, sometimes very +++)
I would not deny that the parents are in a very tough situation, however, I am not sure I would argue that the taxpayer should foot the entire bill.
I saw a Doonsbury cartoon a couple of weeks ago that claimed “Swift-boating” was a new word added to the American lexicon as a result of the Bush administration. I couldn’t help but chuckle as self-congratulating liberals like Gary Trudeau pat themselves on the back for inventing word that no one other than kooky liberals use. Perhaps the greatest illustration of their limited IQ is that telling the truth about someone is synonymous with “Swift-boating”. Don’t believe liberals are the only people who use this phony, contrived word? Hmmmm. What magazine was this in? Time magazine? I rest my case.
Deadbeat dads can go to jail for being deadbeat dads, but what about deadbeat parents?? If they work that hard, they can afford health insurance for their son.
Considering their excellent financial situation I would not call the Frost’s “middle class.” I read that they bought their house 9 years ago for $50,000 and it is now worth $300,000. That’s a damn nice amount of equity.
-continued-
I think it would be fair for the school district to pay for the education portion only, as fair. The high costs of special placements is due to medical and residential support, not education.
Was this supposed to be a news report or an opinion piece? It’s so hard to tell these days.
Ugh... the dreaded double post. My apologies.
I’m so ashamed... ;-)
“Swift Boating” is a bad term... we need a better one. Something like “DisenDemification”
:-)
Cry me a river, you self-indulgent income hiding SOB.
You think nothing of having other people pay for the kids you produced.
Since insurance companes control so much of our lives already (seatbelts, smoking, helmets, and airbags all come to mind) you would think that we would be safe from danger and disease and wouldn’t need insurance anymore.
Methinks that the Frost Grandparents and the Frost parents are doing a little TAX EVASION!!! HELLO IRS!!!
Unless the author is referring to FReepers finding out the truth about the trash. That would be different.
The quote of $1200 a month is for NOW...AFTER the accident!! They could have gotten insurance tons CHEAPER BEFORE the accident but they chose to have you and I pay for their health care!!
I think it means: "Messing up a Democrat's carefully crafted anecdotes with ugly facts." ;)
You can’t put yourself out there as a spokesperson for any issue & expect no criticism or scrutiny.
The queers in Boston use their kids all the time to pimp their cause... this is more of the same.
Ah, I missed that little tid-bit. So when you knock up you girlfriend it’s too late to buy condoms?
Inciteful as usual. Why do you ne insurance after the fact, don’t you need a medical bill pay-plan? I only ask because I will be joining the real world in a couple of years and I just want to make sure that I don’t really have to plan ahead. Can you smell the sarcasm?
But for the Frosts, they won’t release their income records.
State Street, one way for the Frosts.
I guess you can put a price on your kids health. Just what kind of policy cost $1200 a month? What did they do, go to “Mike’s Insurance” and get a quote?”
2 Adults 4 kids Now 2 of the kids have ongoing and expensive problems concerning brain injuries. Price doesn’t sound too bad with the existing problems.
She could have gotten cheaper BEFORE she drove into a tree with her kids.
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