Posted on 08/23/2009 7:01:07 PM PDT by Al B.
For once, mainstream journalists did not retreat to the studied neutrality of quoting dueling antagonists.
They tried to perform last rites on the ludicrous claim about President Obama's death panels, telling Sarah Palin, in effect, you've got to quit making things up.
But it didn't matter. The story refused to die.
The crackling, often angry debate over health-care reform has severely tested the media's ability to untangle a story of immense complexity. In many ways, news organizations have risen to the occasion; in others they have become agents of distortion. But even when they report the facts, they have had trouble influencing public opinion.
In the 10 days after Palin warned on Facebook of an America "in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel,' " The Washington Post mentioned the phrase 18 times, the New York Times 16 times, and network and cable news at least 154 times (many daytime news shows are not transcribed).
While there is legitimate debate about the legislation's funding for voluntary end-of-life counseling sessions, the former Alaska governor's claim that government panels would make euthanasia decisions was clearly debunked.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Dry me a lizard, you totalitarian shill.
Not you, Al — the alleged human Kurtz.
That's because the public is becoming more and more aware that you and your ilk are nothing but a bunch of newsholes.
Yeah, that's why they took it off.
LOL...gotcha.
The MSM certainly thinks it can spread its propaganda far and wide, with the sheeple following meekly behind it. Sometimes it works - the last election was their triumph - but it’s good to see that sometimes they can fail as well.
Howie will be disappointed to learn that McCain today backed Palin’s death panel criticisms.
Fry me a gizzard, Kurtz.
Howard you are a whore. A Democrat whore. There isn’t any journalism in anything you do.
it ain't 'perhaps' and it ain't 'these days.' It's been that way for quite a while, but health care just brought it out. They know some of what the bill says, and they don't buy it, no matter what you say. They know the hidden message in the bill, and denying it won't work. There is no 'death panel' but the whole bill is the equivalent. Just cut back care for those last months of life and there is the solution. Don't need no stinkin panel.
As long as they don’t do anything but parrot the Dem talking points, who needs them? We’ve already heard everything they have to say.
Sarah Palin never said anything about euthanasia. She never used the word. She talked about rationing.
Howard Kurtz still hasn’t stop MAKING THINGS UP!
We aren’t as stupid AS YOU THINK, Howard! And we are proving you to be a liar on so many things. We know how you twist words to make them fit your agenda. We know how you crop photos to fit your story (ask MSNBC what color that guy was holding the gun - the photo was cropped as not to show that).
When you lose the trust of the people, Howard, you don’t usually get it back! Just remember that the next time you MAKE SOMETHING UP! Remember that the next time you want to trash SARAH PALIN!
And, if you were intellectually honest you would report that Sarah Palin was also talking about the GOVERNMENT OPTION that would have rationed care which would choose who gets care and who doesn’t. What do you call that, Howard?!
Many of us READ THE BILL, Howard. How about you? Did you READ THE BILL, Howard?! If not, then SHUT UP! You don’t know what you are talking about!
The only thing being debunked is the author's claim to intellectual honesty, fair dealing, and credibility. The only way to control the cost of health care is to ration it. That's what socialism does: rations the available goods and services. And when a service is rationed by government, decisions regarding who gets what become politicized. Again, that's what always happens. And in case after case, when health care is rationed based on political considerations, the primary basis of that rationing is a patient's age, health, past history, and current life expectancy. You won't be able to find a single counterexample. The author knows this full well. That's why we know he's deliberately trying to decieve.
Good. Let’s leave Howard Kurtz out of some more debates. Then people might actually learn the truth about the Marxists he so loves to serve.
They’ve got nothing useful to say.
Dang... I sure hope that word sticks - it is so appropriate.
NEWSHOLES! Exactly what they are...
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