Far East Cynic

They must have touched a raw nerve

One of the surest indicators that a campaign or event is on the right track-is the amount of reaction it gets from the Liars Club. To review, the Liars Club is that reprehensible assemblage of the dregs of the blogosphere, who whine like pussies about any and every thing.
And it would seem a political ad by a PAC supporting the President has them most, most, upset. So much so that the truly disgusting member of the Liars Club, Mr John Hinderacker is just three steps short of total apoplexy. Him and the rest of his fellow whiners seem to think that’s some kind of grave sin –to correctly point out that Mitt Romney’s former employers engaged in actions that hurt people, a lot of people, and created preconditions that led to other more deadly complications.
As is usual-there is only one real response to Mr. Hinderaker and his gang of ignorant fools and it involves the usual words: “f*ck” and “you”. Logic didn’t work on these folks-and emotional appeals are useless, so what is a person to do?  Maybe start by pointing out the underlying facts and policy issues that are the basis for the ad are unassailable.
Here is the real story. Regardless of how many people Mitt Romney laid off when he owned Bain Capital, when he was the governor of Massachusetts he thought that no one should die because they didn't have employer-provided health care. And he did something about it. But he has totally disavowed that philosophy. So, decisions made by Bain Capital cost a man his job and his health care, which ultimately meant that his wife delayed seeing a doctor and didn't have any insurance when she found out that she was sick with cancer. Romney had a solution for that problem when he was governor, but he has no solution for that problem now.
His new motto is "tough luck," which is the same as his original motto. If we stick with that storyline, we'll win this election without having to make any distortions of any kind.
Now Hinderaker and the rest of the slime don’t like Mitt Romney getting blamed for the quick death of this man's wife. This- while their favored candidate of the same name-sure does seem to lie a lot himself. And while he may not be directly responsible for her death-his company’s failure to act with compassion cannot simply be ignored. As pointed out by Doug J, “ The actions of rich and powerful people have consequences. Sometimes these consequences involve the deaths of other people. Deal with it. This isn’t beanbag. Ayn Rand’s heroes didn’t sit around whining about what the moochers and looters said about them. Today’s Galtians shouldn’t either.”
Translation? You fuckers over at Powerline do this kind of bullshit all the time-so don’t whine when the mud comes back at you like a boomerang.
Now as with all stories of tragedy-there is a grey area attached to the man in the ad’s story. His wife had health insurance until she lost her job. Which if there was a plan like Romney’s in effect-something his own spokesman pointed out- the consequences might not have been as severe. This the Liars club has convienently ignored, while all the while publicly dismembering Mr. Soptic-the man in the ad. But as I noted above, those details have little to do with the central policy issue this add effectively highlights.
But I also think the reaction of [the idiot conservative blogs] (paraphrasing added by me-SS) goes way too far. An unproven allegation is not the same as a disproven allegation. And stories like this really do happen. When older workers lose their jobs, they frequently end up in jobs with lower salary and benefits, leading to a downward financial spiral that can last for years. When people have no health insurance, they frequently react by delaying medical care. The Institute of Medicine famously concluded that 18,000 people a year die prematurely because they didn't have health insurance. That estimate may be too high, but there's plenty of evidence some lower number is accurate—and that many, many more suffer financially, physically, or both.
These facts matter, perhaps more than the specifics of Soptic's story, because the fate of the under- and uninsured is a central issue in this campaign. President Obama’s position is that the federal government has an obligation to make sure every American has health insurance, regardless of age, pre-existing condition, or employment status. That’s why he signed the Affordable Care Act, which puts in place a coverage system that will go a long way towards accomplishing that goal. Romney, of course, wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He also wants to change Medicare and Medicaid so that they provide less financial protection, while introducing tax changes that would likely weaken employer-sponsored insurance.
 
If the cost of getting that point across is making sleazeballs like Hinderaker uncomfortable-then by all means do ten more ads. Maybe I might be more concerned about allegations of the Democrats living in a pig sty-if it were not for the fact that Hinderaker lives in one himself. By his own choice. And appears to love it.
So spare me the phony indignation, you pompous twit.

  1. who cares about that?
     
    read your column on
    Singer. Now that's most impressive.