Charles Blow:
Trapped in their vacuum of ideas, too many Republicans continue to display an astounding ability to believe utter nonsense, even when faced with facts that contradict it.
A Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll released last Friday found that 28 percent of Republicans don’t believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States and another 30 percent are still "not sure." That’s nearly 6 out of 10 Republicans refusing to accept a basic truth. Then again, this shouldn’t surprise me. According to a Gallup poll released last summer, 6 in 10 Republicans also said they thought that humans were created, in their present form, 10,000 years ago.
Let’s face it: This is no party of Einsteins. Really, it isn’t. A Pew poll last month found that only 6 percent of scientists said that they were Republicans.
Democrats should be leading this discussion. Instead, they’re losing control of it. That’s unfortunate because the debate is too important to be hijacked by hooligans.
See graphic.
Gail Collins:
Speaking of bad plans, the White House has been urging the Democrats to rally their own forces of placard-waving, sweaty, yelling supporters to confront the crazies. This makes no sense at all. It’s not often that members of Congress look as sympathetic as they’ve been lately on YouTube, surrounded by loud and unlovable hecklers. In fact, the best chance for health care reform may be to sell it as the thing that those people pounding on the doors of a town meeting in Tampa and screaming at the fire marshals don’t want.
So true. Just videotape them. And start each town hall with an overhead describing the talking point instructions to shout down and disrupt speakers. This isn't rocket science. If it were, the Republicans couldn't handle it (see Charles Blow.)
NY Times (added for reference):
There is no dispute, however, that most of the shouting and mocking is from opponents of those plans. Many of those opponents have been encouraged to attend by conservative commentators and Web sites.
"Become a part of the mob!" said a banner posted Friday on the Web site of the talk show host Sean Hannity. "Attend an Obama Care Townhall near you!" The exhortations do not advocate violence, but some urge opponents to be disruptive.
"Pack the hall," said a strategy memo circulated by the Web site Tea Party Patriots that instructed, "Yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early."
"Get him off his prepared script and agenda," the memo continued. "Stand up and shout and sit right back down."
Charles Lane: Discussing a living will will coerce your grandpa by paying your doc to talk to him about one.
Section 1233, however, addresses compassionate goals in disconcerting proximity to fiscal ones...
What's more, Section 1233 dictates, at some length, the content of the consultation. The doctor "shall" discuss "advanced care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to"; "an explanation of . . . living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses" (even though these are legal, not medical, instruments); and "a list of national and State-specific resources to assist consumers and their families." The doctor "shall" explain that Medicare pays for hospice care (hint, hint).
Oh. My God. How dare they explain that Medicare will pay for hospice! That's just a short jump to... something. And in the midst of a bill reining in costs, no less!! Interestingly, the following USA Today article from three years ago dealt with both issues without the overheated rhetoric and lurid conclusions, while adding "STORY: Few states allow forms spelling out patients' wishes":
USA Today (2006):
"There's a tremendous opportunity for both improving quality and enhancing efficiency in the care of people with very serious illnesses at the end of life," says geriatrician Joanne Lynn, who spent much of her career at think tank RAND studying end-of-life care.
She says substantial progress could be made in slowing rising costs if the U.S. health system could find better ways to reduce hospitalizations for people at the end of life, such as providing more in-home services.
Besides, just because 27% of Medicare’s budget is spent on the last year of someone’s life is no reason to bring that into a discussion of health care costs, is it? (hint, hint).
WaPo: [Various and sundry p]ollsters, political experts and others weigh in on what the president should do while Congress is away.
Bob Herbert:
We’ve seen this tragic ritual so often that it has the feel of a formula. A guy is filled with a seething rage toward women and has easy access to guns. The result: mass slaughter.
Mark Blumenthal: 'Can I Trust This Poll?' - Part I
[Note: I will be participating in a panel at next week's Netroots Nation conference on "How to Get the Most Out of Polling." This post, and hopefully two to follow, are a preview of some of the thoughts I am hoping to share].