Remember the nonstop right-wing coverage of the those terrifying pretend “Death Panels” that would be upon us the moment Obamacare was signed into law? Republican politicians waxed poetic about their moral outrage at these imaginary death panels deciding who would get healthcare and who would not. Sarah Palin (remember her?) was the queen of the death panel lie and said “The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society.' "
Of course there was nothing in the law that had anything to do with a death panel. But reality doesn’t hold much sway with most Republicans or right-wing media. So the lie spread and became a rallying cry for the Tea Party extremists. The era of the civil congressional town hall meeting was over because Democrats were shouted down by rabid Fox News enthusiasts that were convinced healthcare would be rationed and denied to their elderly loved one. The lie was recognized as useful by more mainstream Republicans and spread further. It became central to the Obamacare debate and was designated PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year in 2009.
Twelve years later, as has been widely reported and discussed in the media and here on Daily Kos, the COVID-19 pandemic is so ravaging Idaho’s unvaccinated population and overwhelming the healthcare system that critically ill people are being denied life-saving care. The hospitals in Idaho have implemented crisis care standards. From the latest AP story on the crisis:
Crisis care standards mean that scarce resources such as ICU beds will be allotted to the patients most likely to survive. Other patients will be treated with less effective methods or, in dire cases, given pain relief and other palliative care.
This isn’t pretend. It is happening right now in Idaho. Where is the outrage in conservative media? I just checked Fox News’ website and the lead story is something about one of Hillary Clinton’s lawyers. Where are the self-important speeches from the Republican senators and other politicians expressing their moral outrage that this is happening in our country?
Oh wait. I forgot. Modern-day Republicans literally have no moral compass or fidelity to any moral principles. The politics of “death panels” in Idaho in 2021 are terrible for them so we get crickets. Anti-vaccine, anti-science sentiment rules parts of the party and gets winks and nods from the rest. Cutting spending on healthcare and public health is a favorite Republican pastime. The fact this disaster is happening in very red Idaho, with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country and total state control of government by Republicans means they really don’t want to talk about it.