Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Health Care "Debate:" the VA's "Death Book" UPDATE

Just when I thought I wouldn't have the opportunity to attend a town hall "discussion" on health care, one was held on my Facebook page.

My previous Civitas post was centered on FoxNews misrepresentation the VA's pamphlet "Your Life/Your Choice." I was literally thinking while writing it, "Anyone not ensconced in partisan vitriol will appreciate this video."

Well, the following exchange took place:

- "The far-left and Obama are losing their minds because the common folks are actually paying attention and READING...this VA euthanasia propoganda[sic]."

Me: "I actually think it is good when people read proposed and passed legislation. I also think it is good when people have SUBSTANTIVE discussion about issues: name-calling, disregard for intellectual rigor, misleading hyperbole, and obfuscation have no role in meaningful civic participation."

- "Dude, in your above post, the terms you used could be used to describe Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barney Frank. Swastika's, Angry Mobs, Brownshirts, anyone?"

Partisans read my comments and may think that I am referring to republicans. Fortunately for my peace of mind, I was referring to anyone in the public sphere who promulgates vacuous rhetoric.

Civitas will be back soon.

UPDATE (Aug 27, 2009): Public Errata
The author of my first quote thought my use of ellipsis removed context from his statement. In the spirit of full disclosure and an attempt to give someone every opportunity to express themselves, I have included his full quotation below. The redacted portion is identified as bold text.

"The far-left and Obama are losing their minds because the common folks are actually paying attention and READING what's in "Obamacare." They know more about what [is] in that bill than Obama and Congress. Now, they are also taking the time to read this VA euthanasia propoganda[sic]."

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Healthcare "Debate:" the VA's "Death Book"


Civitas has been slumbering for sometime, but was roused from its inactivity by this FoxNews video, as shared on Facebook (as part of some vague call to action to oppose Obama's health care project). The video is a "report" on the Veterans Affairs (VA) living will/end-of-life counseling workbook that is intended to provide vets with some tools and points of consideration when putting together an advanced directive or "living will." (Some have actually been able to muster the intellectual hutzpah to refer to it as the "VA Death Book.")

Now, you might think after watching the video that the VA is advising the mildly impaired or wheel-chair-bound vets to kill themselves. Or, you might conclude that the VA says somewhere in the booklet that disabled veterans should kill themselves because they are a financial burden. You might also conclude that Jonah Goldberg and Megyn Kelly are on the front lines of a war against life and moral rectitude being waged by liberals.

However, I can only conclude, to my own deep amazement and disgust, that these two people have done one of the following:

1) Given opinions about the VA's document without even reading it.
2) Read the VA's booklet and deliberately misrepresented it.

Either scenario is truly astonishing. The video report is Orwellian in its ability to take the VA's document and twist it into a recommendation for suicide. I honestly do not know how these people go to sleep at night.

If greater astonishment were possible, it is reserved for those people who watch the video, read the VA's pamphlet, and still conclude there is any correlation between what is being described and what was actually written.

Shame on Fox News, and shame on Megyn Kelly and Jonah Goldberg.