Just the Facts? The CIA, Stephen Hawking, and the government health care option

I had almost abandoned this blog...as 2007 wore on it looked more and more like health care reform in America was just a fading dream. Then came 2008 and candidate Obama. Health care reform went from "distant hope" to solid plank in a triumphant campaign platform. No need to blog about health care reform if it was now a presidential mandate. Then came the reality of extremism, people prepared to twist and distort reality to scare up opposition to health care reform, particularly an expanded government health care option.

(For the record: All Americans already have a government health option if they become physically disabled or poor, it's called Medicaid.)

These opponents of an extended U.S. government health care option are not content to say "I am happy with my private health insurance and don't want change." Instead these people had to make things up. And America's ethically bankrupt mainstream media seems prepared to give voice to these fabrications. Blogging to deconstruct these fabrications is now imperative.

Consider Investor's Business Daily. In an attempt to articulate the argument that Americans should not adopt the same kind of government health care that has existed for over 50 years in the United Kingdom, IBD actually printed this: "Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the UK."

There is zero basis in fact for this statement, but worse than that, the statement is the exact opposite of the truth. For many decades the UK's government health care option, the National Health Service, has provided Stephen Hawking with great care, at no cost. Indeed, Stephen Hawking, one of the world's most celebrated scientists, was moved to make a statement to the press. He said: "I owe my life to the NHS."

So, here is the strategy adopted by opponents of government health care in America: "Make false and alarming statements about how bad things will be if there is an expanded government health care option in America. Make these statements as often and as loudly as you can. Don't worry about the truth at this point because the ends [killing an expanded government health care option] justify these means."