Bush & Gutter Politics

The allies of President Bush who back his veto of bipartisan legislation to provide health coverage to children in low-income families took the politics of personal destruction to a new low this week. Front page stories in the Baltimore Sun and New York Times tell the story. They reveal the behind-the-scenes wheels of a smear campaign, based entirely on falsehoods, to destroy the credibility of a Baltimore family that stepped forward to speak out in opposition to the President's veto. The parents of 12-year-old Graeme Frost, and his younger sister Gemma, used the Maryland State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) after their children were seriously injured in an automobile accident. After the accident, Graeme lay comatose, with severe brain trauma. His younger sister was in even worse shape. Both parents in the Frost family work, making a combined income of less than $50,000 a year. On that income, they raise four children. But they could not afford private health insurance.

Thanks to SCHIP, Graeme and Gemma got the emergency medical care they needed. They, and their parents, know the SCHIP program works. Graeme said so publicly, at a press conference with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and in a front page Baltimore Sun story. Later, Senator Harry Reid selected him to give the weekly Democratic Radio Address, and he told a national radio audience about the medical care he received. "Three years ago, my family was in a really bad car accident," Graeme recalled. "I was in a coma for a week and couldn't eat or stand up or even talk at first. My sister was even worse. I was in the hospital for five-and-a-half months and I needed a big surgery. For a long time after that, I had to go to physical therapy after school to get stronger. But even though I was hurt badly, I was really lucky."

Graeme and his family made a powerful case that SCHIP funding saves lives. So, the President's allies set out to destroy them. Right wing blogs went into overdrive, questioning the cost of the family's home, the family income and even the cost of the private school the children attend. Now it turns out, these smears were all unfounded. Yes, Graeme goes to a private school, but his tuition is largely paid through a scholarship. By targeting a family for speaking the truth about a program the President wants to dismantle, the Bush's allies crossed the line. Instead of debating this vital program on the merits, they thought they could win by Swift-boating a working-class American family. By mounting a disgusting campaign to smear the Frost family, the President's backers have gone too far. Their efforts should and will backfire. President Bush should call this smear campaign off. He should tell Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin and Senator Mitch McConnell to call off their dogs and leave this family alone. The brave Frost family has been through enough and doesn't deserve this for speaking out about a vital program that helped them. The President's allies have brought Bush-era gutter politics to a new low.

Comments

[batguano]

Don't want to sugar coat this, but.........
This Bush/Neocon regime has used the most despicable and deceitful lies and distortion in every aspect of it's disasterous and odious rule. They have undermined the very basis of our status as a nation of laws and made us all weaker and more vulnerable....all wage slaves.....except, of course, the super rich. All the rest of us are forced to bear the increased costs of the greed and madness of these hideous creatures. Whether it's SCHIP, mine safety, FEMA, health care, education, food safety, water and air quality protection, the environment, wildlife, obscene military waste and adventuris­m......the list of Bush/Neocon/right wing failure, underfunding and dismantling, greed and re-allocation (read theft) of wealth from all the rest of us to the greedy rich has become the greatest threat facing our nation, and the world, in history. What do these lying swine care about the lives of this family, or any other? Their mouthpiece shills and rabid media voices of hate show clearly the depths of their depravity and blind loyalty to ideology or "religion",and NOT our nation! The contempt they show daily for the rest of us should be matched by our collective outrage and a commitment to a clean sweep of their traitorous representatives from all government positions in the '08 elections....and that goes for quisling "bipartisan", "compromising" Dems too! If we could just see through the BS and lies, and how they are affecting us and our children on a local level to fund their greed and cronyism, and stop feeding at their trough, we could sweep them out.

It takes more than an enemies list and a bloated military to make a strong, safe nation.

[batguano]

This Bush/Neocon regime has used the most despicable and deceitful lies and distortion in every aspect of it's disasterous and odious rule. They have undermined the very basis of our status as a nation and made us all weaker and more vulnerable....all wage slaves.....except, of course, the super rich who they serve. All the rest of us are forced to bear the costs of the greed and madness of these hideous creatures. Whether it's SCHIP, mine safety, FEMA, health care, education, food safety, water and air quality protection, the environment, wildlife, obscene military waste and adventuris­m......the list of Bush/Corpo­rate/Neoco­n/right wing greed and re-allocation (read theft) of wealth from all the rest of us and our children to the greedy rich has become the greatest threat facing our nation and the world in history. What do these lying swine care about the lives of this family, or any other? The contempt they show daily for the lives of the rest of us should be matched by our collective outrage and a clean sweep of their traitorous representatives from all government in the '08 elections....and that goes for quisling "bipartisan" Dems too! If we could just see through the BS and lies, and how they are affecting us and our children on a local level to fund their greed and cronyism, and stop feeding at their trough, we could sweep them out.
It takes more than an enemies list and a bloated military to make a strong safe nation.

[GKJames]

Fair enough, but knowing what we've long known about (i) the right's methods; and (ii) drivel's monopoly of the airwaves, isn't it disingenuous for Dems to drag a kid into the public space to make a point, then feign outrage over the resulting abuse the kid and his family get? The GOP does just fine putting its inanity on display all by itself. For Dems to enlist a kid to highlight the fact that Republicans are cretins suggests that Dems, too, are edging toward intellectual bankruptcy. Quaint as this may sound, Reid and Pelosi might want to focus on legislating and leave the PR stunts to someone else.

[JeffDeVore]

Can't we just Baker Act this bastard?

[realpolitic]

Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh and others on the extreme right have no decency. They so easily trade their souls for a potential win in the culture war battle. Here they are willing to sacrifice a 12 year-old boy and his family on the altar of their nutty culture wars. The problem is Malkin and her ilk will not be vilified by the far-right, but celebrated.

Their slash-and-burn tactics will one day work against them. People gravitate toward tolerance and decency.

[rixhex56]

realpolitic,

You said, "People gravitate toward tolerance and decency."

I think this is true when people are mentally healthy and stable. However, I believe that our society breeds mental unhealth and instability, and because of this, there is an imbalance in your equation. Those of us who recognize this must work towards changing social policies that tend to perpetuate that mental unhealth and instability.

As John Stuart Mill said, "Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives."

I think we need to find a way to sway "stupid people" in order to institute any meaningful change in American society.

[larry278]

Saying that W is resorting to gutter politics to kill SCHIP is a lie. Repooplicans would have to raise the level of their rhetoric to reach the gutter level. W & Co don't have the energy to raise the level of discourse 2 ft in the dying days of W's reign. There is also the problem that W & Co don't know from straight up. Who could show which way is up? It ain't gonna happen.

[BillZBubb]

There is nothing new here. Smear and lie, cheat and steal are the RepubliCLOWN tools of the trade. I'll guarantee there are trolls here who believe the right wing slime and don't see anything wrong with their attack on this kid and his family.

[bethinCary]

It's becoming conservative christians-HALO edition. Shoot anyone that disagrees with you.

Eric Prince must be so proud.

[lisakaz]

Of course, the gutter-snipers have resorted to smear and fear versus truth and merit. They are bottomless pits when it comes to "campaigning." It should be pointed out that Mr. Frost is supposed to be a hero to the right (reich) in that he's a small businessman independently trying to provide for his family. There are no "family values" in these empty suits who want a win-at-all-costs hachet job on those with the temerity to openly disagree. I mean the Frosts are traitors, aren't they? After all, Mr. Frost didn't over-mortgage or sell his home and spend everything till the family was on welfare -- and then it'd be his fault for having been a poor provider.

For the "family values" camp, the deck is stacked against families like the Frosts. Equality does not exist. It's almost like the car accident was God's judgement on them. Woe to us who want something better than writing people off like this.

I hope this backfires BIG TIME but it wouldn't surprise me at all to hear more blame-the-victim here or how the Frosts are scammers, etc. When Bu$h & McConnell et al. surrender their own free universal healthcare, then maybe they should be taken seriously. Until then, they're hypocrites and nothing more whereas their underhanded underlings are scummy Quislings of the worst kind.

[Kansas Evans]

Ditto!

[Trace8089]

No, the Democrats should grow a pair and protect this young child and his family. First the asshole in Sen. Mitch McConnel's office should be identified and fired. Ad's should be running in Kentucky showing this pricks staffs involvement. We should demand the MSM hold these thugs accountable. For the Rush and Malkin's go after their sponsors. Ask them, "Are these the type of people they want representing their brand?" It's time to stand up and beat these thugs into the ground.

[SamThornton]

Modernizing Christianity, Right Wing Edition:

Original Version: Suffer little children to come unto me.

Revised Version: Let the little bastards go the Emergency Room.