There’s no question that nobody out-crazies Glenn Beck on healthcare, or on anything else, for that matter. And there’s likewise not much question the entire Republican party has gone bugshit; the inmates, not content with running the asylum, have decided to poop in it also. And then they’re taking that shit on the road. As it were.

But it’s important to remember that in the land of Glenn Beck, the half-assed lie looks sane. What I mean is, the noisy, over-the-top kookiness of a Beck or Limbaugh or a Bachmann or a Betsey McCaughey tends to disguise a whole hell of a lot of stuff that looks a lot more sensible but is in fact equally nuts. It’s an interesting dynamic, in the sense that it now seems the standard for "sensible" right wing — or, hell, "libertarian" or "centrist"– discourse on healthcare means "not Glenn Beck." Which is kind of a shit situation, because, you know, that’s rather a low bar.

Take this, for instance — a Fox News article about how other major networks are not running a "non-partisan" commercial about how Obamacare is All Lies. The ad seems like it’s basically the usual horseshit:

"It’s a powerful ad," said Bob Adams, executive director of the League of American Voters, a national nonprofit group with 15,000 members who advocate individual liberty and government accountability. "It tells the truth and it really highlights one of the biggest vulnerabilities and problems with this proposed legislation, which is it rations health care and disproportionately will decimate the quality of health care for seniors."

Yawn. But where the Fox article really gets good is with this bit from the end:

Adams objects to ABC’s assertion that his group’s position is partisan….

Dick Morris, a FOX News political analyst and the League of American Voters’ chief strategist, conceptualized the advertisement and said its purpose was to "refocus" the debate on health care reform.

"I feel the whole debate on health care reform needed to be refocused on the issue of Medicare," he told FOXNews.com. "Most of the debate had been on issues of socialized medicine and cost. I felt that the impact of the legislation in cutting the Medicare program and enforcing rationing needed to be addressed."

Morris, a onetime advisor to former President Bill Clinton, said he was particularly troubled by ABC’s decision not to air the spot.

Never mind the astonishing hypocrisy of whisking in the "socialized medicine" crap and then fearmongering Medicare. Savor instead the arrant dishonesty of pretending this bit of propaganda is "non-partisan" by saying Dick Fucking Morris used to work for Bill Clinton.

Seriously, I’m inclined to prefer Glenn Beck over this sort of stuff. He’s nuts, but at least he’s sincere. The more "sensible" Fox fare is a lot more insidious.


Related posts:

  1. Late Night: Healthcare Disaster Looms; Action Needed on Modest Policy Proposal
  2. Late Night: Now Playing at the Republican Googleplex…
  3. Late Night: Birth, Death, Sex & Race
  4. Late Night: Conservatives Are Assholes
  5. Late Night: Glenn Beck Boils His Own Narrative