Monday, August 3, 2009

Health Care or Death Care?

The other morning I read an E.J. Dionne article in the Washington Post about the roadblocks the current Health Care bill is seeing in congress, and part of the problem seems to be that some people are afraid that doctors will be pushing euthanasia on old people.

I wonder how much of the fear the Rethugs are creating relies on unsophisticated readers being uncomfortable with the phrase "end-of-life"--that it's too close to "life-ending." Are these people just careless readers, or are they that stupid? I'm sure there are a few who understand exactly what it says, but are pushing the fear for political gain.

1 comment:

Nathan said...

I wonder how much of the fear the Rethugs are creating relies on unsophisticated readers being uncomfortable with the phrase "end-of-life"--that it's too close to "life-ending." Are these people just careless readers, or are they that stupid?

There is another possibility: the readers are seeing what they want to see. There is clearly a deliberate attempt to spread this rumor both by pundits and politicians but it's working so well because the "prolife" label has been held by the right for so long that it fits right in with other established propaganda.