It's so hard to be an Obamacare-hating Republican these days
by Dante AtkinsFollow for Daily Kos
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) pauses as he addresses the Heritage Action's second annual Conservative Policy Summit in Washington January 12, 2015. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4L6A6
attribution: REUTERS
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), perhaps seen contemplating
whether to use an Affordable Care Act health plan.
One of the more striking features of the contemporary conservative movement is the extent to which it has been moving toward epistemic closure. Reality is defined by a multimedia array of interconnected and cross promoting conservative blogs, radio programs, magazines, and of course, Fox News. Whatever conflicts with that reality can be dismissed out of hand because it comes from the liberal media, and is therefore ipso facto not to be trusted. (How do you know they’re liberal? Well, they disagree with the conservative media!)
-- Julian Sanchez
Julian Sanchez, a CATO Institute fellow who specializes in the areas of privacy and surveillance, was perhaps the first to concisely distill the alternate reality that has been created by the continuously cross-referencing circle of conservative media outlets. Conservatives live in a bubble of epistemic closure in which narratives and ideas that feed a particular narrative are introduced, reinforced and then judged to be accurate simply by virtue of having been presented by the correct media authorities. It doesn't matter if whatever is being claimed has an actual basis in objective reality: once an idea that pleases the conservative id has taken root, it is mighty hard for truth to pierce the bubble of fantasy.
This is why President Obama can in the conservative mind be a Kenyan, a Muslim, a socialist, and a black liberation theologist all at the same time. It's why no amount of evidence can ever convince conservatism the climate change is real. It's why they view it as a fact that Obama is killing jobs and exploding the deficit, even as the facts are exactly the opposite on both counts. And it's also why the Affordable Care Act is simply known to be a disaster that is ruining lives, damaging employers, and constraining freedom, even as in reality it is reducing costs, saving lives, and making health insurance affordable for people who have gone far too long without it.
But when conservatives are forced to venture outside the circle of epistemic closure and actually confront the world outside the bubble, the results are hilarious, as we've seen this week with certain Republican opponents of the Affordable Care Act. More below the fold.
Let's take what happened this week to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who was selected to deliver the official Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address last year. On Monday, Rodgers took to her Facebook page to ask her supporters and constituents to share the ways in which the Affordable Care Act has negatively impacted their lives. The conservative narrative about health insurance reform, of course, is that it has jacked up premiums, made taxes more difficult, and made employment harder to find.
Rodgers' fishing expedition didn't go as planned: the thread was deluged by dozens, perhaps hundreds, of comments in support of the law. Individuals described how either they or family members who could not get coverage previously due to pre-existing conditions were now able to get themselves insured. Others discussed how the law's subsidies had drastically reduced their insurance premiums. Healthcare providers told stories about how their clinics were seeing a massive influx of people who had finally gotten health care after going far too long without it. Now, it's hard to know precisely what prompted Rodgers' communications staff to solicit Affordable Care Act horror stories. Perhaps they felt the need to publicly toe the party line; maybe they're looking to build momentum for the "patient-centered" replacement plan Republicans are trying to put together to convince Chief Justice Roberts to side with the King v. Burwell plaintiffs. It seems certain, however, that they were so convinced about the accuracy of their own narrative that they felt that a public dialogue wouldn't contradict it. It's a dumb thing to believe when the Affordable Care Act will directly help far more people than it will directly hurt—but that's how dense the epistemic closure of the Republican message machine is.
But Rodgers' Facebook fail pales in comparison to the situation of an ardent hater of the law who just might end up signing up for it anyway: Republican Senator and presidential hopeful Ted Cruz. It was just last month that Cruz introduced the latest Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare; but now that his wife is taking a leave from Goldman Sachs to join Cruz on the presidential campaign trail, he's in the market for health insurance. And guess where he's looking? The insurance exchanges created by the law he's so desperately seeking to eliminate.
Cruz is claiming that federal law requires him to get his health insurance on the exchanges since he is a member of Congress, but that's not true: Cruz could either buy a plan on the individual market, get COBRA through his wife's employment at Goldman Sachs, or participate in whatever insurance his presidential campaign ends up offering. The only restriction on members of Congress (created, ironically, by a poison pill amendment from Cruz' Republican colleague from Iowa, Chuck Grassley) is that they would only be eligible to receive the tax subsidy if they purchase a plan on the exchange. In other words, Ted Cruz was forced to step outside his bubble of epistemic closure and actually look around for the best deal on health insurance like a normal American, and it seems like the best deal he could get was through the Affordable Care Act.
That result isn't surprising: Obamacare exchanges have been the cheapest and best option for millions of Americans, which is why signups have been so high and why the overall uninsured rate has gone down. What is surprising is that Cruz is apparently such a miser that he would choose to participate in the program he hates most rather than pay more for the purely private healthcare he proclaims is the best model for the country.
Whether by choice or by necessity, a pair of prominent Republicans dared to step outside the conservative thought bubble and interact with the real world of how people actually go about getting their health care—and the experience hasn't gone well for their chosen narrative. Will it change anything inside the wall of Republican epistemic closure? Not likely. But it at least demonstrates to everyone else how absurd the conservative anti-Obamacare charade has become.
You don't pay any real attention to the putz who is one of my two putz Senators, do you. It obvious you not only think with but you speak with your fundus.
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bobsal u1553115
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Sun 29 Mar, 2015 06:09 pm
Watch the moment a Fox host realizes Louie Gohmert is crazy because he has ‘plan’ to bomb Iran
Tom Cotton reminds one of the Psycho at "Bates Motel" who knifed Janet Leigh in the shower. He is a menacing spectre.
Remember who the devil looked like in "The Bible"? I do.
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bobsal u1553115
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Mon 30 Mar, 2015 08:20 pm
Klingenschmitt removed from committee assignment
Source: 9News.com
DENVER - House Republicans have decided to discipline state Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt (R-Colorado Springs) by removing him from one of his two committee assignments in the wake of his controversial comments about an attack on a pregnant woman in Longmont.
The episode led to public embarrassment for party leaders, who quickly sought to distance themselves from Klingenschmitt, a former Navy chaplain who goes by the screen name "Dr. Chaps" on his religious streaming TV show.
He'll be pulled from the house health, insurance, and environment committee, but remain a member of the house local government committee.
Assistant minority leader Polly Lawrence hinted that removal from committee could be an option when Klingenschmitt's controversial claim that the attack was the result of "the curse of God" first came to light.
I don't care for Hillary at all, But, one thing she isn't is whacko. Klingonschmitt is a loon.
GOP aghast at Klingenschmitt's act-of-God comment in baby's death
By Lynn Bartels
The Denver Post
Posted: 03/26/2015 01:09:12 PM MDT
Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt
Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt sits at his desk during the opening of the Colorado legislature at the State Capitol in Denver, Jan. 7, 2015. (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)
Several leading Colorado Republicans lashed out Thursday against state Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt, saying his "curse of God" comments about an attack on a pregnant woman whose baby was cut from her womb were "disgusting" and "reprehensible."
The lawmaker, who also is a minister, quoted the Bible in his "Pray In Jesus Name" program Wednesday and tried to link the crime to abortion.
"This is the curse of God upon America for our sin of not protecting innocent children in the womb and part of that curse for our rebellion against God as a nation is that our pregnant women are ripped open," Klingenschmitt said.
Among those who denounced the remarks: two fellow El Paso County Republicans, Laura Carno, who in January started a Facebook page called "Conservatives against Gordon Klingenschmitt," and former Rep. Mark Waller, whose used to represent the House district in Colorado Springs now held by Klingenschmitt.
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"It's disgusting. I thought Gordon Klingenschmitt would be our next Todd Akin," Carno said Thursday. "I didn't know he would be our next Westboro Baptist Church. This poor woman gets her baby cut out of her belly and he uses this tragedy to drive traffic to his ministry."
Akin is the Missouri U.S. Senate candidate who lost his bid in 2012 after saying women rarely get pregnant in cases of "legitimate rape." The Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas has been described as a hate group and has been denounced by fellow Baptists and others for its attacks primarily on gays, including grotesque displays at funerals.
Klingenschmitt said his nonprofit charity has donated $1,000 to Michelle Wilkins' family and he challenged other lawmakers to donate a minimum of $5.
The 26-year-old survived the attack, but her 34-week-old fetus did not. Klingenschmitt said he "weeps" for the victims, and he urged the legislature to pass a law that would allow prosecutors to bring charges when unborn babies are injured or killed.
But Waller, who pushed for the passage of such a bill, said Klingenschmitt's comments "do nothing to advance the cause for us."
Sarah Zagorski, the executive director of Colorado Citizens for Life, the affiliate of National Right to Life, said her group supports such a law and she also was critical of Klingenschmitt's remarks.
" God did not will for this horrific tragedy to happen," Zagorski said. "Sadly, Rep. Klingenschmitt's comments take away from the seriousness of this tragedy and the aftermath Michelle and her family are facing."
Klingenschmitt's remarks were first posted by Right Wing Watch, which said when he discussed the incident in Longmont he "tied it to a passage from Hosea in which God curses the people of Samaria for their rebellion by declaring that 'their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.' "
Klingenschmitt's colleagues in the House criticized his comments.
"Rep. Klingenschmitt is politicizing a terrible human tragedy," said Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver. "The statement was incredibly insensitive to a family that has been through an unimaginable horrific experience."
Rep. Polly Lawrence, R-Douglas County, said she was "appalled."
"Gordon does not speak for his caucus," said Lawrence, the House assistant minority leader.
Steve House, the new chairman of the state GOP, said Klingenschmitt under the First Amendment has the right to say what he wants but "he does not represent the Colorado Republican Party."
Former chairman Ryan Call said the same thing last year when Klingenschmitt won his primary election for Waller's seat. The district is heavily Republican so Klingenschmitt had a clear path to victory in November. At the time, a number of articles detailed Klingenschmitt's background. Klingenschmitt, a former Navy chaplain believes being gay is a sin and often compared President Barack Obama to a demon on his daily religious television show. Last August, Klingenschmitt accused U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder, whom he described as an "openly homosexual congressman," of wanting to join Islamic terrorists and behead Christians.
The two shook hands during their first meeting, when Polis on Jan. 15 was in the Colorado House to hear Gov. John Hickenlooper deliver his State of the State speech.
At the time, Polis talked to Klingenschmitt about the problems of saying one thing as a minister, but not being able to separate that from his job as a lawmaker, the two told The Denver Post.
"I answered, 'You might be trying to give me good political advice, so maybe I should say thank you,' " Klingenschmitt said, at the time. " 'However, I feel I should not forsake my identity as a minister, or stop believing and preaching the Bible on Sundays, just because I got elected.' "
Carno said she started the Facebook page at the start of the 2015 session because she believed it was only a matter of time before Klingenschmitt's comments provoked an outrage, and she wanted Coloradans to know many Republicans do not side with him.
Waller said Klingenschmitt's comments referencing the Longmont crime "were terrible regardless of whether you're a member of the clergy or of the state legislature."
The crime that spurred Klingenschmitt's remarks occurred March 18 when Wilkins, who was seven months pregnant, called 911 to say she was "bleeding out" in the basement of a Longmont home after responding to a Craigslist ad about baby clothes.
"She cut me," Michelle Wilkins told the operator between moans and heavy breathing. "I'm pregnant."
Police have arrested 34-year-old Dynel Lane, who had told various stories about being pregnant or having a baby.
Waller said he is concerned that Wilkins, who has been released from the hospital, will read Klingenschmitt's comments.
"It's just plain wrong to say something like that, this poor woman," he said. "This was a horrible tragedy."
Her family declined to comment.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, [email protected] or twitter.com/lynn_bartels
Staff writer Jesse Paul contributed to this report.
Klingenschmitt: Transgender People Are Driven By A Demonic 'Predatory Spirit Of Sexual Exploitation'
Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 3/26/2015 11:48 am
Like other Religious Right activists, Gordon Klingenschmitt is outraged that a Planet Fitness franchise in Michigan revoked the membership of a customer who wouldn't stop complaining after a transgender woman hung up her coat and purse in the women’s locker room and so he is now calling for a national boycott of the fitness chain.
On his "Pray In Jesus Name" program today, the Colorado Republican state legislator said that "there is a demonic spirit of lying" inside of transgender people, whom he said are "parading their parts" in front of small children because they are driven by "a predatory spirit of sexual exploitation."
Klingenschmitt then once again asserted that since the Bible says that transgender people are not allowed in church, they should likewise be banned from using public facilities, saying that "if they can't enter the assembly of the Lord, why should they be able to enter your women's locker room."
Klingenschmitt concluded by praying that children would be protected from "predators" like this and that millions of Americans would boycott Planet Fitness "until that corporation changes their policy":
Now point out anything that Hillary did that sinks to this kind of low.
I don't like Hillary and you've got me defending her.
A lot of women stay with their husbands and visa versa after an affair, or multiple affairs. Those matters are between the husband and the wife or between partners and no one else. The whole affair should never came to what it did, admittedly, Bill Clinton made a mistake in trying to deny it, he should have said, I won't answer that or something similar, however, the marriage between Hillary and Bill Clinton is not our business. It sure does not matter when it comes to a possible Hillary Clinton Presidency.
Did he make another mistake by flying to an island known for underage girls for sexual purposes with a now convicted pedophile?
Quote:
Hillary and Bill Clinton is not our business.
That is the dumbest thing you have ever said. Presidents and people who want to be president are our business. And moral character still matters to some of us, in fact, a lot of us. If you don't think they are then don't vote.
Obamacare is working so well in New Jersey almost no doctors are willing to accept it
Five years since it was shoved down our throats in the dark of night, and despite all the debacles encountered along the way, Obamacare's supporters continue to insist it's "working." Their definition of "working" must be different from mine. Because even if it might have succeeded in forcing people to buy health insurance, those people can't find a doctor who'll take it.
You and your stories are pathetic.
