In The End, We All Die Alone.

I have posted about health care reform dissembler Betsy McCaughey on several occasions (here, here and here.) She helped kill reform in 1994 with her bullshit, and is at it again.

Anti-reform conservatives--spurred on by McCaughey's spurious insinuations--are fanning out hither and yon, lying to Americans by telling them there is a "mandatory" end-of-life provision that will await them in any new health care legislation. According to ThinkProgress, "(to) substantiate their claims, conservatives point to Sec. 1233 of the House Tri Committee bill, a section titled “ADVANCE CARE PLANNING CONSULTATION.” But while the language allows Medicare to reimburse providers for consulting with patients about end-of-life issues, nothing in the section mandates a consultation."

There's more here.

So, no, America--in the real world, the Grim Reaper disguised as a government bureaucrat will not be required to show up at the homes of our seniors, counseling them on The End. That Goebbels-like, ghoulish lie is straight out of Far-Right Fantasyland.

Frank Luntz's Filthy Language.

I've written about Frank Luntz previously. The right-wing political consultant and FOX News regular literally wrote the words that are currently spilling out of the mouths of the army of health care reform foes bellowing nationwide.

ThinkProgress has been tracking the influence of Luntz's talking points, and it's clear that Republicans really don't mind when deceitful words are put in their mouths:

In early May, conservative word guru Frank Luntz authored a messaging memo defining the Republican rhetoric on health care reform. In order to obstruct reform, Luntz offered a set of poll-tested words that he said “should be used by everyone.” Some of those words were “rationing,” “doctor-patient,” “takeover” and “bureaucrats.” Using the Capitol Words search engine, the Sunlight Foundation’s Paul Blumenthal has found that Republicans are following Luntz’s advice:

Over the past month, as the health care debate has really gotten off the ground, the use of these words in the Congressional Record has skyrocketed.

“Rationing” goes from 18 uses in May to 90 uses in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “rationing” in the Capitol Words database.

“Doctor-patient” goes from 6 uses in May to 20 in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “doctor-patient” in the Capitol Words database.

“Takeover” goes from 13 uses in May to 106 in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “takeover” in the Capitol Words database.

“Bureaucrats” goes from 53 uses in May to 78 uses in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “bureaucrats” in the Capitol Words database.

And my use of "bullshit" has been off the charts since I first read Luntz's 10 pointers in "The Language of Healthcare 2009" and listened to Republicans ape them ever since:

UPDATE: A Shout Out To UPS.

Great news from The Big Brown Machine.

UPS has pulled its advertising from The O'Reilly Factor thanks to a grass-roots protest led by ThinkProgress.org: 

Click here if you are unfamiliar with the details.
Tell O'Reilly's other corporate sponsors that you are sick of his act here.

Dirty Dozen (UPDATE.)

I blogged about Bill O'Reilly's ambush tactics yesterday, and ThinkProgress.org's campaign to hold his Dirty Dozen enabling corporate advertiser's feet to the fire.

Here's an update from ThinkProgress editor Faiz Shakir: 

Hi, I wanted to update you on our Stop The O'Reilly Harassment Machine campaign.

After day 1 of our campaign, we had over 3,000 people take action against O'Reilly's corporate advertisers. Yesterday, we doubled that number. Well over 6,000 concerned citizens have taken action, urging O'Reilly's sponsors to issue a clear statement expressing their opposition to the Fox News host's "ambush journalism" tactics.

O'Reilly's advertisers are responding to our concerns. Yesterday, UPS told us that it "values and takes seriously" the emails they've received, adding that they are investigating whether to continue supporting The Factor. Capital One told us they "regret" O'Reilly's offensive tactics and do not endorse his "views/opinions."

Please keep the heat on! Keep taking action and let your friends know about the campaign:

http://thinkprogress.org/stop-oreilly-harassment/

Last night, ThinkProgress deputy editor Amanda Terkel appeared on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. (Watch the video here.) Amanda explained our campaign: "What we're trying to do is just let advertisers know what their dollars are funding. Their dollars are funding this type of harassment. And we want statements - do they agree with this or do they not agree with this? And hopefully that message will get back to Bill O'Reilly."

Please help us by doing your part. Take action again and let your friends know about the campaign.

Dirty Dozen.

     Earlier this week, I posted a link to an item about FOX News attack dog Bill O'Reilly's use of a flunky to stalk and ambush a vacationing liberal blogger. ThinkProgress.org's Amanda Terkel is at least the 40th victim of  O'Reilly's harassment and abuse.

     The 12 companies whose logos you see above are leading corporate sponsors of The O'Reilly Factor. Do they condone O'Reilly's increasingly aggressive tactics against his perceived foes? Buying ad time on his show suggests they do.

     Tell them to wake the hell up by taking 30 seconds to fill out the form you'll find here.

     It's important to note that O'Reilly never invited Ms. Terkel to debate on his show. Instead, he chose to have low-level buffoons stake her out, follow her two hours by car and harass her on vacation.

     O'Reilly isn't a journalist, but he does play one on TV. Tell his sponsors that you are tired of his act.