Pants on Fire (Karol)
Karol Sheinin
It's so easy to get jaded in politics and assume that all the little heartwarming/heartwrenching stories that politicians tell on the trail are lies. Whether it's Al Gore talking about the Union song that his mom used to sing to him (which was actually written when he was 27) or Hillary Clinton claiming that she was named after the Mt. Everest climber Edmund Burke (not so), I used to assume that these white lies were par for the course in the political world. Before any Democrats reading this site assume that I'm only criticizing their party on this, I just want to note that it's after 2am and these are the two examples that popped into my head, I know Republicans do the same.
Then, a few months ago, I finished graduate school and went to work for Herman Cain down in Georgia. One of the first speeches I heard him deliver was about a man named Charlie who came up to him and told him that he was in his 40's but had never voted and was going to register to vote because Cain's message had affected him so deeply. I tried not to roll my eyes too hard and didn't think about it again. On the 4th of July, it was pouring rain and the Cain team was marching in a parade in a small town when this guy came up to us. He walked up to Herman and pulled out a little plastic baggie with a voter registration card. It was him, the guy, Charlie! I was stunned that the story was true.
It's probably safe to say that Cain is the exception to the lying politicians rule. John Kerry, in his speech at the Democratic convention, mentioned a woman named Mary Ann Knowles who had breast cancer and 'had to keep working day after day right through her chemotherapy, no matter how sick she felt, because she was terrified of losing her family's health insurance.' But, Kerry assured her and the rest of us that 'America can do better. And help is on the way.' But, as the New Hampshire Union Leader notes:
He did lie and I know we should all be used to it but after working for a man of such integrity like Cain (the absolute worst thing his opponents were able to find on him is that he gave a donation to Democrat Bob Kerrey while living in Kerrey's state and heading the National Restaurant Association) has made it much more difficult for me to accept these kinds of lies. There are plenty of miserable people in the world, Kerry would have certainly found some to talk about in his speech had his team bothered to look. I guess its just easier to make things up.
Then, a few months ago, I finished graduate school and went to work for Herman Cain down in Georgia. One of the first speeches I heard him deliver was about a man named Charlie who came up to him and told him that he was in his 40's but had never voted and was going to register to vote because Cain's message had affected him so deeply. I tried not to roll my eyes too hard and didn't think about it again. On the 4th of July, it was pouring rain and the Cain team was marching in a parade in a small town when this guy came up to us. He walked up to Herman and pulled out a little plastic baggie with a voter registration card. It was him, the guy, Charlie! I was stunned that the story was true.
It's probably safe to say that Cain is the exception to the lying politicians rule. John Kerry, in his speech at the Democratic convention, mentioned a woman named Mary Ann Knowles who had breast cancer and 'had to keep working day after day right through her chemotherapy, no matter how sick she felt, because she was terrified of losing her family's health insurance.' But, Kerry assured her and the rest of us that 'America can do better. And help is on the way.' But, as the New Hampshire Union Leader notes:
Mary Ann Knowles did not have to work through her chemotherapy for fear of losing her health insurance. Employed by Elderhostel, the Boston-based non-profit travel organization for people 55 and older, Mary Ann had 26 weeks of paid disability at her disposal. More was available for a long-term illness. She did not have to work through her chemotherapy. She chose to.
Knowles would have lost some income had she taken the disability leave, said her husband, who is unemployed. But she would not have lost her health insurance, as Kerry has repeatedly misstated.
Asked if the Kerry campaign bothered to get the details of Knowles' personal story, spokeswoman Judy Reardon said Kerry's use of the words "every day" in describing Knowles story was "a colloquialism." She went on: "When a woman has a mastectomy and goes through therapy, I don't need to double-check on her."
In other words, Kerry knowingly used the words "every day" when he did not mean "every day," and he used the phrase: "she still has to go to work every day — just to hang on to their health insurance" when she did not have to work every day and was in no danger of losing her health insurance.
In short, he lied. Repeatedly.
He did lie and I know we should all be used to it but after working for a man of such integrity like Cain (the absolute worst thing his opponents were able to find on him is that he gave a donation to Democrat Bob Kerrey while living in Kerrey's state and heading the National Restaurant Association) has made it much more difficult for me to accept these kinds of lies. There are plenty of miserable people in the world, Kerry would have certainly found some to talk about in his speech had his team bothered to look. I guess its just easier to make things up.
But Dean has a point.. I mean, look at all the people who go about claiming that XX million Americans are "Without health care".
When you point out that no health INSURANCE does not mean they can't stop in at an emergency room and get health CARE if they need it, these people say "Yeah, whatever", and often it's sloppy thinking.
They don't care about the details, just the fact that it's about health and people and it doesn't match their wanted numbers, which are usually a fantasy.
Then there's the ones who know and don't care because they have a hate on for the insurance industry, or for doctors, or for people who point out inconvenient facts.
So... could be lying, could be sloppy facts, could be sloppy thinking about the facts.
Oh, no; Kerry would never make things up like that! (cough, cough: "Cambodia!")
Even if you want to cut him some slack, that makes his staff look pretty retarded, if they can't get that much right.
I also was completely dumbfounded by a TV series that chronicled the sad story of a young man who became a double amputee, and had no insurance. That's malarkey, too. The narrator even said he had Medicaid, and would undoubtedly qualify for Medicare, as well. They're both retroactive programs, too.
:)
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.