Two Minutes Hate part deux

Krugman nails it (emphasis mine):

Politics aside, the Graeme Frost case demonstrates the true depth of the health care crisis: every other advanced country has universal health insurance, but in America, insurance is now out of reach for many hard-working families, even if they have incomes some might call middle-class.

And there’s one more point that should not be forgotten: ultimately, this isn’t about the Frost parents. It’s about Graeme Frost and his sister.

I don’t know about you, but I think American children who need medical care should get it, period. Even if you think adults have made bad choices — a baseless smear in the case of the Frosts, but put that on one side — only a truly vicious political movement would respond by punishing their injured children.

That's the real issue here. Fortunately, I think that the American public is way ahead of the curve on this one. The Rethuglicans have finally jumped the shark. Like lemmings, they are following some irrepressible primal urge to follow Dear Leader over the cliff, despite the fact that he is so patently wrong on the issues, as has been pointed out by some of the staunchest conservatives in the Senate:

After hearing Bush say Thursday that he was going to veto the bill in part because it would allow families of four making $80,000 to place their children on the the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Grassley blasted the president, saying his assertion was dead wrong.

"The president has been served wrong information about what our bill will do," Grassley said Thursday between Senate votes. "There's nothing in our bill that would do that. His understanding of the bill was wrong."

[...]

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), meanwhile, said the president should support a bipartisan compromise on SCHIP.

"The House has worked with us and the Senate Democrats have worked with us. That's a pretty good indication" of bipartisan cooperation, Hatch said.

Asked if he would support a veto override, Hatch didn't hesitate. "You bet your sweet bippy I will," Hatch said with a smile.

Dubya has even had his "let them eat cake" moment with the following statement:

After the Senate Finance Committee approved an expansion of the federal Children's Health Insurance Program to cover nearly 10 million kids, President Bush offered a strange rationale for threatening to veto it. "People have access to health care in America," he told an audience in Cleveland. "After all, you just go to an emergency room."

I won't even get into how stupid that statement is given that that practice (going to the emergency room when a condition that could have been treated at much lower cost, or even prevented, had the person simply visited their primary care physician), is one of the contributing factors towards the high cost of health care in this country.

The Rethuglican swift-boating of a helpless 12-year old kid and his now brain-damaged sister rips apart the Republican's fraudulent claim to be the party of "Family Values".

Update: HAH! Just saw this over at DKos:

Ad Campaign Criticizes Pro-Life Members of Congress for Voting against Children's Health Insurance

Washington, DC- Catholics United will launch a radio advertising campaign targeting ten members of Congress whose opposition to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) have compromised their pro-life voting records.

The ads, which feature a mother urging her Congressional Representative to support SCHIP, will primarily air on Christian and talk radio stations from Monday Oct. 15 to Wednesday, Oct. 17 as Congress approaches a critical Oct. 18 vote to override President Bush's veto of bipartisan SCHIP legislation.

"Building a true culture of life requires public policies that promote the welfare of the most vulnerable," said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United. "At the heart of the Christian faith is a deep and abiding concern for the need of others. Pro-life Christians who serve in Congress should honor this commitment by supporting health care for poor children."

Yes, indeed, they have really jumped the shark. Couldn't happen to a more deserving party.