SCHIP and the Right Wing Swiftboating of Graeme Frost: Can the Snakes Slither Any Lower?
It’s hard to believe that the right wing snakes could slither any lower. When the entirety of the right wing blogosphere is hell bent on destroying a family for having had the temerity to publicly challenge George Bush’s veto of SCHIP, it’s clear that something is horribly wrong with the political discourse in this country.
Every time that I think the GOP and their online enablers can’t possibly slink any further beneath the festering ooze and slime of Republican gutter politics, they reaffirm my faith in their ability to tunnel to even greater depths under their slurry of raw political sewage. A 12 year old boy, Graeme Frost, and his family are now the targets of right wing swiftboating bile. What did Graeme do to incur the wrath of foaming wingers such as Michelle Malkin?
This past Saturday, Graeme did the unthinkable: he provided the Democratic Party response to George Bush’s veto of the SCHIP funding bill. In his own words:
If it weren’t for CHIP, I might not be here today. … We got the help we needed because we had health insurance for us through the CHIP program. But there are millions of kids out there who don’t have CHIP, and they wouldn’t get the care that my sister and I did if they got hurt. … I just hope the President will listen to my story and help other kids to be as lucky as me.
What happened to Graeme and his sister that he would be put in the unlikely position of championing a very worthy cause? They had the unfortunate experience of being involved in a severe car accident, and received access to medical care through CHIP in Maryland. Think Progress has the full story of Graeme and his sister Gemma’s plight, and perhaps more importantly, the GOP leadership’s attacks on Graeme and his family.
And then, following the GOP leadership attacks, someone in the underbelly of the Republican Party started feeding talking points on the Frost family to the rabid online wingers. The real slimefest started in earnest. It makes my skin crawl — and makes me livid — to even have to write about the swiftboating of Graeme Frost and his family, but the story of the attempts to destroy this family for having the temerity to challenge George Bush’s veto needs the widest possible dissemination.
Continuing from Think Progress:
A poster at the Free Republic propagated information alleging that Frost was actually a rich kid being pampered by the government. Among other bits of information, the post by the Freeper “icwhatudo” asserts that Graeme and his sister Gemma attend wealthy schools that cost “nearly $40,000 per year for tuition” and live in a well-off home.
The smear attack against Graeme has taken firm hold in the right-wing blogosphere. The National Review, Michelle Malkin, Wizbang, Powerline, and the Weekly Standard blog have all launched assaults on the Frost family. The story is slowly working its way into traditional media outlets as well.
Malkin is, quite literally, stalking the Frost family to feed the right wing anti-SCHIP noise machine. And this is what passes for vapid GOP political discourse in this country? The message here is incredibly simple: the GOP can’t win on the merits of their opposition to SCHIP, so they are hell bent on destroying a 12 year old boy and his family. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Frost family is exactly the type of family who should be covered by a healthcare safety net. Both of the parents work; Halsey Frost is a self-employed contractor, and with six mouths to feed, can’t afford traditional health insurance. Halsey and his wife earn (combined) less than $50,000 per year. As with many of us, there’s always too much month left at the end of the money. While both Graeme and his sister Gemma go to private schools (one of the primary right wing smear points), their tuitions are paid almost completely by scholarships - in fact, Gemma’s is fully funded by the state of Maryland because of her special needs (brain damage) from the car accident.
Bottom line: the Frost family is not “gaming the system”, and their needs are acute. As Graeme noted, if it wasn’t for Maryland CHIP, he and his sister might not be here right now.
But again, rather than debate the merits (or lack thereof) of their arguments against SCHIP, the GOP and their rabid attack dogs choose to go after a working class family that’s trying to get by on a day-to-day basis. Rather than praise Graeme and his sister for their courage in recovering from debilitating injuries, the sewage spewers of the right wing choose to attempt to destroy an entire family. Rather than admit that sometimes the safety nets such as CHIP are necessary to keep hard working families out of a disastrous personal situation, the right wing troglodytes would rather demonize those families as leeches and gamers. After all, it’s so much easier to destroy a poster-family than to intellectually defend a morally bankrupt policy.
The outrage over Graeme’s story is most assuredly not about whether his parents can afford private health insurance. It’s not about that most Norquestian holy grail of Republicans everywhere - “personal responsibility”. The state of Maryland says they’re qualified for the program, and that’s that. This entire story is about the online enablers of the Republican Party (and the GOP leadership itself) taking the politics of intimidation and personal destruction to unseen depths. Let’s not forget for a moment: these are the same soulless Bush zombies who still blame the residents of New Orleans for the national trauma after Hurricane Katrina.
The misery that Malkin and her ilk will visit on this family solely to muddy the waters of political discourse is unforgiveable. It would not surprise me for a moment if Halsey Frost loses business because of this flap, and/or Bonnie (the mom) loses her part time job. I am livid with anger, more so even than with the swiftboating of a war hero three years ago. I didn’t think these snakes could slither any lower.
I was wrong. And I am thoroughly disgusted.
Will Bunch and Digby provide additional perspective. Hilzoy breaks down the financial aspects of this story.
Update: And now, PillBoy has leapt into the Malkinization of the Graeme, and unleashed his cadre of mouthbreathers on the family. Whatever soul and compassion that are left in America just died a little bit more today. Markos believes that this the GOP’s “Schiavo moment” of the current election cycle. I certainly hope so.
Update II: I started thinking about why the wingers would go after this family, and came up with a theory. It’s the subject of my latest posting on the topic.
Same here, Richard. Just when you think you can’t get any angrier, just when you think they can’t go any lower, or become more inhumane, they effing suprise you with their vehemence and gall.
They are also “swiftboating” the old WWII vets who didn’t torture. Unfeckingbeleivable.
Republican Swiftboating worked to perfection against John Kerry and other genuine combat heros not because it was a brilliant strategy but because the Democrats were “afraid” of the consequences of taking on these scum directly. Today’s Washington Post uses the word “afraid” to describe congressional Democrats who are caving in to the Bush fascist wiretapping illegalities. Democrats are “afraid” to be smeared by the fascist swine as being soft on terra. Not a day goes by that Democratic fear is not mentioned in the MSM.
So please tell me: When will Democrats stop being “afraid?”
Expecting Republicans to act in anything like a moral way is expecting far too much. I guarantee right here that, faced with the facts from ThinkProgress, not one of those Republicans will apologize for stalking and smearing a 12 year old boy and his family.
By the way. . . whatever happened to family values, anyway?
In addition, why is the right wing striking out at someone who attends private school on scholarship? Isn’t that what they want for all American students, the end of public schools? They employ the same ironic stance in hatin’ on the family for being so large, while at the same time hoping the rest of us will never have access to birth control.
Nutbars.
Jess, they’re striking out a kid who earned a scholarship. They used to praise such achievements. Heck, they’re striking out at the brain damaged sister, but just a couple years ago they raised brain damage to such a worshipful height that the Republican Congress passed a law for one brain damaged woman.
Didn’t you know? Malkin was there to do a drive-by. That’s what she does.
It is hard for me to belive that a couple with 4 kids can live off of $45K a year in the manner that they live. I worked for a company where the owner claimed to make $20K a year and yet he drove 3 expensive cars, lived in a large lush home, paid alimony, supported 4 kids and had a summer home. I say this because I want people to know that there are those who can and will manipulate the system. Since this family was ok in using their child as an argument for the S-CHIP program and claim that they can’t afford to buy health insurance, then others have a right to look into whether their claim is true or not.
We need to stop looking at this issue with political glasses and look at the issue with how to make it work. Poor families need help with health insurance and no one is disputing that fact. What is being disputed is the definition of poor. Is this the type of family that deserves a part of everyone else’s tax dollar to get free health insurance? If this family owns and runs a business, owns commercial property, and owns a large expensive home, then do they define the definition of poor?
I’m old fashioned in that I would provide for the well being of my family first. Me! Myself! Not ask for the government to pay for it. I’d work hard enough that my business could afford me to do that.
You have to read a lot of nonsense comments to get to John’s sensible post…
Yes, I agree. John it the issue right on the head. It is all about what is the definition of “poor”. The family agreed to let their child give the radio address, then they should also have known that the child and their family will be scrutinized. There’s some talk about the kids being on scholarship at the fancy school and about the family only earning $45K. But I say that a picture speaks louder than all these “disputed” facts. Look at the well publicized picture of the entire family in their kitchen. Granite countertops and glass cabinet doors. Very nice and very expensive. Did the Frosts place a higher priority on a nice kitchen than on health insurance? Please don’t use my tax money to buy the Frost’s health insurance so that they can go out and remodel their home.
It is hard for me to belive that a couple with 4 kids can live off of $45K a year in the manner that they live.
It is hard for me to believe that someone this ignorant of the facts of the situation thinks that their beliefs hold any credulence as regards this case.
Since this family was ok in using their child as an argument for the S-CHIP program and claim that they can’t afford to buy health insurance, then others have a right to look into whether their claim is true or not.
By stalking the people involved, and distorting the facts of the situation?
It’s a pity you weren’t quite so thorough when the Disaster in Chief started an illegal, immoral war against a foreign country. But, hey - a twelve year old kid who chooses to speak out against the WPE?
Is this the type of family that deserves a part of everyone else’s tax dollar to get free health insurance? If this family owns and runs a business, owns commercial property, and owns a large expensive home, then do they define the definition of poor?
Is the pRetzelDunce and his wealthy blue blood family the type of family that deserves $600K a year from the government (Chimpy gets $400K a year to crew the country while he’s the WPE, and PapaDoc gets $200K in retirement. Plus benefits. Plus security up the wazoo…)? Please don’t use my tax dollars to support a waste of oxygen so he can go out and murder and bankrupt my fellow americans.
The SCHIP progamme is not for poor people, but relatively low income. The test here is whether any health insurance they could have afforded would have done the same for the immediate and ongoing needs concerning the bad things that happened to their kids. I rather doubt it.
Very well said John, and Steve. You’re not the only person who noticed this too, That photo spoke more to me than all this nonsense.
I was raised in a true, poor american family. We were living off my fathers SSI after he passed away from cancer which the Navy didn’t help with. I have lived from house to house in mobiles all my life until not. We did not have what the Frost family had and if we could we would worry more about the family health then our Kitchen and the nice Cars the Frost family drives.
on avg my Mother of 1, Me, made on year $23k from SSI and her Job which the Government didn’t want her to have or else they would take away her SSI.
Anyway, I agree that this is about the true definition of what poor is, and honestly the Frost family is not by any means poor. They can afford Blueshield like I have which will take care of their entire family. The schooling is not necessary.
Hey morons.
They bought their house for $55,000 16 years ago. Ever heard of this little thing called the real estate bubble? It’s been a big thing in the Baltimore area. Also, he’s a cabinet maker
You know what George Bush’s favorite philosopher said? You know, “Judge not, lest you be judged.” Before taking the mote out of your brother’s eye, take the beam out of your own.
Everyone can say what they will. The fact is this. Families that really need health insurance will be dropped under the radar if the middle class gets free health insurance. Load up the health facilities with an additional 10 million freebees and the folks that really need it won’t get it.
On a secondary note, after adding those 10 million to the roles, how big would the department that is responsible for paying the bills get. Big.. Big… government… All because the proponents for this bill want to drive a big new car instead of paying our own way? I don’t think so…
I’m happy that the majority of America doesn’t obsess about politics enough to read blogs like this. You’d think that in a conversation about conservatives and liberals, both sides would have valid points. In the end the winner would be whoever champions your cause more closely than the other. Obviously not so. There is not *one* post smearing that boy. Silly Internet junkies who have lost the definition of “reporter” (which Michelle Malkin happens to be and has been since her days at the Los Angeles Daily News) spew nonsense on a website and it’s called a “blog.” Wonderful. Another medium besides the news where idiots can spread their hysteria. It’s funny how local news is lauded for uncovering insurance fraud and yet Malkin is “stalking” a family for investigative reporting–it’s not like she’s an unknown, using a fake press pass to case a bank robbery. There is so much hateful rhetoric against conservatives regarding this issue–too bad the same fervor isn’t displayed denouncing radical Muslims. The point is, help with healthcare isn’t a bad idea–SCHIP is. It’s another sad social program that fails to cure America’s ailments, championed by poor liberal politics. Anyone with sense can understand that this family does not deserve this help–tragedy aside–with so many other pressing issues abound. I’ve seen medical bills bankrupt families with less–what makes them so special? Nothing. It’s a loophole. Financially secure families with entrepreneur bread-winners can get access to SCHIP. Life is about choices and some of us have struggled more than others without having help from the government. The conservative stance? CLOSE THE LOOPHOLES.
Liberals have eroded this country to the point that we risk not standing for anything. If extremists walk our streets with bomb-vests, liberals will cling to “Islam is Peace” or “let’s talk.” They’re worried about making conservatives look bad, while conservatives are worried about keeping America. It’s not about preference: liberals are sick.
“slink any further beneath the festering ooze and slime”
“slurry of raw political sewage.”
“right wing swiftboating bile.”
“foaming wingers”
All in the first paragraph. Sorry, but most of the “foaming bile” I read if from the left, not the right. Does this count as well informed political discussion amongst progressives? Sadly, yes. It wasn’t always thus.
The reason this type of political drivel is “swiftboated” routinely is that it is emotional, feel good nonsense. You march out the disenfranchised and ask for our pity. Then translate that pity into a blank check to do what you think is right - which doesn’t usually involve solving any problems permanently. Rinse and repeat.
Progressives “This poor, mangy bear is sick. Please help him!.”
Malkin” “Hey, that’s not a bear, but a guy dressed like a bear!”
Progressives: “Shut your pie-hole, you dirty slimebag and sign the check!”
Am I missing something?
Duh. Health care costs too much in America. Care to speculate why? 1) People don’t want to get old or die. 2) Anything that is subsidized inevitably becomes more expensive 3) Lawyers like money, so they chase ambulances. Anything else? Why do trial lawyer overwhelmingly support the Democrats? A love of the justice and the rule of law? Riiiight.
Instead of continually paying the higher freight on health care, why not propose some means of lowering the price so everyone could afford health care? Explain how it will work, how it will solve the problem. I know it is more work than thinking up new explicatives, but it is worth the effort. Just try.