Healthcare Plan Misinformation Video-induced Debate

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This is the video that has the Obama administration so upset about the spreading of misinformation.

 

Great video. I agree with everything Obama says in it. Normally, I don't look at any links or vidoes you post, TGS, (unless you are willing to add any of your own comments and why you agree or disagree) but this one was different. As optimistic as we are about a single-payer system, I don't think it will happen. I think the public option will force insurance companies to reform themselves. Right now it's nothing more than a huge cash cow for the insurance companies, and they've been riding the gravytrain on the backs of the American people with zero accountability. They have to know that this is going to change.

 

I normally just like to report and let you decide. Wait a minute, that sounds familiar

 

Warning: The following video response to the above contains... HATE!!! (and likely, traces of peanuts).

 

DR, that video kind of disturbs me. I'm having a tough time putting it into words, so I think I'm going to use an analogy instead. Could you imagine if the Bush White House had put out videos naming anti-war protestors and then telling everyone that these people were wrong? I kind of feel that is what is going on in this video. Here we have the communication director of the office of health reform showing Drudge's website and basically saying that it is wrong. That disturbs me.

Everyone should be entitled to their opinion without the government telling them that their opinion is wrong. There are plenty of people who do not believe that Obama is telling the truth about his goals/plans for health care and the economy. Now that may mean that they are paranoid, but they should be entitled to their opinion.

 

Drudge's website is the source of this video that's being circulated, so of course they're going to call it out directly. Comparing Drudge to an average war protester is a very bad comparison, especially considering how influential the Drudge Report web site is in our media. But I'll bite.

The key thing missing in the example you gave is they aren't merely saying these people are wrong, but providing direct evidence showing that what the protesters are saying is incorrect.* People are of course entitled to their own opinion. But when people like the Drudge Report are deliberately disseminating misleading information in the form of out-of-context video snippets - and apparently have people willing to pass it on without thinking critically about its content or context first, making them go viral - The White House has every right to respond directly. And they should, because the video you posted is dishonest and a deliberate attempt to confuse people. It is not merely someone's "opinion."

* My biggest problem with how the Bush Administration conducted the war was their consistent dishonesty and refusal to be transparant. Had they actually addressed the concerns of the people against the war, as you suggest, there would have been a hell of a lot less animosity towards their war policy (provided, that the information they gave was actually truthful).

 

Really? So everyone in government has to agree with everyone? Wow. That's a shift in the entire democratic paradigm.

 

I guess my problem is that I don't believe that it should be the White House that is rebutting Drudge. To me the White House (and probably the Congress) aren't supposed to be telling us what to do, we should be telling them what to do. If the response to the Drudge Post was from Moveon.org I think that is a little bit more honest. If the White House is putting this out then that means they are using taxpayer money to influence what the taxpayers think. I don't think that is a job for the government.

 

Kerry thought the claims made by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were so outrageous that he didn't even need to address them - we see how that turned out. Sometimes, you have to push back.

 

What you seem to be missing Snook is that this video is not an honest policy rebuttal, this is a dishonest attempt to confuse and mislead people. If the Healthcare proposal the Obama folks are trying to move forward with is so bad, then great - convince me of that, don't try to scare me. Its opponents should produce a video detailing the specifics of why it won't work and offer an alternative, not insinuate that Obama is trying to Trojan-horse the destruction of the healthcare system on us. That is something I would love to see. But that is not what your Drudge video is doing. The person who made it - some guy called NakedEmporer - is deliberately distorting Obama's position and taking his statements out of context, mashing them up out of order and creating a whole new narrative. Do you really think this is expressing an "opinion?" Like something Obama said in 2003 has any bearing on what his position is in 2009. He's President now, and is dealing with very different political realities than when he was just a Senator, don't you think?

It's a blatant rhetorical fallacy, and an attempt to scare people. Please stop acting like it is a legitimate criticism. I've yet to see one from your side, to be honest. That's part of the problem. Calling the President a fascist, a socialist, a racial opportunist, and distorting his words does not a reasonable alternative make. The White House has every right - I would say a duty - to push back against an obvious misinformation campaign. That is all they are doing in the video I posted above.

Bottom line: you're wrong; the White House is not telling us "what to do" in this case. They're setting the record straight about what exactly it is they're trying to do. Only this way can people make an informed decision about it. The video you posted only serves to muddy the issue and confuse people. Something tells me that didn't occur to you.

 

I knew it, Yoda is a Democrat!

 

Rep bump -

DR,

Well said. And thanks for putting it much more elequently than my ham-fisted attempt.

 

GWB did the same thing. And in fact, paid reporters to spout their policies:

Where was all this conservative "concern and outrage" 4 years ago?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_administration_payment_of_columnists

 

That may be the case, but aren't we supposed to believe in "Hope and Change"? Isn't Obama supposed to be better than that? I'm sorry, I'm just not buying the GWB excuse.

 

Come on, guys. Paying reporters to astroturf and clarifying misinformation are not the same thing. Not even close.

 

Excuse? That's the guy you voted for. BTW, you didn't vote for "hope and change," if I recall; you voted against it. So what are you complaining about?

Well, of course the GWB situation was much worse, but both are attempts to influence public opinion. It's just that the GWB situation was much more underhanded.

 

Influencing public opinion is not a bad thing. Every government should and must do that, otherwise their policies would find no popular support. The difference between the two administrations is Bush's deliberately misled people about their policies, and so far Obama's is trying their best to prevent people from being misled about their policies (at least in this case). I'm not saying they're doing the best job, but they are trying. The GOP aren't offering alternatives, they're fearmongering. They're running around saying Obama wants to kill your Grandma.

 

Exactly, if your guy is better then I'm shocked that you don't believe he should be held to a higher standard.

 

I believe that every public official should be held to a high standard, which is why I haven't voted for a Republican in some time; you seem to set the bar higher for Democrats, which I guess makes your choice that much simpler.

 

Oh please Chandos give it a break.