cognitive dissident

Two of the conservative media's biggest mouths have recently announced support for socialized medicine--or at least have admitted preferring it to the current profit-driven US system. The first example is Sarah "death panels" Palin. ThinkProgress noted that "this past Saturday in Calgary, Canada -- at 'her first Canadian appearance since stepping down as governor of Alaska last summer' -- Palin seemed to deviate from her fear of socialized Canadian medicine when she revealed that her family may have benefited from the Canadian system:"

PALIN: We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada. And I think now, isn't that ironic?

Lincoln Mitchell writes at HuffPo that "[i]t is not exactly surprising, or even 'ironic,' to use Palin's words, that somebody who has made a name, and a great deal of money, for herself by linking health care reform to some kind of socialist bogeyman, used to take advantage of socialized medicine:"

Speaking to a Canadian audience and reminiscing about traveling to Canada for health care as a child is the kind of thing we might expect from a progressive supporter of health care seeking to stress the need for a better health care reform system in the US. Had, for example, Anthony Weiner [D-NY] made this comment while on the Canadian side of the border near New York, you can be sure that Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and, yes, Sarah Palin would be seeking to red bait him out of the congress. There will, of course, be no such consequence for Palin

Double standards are also evident in Rush Limbaugh's stance on Congressional attempts at healthcare reform. ThinkProgress noted that "Limbaugh put his money where his mouth is, saying that if health care passes and all his fears are realized, he'll leave the country:"

CALLER: If the health care bill passes, where would you go for health care yourself? [...]

LIMBAUGH: [...] I'll just tell you this, if this passes and it's five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented -- I am leaving the country. I'll go to Costa Rica.

Rush now denies that he meant what he said, which makes me wonder: Was it just the Oxy talking? Is he planning another sex tourism vacation? Sara Robinson's "Limbaugh Endorses Socialist Paradise" suggests that "[c]hoosing Costa Rica as an escape hatch -- even in an off-the-cuff remark -- reveals far more about Rush's real values and priorities than he probably wants us to see:"

When push comes to shove, even Mr. Talent On Loan From God has finally admitted that personally, he'd bypass all those sorry countries that have taken fatal doses of the free-market medicine he's spent the last 25 years promoting. Given the choice, even he would rather live in a country where there's a strong social contract that guarantees economic opportunity, ensures fairness, protects the environment, and invests richly in the future of its own people.

Having done far more than his share to ensure that America can no longer be that country, he's ready to jet off and make a new start in a place where the progressive spirit is still alive and well and creating a strong, prosperous, future-oriented nation.

Raw Story notes that this incident is "the second time Limbaugh has unwittingly praised the very type of health care system he claims to despise:"

After experiencing chest pains while vacationing in Hawaii, Limbaugh was rushed to a hospital and checked out by doctors, who pronounced him healthy. Once discharged, the right-wing jock praised Hawaii's health care by lumping it in with health services all over America: "the best health care in the world," he said.

However, Hawaii's system is the closest thing the United States has to a socialized health program, where all workers are provided with a "generous" health policy by their employer and nurses are unionized. One reporter further noted that many components of Hawaii's health system are now embedded in President Obama's reforms.

Because of their progressive health system, Hawaii's insurance premiums are the lowest among the 50 states and life expectancy is much higher compared to the continental U.S.

Healthcare hypocrites: available now at a corporate media outlet near you!