Yeah, it's nutpicking, but I thought I'd share this response from a Free Republic commenter to the death of Lou Reed:
The ObamaCare Death Panels in New York wouldn’t give him a liver transplant so he got it done in Ohio instead. Typical liberal hypocrisy. Death Panels for thee but not for me.I'm not quite sure how "ObamaCare Death Panels" could kill Reed given that (a) Reed was old enough for Medicare, (b) Obamacare hasn't been fully implemented, and (c) Ohio, like New York, is part of the United States, and Obamacare is federal law, but whatever. Here's what a June news story said:
[Reed's wife, Laurie Anderson,] said that Reed had the surgery in Cleveland instead of New York, where they live, "because the hospitals here are completely dysfunctional.A story on the AARP's blog added:
"Fortunately we can outsource like corporations. It's medical tourism. The Cleveland Clinic is massive. They have the best results for heart, liver and kidney transplants. Whenever I get discouraged about how stupid technology is and how greedy and stupid Americans are, I go to the Cleveland Clinic because the people there are genuinely very kind and very smart."
The Cleveland Clinic, unlike some other facilities, also has no age limit on transplant patients, according to the New York Times.That post cites this Times article, which notes that a lot of medical facilities limit transplants (of all kinds) to the elderly, though the Cleveland Clinic doesn't. This has nothing to do with Obamacare. And AARP points out that Medicare continues to pay for organ transplants.
But let's see if "Obama killed Lou" (or at least "liberalism killed Lou") becomes right-wing conventional wisdom.
