Think Progress:Today, in an attempt to criticize Democrats for using Ted Kennedy’s legacy to pass health care reform, Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AK) argued during a radio segment on ABC Radio Networks that Kennedy would have died sooner under health care reform:
It was President Obama himself who suggested that seniors who don’t have as long to live might want to just consider taking a pain pill instead of getting an expensive operation to cure them. Yet when Sen. Kennedy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at 77, did he give up on life and go home to take pain pills and die? Of course not. He freely did what most of us would do. He choose an expensive operation and painful follow up treatments. He saw his work as vitally important and so he fought for every minute he could stay on this earth doing it. He would be a very fortunate man if his heroic last few months were what future generations remember him most for.”
So, if we follow what Mike might call the "reasoning" here, Ted Kennedy would've died sooner under a government healthcare plan (ignoring of course that, as a US senator, Kennedy had government healthcare), but if he had continued to fight for healthcare reform, he would "be a very fortunate man" and it would be what "future generations remember him most for."
In other words, Ted Kennedy might've gone on to kill people like Ted Kennedy and, for that, he should be praised. Not only is Huckabee pushing a version of the "death panel" myth, but he's adding his own personal incoherence to the mix. What might explain this little trip into Crazytown?
"One thing's for sure," writes George Stephanopoulos, "by joining the debate in this time in this way, Huckabee is showing how determined he is not to be outmaneuvered by Sarah Palin in the early 2012 bidding for the GOP's conservative base."
Ah, he's trying to out-crazy Sarah Palin. It's a good trick if you can pull it off and, as TP shows, he kind of did. Congrats GOP, you've got people competing to see who can be the most squirrelly in preparation for 2012. That ought to work out just great for you.
(Stephanopoulos quote thanks to Political Wire)
