Conservatives target 12-year-old boy and his family in S-CHIP debate
It seemed like a straightforward political move. In the midst of the debate over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), before the president vetoed expanding access for millions of low-income children, Democrats invited a 12-year-old boy, Graeme Frost, to deliver the party’s radio address. The point, obviously, was to humanize the policy debate — instead of just another politician reading talking points, here was a kid who was able to get the medical care he needed after a serious car accident caused severe brain trauma, paralyzed one of his vocal chords, and put him in a coma.
That was two weeks ago. Over the weekend, several conservative activists and bloggers decided it was time to do what the right does best: smear anyone who gets in their way. The Conservative Attack Machine decided Graeme Frost and his family didn’t deserve benefits under S-CHIP and went after the Frosts with a vengeance.
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.
It would merely be regrettable if the right invaded the Frosts’ privacy and attacked them for speaking up, but this is much worse — the conservatives launching the attacks got their facts wrong.
For example, the right hammered Graeme for attending an expensive private school. What his attackers neglected to mention is that the school only charges the Frosts $500 a year.
The right hammered Graeme’s sister, who suffered brain injuries in the family’s car accident, for also attending an expensive private school, without noting that the state covers her tuition.
The right blasted the Frost family for living in a neighborhood where some homes sell for nearly a half-million dollars. What their attackers neglected to mention is that the family bought their home 16 years ago for $55,000, in what was once a less-safe part of Baltimore.
By any reasonable measure, the Frost family is struggling. The parents’ combined income is $45,000. They have four kids, all of whom qualify for S-CHIP, and all of whom would have no insurance without the state benefits. The right has decided to characterize the Frosts as an example of a wealthy family on welfare. The reality is that conservatives are smearing a family in need of a hand.
What’s more, Michelle Malkin claims she went to the Frost’s home and workplace yesterday. A co-worker of the father said the family is “struggling,” but Malkin remained skeptical.
Now, when dealing with a large group of conservatives who oppose healthcare for poor children on principle, I suppose it’s best to keep expectations low. But this is perhaps the most vile smear the right has launched in recent memory. The Frosts are not political candidates. They are not publicity-seekers. They are not political players of any kind. This is a family who can’t afford healthcare for their kids who need it, and they showed courage asking the president to do what’s right for other families in similar circumstances.
And for that, the right has made this family a target. Conservatives are having trouble winning the policy debate on the merits, so they’re going after a 12-year-old child and his family. Worse, conservatives launched their smear before getting the facts straight.
I’m old fashioned, but I like to believe there are certain lines of decency that shouldn’t be crossed, even in the course of heated political debate. As this story makes clear, there are far too many on the right for whom these lines are invisible. They are shameless, they are callous, and they are scary.
Digby’s take, of course, was terrific.
This is so loathsome I am literally sick to my stomach. These kids were hurt in a car accident. Their parents could not afford health insurance — and sure as hell couldn’t get it now with a severely handicapped daughter. And these shrieking wingnut jackasses are harassing their family for publicly supporting the program that allowed the kids to get health care. A program, by the way, which a large number of these Republicans support as well.
They went after Michael J. Fox. They went after a wounded Iraq war veteran. Now they are going after handicapped kids. There is obviously no limit to how low these people will go.
They’d better pray that they stay rich and healthy and live forever because if there is a hell these people are going to be on the express train to the 9th circle the minute they shuffle off their useless mortal coils.
Scum.
Indeed.
Worse, conservatives launched their smear before getting the facts straight.
Ummm, they launched a war before getting their facts right. This is just standard operating procedure
Bob Novak is probably not the only one going straight to hell.
I’m not holding my breath that the ‘liberal’ MSM will spotlight this particular story, and the right-wingers’ actions in smearing these people. Bush always talks about ‘Good’ vs. ‘Evil’ as a rationale for everything his Administration does w.r.t. the ‘war on terra’; (as GG put it) the ‘Manichean’ dichotomy–well, the right-wingers who are doing this are truly Evil people, without shame.
As Martin pointed out at #1, this is a tried-and-true tactic of the Republican machine. They keep such arrows in their quiver as phone jamming, attack ads, swiftboating and smearing (the latter 3 all simply variations on the same theme) for no other reason than that they work, and work well. Most people, especially those who are hearing what they wanted and expected to hear, will believe the Democrats really stepped on their dicks this time – prepping a rich kid to pretend he was a poor kid. Most will never read or hear the rebuttal, and the impression that will linger will be the one the Republicans wanted to project. These are the folks who want a permanent majority, people! they’ll stop at nothing to gain and keep power, and when they have it, it’s business as usual – and damn you and your stupid opinion.
What do you expect from a group of folks so self centered and lack any sense of humanity that they can’t empathize with the plight of others?
The only ones Steyn and Malkin can be expected to challenge any longer are brain damaged children, brain-atrophied comatose bodies on life support, dead babies, rocks and trees.
Everyone with an adult IQ who’s sentient, sober and awake provides too much brainpower for them to rationally debate.
conservatives launched their smear before getting the facts straight.
Facts? Since when do the rightwing lunatics care what the facts are?
Read the following quotes and see if they don’t sound a lot like Malkin and her fellow idiots…
These people are idiots. They really care if you make your money from hard work or from investing inheritance, just that you have money. If you work hard, but still don’t have money, then it must be because of a moral failing. If you are born rich or well off, then it must indicate your moral superiority. They don’t want a dime of government money to help poor people, but heaping contracts and tax breaks on the rich is fine with them. They don’t realize they themselves stand on the economic infrastructure they despise. They don’t ever think about walking in another man’s shoes. They are incredibly selfish and incredibly short sighted. They are hateful, jealous, small minded killers. They actually believe that it doesn’t take a village, when it does. They don’t think we’re all in this together, when we are. They’re Idiots.
I can’t tell you how disgusted I am about what is being done to this family, and not just because these are people who have already been through the terrible experience of having two of their children seriously injured in a car accident; that’s pretty bad all by itself. These are people who are trying to do all the right things – both parents work, but neither job offers health insurance. The State of Maryland says they qualify – so why are they being vilified? That’s like going after old people because they qualify for Medicare – and Medicare doesn’t even have income limits – all you have to do to qualify is be the right age.
I don’t know how it works in other states, but here in Maryland, because each child is entitled to a public education, if the public school system cannot meet a child’s needs, the State is required to provide the cost of that education at a private institution that can meet those needs; this is why Graeme Frost’s sister, Gemma, is being educated at a private school, at State expense.
Do I think there’s a possibility that there are some children in S-CHIP who may not belong there? Yes – because these things happen. It’s important to note that it probably isn’t the children who are responsible for that, but their parents, who should know better and should understand that it is people who game the system that put everyone else on the defensive.
What really gets to me is that all these right-wing pundits would rather go after a 12-year old and his family than do the same kind of scorched-earth questioning of the administration which is marching us to confrontation with Iran, illegally spying on all of us and not-so-secretly-anymore torturing and disappearing people.
Good to know they have their priorities in order.
We put that kid and his family out there knowing what they are capable of. I thought it was a cheap political stunt and it totally backfired. Was I only one who knew what that kid was in for ??????????? Seriously ??????
Call me crazy, but I am getting a little sick of us walking into traps, when are we going to learn ??? Kids are off the table, they have been for a long time, but no, we decide to parade one out to “to humanize the policy debate”, GROW UP !!!
We are dealing with wild animals, yet every time we walk in with spitball guns and wonder why we get tore up. This was abhorrent, but not unexpected.
Can we quit with the outrage and focus on taming the wild animals for once. In case you haven’t noticed, they don’t care about decency and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we can stand up and shut them down.
Dems, keep the kids out of the debate, it didn’t score us one extra veto override vote, it was unnecessary and if we can be honest with ourselves, it was a cheap political stunt.
Racerx (#7), I followed your link. Scary.
There is more good stuff there as well:
Humanitarianism is the expression of stupidity and cowardice. (Like S-CHIP?)
Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.
The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.
I usually get disgusted when discussions turn to Hitler, but it looks like the Bushies were taking notes.
What, no mention of the three Cadillacs the family owns?
Too bad these kids aren’t still in the womb, onservatives would be busting their balls to keep the fetuses alive.
The right promotes itself as such a high-&-mighty thing—but all they can do is beat up on a kid? Tail-tucking yellow dog cowards, all of them!
So—can we start hunting these “homo neocons” yet” They’re becoming an invasive species….
And who game the system more than wealthy right-wingers who resent the public dole?
the conservatives launching the attacks got their facts wrong…
Since when do the repugnicans need to get their facts right!
We put that kid and his family out there knowing what they are capable of. I thought it was a cheap political stunt and it totally backfired. Was I only one who knew what that kid was in for ??????????? Seriously ??????
How did it backfire? People started attacking the family and throwing out lies, that’s backfiring? What is your plan for taming the wild animals? Should Dems be less civil or more civil?
Steve (#13) said: “Tail-tucking yellow dog cowards, all of them!
I won’t stand for this slander of yellow dogs! Some of my best friends are “yellow dog” Democrats. I am too.
“Tail-tucking cowards” would have been apt and sufficient.
And this surprises you??!!
So – let’s get this straight. Two parents – homeowners,car owners, and business owners, well-off enough to qualify for another mortgage for a $160K warehouse, are also suppose to be so poor that they couldn’t afford a major medical policy for their OWN CHILDREN? And then they let their kids be paraded around by a bunch of opportunistic politicians? Who really deserves the anger here?
Of course, merely mentioning these facts makes one BAD and MEAN and a KID HATER. Utterly ridiculous, but typical for the childish thinking and rhetoric so common these days
Here’s the deal: ADULT parents, even of ordinary means, would see to it that their kids were insured before bad things happen, at least with a major medical policy (which is less than half of the $1200/ month premium quoted by the parents, and would have covered catastrophic injuries as suffered by their kid). ADULT parents wouldn’t “take a gamble” on health insurance. Finally, ADULT parents wouldn’t let their MINOR (i.e., unable to give consent) children be used by politicians.
To all of you posters here – would you have liked to have parents as irresponsible as this, who wouldn’t bother to cover you with at least a major medical policy? Yes, low-income, low-wealth individuals do need help buying insurance, and I fully support this policy – but these two didn’t need it; they could have paid for a major medical policy on their own prior to disaster. But they didn’t, and chose to let they let the taxpayers foot the bill. For this, they are the latest American heroes. Insane.
I speak as a middle-class man who’s maintained health, life and disability insurance on his family, on his own dime. This is not because I’m noble; it’s because it’s the right and responsible thing to do. Sadly, we may have to go the Romney or Clinton route and force people to start acting like ADULTS.
Interesting debate. Perhaps if America stopped prosecuting illegal wars in the Middle East it could redirect some of that trillion dollar Pentagon budget towards universal health care, just like every other western nation on earth…