Twitter roundup

	Brendan Nyhan Aug 30, 2010 at 9:26pm From my Twitter feed (8/27-8/30)
	BrendanNyhan Aug 30, 2010 at 2:25pm Not a fan of "____ and bin Laden agree" genre whether it's Palin on NYC Islamic center or Dems opposing war in Iraq http://j.mp/bVFH02
	The New York Times > Log In
	BrendanNyhan Aug 30, 2010 at 2:24pm "Obama Struggling To Find Footing On Economy" http://j.mp/cwGpz1 Not sure what that means. Bad economy = bad for Obama. No way to spin it.
	Obama Struggling To Find Footing On Economy - Hotline On Call
	BrendanNyhan Aug 30, 2010 at 1:30pm Despite being the incumbent governor, Charlie Crist is experiencing the dynamics that doom most 3rd party candidates http://j.mp/bHHOoS
	Party-less Crist faces harsh reality - POLITICO.com Print View POLITICO covers political news with a focus on national politics, Congress, Capitol Hill, the 2008 presidential race, lobbying, advocacy, and more. POLITICO's in-depth coverage includes video features, regular blogs, photo galleries, cartoons, and political forums.
	BrendanNyhan Aug 30, 2010 at 12:53pm Overhyping a few primary upsets -- Ambinder's parties-in-decline thesis debunked by my friend/coauthor Hans Noel http://j.mp/cmP1nO
	The Monkey Cage: Those "Withered" Parties
	BrendanNyhan Aug 30, 2010 at 8:22am Cool graphic from "Macro Politics of a Gender Gap" of male/female liberalism over time: http://j.mp/aZ6nPL Paper (gated): http://j.mp/dyarbr
	The Macro Politics of a Gender Gap — Public Opin Q
	BrendanNyhan Aug 30, 2010 at 8:06am Another attempt to redefine "death panels" as future cost-induced rationing http://j.mp/ak8eoc That's not what Palin said http://j.mp/aeoviM
	A Non-Demagogic Disquisition on Death Panels - The Agenda - National Review Online Avik Roy writes on NRO: I’ve received a larger-than-usual amount of email and commentary from liberal readers, responding to my earlier thoughts on Atul Gawande’s piece in The New Yorker on end-of-life care. Most of these reflect exasperation regarding the term “death panels,” which they see as dishonest and demagogic (I objected to Gawande’s characterization . . .
	Continuing efforts to justify false "death panels" claim - Brendan Nyhan One of the most frustrating aspects of the current debate over the health care reform is the way that conservative bloggers and pundits keep trying to find evidence to justify Sarah Palin's false claims about a "death panel." The latest...
	BrendanNyhan Aug 30, 2010 at 6:20am New Slate counterintuitive claptrap- a defense of Dr. Laura! http://j.mp/bTOq8W My post on how up-is-down-ism rots minds: http://j.mp/9ceXJf
	Dr. Laura: Worse Than Her Callers | The New Republic The New Republic covers politics, culture, and the arts with a focus on national politics, foreign policy, Congress, Capitol Hill, the 2010 midterm elections, literature, and more.
	Self-parody alert: The TNR defense of Coulter - Brendan Nyhan The legacy of Michael Kinsley, the former editor of The New Republic and Slate, continues to rot center-left opinion journalism. The problem is that his writing and editing have elevated the "surprising" and "counter-intuitive" article above all else. The formula...
	BrendanNyhan Aug 30, 2010 at 4:38am Obama "I can’t spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead" http://j.mp/arCDhT True but could be fun experiment
	President Obama blasts lies, disinformation - Glenn Thrush - POLITICO.com "I can't spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead," he says.
	BrendanNyhan Aug 30, 2010 at 3:50am Political scientists Bafumi/Erikson/Wlezien forecast GOP gain of 50 seats with 79% chance of House takeover http://j.mp/bj2fxZ
	Pollster.com - Political Surveys and Election Polls, Trends, Charts and Analysis
	BrendanNyhan Aug 30, 2010 at 3:39am The 2009 episode of "On the Media" discussing my research on the Obama Muslim myth re-aired this weekend -- listen here: http://j.mp/amTLfA
	On The Media: Transcript of "Debunk This!" (August 27, 2010)
	BrendanNyhan Aug 27, 2010 at 11:03am RT @AdamSerwer: Rush on Obama: He's like "some" African-Americans who say "Fourth of July ain't no big deal to me, yo" http://bit.ly/cMS21V
	Rush on "arrogan[t]" Obama: He's like "some" African-Americans who say "Fourth of July ain't no big deal to me, yo" | Media Matters for America From the August 26 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show...
	BrendanNyhan Aug 27, 2010 at 10:52am The animated version of the myth || RT @rcantor Taiwanese elites spread lie that Obama is Muslim: http://bit.ly/9v6xkz (at around :45)
	Taiwan Animation On The Ground Zero Mosque
	BrendanNyhan Aug 27, 2010 at 10:55am To be clear, if you read subtitles, they appear to be mocking *what people think* about Obama's religion (note the fire on "Hussein" etc)
	BrendanNyhan Aug 27, 2010 at 8:24am New CBS poll asks if birthright citizenship "law" should be "changed," omits Constitution. Serious question wording issue http://j.mp/dCv0ax

Comments

[Rob]

Brendan tweets that an "attempt to redefine 'death panels' as future cost-induced rationing" is "not what Palin said."

Let's go to the videotape.

Palin wrote in her famous Facebook statement:

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course.

Now if that's not about future cost-induced rationing, then what the hell is it about?

Palin went on to express her fear of "Obama's 'death panel'" in which "bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,'” who is "worthy of health care." The quoted reference is to views expressed in publications by key Obama health care advisor Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, who also happens to be the brother of Obama's Chief of Staff, and who is referred to by name later in Palin's Facebook statement. (Subsequent to Palin's statement, Dr. Emanuel told the Washington Times his "thinking has evolved" and that "we would have absolutely no reason to even consider rationing except in a few cases.")

Palin's rhetorical use of the term "death panel" may well have been incendiary, but let's please acknowledge that it was precisely about future cost-induced rationing. In Brendan's defense, his Twitter comment was no doubt written quickly and somewhat offhandedly and didn't have the benefit of the careful thought and analysis that Sarah Palin was able to bring to her Facebook statement.

[MartyB]

Funniest thing is that in his article, Avik Roy actually provides a two paragraph quote of Palin, but according to Brendan it's still not "what Palin said".

ROTFL!

[David in Cal]

Excellent group of provocative tweets, Brendan.

1. Re the "____ and bin Laden agree" genre: I'm sorry to see Brendan following the NY Times editorial board's unwritten rule. Criticism of a current misdeed by a Dem must include similar criticism of a Rep, even if the Rep's misdeed was many years ago. OTOH criticism of a current misdeed by a Rep requires no such "balance."

2. Re: the economy. Political junkies sometimes don't realize how callous they sound. Jeremy P. Jacobs thinks an improved political approach to the economy (if such is possible) would be just as good as an improved economy. That's true politically, but it ignores the real suffering that millions of Americans are experiencing.

3. Crist couldn't be more deserving of his electoral problems.

4. Rob demolished Brendan's death panels tweet. Also, Brendan made the assumption that Sarah Palin has so much power that once she uses a term, it must be forever used as she decreed. That's quite a compliment to an out-of-work politician who sometimes posts comments on her site.

5. Obama said, "I can’t spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead," in response to questions about his religion, not his place of birth. I won't claim that this careless error means that Obama is a moron. However, when George Bush made similar mistakes, Dems did make that sort of claim. And, some Dems even believed it.

6. I feel close to Adam Serwer, because my sister is close friends with his parents. I was friendly with his uncle, Drew Days, the former Solicitor General. Since Adam is half-black, I can't blame him for racial sensitivity.

However, Limbaugh's approach to race is to treat it like any other characteristic. His comment about "some African American" is no different in tone from how he mocked Clinton's Arkansas background or Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts background. In this way, he treats African Americans as equal to other groups. (I won't mention that Democrats mockery of Bush was much nastier than anything Limbaugh said.)

Limbaugh doesn't demean blacks by implying that they need exceptional babying. Now, Limbaugh's approach is quite the opposite of what's permissible on campuses and in lots of other spheres. One can debate the pro's and con's of Limbaugh's approach. However, IMHO his use of politically incorrect language doesn't mean he's a racist.

7. Birthright citizenship is a complex issue. The Constitution is ambiguous in that it grants birthright citizenship only to those "subject to [US] jurisdiction."

According to Wikipedia, there are federal laws interpreting the 14th Amendment. These laws define who does or does not receive birthright citizenship. A new law taking that right away from the children of illegal immigrant might or might not stand up in Court. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthright_citizenship_in_the_United_States

[David in Cal]

Brendan finds the false claims about death panels frustrating. What I find frustrating is that we're all clueless about how the law will work.

• None of us has read the law.
• The people we rely on haven't read it, either.
• Simply reading the entire law would be inadequate, because it's written in legalistic jargon
• Even if one read the entire law and could work through the language, much of the law will depend on administrative decisions yet to made by a multitude of new agencies.
• Even if we knew how these agencies would initially rule, we don't know how they will adapt as costs inevitably escalate beyond affordibility.

To see how ignorant we are, let's take some fundamental questions:

• Medicaid care is so bad that some think it does more harm than good. Medicare care is excellet. How good will the care be under the new health reform Plan?
• We can be sure that there will be limitations on coverage. What will those limitations be?
• Will private insurance companies be forced to shrink or driven out of business over time?
• Many experts believe this Plan will have a detrimental effect on medical research. If so, how large will this effect be?
• How much will the Plan actually cost?
• Will the cost of the Plan take money from other government programs? If so, how much, and from which programs?
• Will the cost of the Plan have an adverse impact on federal solvency? How big will be effect be?
• Will the cost of the Plan cause a tax increase. If so, how big will that increase be? Which taxes will increase and by how much?

These are fundamental questions. None of us could answer any of them. Instead, we quibble about semantics.