Find Your Todd Palin (Emily Bazelon & Ann Althouse)

[BrendanM]

The section linked as "Health care bill: too extreme/not extreme enough" encapsulates the conservative position in a nutshell (nutcase?): First AA says the bill is a radical massive government takeover of healthcare. Then, when EB points out that this is not true, AA admits that is not true, but says it is a way-station toward this end, a set-up. AA is a law professor and clearly capable of analytical thinking. Indeed, she does some on this meme. But the presumption underlying her thinking is clear: whatever the bill says, the goal is pre-known. Bravo, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, et al. Facts are not important, all that is important is that people believe what we want them to believe. If people believe the Democrats aspire to create a former East Germany out of the USA, detailed debate about health-care or anything else is really irrelevant.