Eric Cantor: Weasel Words and Lies

Watch this video and see for yourself as Eric Cantor demonstrates that the only two things he's got in his arsenal are weasel words and lies.

On the "weasel words" front, observe as Cantor tries to have it every which way with regard to Eric Massa. Cantor won't denounce fellow Republicans for attempting to twist a man's personal and professional meltdown into some kind of negative commentary on health care reform. At the same time, Massa leaves the door open to deep dark conspiracy theories, with the nonsense that he's just getting the news like everyone else (suuuuure) and that he really doesn't know the answer to why Massa resigned (even though Massa himself admitted he hadn't been pressured to resign and Steny Hoyer said point blank, on the same show as Cantor, that Massa hadn't been pressured).

On the "lies" front, listen to Cantor's whopper about how Democrats are "short-circuiting the rules" on health care reform legislation, even though he knows full well that this is false. In fact, health reform legislation has already passed the House and Senate, in the latter case with a "supermajority" of 60 votes. Now, the two Houses are doing what always happens with legislation when there's a Senate version and a House version - the two chambers negotiate differences and vote on a final bill, or one chamber simply votes to adopt the other chamber's legislation. This is exactly how bills become laws, as anyone who's ever taken a civics class knows. Either Eric Cantor skipped civics, or he's lying and he knows he's lying. Of course, this is the same guy who has spent the past year spewing out disinformation to the American people about "government takeover of health care" and other rubbish (e.g, that the stimulus isn't working, even though almost every economist says it's working exactly as designed), so what else can we expect? It's sad, though, that a formerly great American political party has been reduced to this.

Pelosi, Hoyer: "Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American"

An op-ed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on the health care debate is generating a lot of buzz in the blogosphere today. After pointing out that Americans have been "waiting for nearly a century for quality, affordable health care" and that this debate goes back to Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party in 1912, Pelosi and Hoyer tear into health care opponents.

...it is now evident that an ugly campaign is underway not merely to misrepresent the health insurance reform legislation, but to disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue. These tactics have included hanging in effigy one Democratic member of Congress in Maryland and protesters holding a sign displaying a tombstone with the name of another congressman in Texas, where protesters also shouted "Just say no!" drowning out those who wanted to hold a substantive discussion.

[...]

These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades.

Health care is complex. It touches every American life. It drives our economy. People must be allowed to learn the facts.

Pelosi and Hoyer then proceed to lay out the facts, including: 1) "more patient choice;" 2) "free[ing] doctors and patients to make the health decisions that make the most sense, not the most profits for insurance companies;" 3) "stability and peace of mind for the middle class;" 4) no denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions; 5) no loss of coverage if you lose your job; 6) "affordable coverage for all Americans;" and 7) "higher-quality care by promoting preventive care."

Given all these obvious benefits from health care reform, it really makes you wonder, what are the Sarah Palins, Rush Limbaughs, Bob Marshalls, Eric Cantors and Bob McDonnells of the world so afraid of? Whatever it is, they obviously are REALLY afraid, as they make stuff up out of the darkest recesses of their craziest dreams - "death panels," "euthanasia," "socialism," even Nazism! Are these people all misinformed? In the pocket of Big Pharma and the private insurance industry? Crazy? All of the above? Whatever the answer, the question is why anyone in their right mind would listen to any of these people?