Scare tactics on Health Care Debate

Joe Scarboro on morning media asked for both sides of the health care issue to calm down, and stop exaggerating. No one on the left is making up stuff like this. Even when the shrub was at his worst, no one on the left compared him to Hitler, or suggested any kind of violence. All the really sick stuff is coming from republicans. There are a lot of liberals who would never think of bringing guns to town hall meetings because it is legal or think we can intimidate people. Here's the story.

Fox's "death book" lie
by Jed Lewison
Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 08:20:03 AM PDT

The deathers at Fox "News" have been caught with their pants down, once again.

This time -- led by Chris Wallace of Fox "News" Sunday -- Fox is alleging that President Obama is trying to prematurely end the lives of millions of veterans by forcing them to read a "death book" that urges them to "pull the plug" and commit "assisted suicide."

Not surprisingly, it turns out that Fox's attack is totally made up. Their so-called "death book" is actually an optional guidebook on drafting living wills that had been listed in a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) handbook by the Bush administration in 2007.

Here's more detail on the garbage being spewed by Fox:

1. Fox's alleged "death book" is actually a guidebook on preparing living wills

The thing Fox is calling a "death book" is actually a guidebook called "Your life, your choices" initially developed in 1997 to help veterans understand issues relating to advance directives and living wills should they ever experience a medical condition (such as a permanent coma) where they cannot communicate their treatment preferences. Although the guidebook can be downloaded, it carries a disclaimer noting that is currently being updated and revised for a 2010 release. (See this article for more information on the revisions.)

Despite Fox's claim that the guide encourages assisted suicide and euthanasia, it is solely focused on helping veterans determine what type of care they wish to receive if they should ever became incapable of making their wishes known. The guidebook specifically makes clear that it has nothing to do with assisted suicide, which is illegal.

2. Although Fox said VHA practitioners must give the guidebook to each of the 24 million vets they serve, there is no such requirement

According to a directive issued in 2007 under President Bush, the guidebook is merely an example of the type of document that VHA practitioners should give to patients who ask for help with living wills.

3. The Bush administration, not the Obama administration, included the guidebook in the VHA handbook.

In February 2007 the Bush administration's VA issued a directive listing the guidebook as an example of the type of documents VHA practitioners should give to patients who want help drafting living wills. In July 2009, the Obama administration issued a minor update to portions of that directive, but did not change language on the guidebook at all.