Some eleven years ago, Republicans launched a ferocious
attack on Obamacare. One element of the battle was the claim that the new
insurance plan would encourage people to “kill Grandma.”
Or, as Representative Foxx of North
Carolina put it, seniors would be "in a position of being put
to death by their government."
The claim was obviously fraudulent; its basis was a request
by physicians to be reimbursed for end-of-life counseling, something not paid
for in Medicare. But false arguments never bothered even the pre-Trump GOP and
the idea got a lot of traction.
The current Covid-19 crisis shows a different side of the GOP.
It seems they’re pro-life only in the case of the unborn. Older folks? Not so
much.
In fact, the Republicans are desperately eager to re-open
the economy and have repeatedly spoken rather dismissively of the risk to older
people. The Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, is the poster-wacko for
this movement. Patrick said people over 70 should “take care of ourselves” and
that the country should “get back to work.”
Patrick’s plea echoed for a few months, and then many states
did what he ranted for and reopened. And shortly after that there was an
enormous surge in new coronavirus cases. And Patrick is still saying “no
problem.”
But the Governor of Florida, Rick DeSantis, isn’t far
behind. He’s expressed a lack of concern about the current surge of cases in
his state because, he argues, the new infections mostly hit the young who aren’t
at as great a risk of dying.
Do Republicans really believe the elderly can somehow be isolated
from the rest of the nation?. Do they think the people who work at nursing homes
are all old? How about the folks who bring food and supplies? Aren’t the visiting physicians also working in
virus-ridden hospitals and clinics?
And anyway, the dangers to young people from Covid-19 are actually
quite severe, even if they survive.
Why all this downplaying of the pandemic?
The answer is simple. There’s an election in November and
the Republicans are desperately afraid they’ll lose if the economy doesn’t bounce
back.
So, sacrifice a few tens of thousands of old people to
re-elect Creepy Don the Moron? Throw in thousands of teachers and risk vast numbers of school kids? Why not? The GOP's new "family values," is a bit different than it used to be. This is now the party of the end
justifies the means. And if Grandma has to die to keep Florida and Texas red,
well so be it. In any case, of course, Republicans will blame Obamacare.
