# Death Panelist threatens the lives of Michelle, Malia and Sasha **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 14, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380 "2009-08-14T03:32:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/121 "2009-08-15T04:00:19Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Have you even every been outside of the U.S.? Worse than the U.S.? How about Mexico, all of South America, the entirety of Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and pretty much all of Asia. The system here in the U.S. is one of the best in the world. [Hey, San Marino and Andorra aren’t real countries, so we’re 35th. Go us!](http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/122 "2009-08-15T04:12:31Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > She was also never a darling of the leftist media the way Palin is to Fox News and talk radio. I never even _heard_ of her until the incident with the security guard, and even then it was in a small, side piece here at the Dope. She’s not all that popular. (Most leftists I know think she’s a nutter) ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/123 "2009-08-15T11:33:50Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Insane, and most of us have thought that since at least the guard-slapping incident. Sure. My point being that just as I would never take Cynthia McKinney’s actions and generalize them to “the Left,” it’s not useful to take the views of a guy carrying a death threat to Obama sign and complain about right wingers. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/124 "2009-08-15T11:35:04Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Yep, she’s a loony leftist, a Truther, and an emigrant from the Democratic Party to the Green Party. One might note that she twice lost primaries to Democratic rivals of a saner persuasion, in 2002 and 2006. She also opposed the first Gulf War, in 1991, so she at least has been consistent in her anti-war stance since well before Bush II. She’s hardly the face of the Democratic Party the way that, for example, Sarah Palin is of the Republicans. But the guy carrying the death threat sign is the face of the Republican Party? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/125 "2009-08-15T12:24:18Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > But the guy carrying the death threat sign is the face of the Republican Party? No, but the faces of the Republican Party seem unphased by the guy. When Obama says his nose itches, Republican leaders hold a news conference to tell us that they oppose him scratching his nose. Where are the leaders while all this disruption is going on? Palin is back to her old schtick about good parts of the country and bad parts. Limbaugh is still trying to prove Obama is the Antichrist. And Republican Congressional leadership is still incapable of formulating any response to anything other then “No!”. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/126 "2009-08-15T12:35:53Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Where are the leaders while all this disruption is going on? Sitting back and enjoying the show I wouldn’t wonder. And why not indeed? > [@](#): > > In spite of hopes by proponents of reform that voters would be turned off by the sometimes ugly scenes, a poll yesterday from USA Today gave an indication that the debates were having the opposite effect. > > Some 34 per cent of respondents said the demonstrations had made them more sympathetic to the protesters, while 21 per cent said they were less sympathetic. In the all-important independents grouping, 35 per cent against 16 per cent said they were now more sympathetic to the protesters – a margin of more than two to one. [Link](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/72feb2fa-8846-11de-82e4-00144feabdc0.html) And anyway we all know that Nancy Pelosi is a “[fan of disruptors](http://www.breitbart.tv/06-flashback-pelosi-tells-anti-war-protesters-im-a-fan-of-disruptors/)”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/127 "2009-08-15T12:41:38Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > No, but the faces of the Republican Party seem unphased by the guy. When Obama says his nose itches, Republican leaders hold a news conference to tell us that they oppose him scratching his nose. I’m sure it’s been mentioned elsewhere, there are several Pit thread I haven’t had a chance to read or catch up on, but I loved Hillary’s reaction to being asked about John Boehner last week. His name was merely mentioned and she laughed the most delightful laugh. Then she said that if Obama walked on water, Boehner would complain that Obama couldn’t swim. It’s just encapsulated what the Republicans are about. The Party of No, the Party of Fucking Whiny Babies, the Party of Liars, the Party of Hypocrites, and now the Party of Loonballs. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/128 "2009-08-15T13:02:23Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Only if you are rich. It’s becoming quite common for Americans who can to go to those places for medical care. Because at least there, the less than rich have access. > > No; America’s system is NOT one of the best in the world, or even close. We pay more for worse care. Refresh my memory… Wasn’t there a time when people were crossing the border into Canada in order to get affordable medication? The drug companies didn’t like that. The “party in power” didn’t like that (because their buddies in the drug companies didn’t like it). So, big political contributions and lobbying mean more than health. It’s funny that many of the same people who don’t want to interfere in our lives now, sure wanted to interfere then. And don’t EVEN get me started on the “lifers” who wanted to interfere in the Schiavo case. The are all a bunch of lying, two faced hypocrites, playing to a base that really is too fucking stupid to live. They prove it themselves, when they become the fucking stooges that disrupt meetings and discussions with their “killing Grandma” nonsense. Maybe their “representatives” are right after all. Leave the system as is. If these idiots run out of money, then on their deathbeds, or lying in the street, the lightbulb may come on. There will be no help for them, because they were told by a bunch of manipulators that they shouldn’t want it - they aided and abetted those who want to prevent any help. Ironic justice? Just irony? They are simply proving that yes they are too fucking stupid to live. Darwinism in action. Our system may need some tweaking, but comparing it to places that have no system, in order to prove it’s the best, is bullshit. It’s stupid. It’s an insult to our intelligence. Let’s compare our system to Germany, using one anecdotal instance. I have a co-worker. Nice guy, decent worker, middle class. He had extensive heart surgery in Germany. In his own words, if he had to have it here, he couldn’t afford it, and would most likely be dead now. That’s just one instance, one blip, but what the hell. An anecdote is better than nothing at all. So, my example is perfect. (according to the so called logic of some idiots). Sure the USA has a health system. It’s not a bad thing to want to improve it. Added on edit: I have a secure job, I have health coverage, and I also seem to have (so far) very good health. But maybe sometimes we need to look outside our own little world, and stop all the “fuck you I already got mine”. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/129 "2009-08-15T13:07:57Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > But the guy carrying the death threat sign is the face of the Republican Party? No, he’s a loony. Crazy is, as crazy does. My heartburn is with the ones who should know better, and are deliberately getting the loonies all riled up. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/130 "2009-08-15T13:22:45Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Well, doing this from memory so a transcript may say different, but it was pretty straightforward: “The Nazi regime, which I remind you practiced genocide, started off with an economic stimulus plan…” I can’t help but wonder whose ears were supposed to perk up at that reminder, ‘Er, they did what now?’ ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/131 "2009-08-15T13:23:11Z")
I think the President’s recent town hall meeting was too handpicked. From what I heard on the news last night, he is changing that with the next one. Does anyone remember when two people were arrested for wearing John Kerry t-shirts to a George Bush political speech? What would they have done to someone with a death wish sign? > [@](#): > > **Stephen96** : …the greatest heath care system on the planet… Saying those words makes you sound very young, inexperienced, and poorly educated on the subject. Here’s why: 1. You and I are each spending about $1000 a year to pay for other people’s hospital bills. 2. The price of just about everything we buy or pay for is higher because we are paying the cost of the company’s insurance for its employees. And that cost is going up by about one-third this year. 3. Our infant mortality rates are increasing compared to countries with National Health Care. 4. Our life expectancy is decreasing compared to countries with National Health Care. 5. Our wait time in the ER is longer because people are using them the way they used to use family doctors. They know that in an emergency room, they they will be seen regardless of their ability to pay. 6. Insurance companies are beginning to make medical decisions instead of the doctors. I have actually had a physician say to me: “I would admit you to the hospital, but your insurance won’t pay for it.” I was so sick that I asked him to admit me anyway and to let me worry about my insurance. (It paid. He was just intimidated by all of the current regulations.) 7. I can show you tables and charts to show you how we compare with other countries. But it is 8:00 am. and I haven’t slept yet. I hope that you will listen to reason instead of being blinded by partisan politics. I have voted Republican a time or two in my life even though I am a Democrat. If the Republicans had wanted us to have a Health Care Plan, they would have given us one under Reagan, Bush the Elder, or George W. Frankly, I think that Rush Limbaugh is inciting people to riot. I’ve heard only a little of Beck. Not enough to form a firm opinion. Are these really the voices of the Republican Party now? Then who is? Palin? Democrats will not look like demons to anyone with half a mind. Some may disagree with part of the plan. But enough of the demons and death panels and people who don’t know that Hawaii is a state. Where are they getting their information? Read some reputable sources – not just blogs (which are nothing but someone else’s opinion.) ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/132 "2009-08-15T13:34:14Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > Please. _Congresscritter_. Senators are Members of Congress. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/133 "2009-08-15T13:45:49Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Only if you are rich. It’s becoming quite common for Americans who can to go to those places for medical care. Because at least there, the less than rich have access. > > No; America’s system is NOT one of the best in the world, or even close. We pay more for worse care. Absolutely true. Otherwise medical tourism would not be the booming industry it is today. According to this [article](http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2009/08/07/Medical-Tourism-Appeals-to-60-Percent-Of-Americans-Are-You-One-Of-Them.aspx) (one of many I found) sixty per cent (that’s **60%** ) of Americans are willing to leave the country to get affordable medical care. It’s not just facelifts either - it’s rotator cuff surgery and heart by-pass and cancer treatement. The rate will undoubtedly increase because wallets are getting tighter, insurance companies are getting stingier and uncaring wackos are doing their damnedest to thwart any meaningful change. It’s not about healthcare, though. It’s just politics. Just ask Jim Demint who articulated the right’s aim: to “break” President Obama. Like if no healthcare reform was passed, the President would just, what?, quit and go home? Hah. Repubbies must be confusing him with one of their own. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/134 "2009-08-15T13:53:34Z")
> [@legalsnugs](#): > > It’s not about healthcare, though. It’s just politics. Just ask Jim Demint who articulated the right’s aim: to “break” President Obama. Like if no healthcare reform was passed, the President would just, what?, quit and go home? Hah. Repubbies must be confusing him with one of their own. Ummm, Almost Vice President Palin did just that. Gathered up her toys and went home (quit her job). ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/135 "2009-08-15T15:20:28Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Sure. > > My point being that just as I would never take Cynthia McKinney’s actions and generalize them to “the Left,” it’s not useful to take the views of a guy carrying a death threat to Obama sign and complain about right wingers. [QUOTE=whole bean] . . . Nonetheless, there is a case to be made that it is irresonsible to fuel the sort of ignorance induced paranoia that leads to an increase in the second group mentioned above, lest they drift closer and closer into allignment with the last. [/QUOTE] McKinney never, to my knowledge, made a veiled threat on the president’s family’s lives, so I guess you’re drawing a comparison between her and the talk radio/cable infotainment nuts/Palin that fuel the fire? But McKinney was fringe so she left the party. Can the same be said of those you compare her to? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/136 "2009-08-15T15:41:26Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I think the President’s recent town hall meeting was too handpicked. From what I heard on the news last night, he is changing that with the next one. The one in Montana held yesterday (Friday)? [But:](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gShg4YTNitzS4BoskkETbLcZK7jgD9A2SOP81) > [@](#): > > The vast majority of the 1,300 tickets for the event in a tarmac hangar were distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, some from Belgrade City Hall and the rest from City Hall in the larger nearby town of Bozeman. A few tickets were distributed by the White House to elected officials, community leaders and local supporters. Weird. The article then says: > [@](#): > > For Obama’s town hall meeting in New Hampshire on Tuesday, the system was also aimed at being general admission, but constructed a little differently. The vast majority of those tickets were distributed by an online lottery that made computerized random choices several days ahead of time from among those registering to get them. Jeez – I don’t see what more they can do in an effort to distribute tickets fairly. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/137 "2009-08-15T15:50:00Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > But McKinney was fringe so she left the party. Can the same be said of those you compare her to? No, fringe republicans just kick _everyone else_ out of the party, because a moderate Republican is the same thing as a Democrat, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/138 "2009-08-15T16:57:32Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > I can’t help but wonder whose ears were supposed to perk up at that reminder, ‘Er, they did what now?’ Probably related to the bank bailout. Them Nazis sure love their Jewish bankers, as everyone knows. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/139 "2009-08-15T19:46:57Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > Senators are Members of Congress. But not all members of Congress are Senators which was the thrust of that post. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380/140 "2009-08-15T20:17:17Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > But the guy carrying the death threat sign is the face of the Republican Party? Who, in your opinion, does have that honor at present? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-panelist-threatens-the-lives-of-michelle-malia-and-sasha/506380.md?page=8)