Detroit Free Press Columnist Not Interested in Reality-Based Commentary

Rochelle Riley of the Detroit Free Press recently penned a column so wrought with falsehoods that it is difficult to navigate the ensuing minefield of absurdity. 

But navigate we shall...

Riley sets out with a fully sarcastic, yet hearty, thank you to John Boehner, alleging that his fiery speech to the House had contributed to the Democrat's healthcare victory.

"Boehner and many of his supporters - as well as some extremists the party hasn't decided how to handle - faced off against the American people and lost."

It is difficult to comprehend the unmitigated arrogance of liberals as they repeatedly voice that talking point:  The healthcare reform legislation is a victory for the American people. 

This simply is not so.  As recently as Sunday, Americans were staunchly opposed to Obamacare by a 54-41% margin according to a Rasmussen poll.  The veracity of their opposition was also overwhelming, with 45% who strongly oppose the plan, and 26% who strongly favor the plan.  If this were an election, we'd be speaking in terms of a landslide.  In reality, it is a landslide defeat for the American people.  For Obama, Pelosi, and their liberal media cohorts to define going against the will of the governed as a victory for the people, is to essentially spit directly into the collective face of this nation.

Riley goes on to echo more Democrat talking points, using the liberal mantra that ‘families are dying.' 

"... when families are dying, the American people don't have time for tantrums."

Hopefully, Kleenex will be in rich supply under this new plan, to wipe away the tears of fear-mongering liberals who have used this tactic before.  Harry Reid played this card a few months ago, pronouncing that "people are dying... they're dying!"  Of course, this argument is based on a thoroughly debunked study from the American Journal of Public Health, and repeated ad nauseam by the likes of the less-than-savory Alan Grayson, Ezra Klein, and now, Rochelle Riley.

Riley then unabashedly invokes the words of our founding fathers, claiming that universal healthcare coverage can somehow be interpreted from the words of the Declaration of Independence.

The Congress, as Pelosi said, honored ‘the vows of our founders, that every American is endowed with certain unalienable rights:  life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'

A quick scan of the Declaration reveals no mention of the words ‘socialized medicine.'

Riley explains:

"Hard to pursue happiness when you're dying from a lack of medical care because you're not privileged."

And

"Hard to pursue happiness when you've lost your health insurance along with your job and can see only emergency room doctors and only when you're in dire straits."

First, if you lack medical insurance it is not because of a lack of privilege.  Second, better to have to visit an emergency room in America, where you will be treated without question, than to venture into a socialized society's ER.  Take Dr. David Gratzer's description of a Canadian hospital visit, in which he describes the scene as follows:

"Swinging open the door, I stepped into a nightmare:  the ER overflowed with elderly people on stretchers, waiting for admission.  Some, it turned out, had waited five days.  The air stank with sweat and urine.  Right then, I began to reconsider everything that I thought I knew about Canadian healthcare."

Now that is a pursuit most Americans aren't interested in.

Actually, it's hard to pursue happiness at all in a system where the alleged lower cost of universal care will actually result in a lower quality of care.  Such has been evidenced in a report by Britain's Healthcare Commission (BHC), which found that between 400 and 1,200 patients unnecessarily died in Mid-Staffordshire hospitals in a three year span.  Why?  Philip Klein explains, "Britain's emergency rooms have struggled with long wait times that are a natural consequence of socialized medicine."  This led to what the BHC deemed, "failures at almost every stage of care of emergency patients." 

Is this what constitutes happiness?  Not exactly the medical utopia Democrats would have you expecting now that they have socialized our own country's healthcare system.

The inanity continues, as Riley continues spreading half-truths with her next statement:

"Hard to pursue happiness when you watch angry so-called Tea Party activists yell ‘nigger' at Rep. John Lewis, spit on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and call Rep. Barney Frank a ‘faggot'."

The problem with this story however, is that it is quickly going the same route as the Census worker suicide, the N-word shout at a Palin rally, and the ‘Kill him!' allegation at another Palin rally - mainly, there is no initial evidence to substantiate these stories, the accused and others present have disputed the claims, and yet the media is still running with it as if it were gospel.

Riley's column then dabbles in the story of one Marcelas Owens, the 11-year-old healthcare prop whose mother, Tiffany, died of pulmonary hypertension - a heart-wrenching story for sure.  Riley excoriates conservative pundits Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Michelle Malkin for ‘attacking a child.'

What she failed to mention is that Democrats thrust little Marcelas into the spotlight, using him at every step of the way as a shield from real policy questions.  Conservative talk shows weren't parading Marcelas around the circuit, it was the Democrats.  She also fails to mention that Marcelas has been consistently used by his family of liberal activists.  There is no talk of how the networks presented the boy as a healthcare crusader, flying across the country so his voice could be heard, only to learn that these trips were organized and paid for by Astroturf activists Health Care for America Now.  Instead, she simply offers hatred for those who would dare voice a dissenting opinion.

On an amusing note, Riley does finish with an inadvertent pronouncement of how this healthcare legislation truly came to be (emphasis mine):

"Those heinous and inexcusable tirades and actions should become campaign commercials used by every Democratic and Independent and Green candidate - and any Democrat the President had to beg or threaten - for the next five years."

Apparently, vociferous opposition to a healthcare kiddie shield is a veritable crime, but a President who bribes and threatens his party in order to pass legislation - now that's something to celebrate.

Seems the liberal pursuit of happiness can directly be linked to the misery and downfall of our nation.