While the liberal media has portrayed the tabling of the ObamaCare replacement bill as a “hugely embarrassing” political failure for President Donald Trump, there is one thing they aren’t doing – calling it a missed opportunity to rescue Americans who have been hurt or burdened by ObamaCare.
However there was a time, back in 2010, when liberal reporters were saying something entirely different. After Republican Scott Brown took over “Ted Kennedy’s seat” and was poised to cast the deciding vote that would kill ObamaCare, the liberal media feared for the fate of President Barack Obama’s signature piece of legislation.
ABC Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopoulous depicted the event as a Shakespearean tragedy: “Democrats in the White House and Capitol Hill are braced for a shattering loss. And it’s really hard for them to wrap their head around it, the idea that...health care reform may be in peril because Democrats can’t hold the seat that Teddy Kennedy held for nearly half a century. You know, one White House official summed it up in a single word: ‘Shakespearean.’”
In an interview with Brown, on NBC’s Today show, co-anchor Meredith Vieira pressed: “You said last night the first call you made after your victory was to Ted Kennedy’s widow, Vicki....How comfortable was that for both of you, knowing that you plan to do whatever you can to derail what Ted Kennedy called, called ‘the cause of his lifetime,’ which is health care reform?”
Then-MSNBC host Keith Olbermann called ObamaCare opponents, literal terrorists: “What would you do, sir, if terrorists were killing 45,000 people every year in this country? Well, the current health care system, the insurance companies, and those who support them are doing just that....Because they die individually of disease and not disaster, [radio host] Neal Boortz and those who ape him in office and out, approve their deaths, all 45,000 of them — a year — in America. Remind me again, who are the terrorists?”
The following is just some of the most egregious examples of the liberal media anxiously worrying about a possible defeat of ObamaCare:
Teddy’s Liberal Dream “Derailed”
“On a personal note, you said last night the first call you made after your victory was to Ted Kennedy's widow, Vicki....How comfortable was that for both of you, knowing that you plan to do whatever you can to derail what Ted Kennedy called, called ‘the cause of his lifetime,’ which is health care reform?”
— NBC’s Meredith Vieira to Senator-elect Scott Brown on Today, January 20, 2010.
“It’s that rare election where voters know exactly what they’re voting on. If they’re with Democrat Martha Coakley, they get health care reform. If they go for Republican Scott Brown, it’s deliberate, premeditated murder for health care!...These people been told one simple thing by this Republican. ‘I’m keeping it simple. Vote for me, I vote no. I kill this thing in its bed.’”
— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Hardball, January 19, 2010 a few hours before the polls closed in Massachusetts.
Lamenting “Shakespearean” “Tragedy” of ObamaCare’s Demise
“Democrats in the White House and Capitol Hill are braced for a shattering loss. And it’s really hard for them to wrap their head around it, the idea that...health care reform may be in peril because Democrats can’t hold the seat that Teddy Kennedy held for nearly half a century. You know, one White House official summed it up in a single word: ‘Shakespearean.’”
— ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on World News, January 18, 2010.
“I was just going to say, quoting somebody in the White House, a tragedy of Greek proportions if Ted Kennedy’s successor is the one, is the one who was responsible for the death of health care.”
— PBS anchor Judy Woodruff, a veteran of CNN and NBC, on ABC’s This Week, January 10, 2010.
ObamaCare Opponents Are the Real Terrorists
“What would you do, sir, if terrorists were killing 45,000 people every year in this country? Well, the current health care system, the insurance companies, and those who support them are doing just that....Because they die individually of disease and not disaster, [radio host] Neal Boortz and those who ape him in office and out, approve their deaths, all 45,000 of them — a year — in America. Remind me again, who are the terrorists?”
— MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann in a “Quick Comment” on Countdown, January 5, 2010.
Selfish Massachusetts Voters Squelched Health Care for Rest of America
“My fellow Americans, the state of our union is, well, quite wretched at the moment....Massachusetts, which for nearly half a century proudly sent a senator to Washington to fight for social justice and universal health care, has chosen as his replacement someone who campaigned in effect on the slogan ‘We’ve got ours, so the hell with everyone else.’”
— Washington Post business columnist and former business reporter Steven Pearlstein in a January 27, 2010 piece detailing the speech he wished President Obama would deliver that night.
“Unfortunately...Health Care Is Being Held Hostage”
Co-host Maggie Rodriguez: “Deadlines keep getting missed for passing health care. Obstacles keep mounting. Will your husband ever give up on trying to find a compromise?”
Michelle Obama: “Yeah, we can’t afford to keep — to give up. Not in this country....”
Rodriguez: “Unfortunately at the moment, though, health care is being held hostage by partisanship.”
— Excerpt of taped interview shown on CBS’s The Early Show, February 22, 2010.
