Rick Santorum recently went off on a tangent about euthanasia in the Netherlands. As usual, he didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. So Factcheck shared this:
http://factcheck.org/2012/02/santorums-bogus-euthanasia-claims/
Not to be outdone, Daily Caller aka Tucker Bowtie Carlson and crew contributed:
http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/21/santorum-more-right-than-wrong-about-dutch-euthanasia/
National Review piles on with:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/293857/santorum-and-dutch-euthanasia-fact-checking-fact-checkers-john-keown
I'll let everyone read for themselves, but it's amazing that when someone like Santorum pulls bullshit from his ass, there are the lackeys ready, willing and able to back him up, regardless of how stupid it is.
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6 comments:
Interesting comments posted to the NR article. One in particular is very cogent:
AnneB 03/19/12 19:28
I am Dutch, I live in Netherlands. I use the medical care here. I have eldery people in my family. And I am realy scared on the moment.
Not so much about our Dutch health care (for everyone) in Netherlands, but about the easy ness you Americans turn and twist information around your finger just to make it fitting in your own view. And you politicans who create doom scenario's and scare the people with it without really addressing the problems.
It is kind of sick how easily the writers compares a 'levensverklaring' with the statement of Santorum that elderly Dutch wear “do not euthanize me” bracelets and go to an other country when sick........ which is totaly not the case. I have not seen ANY one wearing a bracelet ever in Netherlands and going to another country happens only when certain medical treatments are not present here. That happens on a very small scale. If some one get's sick the preferable stay in the Netherlands ... at home..
And a politician running for USA presidency is lying about it. And he also says he is Christian? What about 'gij zult niet liegen'.. Guess that's not written in the American version of the Bible.
In fact often the people who write a levensverklaring can also declare in it not to be reanimated when somehing happens.... Because they do not want end up in a long coma.
I remember some 10 years ago someone during a wedding party went around with a small basket asking people for donations for a far relative living in the USA who got cancer and was not insured enough to be treated. I remember during this weddingparty in the Netherlands 99% did not understand it.... Because they simply could not crasp the idea that a human with cancer would not be treated. They could not grasp the concept. I remember some one stating 'what a sick country he lives in' and then my brother answered he lives in America and all were silent. For us Dutch .... a doom scenario.. not being treated if you get sick our are out of job for a while. That is a strange concept for Dutch.
We have euthanasia in Netherlands because the majority wants it. It is considered a right. So you can make use of it if you have still a few weeks to live and are in a lot and lot of pain. And do not want to continue any more suffering till the end.. then it is your choice to make.
In the Netherlands some one which is brain dead is considered dead. That is a different which many countries in which brain dead is not considered dead.
Talk about the issue. Not miss use it for politics. Because Santorum is twisting the facts for political motives and creates a doom scenario when in fact it is not.
And I think the Dutch are sick of Americans miss using their liberal and modern laws and rape the facts over and over and present it as a doom scenario. Focus on your American problems at home. The Dutch vote about what happens in Netherlands and what laws are used or not used applying for those living in the Netherlands.
More comments on same article:
Azathoth 03/20/12 11:40
Gods above, you think that CNN piece absolves you
Anne, you live in a country that has happy little mobile death clinics driving around your roads. Don't you dare lecture us about anything.
Deliberately killing old people without their consent is viewed as 'oops! mistakes happen'.
You're monsters.
Dutch commenter 03/20/12 12:15
Your ignorance is unbelievable. Have you actually read the article?
A majority in the Netherlands believes that terminally ill patients should have the choice(!) to end their lives in dignity if so requested. There are still very strict conditions to euthanasia, such as the indisputable and clear will of the patient, who is terminally ill and cannot be cured. This is assessed by two different doctors and has to be reported thoroughly. Even now, there are not many people who wish to take this path and even many doctors hesitate. In any way, Santorum’s claims are false.
In general I find it surprising that in particular Americans have problems with euthanasia. A country that used to have no proper, mandatory and affordable health care, that hardly cares about the poor and puts criminals on death row. How can you be so hypocritical? Instead you deny a dignified death to those people who suffer the most as a result of their illness. I would almost return the favour: you’re monsters.
More from NR article:
Peter h. [one month ago]
let's face it, Santorum pulled these numbers out of thin air. Even if he had considered all the factors brought up here, this 10% number is still pure speculation. I am Dutch, grew up in a Catholic family in the Netherlands and I am highly offended by Santorum's statements as well as by what's suggested in this article.
Doctors in the Netherlands are not in the business of putting old people to death against their wishes. What we do have, is a society where we give elderly (or terminally ill people) the right to decide over their own lives, and where doctors are allowed to help people die in a dignified way without getting prosecuted for this. It is the patient herself or her close family who typically takes this decision, not the doctor. I can assure you that in the Netherlands there will be far more people who would wish to be euthanized rather than to be kept in a permanent vegetative state for the remainder of their lives.
Stories of elderly people being put to death just because the doctor thinks it's best, are very rare, probably not any more common as here in the US.
And who are you to conclude that Dutch reporters have no idea what they are talking about? How much time have you spent in the Netherlands? Do you really know how the average Dutch person feels about this issue?
And IndependsVoter thinks we are just a blog for making fun of him
Well, he does provide us with the opportunity for having a little fun on the side! LOL
WCG says on http://garthright.blogspot.com/2012/04/rick-santorum-pulls-it-out-of-his-heart.html:
We've seen this before, with his claim that the Dutch kill anyone who gets old and sick. Santorum is like your right-wing relative who keeps sending you those crazy emails - you know, the ones which even two minutes online would demonstrate are filled with complete lies.
And this isn't just some random loon, but a serious candidate for president of the United States!
This is what it means to be faith-based. This is what it means to simply believe whatever you want to believe. If it fits with Santorum's far-right Catholic view of reality, it must be true, huh? Who needs to bother with such petty details as... evidence?
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