In time for the holidays, Palin resurrects 'death panels' claim

Fmr. Alaska governor bans bloggers who wrote unfavorably about her from book-signing

Days after she was named in PolitiFact's 2009 "Lie of the Year," for propagating the "death panels" rumour about health care reform, Sarah Palin was at it again on Tuesday, tweeting questions that implied that "death panels" will make their way into the final health bill expected to be voted on in the new year.

"...merged bill may b unrecognizable from what assumed was a done deal:R death panels back in? what's punishment 4not purchasing mandated HC?" Palin tweeted on Tuesday.

Palin expanded on her argument in a Facebook posting Wednesday, writing of the Independent Payment Advisory Board included in the Senate bill:

Democrats are protecting this rationing “death panel” from future change with a procedural hurdle. You have to ask why they’re so concerned about protecting this particular provision. Could it be because bureaucratic rationing is one important way Democrats want to “bend the cost curve” and keep health care spending down?

Though Nancy Pelosi and friends have tried to call “death panels” the “lie of the year,” this type of rationing – what the CBO calls “reduc[ed] access to care” and “diminish[ed] quality of care” – is precisely what I meant when I used that metaphor.

Pelosi did indeed circulate the PolitiFact article on Tuesday, with her staff noting that Palin's assertion quickly led to "parroting" of the claim by other Republican politicians.

Greg Sargent, writing at the Plum Line, accuses Palin of "re-writing the history" of her "death panels" claim, pointing out that Palin used to refer to end-of-life counseling as the "death panel," and now says that a cost advisory board amounts to the same thing.

Sarah Palin is now disputing PolitiFact’s “Lie of the Year” award to her death panel claim by arguing that her use of “death panel” wasn’t a reference to end of life counseling, but rather to the Independent Medicare Advisory Board and the “rationing” of health care that will allegedly result from it.

You’ll be stunned to learn that Palin is rewriting the history of her own “death panel” falsehood. In fact, she did conflate the term with end of life counseling.

PALIN BANS BLOGGERS FROM BOOK-SIGNING

In what may be a trend in American politics, Sarah Palin is apparently banning bloggers who have written unfavorable articles about her from her book signings.

Upon arriving at Palin's hometown book-signing in Wasilla, Alaska, on Tuesday, two prominent Alaska bloggers discovered that they had been placed on a "banned list" and were asked by police to leave the premises.

Jesse Griffin reported at his blog, Immoral Minority:

My first hint that something may be wrong down in Who-ville was when I was asked for my ID, not once, but twice. Then as [Alaska Report blogger] Dennis [Zaki] and I were about to sign in, and the lady behind the desk took our picture with a little digital camera! WTF? I have never had anybody do that before at any other event that I attended as a media representative....

Almost as soon as I had my picture taken I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and came face to face with a local police officer who quickly apologized and then informed me that I was on the "banned list."

"I am on the WHAT list?" I asked.

"The banned list sir, I am going to have to escort you off of the property. This is a private event."

I looked over and saw Dennis talking to somebody else, and clearly receiving the same information....

Dennis Zaki of the now-defunct Alaska Report told TalkingPointsMemo that there were four names on the banned list: He, Griffin, local radio host Shannyn Moore and one other, unidentified, person.

James Hastings, manager of Wasilla Recreation and Cultural Services, told the Anchorage Daily News that the reporters were removed for their own good: Having written negative reports about Palin, they "could have found themselves in a negative situation" at the book-signing.

The ADN also noted that the book-signing was less than a stellar commercial success: Having ordered 1,000 copies of Palin's Going Rogue, the local Wasilla bookstore evidently only sold 30 copies by the time the book-signing was ending.