Saturday, April 05, 2008

No, Wait A Minute ... I Think It Was The Hospital That Was Under Sniper Fire ...


Oops, she did it again!


No, not Britney Spears, but the other diva, Queen of the campaign trail, the intrepid candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

If Hillary was inflicted with the same curse as Pinocchio, you could line her up to measure a couple of football fields, with her schnauz by now.

Geez, don't their people check anything?

Hillary's been bouncing around the campaign trail, attempting to put the Fear-of-God into people, over healthcare (as you know, only HRC has the de facto, guaranteed, absolutely successful healthcare plans), telling a tale (that has gotten taller-and-taller) about a woman - a pregnant woman - who was said to have no insurance, and was denied treatment (because she didn't have the $100), and both she and her baby died as a result.

Only, much like the Where's Waldo Snipers, it didn't quite happen that way.

And Hillary has been spinning this so much, the hospital has gone public, in an attempt to get her to stop.

The woman, Trina Bachtel, did die last August, two weeks after her baby boy was stillborn at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, Ohio. But hospital administrators said Friday that Ms. Bachtel was under the care of an obstetrics practice affiliated with the hospital, that she was never refused treatment and that she was, in fact, insured.

“We implore the Clinton campaign to immediately desist from repeating this story,” said Rick Castrop, chief executive officer of the O’Bleness Health System.

Linda M. Weiss, a spokeswoman for the not-for-profit hospital, said the Clinton campaign had never contacted the hospital to check the accuracy of the story, which Mrs. Clinton had first heard from a Meigs County, Ohio, sheriff’s deputy in late February.

A Clinton spokesman, Mo Elleithee, said candidates would frequently retell stories relayed to them, vetting them when possible. “In this case, we did try but were not able to fully vet it,” Mr. Elleithee said. “If the hospital claims it did not happen that way, we respect that.”
I wonder if the Clinton spokesman shrugged their shoulders and muttered under their breath "Well, if that's what you want to believe, but we know what we know".

Karen Tumulty;
What is astounding here is that for all the research that the Clinton campaign has done, scouring and scrubbing the opposition, they didn't put a bit more effort into looking at what their own candidate is saying.

John Cole, over on Balloon Juice;
What this all boils down to is a question of competence. It has become increasingly clear that despite their claims about passing the CinC threshold and despite their claims of superior judgment, the Clinton crew cares little about actually getting things right. Loyalty, however, is a cherished value. Competence, not so much.

Where have I seen that poisonous combination over the past eight years? Does the country need four more years of rule from an arrogant and incompetent administration that places a priority on loyalty and secrecy?

And And Pam, from Pam's House Blend, is equally perplexed;
"I simply do not understand this. With all the true health care nightmares out there to use to illustrate why the system is broken, why does the Hillary Clinton and her staff let her tell complete fables on the campaign trail?

The Clinton camp is throwing some local sheriff under-the-bus, saying he told Hillary the story.

When did that conversation take place?

At 3AM?

Yeah, tested, vetted and ready on Day One...

Right ...

The Hillary Death Watch is now down to 8.8% of a chance she'll win the nomination.


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