Former Congressman Allen West visited On The Record last night where he insisted that making health care and/or health insurance a right is a threat to America “as a constitutional republic.” It was hard to understand what, exactly, is so dangerous about it, other than that it “could” lead to something nefarious. Not that “liberal” host Greta Van Susteren challenged the logic. She did mildly challenge his language but seemed OK with it once he clarified that he didn’t mean Obama is “a very dangerous threat to the existence of America” but to “America as a constitutional republic.” Ohhhh, OK.
West told Van Susteren:
When you have a president that is standing there saying that health care, health insurance is a right… Think about this, Greta. The last time we had a president talk about the American people as individuals having a right to certain things, it was back in about 1978 when Jimmy Carter said that every American had a right to own a home. And that was the Community Reinvestment Act. And you fast forward 30 years later to 2008, we had this incredible financial meltdown based up on the mortgage industry and government getting involved in that industry.
In the first place, it’s rather dubious that just the very existence of the Community Reinvestment Act caused the financial meltdown – rather than, say, the lack of oversight of the lending industry. But even more importantly, just because one program (supposedly) went sour doesn’t mean another will.
Predictably, Van Susteren didn’t challenge that. However, she did, for a refreshing change of pace, make a stab at challenging West’s rhetoric:
Let me ask you about, sort of, the tone and the temperature of your words. Sometimes I get going and say things that I want to sort of dial back later. You say, though, (Obama’s) a dangerous threat to the existence of America. Is that just Congressman Allen West sort of getting on a roll or is that a genuine – what you believe, that he’s a dangerous threat to the existence of America?
West “clarified” that he meant Obama is a dangerous threat to America “as a Constitutional republic.” That seemed a fine distinction for Van Susteren as that was the end of her challenge to his rhetoric.
West continued:
…When you have a president that is saying that, you know, a certain thing is a right, that government is supposed to give to you, that goes against the founding premise of this country. …The president should not be able to delay certain parts of law. He should not be able to push away certain mandates or this cap on the out of pocket expenses. Because once a piece of legislation has passed through the House, has passed through the Senate, is signed into law by the president, you don’t get to cherry pick it and that’s a threat to us as a constitutional republic.
That’s right, we’re all gonna die if health insurance becomes guaranteed in this country!
’Nuff said.
And btw, that business about wanting a do-over about language, etc., is a standard tactic for her. She does that all the time so she’ll look like she’s a reasonable sort of person, but what she’s actually doing, when you’ve heard it enough times, is inviting whoever it is to double down on their rhetoric.
She has this washed-up idiot West on at least once a week. Tonight, instead, she had a line-up of Karl Rove, Herman Cain and Donald Trump. Fair and balanced, no?
