Politics and the Media, an American Tale

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The Los Angeles Times described the erroneous "euthanasia" claims made about a portion of the health care bill as "one of the most misleading, inflammatory claims made in the healthcare debate": Q: Does the legislation include provisions to encourage senior citizens to commit suicide? No. This has become one of the most misleading, inflammatory claims made in the healthcare debate advanced repeatedly by conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and Republican lawmakers working to stoke fears among seniors. Rep. Virginia Foxx recently suggested that the Democratic healthcare bill would "put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government." There is no such provision. The House bill would give seniors on Medicare the choice to sit down with a doctor for an "advance care planning consultation" every five years to discuss options should they become seriously ill or unable to make medical decisions. Topics could include the development of a living will and directives for care (snopes.com). “In actuality the bill blocked federal funding to any group that mentioned euthanasia as part of the counseling process and the AARP actually came out in support of this inclusion in the healthcare bill” (snopes.com). These facts were verified by Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, and New York Times. While our constitution does guarantee freedom of speech, as well as freedom of the press, media figures have a responsibility to verify thei... ... middle of paper ... ...ces.”Crazy Talk and American Politics: or, My Glenn Beck Story. “The Chronicle of Higher Education”.Chronicle.com. 21. Feb 2011. 4. April 2011. HttP://www.Chronicle.com /article/Crazy-Talk/American Seib, Philip. Rush Hour Talk Radio, Politics, and the Rise of Rush Limbaugh. Fort Worth The Summit Group, 1993. Print “The Glenn Beck Program”. GlennBeck.com. 4 April. 2011. http://www.GlennBeck.com content/radio/ Web “The Time Magazine Top 100”. Time Magazine. Time Warner. New York. April 2011. 21 April, 2011. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2066367,00.html Web U.S. Constitution. Amendment I. Cornell.Edu. 21 April. 2011. http://www.topics.law.cornell. edu/wex/. Web

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