Sen. Grassley: Death Panels Are A Far-LEFT Distortion

This morning, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) called in to MSNBC's Morning Meeting to discuss health insurance reform. During the interview, host Dylan Ratigan asked Grassley about the so-called "death panels" in the House reform bill.  Grassley, incredibly, responded that the fervor over end-of-life counseling is the result of "a distortion coming from [the] far-left." Watch it:

SEN. GRASSLEY: Well, listen. I see that as nothing more than a distortion coming from far-left with bringing up these end-of-life concerns, which are not the issue that we ought to be talking about.  We ought to be talking about government takeover of the health care system.  We ought to be talking about the exploding deficits.  We ought to be talking about the failure to get on top of high health care costs.  And all of these things are in the Pelosi health care bill, and it seems to me they don't want to talk about the real issues. 

Grassley is right about one thing; we shouldn't be talking about this nonsense.  But by pinning the blame on the "far-left," Grassley proved once again why attempting to negotiate with him is an exercise in futility.  He's either completely detached from reality or a liar.  In any case, it seems less and less likely that he'll play any meaningful role in reaching a bipartisan compromise. 

Of course, we're talking about death panels and euthanasia because the right-wing -- and even those considered "mainstream" conservatives -- insist on it.  Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), Rep. Steve King (R-IA), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), RedState blogger Erick Erickson, and the Republican National Committee are just some of the "far-left" conspirators who have helped bring end-of-life counseling to the center of the debate over health insurance reform.

Even Grassley is guilty of trying to stoke fear among seniors.  Last week, he warned against having "a government run plan to decide when to pull the plug on grandma." "You have every right to fear," he said.

But in Grassley's world, his scare tactics should go unchallenged, and calling him out qualifies as a "distortion."