Sen. McCain Says "Deathers" Are "Well Informed" And "Knowledgeable"

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has recently emerged as a partisan voice against health insurance reform.  Last weekend on ABC, he refused to provide some "straight talk" about Sarah Palin's widely discredited "death panel" claims.  This week, he's been railing against the prospect of using reconciliation to pass reform, despite having conceded earlier this year that the GOP had no problem with the process when they were in power. 

Now, it appears that McCain is embracing -- or, at the very least, refusing to reject -- the right-wing smear about a "death book" for veterans.  In an interview on Fox News last night, Sean Hannity brought up the conspiracy theory, asking McCain, "Is that the kind of death panel that maybe people were afraid of when the read pages 425 to 430 of the House bill?"

"Yes," McCain answered. "But I think they're also concerned because they're well read, they're well informed, they're knowledgeable." Watch it:

The section of the bill that Hannity referred to provides for optional end-of-life counseling, which has traditionally drawn bipartisan support.  Meanwhile, the bogus "death book" claim is merely an offensive attempt by the right to use veterans as a "political football."  But, rather than distancing himself from far-right scare tactics, McCain would rather help Fox News make sure that its audience isn't "well informed" or "knowledgeable" at all.