The Doctor Is In: Distorting the facts on health care

In the beginning, there was Sarah Palin. who warned that the proposed health care reform bill called for the creation of "death panels" to decide whether an elderly patient gets to live or die. Then, along came Rush Limbaugh, who referred to the bill as "a Hitler-like policy." Now, critics of the plan are barnstorming town hall style meetings during the congressional recess to protest "Obamacare."

It's one thing for angry citizens to interrupt civic meetings and another for well-known public figures to grossly distort the facts. I am reluctant to use the word "lies," but it's hard to avoid the l-word when talking about the accusations that there is a covert governmental plan to kill off the elderly. I guess the accepted word for this sort of gross misrepresentation is "spin."