Former Arkansas GOP Gov. Mike Huckabee on Sunday defended his remark last week suggesting that recently-deceased Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) would have been told to “go home to take pain pills and die” if he had been covered under President Barack Obama’s proposed health care overhaul.
In his weekend Fox News show “Huckabee,” the 2008 Republican presidential candidate said his remarks were overblown and taken out of context.
“I spoke on my radio show and pointed out that when Senator Kennedy was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he chose to fight with all that was within him and to do that for life instead of choosing the pain pill that President Obama spoke of in his answer to James Stern during his White House town hall meeting,” Huckabee said.“George Stephanopoulos, Time magazine, Huffington Post and scores are liberal bloggers have gone berserk, saying I have made things up.”
Huckabee then challenged the media outlets that covered the comment.
“What did I say that wasn’t true?” he asked. “Listen to what I said. It was actually a tribute to Senator Kennedy and an observation that he did what Americans would want to do, follow the best healthcare they can find.”
The former Republican governor then repeated a similar argument to the one he made the week before, saying Kennedy’s death is a strong argument against Democratic attempts to reform health care because the late senator did not choose to “take pain pills and die.”
“The irony is that the final months of Senator Kennedy’s life are the very reason we shouldn’t let government take us to the Pelosi, Frank plan,” Huckabee said. “When diagnosed with brain cancer, Senator Kennedy didn’t do as President Obama suggested and take a pain pill and ride it out at home. He went to the best medical facilities in the world, had surgery and sought to live as long and as strong as possible.”
(Source: Politico)
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13 Responses
one thing about Mike Huckabee , he at the moment says the way it is , but please stay away from dov heikand
He is right on target. Kennedy would have been given a tylenol and told to go home. Of course everyone on the left as well as the ObamaKoolAid Drinkers will say, “Naa, you’re a fearmongerer.” But the facts are the facts. ObamaCare would let him die without being allowed to even seek care to save his pitiful life.
mrjones, Can we have your take on this, please?
While I don’t approve of any of the Democratic plans (Mr. Obama hasn’t actually proposed anything in particular – he told the Congress to come up with one, probably showing he doesn’t quite under how Washington works), none of them would prohibit an individual from spending their own money for a higher level of health care than is provided for free (as opposed to the Canadian plan which does largely prohibit Canadians from spending their own money for out of plan treatment – but that only means a short trip to an American hospital).
While the direction the Democrats are taking is flawed, criticism based on wild fantasies merely distract from the plans’ legitimate criticism.
P.S. Given his condition, hospice care and pain killers would apparently have been the correct treatment, regardless of who or what the patient was.
Completely true Mike and we need to all beware of the Obama health care. Dov Hikind is an ally and best friend of Jewish needs.
Mike Huckabee was right on the money.
Ted Kennedy was a BUM. Eirleche Yidden Celebrated when he finally kicked
Hey rebshalom, there is not one piece of hatred in mark levin’s post but there is plenty of hatred in yours for conservative talk radio and conservative politicians such as Sarah Palin.
This is all speculation on the part of Huckabee. How come the Dems, including Obama, are not sure what is in this alleged health care package since so many people threw stuff in the bill, but all the nay sayers are 100% sure of what will happen if the bill is approved.
That being said, Obama is a liar and this plan is a mess. It is one thing to help poor AMERICANS obtain medical care; this is not what Obama is doing. This plan is like taking a utility drawer in the kitchen and dumping it out on the floor ruining everything for everyone. Obama does not know what he is doing and is faking like he knows what he is doing. I guess he figures America was ruined (as it was) under Bush so he can just play house in the White House.
If Mary Jo Kopeckne wasn’t given a chance to live how should anyone else? Meesass Rishaim Tov Liolam.
ploniebenplonie, your comment was the best of all.
# 14: Narrow minded?? So far, you are the only one in this discussion who is narrow minded!
Or maybe you are so open minded that your brains fell out!
Flatbush Bubby. With all due respect, you have criticized rebshalom for stating his opinions while you have thrown your opinion statements all over the place.
Is it not possible that one who does not like right-wing demagogues in not necessarily a liberal?
Is it not possible that someone who thinks Palin and Rush are not legitimate thinkers like William F Buckley or George Will is not neccessarily a liberal?
Is it not possible that posters here are often recognized for towing a party line and using such terms as “kool aid drinkers” to me, takes away credibility from their points because they come off like “ditto heads” parroting terms used by media celebrities who talk politics.
I also read certain people as usually coming off tongue-in-cheek, and acerbic in their points, which I have already heard too many times on the radio while driving back and forth to work.