There’s an old saying that goes, “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.”
Let’s paraphrase that a bit and say: One is happenstance. Two is coincidence. Three (or more) is ACORN action.
With that in mind, I draw your attention to Doug Ross at DirectorBlue, who notes the curious case of over 200 nearly- identical headlines running in newspapers within a 24-hour time span. And, surprise, surprise, each of those headlines, which appeard in newspapers large and small across the country, has to do with exaggeraged numbers of uninsured Americans.
A partial list, as provided by Mr. Ross:
• Third of Illinoisans went without health insurance in last 2 years: Sun-Times
• Report: 2.5M in Michigan lacked health insurance: Chicago Tribune
• Study: 29% of Ohioans have gone without health insurance: BizJournals
• Report: More NJ residents lacking health insurance: Forbes
• Study: Many Kansans are uninsured: BizJournals
• Study: 1 in 3 Alabamians have no insurance: BizJournals
• 1 out of 3 Coloradans lacked insurance in past two years: Denver Post
• Nearly 1 in 3 Idahoans lack health insurance, study says: Idaho Statesman
• One in four nonelderly Minnesotans has been without health insurance, study shows: Twin Cities
• 1 in 3 are uninsured in Georgia, study says: Augusta Chronicle
• 1.3 million Louisiana residents uninsured: Independent
• Millions in N.C. lack health plan: Winston-Salem Journal
• Uninsured are mostly working: Sun-Herald
• Nearly one-third of Wyoming residents went without health insurance in past two years: Wyoming Tribune
• Report finds health insurance lacking in W.Va.: Charleston Gazette
According to Mr. Ross, he quit listing them, because he got tired of all the cutting and pasting.
So what could have possessed all those editors to run all those headlines and the corresponding “stories”? Well, it wasn’t happenstance, and it wasn’t coincidence, that’s for sure. It turns out that they were all shopped around by a group called Families USA. It’s a group that claims to be “The voice for health care consumers” although I don’t recall their asking if they could speak for me. Ross did some digging, and guess what he found?
According to Discover the Networks, Families USA is a member of the “Progressive States Network”, which works closely with (you guessed it) ACORN and the SEIU. These ultra-partisan groups have truly one agenda: big government.
During his presidential campaign, then-Senator Obama spoke to a conference of Family USA activists and promised, “I am absolutely determined that by the end of the first term of the next president, we should have universal health care in this country.”
Mr. Ross goes on to examine in some depth the “legendary” claim of 47 million uninsured Americans, and based on his research, comes to the unsurprising conclusion that the figure 47 million is pure bunk, used by groups like ACORN as scare tactics to further their agenda by ginning up a non-existent “health care crisis” and persuading newspapers across the country to deliver their message, disguised as news.
It wouldn’t be nearly so easy for them if they didn’t have the willing help of a third-rate fourth estate.
Stoutcat
[...] this remind anyone of the almost miraculous instance of over 200 newspapers publishing articles with nearly-identical headlines within a 24-hour period [...]