In Speeches, Clinton Often Veers to Dark Side

Washington Post ^ | Thursday, April 3, 2008 | Anne E. Kornblut

[knuthom]

It almost always comes when the audience least expects it: the moment Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton brings a roaring crowd to a hush with a heart-rending anecdote.

"I remember listening to a story about a young woman in a small town along the Ohio River, in Meigs County, who worked in a pizza parlor," the Democratic presidential candidate said during a stop in Cleveland, beginning a particularly grim tale.

"She got pregnant, she started having problems. There's no hospital left in Meigs County, so she had to go to a neighboring county. She showed up, and the hospital said, 'You know, you've got to give us $100 before we can see you.' She didn't have $100," Clinton said.

"So the young woman went back home," she continued. "The next time she went back, she was in an ambulance. It turned out she lost the baby. She was airlifted to Columbus."

She paused before concluding: "And after heroic efforts at the medical center, she died." The audience, as always, gasped.

The story has become a staple of Clinton's stump speech, a prime example of how, in a campaign year in which lofty phrases have taken center stage, she has rejected sweeping oratory -- "just words," as her campaign likes to accuse Democratic rival Barack Obama of offering -- in favor of a dramatic speaking style all her own.

In hushed tones, sometimes with palpable sadness in her voice, Clinton tells dark, difficult anecdotes picked up on the campaign trail.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Pantsuit on fire.

[Bitsy]

Not to mention that most hospitals are obligated to take patients regardless of their ability to pay

You are right. In New Orleans area hospitals are oblagated to take anyone. That’s one of the reasons our ins. is going up and hospital fees are too.

[browniexyz]

Federal law prohibits patient “dumping” — if anyone shows up with a problem at the ER, they CANNOT be told to go elsewhere under any circumstances—they are entitled to treatment under what’s known as the anti-dumping law. Someone needs to let the smartest woman lawyer in the world know about this long-standing federal law.

[McGruff]

Can Hillary get any screwier looking?

[Condor51]

"I remember listening to a story about a young woman in a small town along the Ohio River, in Meigs County, who worked in a pizza parlor," the Democratic presidential candidate said during a stop in Cleveland, beginning a particularly grim tale.....

"She got pregnant during the Battle for Pork Chop Hill and she started having problems, Sniper Fire was everywhere. There was no hospital left after the Battle for Okinawa, so she had to go to Guam. She showed up, and the hospital said, 'You know, you've got to give us $100 before we can see you.' She didn't have $100, the Chi-Coms took her money when they captured her a year before in Manchuria" Clinton said.

"So then the Army kicked her out and the young woman went back - dodging Artillery Shelling and Sniper Fire all the way," she continued. "The next time she went back, she was in an ambulance. It turned out she lost the baby. She was then airlifted to Iwo Jima"

(She paused before concluding)...
"And after all her heroic efforts, she died. And Donald Rumsfeld wouldn't even giver her a stinking Medal!"

The audience, as always, gasped.

Hillary Clinton is a Big Fat Liar.
The 'Truth' to her is as a Cross is to a Vampire.

[red flanker]

Business Search Web Page http://www.ecspace.us/Business/@Oklahoma/Pizza.Hut/OTAyNDYyNw

Lists Pizza Hut with contact info:

Company Name:
Pizza Hut
Tel: 740-992-7000
URL: www.pizzahut.com
Contact Names: Trina Bachtel
Address: 415 West Main Street, Pomeroy, OH 45769
Pomeroy, OH
ZIP: 45769

There is also a health clinic called Holzer Clinic (http://www.holzerclinic.com/loc/loc_meigs.htm) and a Veteran's Memorial Hospital in Pomeroy (Meigs County).

[wideawake]

Trina Bachtel Address: 415 West Main Street, Pomeroy, OH 45769 Pomeroy, OH

Interesting.

Meigs County's closed hospital - according to Google - is 2 miles from that address and Pleasant Valley Hospital across the river in Mason, WV is 1.9 miles from that address.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The $100 is completely bogus. Is does not happen.

[okie01]

Medicaid covers pregnant women with incomes up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.

You're not supposed to know that.

And, fact is, Hillary's supporters probably don't.

For that matter, Obama and his supporters probably don't know it either.

[okie01]

Meigs County isn't all that big (23-24K pop.).

It wouldn't be hard for a serious researcher (e.g. a local FReeper) to establish the veracity of this tale.

[COUNTrecount]

"I remember listening to a story about a young woman in a small town along the Ohio River, in Meigs County, who worked in a pizza parlor," the Democratic presidential candidate said during a stop in Cleveland, beginning a particularly grim tale.

SHE remembers hearing the story.She never said that it was true. And if it's NOT, the person who told her the story lied, NOT her. CLINTONSPEAK at its finest.

[Ann Archy]

Clinton was told the story by Bryan Holman, the Meigs County deputy sheriff, who said the deceased woman was Trina Bachtel, whom campaign officials had been unable to identify. Bachtel, Holman said, had been turned away from the hospital not only for lack of $100 but also because she had unpaid bills -- a detail that Clinton has not mentioned. Public records show that Bachtel of Pomeroy, Ohio, died on Aug. 15, 2007, at age 35. She previously had thousands of dollars in hospital debt, but it was paid off by 2005. They can find out that this woman had hospital debt but not how she died? And the campaign had been unable to identify but Clinton keeps talking about her anyway?.....The ends justifies the means. It's the agenda, always.

What about her DEATH CERTIFICATE???? Is that PUBLIC? How does one find out?

[Ann Archy]

What did the woman Die of?? How long AFTER she lost the baby?

[Ann Archy]

Hillary Isuzu.

[Ann Archy]

Business Search Web Page http://www.ecspace.us/Business/@Oklahoma/Pizza.Hut/OTAyNDYyNw Lists Pizza Hut with contact info: Company Name: Pizza Hut Tel: 740-992-7000 URL: www.pizzahut.com Contact Names: Trina Bachtel Address: 415 West Main Street, Pomeroy, OH 45769 Pomeroy, OH ZIP: 45769 There is also a health clinic called Holzer Clinic (http://www.holzerclinic.com/loc/loc_meigs.htm) and a Veteran's Memorial Hospital in Pomeroy (Meigs County).

GREAT WORK!!!

[west cestrian]

A search of the Pomeroy, OH Daily Sentinel archives shows an obituary for Trina Larae Bachtel on August 17, 2007; and an obit for Tray Dean Hutton (son of Trina Bachtel and Tony Hutton) on August 5, 2007. Only partial views of the articles are available; the full items require a paid subscription. Here are the abbreviated items:

Trina Larae Bachtel
Publish Date: August 17, 2007
Word Count: 179
Document ID: 11B3229E93FB3818

MIDDLEPORT - Trina Larae Bachtel, 35, Middleport, passed away on August 15, 2007, at OSU Medical Center in Columbus. She was born on Nov. 25, 1971, in Gallipolis, daughter of Diane L. and Ronald H. Bachtel. She was employed as a manager at Pizza Hut.
She was preceded by an infant son, Trey Dean Hutton; paternal grandparents, Audrey and Willard Jeffers, and her father-in-law, Eugene Hutton.
She is survived by her mother and father, Diane L. and Ronald H. Bachtel, Chester; her fiance, . . .

Tray Dean Hutton
Publish Date: August 5, 2007
Word Count: 101
Document ID: 11ADD67882B3F888

Tray Dean Hutton, the son of Tony M. Hutton and Trina L. Bachtel of Rutland, was stillborn, August 1, 2007 at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, Athens. Also surviving is a sister, Jessi Hutton, Rutland; grandparents, Ronnie & Diane Bachtel, Chester, Oh. and Charles & Minnie Young, Langsville, Ohio; great grandmothers, May Mayle, Pomeroy and Vivian Coy, Rutland; and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his grandfather Ewing (Moose) . . .

First thing that jumps out at me is that she was employed as a manager at the Pizza Hut. What kind of benefits does Pizza Hut provide for its managers? Hard to believe it wouldn't include health coverage.

[red flanker]

Thanks for the news clip. Your point about a PH manager without any health coverage on top of the fact that a pregnant woman was supposedly refused treatment doesn't pass the smell test.

Your clip also reveals her son was born in an Athens hospital and that the father was "Tony Hutton" and yet her fiance's name is "Chester."

[rabidralph]

She forgot to mention that the helicopter airlifting the girl came under triple-A fire while attempting to SPIE-rig the patient to the hospital LZ.

[wideawake]

Given the punctuation of the obit, it implies that her parents live in a town called Chester.

[knuthom]

Here is another version of the story:

SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I was in southern Ohio, a long way from here, last week. Yeah, we did well. We did very well there. A lot of hardworking people. They're tired of the speeches. They're tired of the promises. They want people to turn words into actions and give them solutions. I think that's what Wyoming wants. And that's what I'm offering.

But I want to tell you, I heard a story that has just kind of haunted me. I was visiting a couple of families, small town on the banks of the Ohio River, talking to a deputy sheriff there. He told me about a young woman who worked at the pizza parlor in town. She worked for minimum wage. You don't get many tips at the pizza parlor. She was living pretty modestly. She got pregnant. She as having trouble. She went to the hospital. The hospital said, well, you don't have insurance. She said, no, I don't. They said, well, we can't see you until you give $100. She said, where am I going to get $100. They said, well, come back when you have the $100.

She came back about a week later. She was having problems. Same response, we need $100. She went away. The next time she came back to the hospital, she came in an ambulance. She was in distress. The doctors and the nurses worked on her and couldn't save the baby. She was so sick that they had to airlift her to the next biggest town with a medical center. Everybody worked for about 15 days trying to save her and they weren't successful.

According to this version, she worked for minimum wage, even though she was a manager. I suspect there is some embellishment going on here. I doubt if the manager works for minimum wage. Hillary also specifically states that the woman didn't have health insurance.

If the baby was considered stillborn, she had to be at least five months pregnant. Before that it would be considered a miscarriage. Had she gotten prenatal care prior to showing up at the hospital? If so, did she call that doctor and report the problems she was having? According to the CNN article, there were two trips to the hospital, with some time between. That was plenty of time to call her doctor if she had been seeing one. I can't imagine a doctor or hospital turning away a pregnant woman in medical distress. Even if they had no compassion, the liability issues would be too great.