I don't buy it either.
Posted on 03/08/2010 9:42:11 AM PST by Sub-Driver
Edited on 03/08/2010 1:01:32 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Original title: Palin: I snuck across Canadanian border for healthcare By Eric Zimmermann - 03/08/10 11:33 AM ET
Sarah Palin's family used to "hustle" across the Canadian border to get healthcare, the former Alaska Governor said this weekend.
In a speech in Calgary, Palin called it "ironic" that while growing up in a small Alaskan town near the Canadian border, her family used to sneak across to take advantage of the Canadian healthcare system.
"We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada," she said, according to Medicine Hat News (via Dave Weigel.) "And I think now, isn't that ironic."
It's ironic, of course, because Palin and other Republicans have argued that Democratic healthcare reform will put the U.S. on the path towards Canada's "socialized" healthcare system.
As I am defending her here, I have no idea what you mean by “people like you” will “twist anything she says”.
I am a Palin supporter, but don’t think it makes sense to decide what is truth or not based on how we feel about a candidate.
We need to fight against those who twist her words, but denying she said something isn’t the answer, unless we know she didn’t say it. It just makes things worse.
Palin was born in February, 1964. Khrushchev was ousted in October, 1964. Man, I'm starting to feel old! I can remember the sh!t-canning of Mr. K!
I don’t think Palin walks on water, but I like her and think she is a nice person who has been treated horrendously by lefties who are demented.
She may make a good candidate should she run. This story was stupid from the beginning because there was no context or time frame to her comment.
Might be nice if this Eric guy knew how to spell Canadian.
See: My post (somewhere above) about Biden. I thought it to be amusing.
But, that's me.
Two, the rate at which freepers, who are supposed to be some of the most intelligent and reasonable politicos on the net, believe a confirmed LEFTIST source, astounds me.
I never thought I'd see freepers give the benefit of the doubt to a leftist, agenda-driven blogger over a conservative.
Shame on you and the rest who choose to believe an unsubstantiated claim.
Of course, I'm sure if Sarah said this and clarifies the remarks, it won't be enough for you and your friends.
I was referring to the discrepency between a speech she gave in Skagway where she said her brother had to take the long ferry into Juneau, and this Calgary speech where she said her brother took the train to Whitehorse. And where did I say that her family did anything wrong?
Charles in post #119 makes a much better assessment than mine however on the two different descriptions from the two different speeches.
I liked your Biden post. Have you ever thought about screenwriting? :-)
The context doesn't make clear what Palin is saying is "ironic," though it may be the fact that she now considers the Canadian system dangerously flawed.
Palin, as a young child, lived in a remote community as near to Whitehorse as to any Alaska metropolis.
CORRECTION: Whitehorse is in Yukon, not Saskatchewan, and Palin, as a young child, lived closer to it than earlier reported.
UPDATE: Here's some more context: "My first five years of life we spent in Skagway, Alaska, right there by Whitehorse. Believe it or not - this was in the '60s - we used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse. I remember my brother, he burned his ankle in some little kid accident thing and my parents had to put him on a train and rush him over to Whitehorse and I think, isn't that kind of ironic now. Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada."
Sorry, it seems I jumped the gun.
I just don’t think she actually said what the article is suggesting.
This is the actual statement...
My first five years of life we spent in Skagway, Alaska, right there by Whitehorse. Believe it or not – this was in the ‘60s – we used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse. I remember my brother, he burned his ankle in some little kid accident thing and my parents had to put him on a train and rush him over to Whitehorse and I think, isn’t that kind of ironic now. Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada.
OMG! 6 year old Sarah went to Canada for health care!!!! STRING HER UP!!!! How dare a child not tell her parents she ain’t a-goin’.
“We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada,” she said. “And I think now, isn’t that ironic?”
That is a quote from The Globe And Mail. I don’t see where she mentioned her brother in this speech. You appear to be conflating some other speech not in evidence. There appears to be NO CONFICT.
These same people fail to realize, apparently, that it wasn't what Sarah said, it was how it was SPUN and selectively edited that made it a lie.
You can edit Scripture to make Satan look like the good guy. Doesn't make it FACT.
These are the same folks who likely believe Sarah said, ‘I can see Russia from my house!’- or have the same whacked out mentality.
Closest to the truth. I'm not a fan of the Canadian health care system, but it seems some conservatives think Canada's a third world country. It's not. I've been to Canada a number of times. Most of it looks like the U.S.
I don't buy it either.
She lived in Skagway, AK. as a kid (population < 1000) and the closest 'City' to Skagway is Whitehorse, Canada -- (population 20,000+). Skagway has a small clinic, and for such a small community, probably no full-time doctor. Whitehorse, with a population 20 times as great, has a fully equipped general hospital.
Whitehorse is 100 miles from Skagway. You can drive it in your own car, or take a train. There are no roads or railroads between Skagway and Juneau. The only way to get from one to the other is either by air, or by boat -- approx 100 miles down the inner channel.
Which do you think is fastest and cheapest way to go? Palin lived there in the 1960s before Canada had socialized health care, and anyone could go to a doctor or hospital and pay the bill out of their own pocket. Where do you think people would go if they needed more than what a simple clinic could provide? Back in those days, they could go across the border and pay cash for their treatment. Today, they can't
If they did it, she's only telling the truth. Would you prefer she lied to you?
OTOH, it's not so bad, BHO's Mom probably did the same thing in August of '61.
See post 169. And as Charles noted, still perhaps not a conflict. Fast ER help in nearby Canada vs. longterm visits to juneau.
“I think it is ironic because the Canadians are coming over here to use our health care system”
exactly. That’s what she meant. Canada used to be worth crossing the border for and that is no longer the case today.
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