Andrea Mitchell probably doesn’t care, but it’s clear now that she was completely wrong. Tina Bachtel’s story as related by Hillary these last months is true:
Clinton Told True Tale of Woe, Says Kin
By Anne E. Kornblut (Washington Post)The aunt of a young pregnant woman who died after a hospital told her she needed to pay $100 up front for care said in an interview on Monday that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has been telling the story accurately on the campaign trail — following claims by a different Ohio hospital that it did not turn the patient away.
For weeks, Clinton repeated an anecdote she heard in Ohio on Feb. 28 involving a young woman who lost her baby and later died because she lacked health insurance and did not have $100 to gain access to a nearby hospital.
But over the weekend, Clinton came under fire when officials at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital, after reading about her remarks, demanded that she stop recounting it because the patient, Trina Bechtel, was admitted there and did have insurance.
That part, it turns out, is true. But so is Clinton’s claim that Bechtel did not get care at another hospital that wanted a $100 pre-payment before seeing her, according to the young woman’s aunt, Lisa Casto. “It’s a true story,” said Casto, 53.
(snip)
Casto said she has been stunned by the amount of negative attention her niece’s story generated, and that she was sorry it had hurt the Clinton campaign. She was, and is, she said, a supporter. “Did I vote for Hillary?” she said. “You’d better bet I did.”
It’s especially ironic that while this story was blowing up, Hillary was preparing to unveil her goal to cure breast cancer. Is there any better proof that she’s a sticker? Hillary Clinton doesn’t let anything stop her from working on the issues.
Filed under: General
Big Tent Democrat watches what used to be Countdown, so we don’t want to. He has some astute observations along with some regrets:
If he wasn’t so committed to that belief Obama is a stronger candidate, a person could just follow him around nodding.
(squinting) ‘Course that’s a pretty big disagreement….
What my little low-information, lizard mind can’t seem to grasp is this: How could she possibly have erred, let alone lied, when she relayed a purely anonymous story that did, in fact, tell the ugly truth about health insurance in America?
They took the account of the hospital as the gospel truth for crying out loud. Worse, they callously glossed over the bigger picture, taking out an innocent, grieving family with it. Truly sick.
Here is a great Frontline clip about health care around the world, which draws a stark and disturbing contrast to our country.
“What my little low-information, lizard mind can’t seem to grasp is this: How could she possibly have erred, let alone lied, when she relayed a purely anonymous story that did, in fact, tell the ugly truth about health insurance in America?”
I guess it’s Clinton Derangement Syndrome in action.
But, what those who suffer from in don’t understand is that the REST of us like her more, the more we see her. So the more they attack the less seriously we take them.
The last paragraph in the highlighted story pretty much sums up my feelings about the “progressive” movement and blogs. Obama fans, despite evidence to the contrary, are still out supporting their candidate by pushing the “she lied” falsehood today across the blogs and obviously in the media.
I’ve always wanted Hillary to win, but when they called Obama a muslim i defended him. When they called him unpatriotic for the pledge of allegiance photo, I cried BS. I even had his back over Reverend Wright, as I thought it really was a non-issue.
When Hillary is falsely attacked as in this case, where are his supporters? Attacking her along with Republicans and the media.
I’d say “shame on you” to them if they felt shame.
For all those who like their MCM (Mainstream Corporate Media) nitpickers nitpicking Hillary now, attempting to kill her with the death of a thousand pecks, what about when they decide to nitpick Obama? How’re will those Obama backers like them apples? or pecks?
04.07.08 — 8:53PM // link
Hillary partly vindicated on hospital story.
–Josh Marshall
Has Josh joined in defending the nitpicking part of the MCM? Nitpicking of Dem candidates worked so well in giving us the Bush Maladministration. How about “almost totally vindicated,” Josh? “Essentially accurate,” maybe? “Basically true”? (And, yes, I am very disappointed in Josh and find it harder to trust how he reports on other matters besides the Clinton campaign.)
From Josh’s link (and there’s an excellent comment above by author/commenter Big Kahuna at Digby’s place–will linkbelow):
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Clinton-Hospital-Fact-Check.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
But at an earlier time, Casto [deceased woman's aunt] said, Bachtel lacked health insurance and ran up unpaid bills when treated at a clinic near her home in Middleport. When she returned for treatment when pregnant, the clinic demanded $100 per visit to help retire the outstanding debt, Casto said. Because Bachtel could not afford the fees and found it difficult to travel, her aunt said, she postponed receiving treatment.
SNIP
Clinton erred in telling audiences that the Ohio woman lacked insurance when seeking help for her troubled pregnancy. But according to Casto’s account, Bachtel’s medical tragedy began with circumstances very close to the essence of Clinton’s now-abandoned account: the lack of insurance created a $100 barrier to needed medical attention close to home.
Video of Deputy Sheriff Brian Holman telling Hillary about this woman’s sad tale:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wqpEt_CdBk&e
For now, the MCMers (members of the MCM) are not nitpicking their current fave Dem candidate. Just you wait, Obama backers, just you wait…. When they’re out to diminish a candidate’s viability, truth is not of the essence–driving up negatives and driving down enthusiasm is. The MCM is not our friend.
Thank goddess for Digby and her work. For Somerby and his explications and great historical archives.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/storylines-by-digby-andrea-mitchell.html
Good longish Digby piece about our MCM (Mainstream Corporate Media).
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/digby/3486708302627749116/#748578
Great detailed comment from Big Kahuna at 10:38am (4/8, this morning).
Lots of other good comments–and some scary ones about how Hillary ought to have thoroughly vetted anything story she hears from citizens on the campaign trail. Some of Digby’s commenters here really need to do some remedial Election 2000 reading at Somerby’s dailyhowler.com.
Like this commenter:
It’s like Al Gore and the internet or Al Gore an LOVE STORY – seeds of facts and valid points get obscured by exaggeration
That’s a tough mantle to shake – esp when she keep feeding it
This person doesn’t realize there wasn’t even a “seed of fact”–the press took things out of context and built their own narrative.
And after all the watchdogging, commenting, highlighting of mistakes and false stories–after what the MCM did in letting BushCo lead us into a war of aggression by swallowing and regurgitating the Maladministration’s lies!–they’re still doing the same ugly things. Sometimes it seems to me they’re even becoming more brash about it….
Alas.
At Talk left, big Tent D takes Obama spokesman Keith Olbermann to task over the “Gore-ing of Hillary.”
Check it out. Keith’s comments are just staggering.