Why the "death panels" claim is plausible

When it comes to health care "reform," or any other issue for that matter, I have no plans to rely on Sarah Palin or Michele Bachman for accurate and unbiased information, any more than I'd ring up the DNC for a neutral evaluation.

On the other hand, methinks the Democratic left doth protest too much versus Palin's "death panels" fears.

Salon.Com's Joan Walsh, for example --

Most of the health care screamers are sadly uninformed. and some are hugely driven by lies and racism. Maybe more disturbing, the fact that the last GOP nominee for vice president falsely claims that Obama is going to create "death panels" shows the Republican Party has has arrived at a point of abject shame.

And "Southern Beale" --

You [Sarah Palin], who so carelessly bolstered a lie about healthcare reform to score a cheap political point; you, the most craven of political opportunists, who fearmongers about some dystopian socialist/fascist fantasyland; you, who earlier this year were only too happy to accept free medical, dental and veterinary care from the U.S. military for Alaska’s remote villages; you, dear lady, are an idiot.

I can't for the life of me figure out what the hell else the Democrats would have expected people to think about the "end of life planning" references in ObamaCare four years after the murder of Terri Schiavo at the hands of, well, "death panels," masquerading as state courts and ruling that Florida law and the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection were of no importance when stood up against a disabled woman's husband's desire to kill her. Said murder and said panels wholeheartedly supported, btw, by the same old usual suspects on the Democratic left who are now trumpeting "health care reform" with "end of life planning" features.^*

Four years is a long time in politics. A lot of bygones will be bygones and a lot of trivial matters will be forgotten in such a span. But murder in broad daylight will be remembered for quite awhile, and it will come especially to mind when legislative language that seems to make for ratification and repetition of past atrocities comes up for discussion.

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1. Interestingly, Barack Obama himself initially voted in favor of the rule of law and enforcement of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, but later decided that he regretted having done so.