I watched a segment on MSNBC last night where 12-year-old Graeme Frost’s parents were interviewed by Keith Olbermann. Frost, an accident victim and CHIP beneficiary, gave the Democratic response to the president’s weekly radio address. His appearance launched a massive attack by right wing bloggers with some smears traced back to Senator Mitch McConnell’s office.
The right wingers sought to portray Frost as liiving in a half-million dollar home (ignoring the fact the parents owned the home for years and have invested considerable sweat equity in the place), that his father owned his own business (no longer), and that Graeme and his sister attend private school (but declining to mention that kids go on scholarships). Michelle Malkin made a person visit to the Frost’s neighborhood in an effort to discredit a 12 year old boy and blame Democrats for using children as a “shield.”
Malkin must have forgotten her own criticism of the New York Times following an article on the location of Donald Rumsfled’s summer home. And Malkin must have forgotten how the right wing uses children as props on a regular basis. Remember the “snowflakes” photos? NCLB? Agan, using children to underscore political points is only OK if you are a Republican.
Let’s urge Rep. John Campbell and the OC delegration to do the right thing and override the president’s veto of the S-CHIP program.