Local News
HEALTH: Slaughter’s story goes national
Rep. Louise Slaughter’s comments at Thursday’s White House health care summit, including the story of a woman forced to wear her dead sister’s dentures, have stirred up Internet comments nationwide.
“I have a constituent that you won’t believe and I know you won’t, but her sister died, this poor woman had no dentures,” Slaughter, D-Fairport, said. “She wore her dead sister's teeth, which of course were uncomfortable and did not fit. Do you believe that in America that’s where we would be?”
The story, told during the nationally televised event, didn’t take long to hit the Internet and airwaves. Newsweek’s Web site made the story their quote of the day, as did the Talking Points Memo blog.
A post at liberal Web site Democratic Underground recounts a story of a man using scissors to cut his meat into bits because he couldn’t afford dentures. One man on Twitter sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a message that stated, “Louise Slaughter is type of representative I like in Congress.”
But not everyone was so impressed. Talk show host Rush Limbaugh criticized the entire group of Democrats present at the meeting, mentioning Slaughter’s story in particular as an example.
“It’s sob story after sob story after sob story,” Limbaugh said.
Limbaugh’s Web site hosts a transcript of his Thursday show, during which he called Slaughter’s tale the “sob story of the day,” alongside a graphic featuring a photo of the Congresswoman between a pair of dentures. He went on to call the story a good example of the recycling that Democrats favor and said he wasn’t particularly concerned about the woman with no teeth.
“What’s apple sauce for? Isn’t that why they make apple sauce?” Limbaugh said.
The Web site Rightpundits.com found humor in the story as well, saying that First Lady Michelle Obama could use the idea to combat obesity.
“Children, as well as adults, could benefit greatly by a few extra teeth pulled, fillings that fall out, or dentures from the dead,” Tara Lynn Thompson wrote.
Republican leaders seemed equally unmoved by Democrats’ stories, leaving the health care reform debate unresolved. Democrats have vowed to continue without Republican support, but questions still linger as to whether a deal can be reached between the House and Senate.
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