The Pink Flamingo :: The Right Blogsphere V Left Blogsphere

I’ve stayed out of the Graeme Frost debate because I’m not all that interested. The Dems pulled their usual Dog and Pony show and their little grab for more money and nationalized health care was vetoed. Everyone is mis-behaving and doing the liberal – conservative slash and burn thing. The only reason I’m even covering it is because I think both sides are wrong. I think the Dems were wrong for making a show out of an innocent kid. The parents allowed it, so their crocodile tears don’t really upset me when they complain about those nasty conservatives taking apart every aspect of their lives. And – I think conservatives are wrong for maybe taking a few things out of context. This war between extreme liberals and extreme conservatives is getting nasty and filthy. Children need to be declared out of bounds - on both sides. This is one time when neither side had their finest hour. The worst problem is this is becoming more and more frequent. We need a few adults to step in between these two sets of feuding spoiled brats and call a time out and send both liberals and conservatives to their rooms to pout for awhile. And, when you do, take away the computers, Ipods, and TV. Make 'em read a book!

Think Progress

“…Here are the facts that the right-wing distorted in order to attack young Graeme:

1) Graeme has a scholarship to a private school. The school costs $15K a year, but the family only pays $500 a year.

2) His sister Gemma attends another private school to help her with the brain injuries that occurred due to her accident. The school costs $23,000 a year, but the state pays the entire cost.

3) They bought their “lavish house” sixteen years ago for $55,000 at a time when the neighborhood was less than safe.

4) Last year, the Frosts made $45,000 combined. Over the past few years they have made no more than $50,000 combined.

5) The state of Maryland has found them eligible to participate in the CHIP program.

Desperate to defend Bush’s decision to cut off millions of children from health care, the right wing has stooped to launching baseless and uninformed attacks against a 12 year old child and his family.

Right wing bloggers have been harassing the Frosts, calling their home numerous times to get information about their private lives. Compassionate conservatism indeed.

Digg It!

UPDATE: TP commenter Mr. Ed notes that Malkin visited the Frost’s home and business today. A coworker of Mr. Frost tells Malkin that the family is “struggling,” but she refuses to believe it….”

Now Malkin’s side of the argument:

Malkin writes,

“…Update 5:30pm Eastern. A word for all the faux outraged leftists accusing conservative bloggers of waging a “smear campaign:” Asking questions and subjecting political anecdotes to scrutiny are what journalists should be doing. When a family and Democrat political leaders drag a child down to Washington at 6 in the morning to read a script written by Senate Democrat staffers on a crusade to overturn a presidential veto, someone might have questions about the family’s claims. The newspapers don’t want to do their jobs. The vacuum is being filled.If you don’t want questions, don’t foist these children onto the public stage. Fight your battles like adults and stop hiding behind youngsters dragging around red wagons filled with your talking points….”

And I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH HER ON THE ABOVE POINTS. Keep innocent kids out of it. If a family – I don’t care what side – liberal, conservative, or half-way in-between – does this to a child the deserve most of what they get – to a point. Kids should not be political pawns, no matter how precocious and cute they are.

Fire Globe Lake goes after Malkin and Republicans in general:

“…First of all, you weren’t scrutinizing, you were harassing the family at their place of business and their home, and then you kept on harassing them and egged your readers to do the same. Your gin up a phony distraction from your bad press because ”the GOP doesn’t care about poor children“ conservative bloggers and pundits decided that the ends justifies the means in cleaning up after George Bush’s latest mess — even if it meant sacrificing the daily lives of a couple of injured children in the fray. Secondly, you weren’t even close to following the code of ethics that professional journalists require in this situation to “minimize harm,” so you can call yourself the ethically-challenged political hacks that you are and be done with it….”

Malkin notes the Freeper post here.

“…His company, Frostworks, is located at 3701 E BALTIMORE ST. A building that was purchased for $160,000 in 1999. The buildings owner is listed as DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIAL DESIGN CENTER, LLC whose mailing address is listed as 104 S Collington Ave which is the Frost's home. The commercial property he owns is also listed as the business address for another company called Reillys Designs which leads to the question of whether rental income is included in the above mentioned salary total

The current market value of their improved 3,040 SF home at 104 S Collington Ave is unknown but 113 S COLLINGTON AVE, also an end unit, sold for $485,000 this past March and it was only 2,060 SF. A photo taken in the family's kitchen shows what appears to be a recent remodeling job with granite counter tops and glass front cabinets..."

There is something very nasty about prying into someone's life so closely you even examine the kitchen cabinets and speculate on a kitchen renovation. Why not check out their taxes, get their IRS records, do a credit check and see how many outstanding traffic tickets they have.

A MINI RANT
One has to wonder that if time and money can be found to remodel a home, send kids to exclusive private schools, purchase commercial property and run your own business... maybe money can be found for other things...maybe Dad should drop his woodworking hobby and get a real job that offers health insurance rather than making people like me (also with 4 kids in a 600sf smaller house and tuition $16,000 less per kid and no commercial property ownership) pay for it in my taxes….”

Now, having been raised in a family where almost every cent was on paper, in land, or in the business, I think the above post is a crock. So what if you have a half-million on paper – it’s on paper! Anyone who has ever owned a small business knows that. I can also sympathize over the insurance dilemma.

From the time I was in the 7th grade, my mother has been quite ill, from one problem to another, nearly dying from the rupture of an ovarian cyst. By the time I was in college, she had had something like 25 surgeries due to complications from that rupture and the subsequent peritonitis. I can remember my father shopping insurance companies (and this was years ago) and trying to see if they could hold off on a surgery or hospitalization until she could qualify for additional insurance. The only thing that kept them from going under with medical bills was the fact that the ultra high medical costs hadn’t kicked in. If all this had happened today – as a family we would be in the same situation as the Frost family is today.

And – the financial statement would look the same. My parents wedding announcement was covered by the various and sundry papers in and around Palm Beach.

Fast forward: Two and a half years ago when my mother’s heart stopped twice:
1 – emergency jet to Las Cruces
1 – ambulance to ABQ
1 – chopper flight to Las Cruces
1 – ambulance to Las Cruces

Her medical bills during a period from April, 2005 – August, 2005 (including pacemaker) came to nearly a HALF MILLION DOLLARS. If they did not have the AARP Medicare Supplement, they wouldn’t be able to build the new house.

ONE OTHER LITTLE THING:
The Frost’s daughter has had some extremely high medical bills. Any CONSERVATIVE who doesn’t know the medical insurance facts of life ought to know that if you use a tremendous amount of medical insurance, YOU LOSE IT! They only want to insure healthy people. Malkin references Mark Stein’s blog, which is one of the most disgusting reads I’ve had in awhile. If you want to know why people think conservatives aren’t nice, compassionate human beings, read this. It is proof positive, and absolutely disgusting. I've noticed when conservatives or liberals are stretching to prove a point they become incomprehensible. Stein comes off like a blubbering idiot here.

NY TIMES WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENTS
The other complaint about the Frosts is the fact that their wedding was announced in the NYTimes in 1992. Today’s policy for announcements is fairly strict, but if you follow the rules, ANYONE can have a shot at being included. Please note that the rules 15 years ago were not as strict as they are today.
In 2005 if a bride coughed up about $1000 she would be guaranteed placement in the Times.

“…The Times’ asking price is $48 a line, which means that even the most economical couples will have to spring almost $1,000 for a bare-bones, twenty-line announcement. Adding a decent-size picture could up the total by another several hundred dollars. What the brides are fretting about most is not the cost but the stigma: The paid notices will be clearly delineated under a banner that reads “Social Announcements,” in a six-column format different from the “Weddings” page—thereby eliminating all the prestige. Where is the coup in appearing in the Gray Lady if everyone knows you paid her off?...”

Instructions from The Knot

“…The folks who decide which couple's wedding announcements are worthy of the Sunday Style section won't tell how they pick and choose. But even if you aren't the son or daughter of a famous media mogul or a direct descendent of the original Mayflower crew, you still have a chance. Following the myriad of rules to the letter will increase your odds, but beware: The Times is tough. Not only must all information arrive six weeks before the wedding, but you can expect that all information will be fact-checked by the meticulous Times staff…”