Dancing Around Death (Panels)

Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin’s pushback against what she called “death panels” was widely publicized in 2009. On her Facebook page, Palin said she feared a scenario “in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care." But as the health care debate heated up, Palin seemed to back off. In a later post, she said: “We must stick to a discussion of the issues and not get sidetracked by tactics that can be accused of leading to intimidation or harassment…. Let's not give the proponents of nationalized health care any reason to criticize us.”