http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/16/bethany-attacks/

October 16, 2007

Right Wing Gleefully Smears Two Yr-Old SCHIP Recipient Bethany
Wilkerson

Yesterday, TrueMajorityAction released an ad of 2-year old Bethany
Wilkerson, who was born with a serious heart problem and received
health insurance through the SCHIP program.
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/15/meet-bethany/

Today, the Wilkerson family will appear with lawmakers on Capitol Hill
to rally support for increased funding of the SCHIP program.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/the_march_of_the_children_on_t.html

Like the Frost family,
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/08/attacking-graeme-frost/ the
Wilkerson family has already become the subject of right-wing attacks.
Michelle Malkin — whose baseless smear campaign against 12-year old
Graeme Frost was deemed too bogus
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/16/111648/43 for even Sen.
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — is now trying to rally the right against
Bethany.

Heralding the arrival of a “new toddler-aged human shield,”
http://michellemalkin.com/2007/10/15/s-chip-and-the-democrats-human-shield-campaign/
Malkin writes that “the Wilkersons made a choice” — a seeming
reference to the fact that Malkin now believes she has the license to
attack the Wilkersons for their public support of SCHIP.

“We need more ‘partisan bickering,’ not less,” added Malkin.
http://michellemalkin.com/2007/10/15/s-chip-and-the-democrats-human-shield-campaign/

Malkin’s not alone in her rage.

In a piece entitled “Meet the New Frosts, Same As the Old Frosts,” the
National Review’s Mark Hemingway attacks the Wilkersons as
irresponsible parents:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=Zjk4ZjA2NDIxNmEzNGM4YTZmNTBjODY3NmI5OGQ3NjU=


While the debate around the Frost family at least initially centered
around their relative wealth, the issue really at hand is one of bad
behavior. […]

For Dara and Brian Wilkerson, the fact that they don’t have health
insurance is less about falling through the cracks than the decisions
they’ve made.


Hemingway claims that Bethany’s mother, Dara, “voluntarily left a job
at a country club that had good health insurance, because the
situation was ‘unmanageable,’” to “take a job at a restaurant with no
health insurance.”

He mourns the fact that the Wilkersons “went on to have a baby
anyway.”
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=Zjk4ZjA2NDIxNmEzNGM4YTZmNTBjODY3NmI5OGQ3NjU=

Dara Wilkerson released this statement responding to the attacks on
her choice of employment:


We have seen the statement about my previous employment and here is
what we have to say:

I left my previous place of employment years before Bethany became
part of our lives.

I am a hard working woman.

I have worked at Snappers Sea Grill for over 6 years.

It is a good work environment and I am a loyal employee.

My husband and I were blessed with Bethany two years ago and we are
even more blessed to still have her with us today.

So according to this “pro-life” right-wing logic, the Wilkersons
should have sacrificed having a daughter in order to stay in an
“unmanageable” job.

______________________________________________________

What else can one say

Harry