MSNBC, Kos TPM: GOP caused Covered California, ObamaCare problems

January 22, 2014

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oBAMACARE HACK2Why have ObamaCare websites been failing? It’s the GOP’s fault, of course. Undone about the horrible roll out of the president’s signature law, Democrats have been looking everywhere for a scapegoat. Finally, after failing to find a politically satisfying excuse, they made up one.

It started with the story at a tech site about hackers planning to attack the ObamaCare website. The story was, ahem, embroidered by far left bloggers, and before too long, grew into the meme “right wing” and “Fox viewers” had launched cyber attacks on HealthCare.Gov. I blew up that story here.  

fake website 4 chris hayesBut the news fabricators weren’t done. The meme was quickly followed up with an ‘Aha!’ story here, here and here alleging the GOP launched a website to decoy the ObamaCare seekers in California. The story was disseminated in early December in apparent reaction to news reports about the parade of horribles following ObamaCare’s roll out. It appeared to be an attempt to legitimize and dress up the naked lies told about the fake website 1“right wing” cyber attacks (see my post on it here).

Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, and soon Mediaite and the LATimes blog picked up the story of how the California GOP Assembly fake website 3 think progresscaucus contrived a phony California ObamaCare website to intentionally confuse people. Blog posts claimed the website was designed to decoy people from going to the real Covered California website and deprive these poor souls of their ObamaCare. MSNBC picked up the meme with the headline, “California Schemin'”.

 The Assembly GOP website was called “sabotage,” “bogus,” “a new low,” “an attempt to mislead…,” and a “trick.”

Mediaite went so far as to call it a “fake health care exchange” website. You decide. Here’s the real one and here’s the “fake health care exchange” website. Mediaite provided a screen cap. Note that Mediaite left something important off its screen cap. Wait, what? Isn’t that a link for Covered California? Why, yes, it is!

fake website screen cap from mediaite
Mediaite screen cap of GOP Assembly website.

 

fake website mediaite
Looks like Mediaite left something off its screen cap: a link to Covered California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mediaite mentioned the link but downplayed its importance. Instead, we were served up a huge helping of those-diabolical-Republicans-how-dare-they-foul-up-what-could-have-been-a-smooth-launch-of-ObamaCare?

So what was the point of the website? My interview with the person in charge of it next.