Is Obama really that ignorant? You be the judge:

VIDEO: Let them eat painkillers
Courtesy of Hot Air

This Marie Antoinette moment took place a month ago, and Karl mentioned it in a post at the time, but the video is definitely worth a revisit. Jane Sturm told Barack Obama that her mother had needed a pacemaker implanted at 100 years of age, but got denied by the first doctor she saw. She found a doctor who would do the surgery, impressed by her spirit. When Sturm asked Obama if her mother would have received a pacemaker under ObamaCare … well, watch for yourself:

Jane Sturm told the story of her nearly 100-year-old mother, who was originally denied a pacemaker because of her age. She eventually got one, but only after seeking out another doctor.

“Outside the medical criteria,” Sturm asked, “is there a consideration that can be given for a certain spirit … and quality of life?”

“I don’t think that we can make judgments based on peoples’ spirit,” Obama said. … “Maybe you’re better off not having the surgery, but taking painkillers.“

This shows why politicians shouldn’t decide on medical treatments. Dr. Helen Smith, who herself had the same kind of heart problems at a very young age, explains why Obama’s course of treatment would have led to, er, cost savings:

Some heart arrhythmia's are deadly, and a doctor telling a patient to take a pain killer to treat V-tach or V-fib should be guilty of malpractice. …

Heart arrhythmia's can be absolutely terrifying leading to panic attacks and/or fatigue so crippling that one cannot get off the couch. A pain killer is not going to help. But maybe that’s the idea. Obama is so determined to get his health care plan passed–no matter what the consequences– that he doesn’t care how or if people suffer, especially older people.

Is Obama heartless, mean or just plain ignorant? His response to Jane Sturm leaves me wondering which.

No more heartlesss, mean, or ignorant than the bureaucrats who will eventually make these decisions under ObamaCare, using their pocket Comparative Effectiveness Charts^TM.

Update: The video above was edited for a radio broadcast; the full video is here:

This doesn’t change the criticism above at all. Obama still says that government will tell doctors that Sturm’s mother may not get the pacemaker but be told to take a pill. And although Obama says that “ultimately, that decision will be between doctors and patients” at the end of this video, he’s making it clear that it won’t be at all, but will be decided by a government official who will judge whether or not to pay for a procedure based on its effectiveness. And Sturm’s mother still wouldn’t have been helped by a painkiller.

Now remember, in this monstrosity of a health care plan, the decision as to whether a procedure is necessary (ANY procedure or treatment) is not made by you and your physician, but by a bureaucratic pencil-pusher in Washington, D.C.

Considering the man the Democrats call brilliant, and elected as President, feels that in place of a pacemaker, this woman should be given painkillers, what does that say for the quality of the determinations that the government will make?

Remember, boys and girls, this administration has already given us a slew of tax cheats to run the Treasury, a complete intelligence novice to run the CIA, Joe Biden to be the Vice President, his campaign enemy to be Secretary of State, a car czar who has never worked in the auto industry, given over the reigns of GM to the very union that has destroyed the company, aligns himself with the worst despots in the world, will not interfere with the slaughter of innocent Iranians who are dying in the streets, calls for the return of the Honduran president who committed treason against his countries constitution and blames the lack of peace in the Middle East on some Jews who just wish to add on a second floor to their house.

Keep in mind, this man can not speak coherently without a teleprompter.

When will someone (not on the right - we've been saying it all along) please just admit this Obama character is just not that bright?

Because if he is, and this is a big if, then he is complicit in the destruction of freedom in America. You can not have it both ways!

I still recall how Liberals, during the Bush years, would scream that Bush was a complete moron and yet in the same breath complain about his evil plans for America. If he truly was an idiot, he wouldn't be smart enough to make up these "evil plans."

Obama is either a complete idiot, or he is a Marxist thug hell-bent on turning us into Venezuela or Cuba. I'm not sure which one he is, yet. But comments like the one he made to this lady make me consider door number two.