At least someone is covering this story:
When Halsey and Bonnie Frost agreed to go public with how the State Children's Health Insurance Program helped them after a car crash left two of their children comatose, the Baltimore couple expected to hear from critics of government-funded health care.
But while the Frosts were helping a bipartisan majority in Congress sell a plan to expand the program, they were not prepared for comments such as this one, posted over the weekend on the conservative Web site Redstate:
"If federal funds were required [they] could die for all I care. Let the parents get second jobs, let their state foot the bill or let them seek help from private charities. ... I would hire a team of PIs and find out exactly how much their parents made and where they spent every nickel. Then I'd do everything possible to destroy their lives with that info."
So has begun the education of the Frosts, the young family of six who volunteered to advocate for the program for moderate-income families - the expansion has been approved by Congress but vetoed by President Bush - and now find themselves the focus of a nasty national debate.
This has been a concern I've had reading all of the nastiness: whether the family saw this onslaught coming. According to the article, they didn't.
The Frosts say they stand by their support of the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
"I'm just trying to understand this moment of nastiness," Bonnie Frost said. "The nastiness caught me by surprise."
While the attacks on the Frost family is despicable beyond belief, many diaries have pointed out, clearly the distress the family has been put under, after already facing severe injuries to their children, is a warning to anyone else who speaks out. We've seen it time and again.
It is good, though, to see this right up front on the Baltimore Sun web page. (I have to admit I haven't seen the print version of the paper today.) Hopefully other outlets will pick it up.
Meanwhile, while I can't stand our local teevee news, I did watch some of them last night. None of the local channels covered the story, and there is still nothing on any of the local websites WBAL, WJZ, or WMAR.
Frankly, I didn't check the Sinclair flagship FOX affiliate.