Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin blasted President Barack Obama for nominating as his new Health and Human Services Secretary the same woman who ordered the shutdown of the war memorials during the so-called government shutdown last year.
After accepting Kathleen Sebelius’ resignation Friday, Obama nominated Sylvia Burwell, the former Office of Management and Budget director. This is the same person who sent the email initiating the barricading of the memorials, even as veterans were arriving in D.C. on their “honor flights” to see the memorials that they built. Palin, along with Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT), joined veterans as they protested the barricades.
Palin bluntly asked Americans to remember that Burwell was in charge then, and that now she has been tapped to take over the “disastrous beast under which our entire health care system and 1/6 of our nation’s economy is forever fundamentally transformed”:
Remember last year when America’s war memorials, national parks, patriotic amenities, student White House tours, etc. were shut down because the Obama administration’s spending priorities are so out of whack? Americans were told the Federal government didn’t have enough of our tax dollars to allow WWII vets to walk across a public sidewalk to visit a statue honoring these heroes. This, during the “shutdown” when crony capitalism, earmarks, and waste and fraud continued to fill the swamp. This, while the first family continued to live elaborately large and some in Congress had the gall to whine that they aren’t paid enough. This, while the people’s will continued to be arrogantly ignored.
What a cold and callous bureaucrat it was who’d direct that quite revealing fiasco, an episode over which the Obama Administration never recovered in the court of public opinion.
Who would do such a thing? Who would punish patriotic Americans? Who sent the email initiating all this?
The political operative Sylvia Burwell.
Palin added, “It’s Sylvia’s stain on the ash heap of history. And along with Sylvia’s stain comes her disturbing, punitive priorities as she takes over our health care coverage. Yeah, nothing can go wrong with that.”
“You can’t make this stuff up,” Palin concluded.