Olbermann: My Dad Asked Me to Kill Him

Passionate plea to pols at summit to give Americans health care help
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 25, 2010 7:52 AM CST

Keith Olbermann made a very personal appeal last night to the pols debating health reform today, speaking for almost 15 minutes about his father’s 6-month medical struggle. “Last Friday night, my father asked me to kill him,” Olbermann began, launching into a recap of the surgeries, infections, and complications that led his dad to the point of mouthing, “Help” and “Stop.” After a conference with the doctor, which led to sedating his dad rather than ending treatment, Olbermann noted that the discussion was what had been maligned as a so-called “death panel.”

"That is the goddamn death panel, Sarah Palin," Olbermann ranted, noting that it might better be called a "life panel," because it allowed him and his dad's doc to have a serious conversation about what his father really wanted. He urged politicians meeting today to park their egos, put aside their "meaningless" careers, and take action to see that no Americans would find themselves in the situation the Olbermanns were in without the insurance coverage his father has—through Medicare. His father, by the way, is unconscious but still alive.
(More Keith Olbermann stories.)

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