The director of a major public health agency in St. Louis openly called on employees to ignore “lunatic fringe” groups and act as authorities at the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (PPACA) website’s Trading Places feature, according to a recent report.
The CEO of the St. Louis Health Department, William Frey, also told his staff during a meeting last month that the rights of groups that lobby against the president are being ignored.
“We’re not going to give in. We are not going to offer any accommodations to the lunatic fringe. This is the United States of America, and if you don’t want to live here, get out,” St. Louis Health Department Director Frey told a meeting of his department.
Despite a warning posted on the St. Louis Health Department’s website on Dec. 5, the Trading Places feature listed a “Parties to Keep off site” disclaimer that said it “is provided for purely educational and amusement purposes only.”
The warning came after The Gateway Pundit, a conservative news website, reported that St. Louis federal Judge Richard Callahan had issued a temporary restraining order that denied a request from the St. Louis Health Department to enforce the Trading Places disclaimer on Dec. 10. Judge Callahan later denied the Health Department’s request to suppress the complaint after it failed to show enough legal grounds to do so.
The Trading Places section on the St. Louis Health Department’s website asks visitors to “Get Medical Help” if they or their children have arrived at the site too sick to remain. A notice on the Trading Places page next to a link to the PPACA complaint says the Health Department supports “medical treatment for children with serious health problems,” and “regular care for those who need care, regardless of economic status or insurance coverage.”
In other words, “trading places” means the Health Department will see that children with serious health problems get medical care if their parents can’t afford it.
Even so, the Trading Places section of the Health Department’s website has a disclaimer stating it’s for educational purposes only.
“Although the Secretary of the Department is not providing any accommodations, please know that this message may be modified by the Secretary or the Director at any time, or may no longer be displayed on this website,” it reads.
This disclaimer is listed on top of a fine print paragraph stating that the St. Louis Health Department is “not responsible for content of your commenting (sic) or future posting.”
According to The Gateway Pundit, a follow-up to its original report of the gag wasn’t put up on the St. Louis Health Department’s website on Thursday.
This prompted a tweet from the Gateway Pundit stating: “This is a PR stunt straight out of the Clinton playbook.”
This is a PR stunt straight out of the Clinton playbook. https://t.co/pg58ZPUun0 — The Gateway Pundit (@GatewayPundit) December 20, 2018