Suzanne Somers Mocked for Obamacare Op-Ed Riddled with Errors

Earlier this month, actress turned lifestyle guru Suzanne Somers was boasting on TV about her “busy mornings” while promoting her new book. Having tried to tackle a more serious topic, that of Obamacare, she’s now coming under fire for going to print with an op-ed riddled with errors.

As part of a panel of writers called “The Experts,” Somers occasionally writes editorials for the Wall Street Journal. Her most recent is on Obama’s Affordable Care Act which, she believes, will be impossible for pensioners because it’s conceived as a “socialist Ponzi scheme.”

As Gawker points out, it’s not that her objections aren’t (mostly) justified or, for that matter, new; it’s rather the fact that, in a piece of under 600 words, she has at least 3 huge errors, one of which hilariously involves confusing a horse for a dog in the description of a photo the piece referenced.

Editors at the WSJ have already included 2 paragraphs of “corrections and amplifications,” which are actually almost half the size of the entire op-ed.

“An earlier version of this post contained a quotation attributed to Lenin (‘Socialized medicine is the keystone to the arch of the socialist state’) that has been widely disputed. And it included a quotation attributed to Churchill (‘Control your citizens’ health care and you control your citizens’) that the Journal has been unable to confirm,” one of them reads.

“Also, the cover of a Maclean’s magazine issue in 2008 showed a picture of a dog on an examining table with the headline ‘Your Dog Can Get Better Health Care Than You.’ An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the photo showed and headline referred to a horse,” says the second.

As you might imagine, reaction to the op-ed ranges from outraged to downright amused. Many readers assumed it was a joke and did not hesitate to let the publication know it. At the same time, celebrity pundits are having a blast in the blogosphere on the topic.