Posted on 08/08/2009 7:28:36 AM PDT by nitzy
Something occurred to me after watching all of the footage of the various town hall meetings and the citizen's vocal reaction to what their elected representatives are doing. These 50 or 100 people are really an insignificant percentage of the congress person's constituents. Unions members, television advertising, slick marketing, ACORN and Obama-bots will more than make up for even a relatively large group of pissed off citizens. Today, each representative has 700,000 constituents. That is not the way it has always been. The framers of the constitution intended that number to be between 50,000 and 60,000. The number of congressional districts always grew with each census. I will let you guess when the congressmen decided they were tired of seeing their individual power diluted every 10 years.(see my comment for the answer) Imagine how much louder your voice would be if your representative was actually a member of your community and your voice only competed with another 50,000 voices. Now, imagine how much harder it would be for an industry or special interest to bribe several thousand congressman than it would be to bribe 435. This would require thousands more representatives but they would in fact be required to REPRESENT or they would soon go back home for good. I would gladly accept 6000 representatives in exchange for 435 tyrants.
For more information see Thirty-Thousand.org
And just think they are terrified of a few brave citizens.
I think the Communists are stoking the hate at the townhalls to get a conservative to snap to violence.
If that occurs, then the leftist regime can control public opinion over us and arrests can begin.
Yep
This is why I fear that the up coming March on Washington is going to be a flash point! Obama will either move so hard against it it will ignite a real revolution or he will use it as an reason to clamp down and lots of us end up in re-education camps!
I think you are wrong.
Most congress persons are used to sleepy, sparesly attended town-hall meetings. Several tens, maybe a few hundreds of angry protesters at every meeting, probably lots of phone calls, faxes and e-mails, that is serious business.
Now, a few of them may well shrug it off and tell themselves that this is jsut “astro-turfed” protests. However, the politically savvy ones know that behind every real grass root protester there are family, friends, neighbours and colleagues. And therefore a few hundreds of real grass root protester that can mean a real threat to their future careers.
Will they dare to take that chance?
More government is NOT the answer.
Not always. The mainstream media has united behind Obama in an unprecedented way. The spin right now is beyond anything I've ever seen.
Honest journalism is obviously a thing of the past...
And how does an ordinay shlub identify that all the protestors were Democrats? If the party affilation is not mentioned, then the perp is a Democrat.
If the perp was not a Democrat, every MSN org would loudly report that fact, and all the MSN talking heads would have endless and boring opinions about the right-wing, nazi, hateful perp.
QED
At least we have some media coverage of the violent aggression toward
the people AND they’re not all on the right.
THERE ARE DEMOCRATS and REPUBLICANS at these meetings
who want answers.
This is not entirely a left or right thing, like they want you to think.
Yeah, the little Commies have their people in there also.
Yep—it won’t work because “they” are by far superior at dirty fighting than the good guys are.
Remember the British too thought that the Americans fought unfairly.”They” are far more experienced/adept/forceful, etc. in these things.
In the long run, “they” will/have prevail what with more voters/activists, etc. to vote, e.g., democraps, the dead, illegals, etc. all voting at least once!
See Also;
Who the hell is this Alimski guy?
http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/gunny-g-so-just-who-the-hell-is-this-guy-saul-alinski/
Of course you have to do everything you can but at some point you need to take a look around and realize that the rules you are playing by, will never produce the results you desire. You may win the battle but you will never win the war for freedom. We no longer live under a governmental system that provides or acknowledges the importance of freedom and we haven't for decades.
I disagree. Already polls indicate that the discontent among the population clearly and strongly is against 0bama care. You seem to want to echo the dem line of a ‘vocal minority’ - when clearly they are in the majority.
You must also not be watching the same videos of these events that I have. I’ve seen citizens making clear statements that the congress critters just didn’t want to hear. They just wanted a room full of ‘yes’ men. Their heavy handedness will only serve to inflame the grassroots even more.
A) “...ignite a real revolution or
B) “he will use it as an reason to clamp down and lots of us end up in re-education camps!”
What is the difference? Either way if that begins, lots of blood will flow - and the Second Civil War will begin - actually it will be the Third, but most of you missed the Second back in the mid 70s and early 80s.
The democrats are attacking a lot of their own now. I know more than a few members of the industrial unions who are madder than hell at the behavior of the democrats and won’t be helping them put down any rebellions.
But the good guys - us - have more guns, and we know how to hunt and survive.
I’m really looking forward to the ads showing Chuck Schumer commenting on those ‘ chattering classes and little porky projects’, Barney Frank comments, Chris Dodd, Charles Rangel, Nazi Pelosi, and Harry Reid, Maxine Waters, Conyers and so many more.....I will donate to the ads and to the opponents running against them! In fact I have quit watching and renting movies of ‘stars’, to do just that.
from your link...
“With some Congressional districts nearly twice as large as others,”
i do not object to the premise that we should have smaller congressional districts and more representatives in Congress
but the quote above is offered as one reason for reform, but no source is cited....is this large in area? or large in number of people represented? i thought that the number of people representated was the same in each congressional district.
i am interested to discover if this is wrong.
is it?
Tell it to George Washington. Freedom isn't free, never has been and never will be, but it's worth fighting for.
The article mentions 50-100 or more people arguing against this, but sees it as insignificant. Well let’s put this into perspective...first off, these are normal, everyday citizens who would have NEVER gotten out and gone to town hall meetings before. So I look at the number and realize that’s 50 to 100X (times) more than were there before. Also, the paid acorn, seiu members and plants don’t usually have more than 20-30 people at one time.
Also, the POLLS are working in conjunction with the people revolting and that sends a message as well.
People, you must keep going to these meetings even if there are only three of you....you have to have a presence. Gosh, in Philadelphia there were about 400 people there and I would guess about 2/3 were against it. The look on Sebilius’ and Spector’s face was priceless. i THINK THEY THOUGHT Phila was a “lock”. As people see these town hall meetings on Youtube, Fox and other places it gives them hope.
Keep it going and who gives a crap about if it’s 50 or 1000....remember, only 1/3 of Americans believed the revolutionary war was worth fighting...1/3! Keep it going folks, this is the freedom of our children, friends and family we are fighting for!
“The sound bytes from these meetings will be used against them in 2010”
The one from David Scotts town meeting where he accuses the white physician of not being one of his constituents(because he isn’t black?) is a doozy. Ya know, if ya ain’t black yure not allowed to ax a question.
If you have abandoned all hope, then kill yourself.
Also not mentioned in the reporting I’ve seen - many of the people “yelling” must - to be heard at the front of the room, since passing a mic around seems to be one thing not being done at these meetings - nor are comment lines being formed.
SHOW UP IN WASHINGTON, DC on September 12th. They can’t ignore MILLIONS of well attired people.
Such as this guy, the female doing the slapping is a Democrat party offical at a Tampa FLA town hall.
“But the good guys - us - have more guns, and we know how to hunt and survive.”
*********************************
Likewise Waco, Ruby Ridge, etc., etc.
Think b4 engaging mouth; don’t say we unless ya have a mouse in yer pocket...
Hmm remember the Wellstone memorial? This crap doesn't work for them. It costs them votes from the squishy middle. Thugdom might get the hard cored on each end all hot and bothered, it scares the hell out of the middle.
“The sound bytes from these meetings will be used against them in 2010.”
I disagree. The Republicans won’t have the guts to use them.
From the link......
It is important to make a distinction between governance and government. In this context, “governance” refers to the management of the “government” (at the legislative and budgetary level) by our elected representatives. In contrast, government encompasses the institutions and bureaucracy that are created and funded for the purpose of implementing the legislation established by our representatives. It is argued in this web pamphlet that increasing the number of our representatives in the federal House (i.e., increasing the size of governance) would, in fact, ultimately reduce the overall cost of government. As the number of Representatives increases and they become more representative of the people— the House will be compelled to reduce the size of the government. This is because the smaller congressional districts will greatly improve constituent monitoring of legislators, enhance legislators’ representation of constituent interests, and hence result in lower levels of government spending. Empirical support for this argument is provided by a paper entitled Constituency Size and Government Spending which shows that the determining factor for government spending is constituency size — the number of constituents per representative — and not the size of the legislature.
........makes sense to me
Would you rather live under scenario 1 or 2......
1.) 1 person has total control of all aspects of your life.
2.)1000 people have very little control over only a few aspects of your life. The rest is up to you to live how you wish.
More governance does not equal more government.
Exactly my thoughts and what I was going to post.
These pretty boy politicians are not accustomed to large turnouts at these events. And they certainly aren't accustomed to the crowds being angry.
We are getting their attention and they are taking note!
Right... will be bringing my Quad Fifties and some backup from some guys with MIA2s.
http://www.citizendirect.org/BringIt.jpg
Not all Republicans are like McCain. There are more than a few like Sarah Palin.
With ACORN (COI), State (democrat) election boards, and Obamabots, that equates to 900,000 election day votes for the Democrat incumbent or challenger.
You forgot the 17th Amendment, that turned the Senate from representatives of the state to at-large representatives of the people of the state. The "progressives" from around 1908 to WW1 really broke the government as the founders intended. I've been saying that for a while.
And just last night, I was thinking about a Congress with a 10,000 member House of Representatives (which is what it would be with each representative for about 30,000 people). The problems would be to control the size of their staff and to control committees, limiting full gatherings, and using technology to handle the votes. On the plus side, it would make it very difficult for any party to personally coerce votes or control their members, easier for third parties to win elections, harder for them to ignore their constituents, and harder for them to gerrymander districts effectively. It would make elections personal and the representatives accountable to everyone in their district. This is, of course, why it will never happen.
I tend to agree with you but these guys live by the polls and right now the polls say they are on the wrong side of the issue.
You couldn’t be more wrong.
1. Think of the campaign ads that can be used against them.
2. These guys sit in a Washington DC office and really don’t have an appreciation for the level of anger against this bill. They certainly don’t get the right information from the media.
3. The media is making these attendees to be nutcases (militia, skinheads, etc). Yet when you view the videos, the audience is composed largely of senior citizens and the audience is rather well behaved. This just HAS to be making people think “WTF? Thats not what Olberman said it was”
[[The sound bytes from these meetings will be used against them in 2010. ]]
I suggested gathering all the outrageous sound bites and assinine democratic statements right now, compiling htem into an ad, and airign htem constantly right away- why wait till 2010 when everyone has ‘moved on’ like htey did after the first tea parties & everyone basically forgot what all the outrage was about? (or didn’t want to get involved because it was too much effort and too uncomfortable)
We see these things, but most people do not, which is why they call it propaganda, and why those that notice and speak up about these “over sites” will have a camp in their near-future.
Me too. Have to wonder if our knee jerk whiners are not Moveon.org seminar posters sent here to spew this self defeating propaganda. See the same handful of self defeaters show up day after day to post variations of "oh it all hopeless, we cannot win, give up".
If they are not working for Moveon then they might as well be give their habitual whine defeatism.
Naahhh. We are not a bunch of Russians Chinese or Cubans. This ain’t Venezuela. We are the guys that take these tyrants down.
“Who the hell is this Alimski guy?”
Well, gunny, he’s the guy who’s beating the hell out of the conservatives. He’s not doing it alone, but has many clones in the political left doing his bidding, from Chicago, where he got his political start.
I just bought a copy of his Rules For Radicals and am dipping into it. What he has said so far is right mirrored by the Clintons, and Obama.
This is where we have to start reading and not only reacting, but improving on his program. Unfortunately, the Pubbies haven’t the guts or grit to do much so far.
Doc Steve, USN Corpman, Korea
If your analysis were accurate, how do you explain that the good guys won in 1994, 2000 and 2002?
A) “...ignite a real revolution or
B) “he will use it as an reason to clamp down and lots of us end up in re-education camps!”
What is the difference? Either way if that begins, lots of blood will flow - and the Second Civil War will begin - actually it will be the Third, but most of you missed the Second back in the mid 70s and early 80s.
I agree with you. Did you see WND article?:
LIFE WITH BIG BROTHER
National Guard asked to explain ‘internment’ jobs
Campaign recruiting for workers at ‘civilian resettlement facility’
See:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106304
Remember the marketing rule of complaints. For every 1 person who actually complains there are 10 that never do business with you gain and don’t let you know why.
For each of these protesters there are probably 100 or 1000 that are against the health care disaster but can’t get to a place to protest.
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