Let them eat cake!
Posted on 08/06/2009 10:37:06 AM PDT by KingofZion
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent her chamber home for the summer recess with a list of talking points to respond to constituents' questions about pending health care legislation.
But those traditionally sleepy town hall meetings have become rowdy shout-fests across the nation, including Northern California, with opponents hanging members in effigy and mocking them with Nazi and devil imagery in an effort to derail discussions of health care.
They're organized in part by conservative think tanks like FreedomWorks, which offers tips on how to disrupt a meeting ("Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep's statements early," says one) and helped in some cases by anti-tax "Tea Party" sympathizers.
More than 500 people packed a Napa town hall hosted this week by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, some shouting down panelists by yelling "This is America!" and "What's wrong with profit?"
Three Aug. 15 East Bay town halls scheduled by Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, one of the health care legislation co-authors, are the targets of one Tea Party group calling for a "counterprotest."
A spokesman for Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., said this week he wouldn't be holding any town halls after his office received a death threat from a caller who said Miller "could lose his life over this."
*** 'Astroturf'
When asked if the protests represented grassroots opposition to health care legislation, Pelosi, D-San Francisco, told The Chronicle this week, "I think they're Astroturf" - artificial grassroots support.
"These are a few hundred people, the wingnuts, the far right extreme," said Morris Fiorina, a professor of political science at Stanford University, fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of "Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America." "This is all sound and fury, designed to get the attention of the media...
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/06/MNTG194BU2.DTL#ixzz0NQQqvRXE
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
You have learned well, Luke Skywalker, from the Clintons.
but..dude, like, astroturf is SO 80’s....
Let them eat cake!
The wacko leftist are reacting the same way they did to the tea parties.
They don’t understand the American people and never will. In their distorted minds, we are stupid sheep who don’t know what’s good for us.
The problem is that the most rowdy “protesters” could be Obama/ACORN plants posing as conservatives to make all who have legitimate questions no more than right-wing nuts.
By doing so, those who wish to enslave us through accumulating all power in Washington are meeting strong and unexpected resistance to their massive power grab. This is what the Founders intended when they structured a government (Constitution) for a free people. It required a vigilant and informed electorate.
The following essay, reprinted with permission, is from a 1987 book entitled, "Our Ageless Constitution."
"Although all men are born free, slavery has been the general lot of the human race. Ignorant - they have been cheated; asleep - they have been surprised; divided - the yoke has been forced upon them. But what is the lesson? ...the people ought to be enlightened, to be awakened, to be united, that after establishing a government they should watch over it.... It is universally admitted that a well-instructed people alone can be permanently free." James Madison "America's Constitution is the means by which knowledgeable and free people, capable of self-government, can bind and control their elected representatives in government. In order to remain free, the Founders said, the people themselves must clearly understand the ideas and principles upon which their Constitutional government is based. Through such understanding, they will be able to prevent those in power from eroding their Constitutional protections. "The Founders established schools and seminaries for the distinct purpose of instilling in youth the lessons of history and the ideas of liberty. And, in their day, they were successful. Tocqueville, eminent French jurist, traveled America and in his 1830's work, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, wrote:
"On the frontier, he noted that "...no sort of comparison can be drawn between the pioneer and the dwelling that shelters him.... He wears the dress and speaks the language of the cities; he is acquainted with the past, curious about the future, and ready for argument about the present.... I do not think that so much intellectual activity exists in the most enlightened and populous districts of France' " He continued, "It cannot be doubted that in the United States the instruction of the people powerfully contributes to the support of the democratic republic; and such must always be the case...where the instruction which enlightens the understanding is not separated from the moral education.." "Possessing a clear understanding of the failure of previous civilizations to achieve and sustain freedom for individuals, our forefathers discovered some timeless truths about human nature, the struggle for individual liberty, the human tendency toward abuse of power, and the means for curbing that tendency through Constitutional self-government. Jefferson's Bill For The More General Diffusion Of Knowledge For Virginia declared:
"Education was not perceived by the Founders to be a mere process for teaching basic skills. It was much, much more. Education included the very process by which the people of America would understand and be able to preserve their liberty and secure their Creator-endowed rights. Understanding the nature and origin of their rights and the means of preserving them, the people would be capable of self government, for they would recognize any threats to liberty and "nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud." (Adams)
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[A spokesman for Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., said this week he wouldn’t be holding any town halls after his office received a death threat from a caller who said Miller “could lose his life over this.”]
This was likely concocted so this shiftless thief and his staff could take extended vacations
Just for fun I went to Freedomworks website - I’d never been there before - and I couldn’t find any such suggestion in their “August Recess Kit” which includes the talking points they are trying to distribute.
Anyone who is advocating shouting and confrontational tactics is hurting the cause and providing fodder for the media. Be polite, respectful, and professional - you can do all of those things while still being direct and adamant.
And honestly, Northern California by and large is not untra-liberal. The SF Bay Area which is a postage stamp compared to the rest of the region which includes the most reliably Conservative and Republican county in the entire state - Placer - more so than even Orange County.
If the protesters are truly ordinary citizens-which they appear to be-then we are entering into stage two on the road to Social War.
I agree. Hell, the caller could even have been a Dem who phoned in the death threat to try to show how “unhinged” people are getting and consquently get sympathy for members of Congress.
But if there’s any truth to that story, I hope they catch the guy who made the threat and throw the book at him. There’s no room for that type of garbage.
I agree. Don’t fall into the trap by government hacks and their media propagandist trap. Be firm and soft spoken. Remember TEDDY “Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick!” I know I’m writing and going and I’m not beholden to any person, firm or entity.
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How many places are you gonna post this.....??
Sent to friends.......
Thanks
Ah, another article built on the DNC talking points. Why do we even need the media anymore? We should just all receive a fax from the DNC each morning and be done with it.
HER chamber???? I've had it with these aristocrats!
Hehehe...........
See you in the Camps.....
See you behind the Wire!
AVENGE ME!
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