Posted on 08/11/2009 1:23:58 PM PDT by FromLori
One further point that came out of the left wing panel discussion here at tht ASA conference in San Francisco was that to a man Steve Kest, executive director of ACORN, George Goehl of the National People's Action Network, Gabe Gonzales of the Center for Community Change and Matt Hammer of the People Acting in Community were not buying into the claims that the protests going on against the healthcare plan were staged or because Obama is black.
None of them believe Nancy Pelosi's claim that the protests are orchestrated.
None of them buy into Krugman's statement that ...they’re probably reacting less to what Mr. Obama is doing, or even to what they’ve heard about what he’s doing, than to who he is.
That is, the driving force behind the town hall mobs is probably the same cultural and racial anxiety that’s behind the “birther” movement, which denies Mr. Obama’s citizenship. Senator Dick Durbin has suggested that the birthers and the health care protesters are one and the same; we don’t know how many of the protesters are birthers, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s a substantial fraction None of them buy into Chris Matthews attempt at throwing out the race card (Transcribed comments via Karen DeCoster):
Matthews asks: If we strapped them all into gurneys and injected them with sodium pentothal, how many would say they don’t like the idea of a black president? The guest from The Atlanta Journal Constitution replies, “Oh, I’m just guessing, this is just off the cuff. I’d guess 45 – 65% of the people who appear at these groups are people who will never be comfortable with a black president.”
Then Chris Matthews says, “How many of these people are just culturally in love with the idea of far right, anti-big city, anti-Hollywood, anti-New York, anti-Washington personage?” Keep in mind that Kest, Goehl and Gonzales are hardcore radicals. Kest and Goehl are talking about future militant action. They know an orchestrated even when they see one. They know what's behind anger when they see it. They are always trying to drill into that anger. So what do these professional people manipulators think about the protests?
Goehl came right out and said the protesters were real and not orchestrated and that the anger was real. There was no objection from Kest on this point or any of the others.
Gonzales added that people were angry because they thought they were being ripped off by banks and billionaires. He said that started the anger which transferred into anger over the healthcare plan. No objections from Kest or any of the others.
Remember, this panel was talking to a very friendly crowd and obviously, it's clear from their other comments, they were letting their hair down and telling it like it is. And in this hardcore setting, nobody played the race card and nobody called the protests staged, you could see it in their faces, they knew it was real. And more than anything, they were trying to find a way for the left to tap into that anger.
They weren't for a minute buying into the Pelosi, Krugman and Matthews propaganda.
Interesting how Matthews immediately jumped to a facist style of getting the truth (stapping to a gurney and injecting with serum). Usually, if you ask a conservative how/what they feel, you’ll get a straight answer. It’s only liberals that you have to worry about nuances and subtlties. If they say something that turns out to be a lie, it’s usually only because the listener(s) weren’t “intelligent enough” to understand the answer.
But they may have helped to design it.
I have confidence in the fiber of conservative proles, my problem is with our political leadership. They have become fearful and old. Deservedly so, just look at the grotesques that lead the democratic party, it’s enough to scare one to death.
Oh no doubt about that look at how that group is
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2009/08/infiltrating-radical-left.html
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2009/08/more-from-asa-radical-left-panel.html
Most higher profile Republicans would rather just not fight in lieu of taking the chance of fighting and losing.
Most higher profile Republicans would rather just not fight instead of taking the chance of fighting and losing.
bump
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