Posted on 08/09/2009 1:38:57 PM PDT by Kaslin
Picking your friends is an important part of life. Picking your enemies is an important part of politics.
Americans who chose to attend town hall meetings this August to protest the many possible Utopias and Frankensteins still to be fashioned into Obamacare — rather than going to the mall, the golf course, or the swimming pool — are now smeared in portions of the media as members of a violent, nazi-like mob.
Why?
It’s not because of their behavior. After reviewing YouTube videos for hours and also reading and watching what passes for news coverage, I was struck by how civil people actually acted at these town hall meetings.
True, some folks were angry. Who can blame them?
And a few sounded pretty darn scared. But, you know, so am I.
There appeared to be one incident of actual violence. At Rep. Betty Reed’s town hall meeting in Tampa, also attended by Rep. Kathy Castor, a man was roughed up. He was pushed up against the wall and scratched across the chest. His two attackers, caught on video, then walked back inside the room and appeared to be with the event security, as one was controlling who could get in the doors.
The poor, manhandled man didn’t seem to be the aggressor, as far as I could tell. For one, he was there with his wife. When I expect trouble to break out, I never bring my wife along.
Much of the crowd, blocked from entering the meeting hall, then chanted “you work for us” and “hear our voice.” Not bad chants, in my book.
Meanwhile, now-Democratic Senator Arlen Specter explained to an incredulous Pennsylvania crowd that there are all these health care bills — each over 1,000 pages long — and “we have to make judgments very fast.” Statements like Specter’s warrant a certain raucous response.
One reason these public meetings are contentious is because most Americans aren’t buying what congresspeople are selling. As for intensity of opinion, a Rasmussen Reports poll shows 41 percent strongly opposed to the so-called reforms, while only 25 percent strongly in favor.
Pollster Scott Rasmussen offers this straightforward analysis: “By a two-to-one margin, the American people believe no matter how bad things are Congress could make it worse.”
That’s the real reason a smear-job is being done on the public protest at these town hall meetings: Grassroots America is not the opponent Obama and congressional Democrats wish to play against.
The same smears were brought against the Tea Parties back in April and again on July 4. And for the same reason. A lot depends on sticking your enemies with a limiting definition. Why debate them when they can simply be dismissed?
With the exception of Fox News, which has been openly supportive, most of the major media has been dismissive of, followed by hostile to, the recent Tea Parties. Howard Kurtz, the Washington Post’s media critic, admitted that the events were at first “largely ignored” by his paper, the New York Times and the television networks other than Fox, even though estimates are that 600,000 Americans turned out nationwide.
Later, the events were maligned as partisan Republican protests.
Between 1994 and 2008, when Republicans were gaining a governing majority, their best asset was the weakness of the opposition: the common perception of Democrats as out-of-touch, arrogant, wasteful, tax-and-spenders.
Not being a Republican, I mainly feared that the Democrats presented too weak a check on the power of the majority. Of course, congressional Republicans, as they consolidated power during the George W. Bush years, behaved strikingly like their opponents, so destroying the Republican “brand” that now I worry about the unchecked power of the Democrats.
Simply put: If congressional Republicans are the opposition to Obamacare or anything else, the Democrats are bound to prevail.
That’s why Rachel Maddow on MSNBC went to great lengths last week to list various people working for groups opposing the Democrats on medical care and associated with town hall protests as Republican or “right-wing.” The point was clear: all these people participating in the political process don’t count; we must not listen to their voices; they are barely human. They are merely the pawns of the Republicans or big corporations or somebody equally loathesome.
Ponder with amusement:
1. If Republicans could really organize and “manufacture” such support, wouldn’t they still be in power?
2. Is that all the Republican or corporate links she could “expose”?
3. How many links could be drawn between what passes for objective journalists and the Democratic Party?
The mud-slinging against concerned citizens taking part in town halls and other events is a fearful lashing out against the real opposition to the big government plans animating Washington, DC: the people.
The Dems can swim laps around discredited congressional Republicans. Regular hard-working folks represent a far tougher foe.
Principled independent conservatism is winning.
OK after all of these “Town Halls”, What is everyone’s prediction for Election Night 2010?
Yessir! Declare war on the American people.
Good luck with that as a strategy.
Predictions? Oh, okay:
Much work will remain to put America back on its foundations, and the price of liberty will still be eternal vigilance.
The important thing is not to stay home on November 2, 2010 and vote. Unless you vote in the early election, which I probably will do
Yes, the ugly secret here is: Town Hall protesters are NOT happy with Washington Republicans either! We’d be happy to remove THEM from office also. The GOP has let the nation down, and the citizens are (finally, belatedly) paying attention. Any GOP hack who doesn’t confirm his conservative principles is suspect and will be in trouble next election.
We KNEW Obama was a disaster, but “moderate” GOP politicians were weak when they should have been strong. The Left over-reaches, and they screw up when in power. Fine.
Entrenched Republicans have one last chance to choose right over Whitehouse might, and we are taking notes.
And with what party would you like to replace them? You know not all Republicans are RINOs, but all democrats are Rats
There will be a lot of violence and skullduggery - goons called out to threaten, beat up people, slash tires, etc. of people they think will vote the wrong way. Close elections will be determined by those counting the votes.
You can be sure the Dems are making their plans right now. Conservative and Republican groups had better be well-organized and have a well-thought-out strategy on how to counter this.
There will be a move to the right in the opinions of most Americans, but the election definitely won't be an honest one.
Take a look at what happened in Iran, with their July 12th election. I think we are becoming more and more like Iran, unbelievable as that would have seemed a short while ago.
The news media is lying. They should either report the news accurately, or go out of business, because they are doing the public a disservice.
That’s why we have primaries. Replace RINOs with real Republicans, in primaries. Replace Rats with Republicans in general elections.
When the Democrats constantly demean, deride, slander, and otherwise lie about their opposition, as they have done for many years, is it any wonder that their opposition will gradually lose their rights, and even be subject to physical attack? That’s what we saw last week. It’s happened before in history.
We must band together to protect ourselves and our rights. I may disagree with “RINOS” or libertarians, but they are not demanding that I shut up, or trying to intimidate me.
I do believe the next year leading up to the mid-term elections are going to get very ugly and it will be important to get organized bigtime and get the word out.
We are still assuming there will BE and Election Night 2010. I’m not so sure, at least it won’t be the same as the past elections.
You're assuming there will be elections in 2010. There are no elections during martial law or a "national emergency," IIRC.
And get involved in Republican primaries and kick out the RINOs. Also, vote Republican for Secretary of State. Part of Rham's 06/08 election strategy included getting dems elected SOS. Dems love to contest elections and the SOS sets the rules.
“You’re assuming there will be elections in 2010. There are no elections during martial law or a “national emergency,”
When that call for Marshall law comes, whatever the made up crisis, that is the moment the war begins
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