August 5, 2009
Obama tries to discredit health care dissent
The hubris of the Democratic Party convinces them that it is inconceivable for any American citizen to disagree with them. The Tea Party protests were ignored, underestimated, or chalked to being a Fox News production. They are ignoring the anger of the electorate and even worse (for them) letting it grow. Much of the latest anger has attached itself to Obamacare, the Democrats are using their Soviet-style tactics on the protesters.
Witness this exchange between ABC Reporter Jake Tapper and Press Secretary Gibbs:
"TAPPER: A couple questions. One, is it your contention -- is it the White House contention that the anger that some members of Congress are experiencing at town hall meetings, especially over health care reform, is manufactured?
GIBBS: I think some of it is, yes. In fact, I think you've had groups today, Conservatives for Patients Rights that have bragged about organizing and manufacturing that anger.
TAPPER: How is their organizing and getting people to come to town hall meetings and express their feelings any different from a liberal group doing the same thing?
GIBBS: Well, I think what you've seen is they have -- they have bragged about -- about manufacturing, to some degree, that anger. I think you've got somebody who's very involved, a leader of that group that's very involved in -- in the status quo, a CEO that used to run a health care company that was fined by the federal government $1.7 billion for fraud. I think that's a lot of what you need to know about the motives of that group."
That's right Mr. Gibbs because anyone with legitimate anger about the president's programs has to be crazy right?
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) called out what he called the "loud, shrill voices" that have been interrupting town hall meetings across the country held by Democratic members of Congress and members of the administration on health care reform.
In spite of the loud, shrill voices trying to interrupt town hall meetings and just throwing a monkey wrench into everything, we're going to continue to be positive and work hard."
The Liberal press is participating in the attacks. For example, on the Chris Matthews show Jeanne Cummings of the website, Politico played the party line:
"Well they're conservatives who are being organized by several different Republican organizations. One of them is an organization committed to defeat health care. They're running, on their site, every list of townhall meetings they can find and encouraging people to show up. The Republican House committee is also urging and organizing people to go out to these townhall meetings and basically create a fuss that can then be, go viral on the Web and make it appear as if though there is a great deal of opposition to the President's plan. The problem is at some of these townhall meetings they've been outnumbered by citizens who would actually like to discuss the issue in a more civilized way and they shouted those folks down."
Later in the show, Senator Barbara Boxer of California added:
"So this, this is just all organized. Just go up on the Web site Chris. You, you in the media have to take a look at what's going on here. This is all planned. It's to hurt our president and it's to change the Congress. It's, and you know what? We went to the White House today, we heard President Obama. It was wonderful to hear him. He's so calm and cool about this. He says we gotta be tougher, we gotta be stronger, we have the truth on our side on these issues. We'll just get out there and present those facts to the American people and let them choose between people who are screaming and those of us who are trying to explain how we can really help our families afford medical care in this great nation of ours."
What makes this all hypocritical is that the Democratic Party leader; President Obama called for similar aggressive grass-roots tactics when he was on the campaign trail:
"I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face," he said. "And if they tell you that, ‘Well, we're not sure where he stands on guns.' I want you to say, ‘He believes in the Second Amendment.' If they tell you, ‘Well, he's going to raise your taxes,' you say, ‘No, he's not, he's going lower them.' You are my ambassadors. You guys are the ones who can make the case."
In the coming weeks look for the attacks against these citizens trying to exercise their right of expression to accelerate. These protesters are an angry lot because of their love of country and family. To these Democratic Party members of congress and reporters, putting family and country first is a very crazy thing.
Sammy Benoit is editor of the political blog, The Lid.