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It's comforting to see the people of the United States standing up to the socialists who have taken over Washington. When President Obama started tossing around a trillion dollars at a time, it was an order of magnitude too far, and the rebellion began to show up on street corners on April 15, 2009. More recently, the politicians are getting an earful from a spate of increasingly rowdy "town hall" meetings around the country. This has the radicals on the far left very concerned. So much, in fact, that there is apparently a new Snitch on Your Neighbor program brewing at the White House. More recently, the Left has given us a sample of the upcoming Obama thugocracy at the town hall meetings. The town hall meetings are primarily about public opposition to socialized medicine, also known as Obamacare. Subsections on this page: Tea parties Town hall meetings The new Snitch on Your Neighbor program A taste of the Obama thugocracy Which side is using "astroturf?" Town hall meetings by phone A general overview of the tea party phenomenon: The Tea Party Movement: How We Got Here. Something curious happened during the summer of 2008. Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, shut down the House and C-SPAN cameras with a resolution that passed by just one vote, smack in the middle of an energy crisis. Afterwards, Madame Speaker jetted off on a week-long book tour while gas prices soared. The Republicans stood in the dark and refused to leave. The spark that has triggered rebellion. People are angry and frightened by the prospect of government running their health care system, but their anger goes far beyond a 1000 page health bill. Health care reform is merely the spark that has touched off a prairie fire of grassroots rebellion among a people who believe their representatives do not represent them, do not listen to them and do not care what they think. The Obama Resistance Grows. The April 15th Tea Parties, belittled by the legacy media, were collectively the coming-out event of a new American resistance. The cause then was out-of-control government spending. Today, it's shifted to a wider focus on Obama's brand of socialism for America. States Rebellion Pending. Our constitutional ignorance — perhaps contempt, coupled with the fact that we've become a nation of wimps, sissies and supplicants — has made us easy prey for Washington's tyrannical forces. But that might be changing a bit. There are rumblings of a long overdue re-emergence of Americans' characteristic spirit of rebellion. Eight state legislatures have introduced resolutions declaring state sovereignty under the Ninth and 10th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The backlash begins: Eleven States Declare Sovereignty Over Obama's Action. State governors — looking down the gun barrel of long-term spending forced on them by the Obama "stimulus" plan — are saying they will refuse to take the money. This is a Constitutional confrontation between the federal government and the states unlike any in our time. In the first five weeks of his presidency, Barack Obama has acted so rashly that at least 11 states have decided that his brand of "hope" equates to an intolerable expansion of the federal government's authority over the states. Are the States About to Slap the Runaway Fed Down to Constitutional Size? On February 5, 2009, I released a column titled "New Hampshire Leads Next American Revolution!" At the time, only a handful of states had introduced legislative efforts to reclaim state sovereignty under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of the US Constitution. ... Today, the number of states claiming state sovereignty, some outlining specific federal actions that have far more to do with usurping the US Constitution than upholding it, has grown to at least thirty two ... Left ignores unprecedented federal power grab. Apparently, I'm not the only one disturbed by what's transpiring in Washington. Some 20 states have introduced "sovereignty bills" designed to reinforce their rights and remind those running the federal government that there's a little thing called the 10th Amendment. Tennessee is one of those states with a sovereignty bill pending. It was recently filed by state Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet. It simply states that the federal government cannot assume powers and impose mandates not constitutionally allowed. Eleven States Declare Sovereignty Over Obama's Action. State governors — looking down the gun barrel of long-term spending forced on them by the Obama "stimulus" plan — are saying they will refuse to take the money. This is a Constitutional confrontation between the federal government and the states unlike any in our time. In the first five weeks of his presidency, Barack Obama has acted so rashly that at least 11 states have decided that his brand of "hope" equates to an intolerable expansion of the federal government's authority over the states. Whatever Happened to States' Rights? On Tuesday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued a statement in support of a state resolution supporting states' rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. "I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state," Perry stated. The Battle In The States: Freedom Vs Protection. Across the nation, state legislatures are struggling to take back their Constitutional rights as they also seek ways to protect us from outside threats. This has led to some near schizophrenic legislative sessions with laws swinging widely from left to right. ... Legislation dealing with protecting the integrity of the Tenth Amendment and state sovereignty has been introduced across the nation, passing in at least 21 states. The states are reacting to the frightening growth of the federal government through anti-terrorist legislation such as the Patriot Act and Real ID, as well as the outrageous spending included in the bailout and stimulus bills. New Hampshire Leads Next American Revolution! Americans fed up with the unbridled endless federal assault on private earnings, assets and rights, and looking for what they can do to put a stop to the rush of socialist tyranny being fast-tracked through the leftist congress, or signed into law by Obamessiah executive order, should take a close look at what the New Hampshire legislature has already done! Four New Hampshire legislators introduced HCR-6 to re-invoke states rights enumerated in Jefferson's and Madison's Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. Tea Party Crowds Protest Federal Spending And Intervention. Critics dismiss the phenomenon as little more than a sharply partisan attack on President Barack Obama and the Democrats. But the protesters say their cause represents something bigger: a collective yell of "I'm not going to take it anymore" from the American taxpayer. Tea party against Obama policies held in Cape Coral. Hundreds filled Jaycee Park on Wednesday for a tea-themed show of populist outrage. Holding banners decrying socialism, the prospect of government health care and Washington's massive stimulus spending, the group booed President Barack Obama, knocked local spending and read clips from the Constitution. Take Your Money and Shove It, Governors Tell Obama. Tossing bags of billions of federal bucks at state and local governments desperately in need of cash hasn't everywhere elicited tears of gratitude or knees bent in thanksgiving to the Obama administration. In South Carolina, Governor Mark Sanford says he is turning down $700 million in stimulus money for education. This ignited chaos among lawmakers, predictions of doom from educators, protests from the citizenry and a thicket of legal opinions about whether the state can get the money, anyway. Here's the real story behind the Tea Party Protests. "Tea Party" protests have sprung up in multiple cities across the country since Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed the economic stimulus bill into law as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. As much as I rejoice in the sight of legions of fed-up Americans taking to the streets to protest the central government's colossal waste of the first fruits of their labors, it is important that people The Problem With 'Nationalization' understand that the original Boston Tea Party was neither spontaneous nor a mere lark. Hundreds of Iowans thrown out of public hearing. More than 500 people who are upset with a plan to change Iowa's tax laws were cleared from a hearing tonight [3/31/2009] at the Iowa House after they interrupted multiple times. House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, cleared the crowd at about 8:30 p.m. The decision brought about loud protests as the crowd was escorted from the chambers by Iowa State Patrol officers. The Battle in the States: Freedom Vs Protection. Across the nation, state legislatures are struggling to take back their Constitutional rights as they also seek ways to protect us from outside threats. This has led to some near schizophrenic legislative sessions with laws swinging widely from left to right. Making it more difficult to get a handle on the situation is the fact that there has been an outgrowth of near "rabid" anti-immigration groups that have sprung up demanding near-Hitler-style tactics to "fix" the problem. April 15th Tea Party Protests Must Demand Geithner Resignation. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner represents the worst of the government's current financial excesses. Considering Geithner cheated on his income taxes, April 15 would be an appropriate day to demand his resignation. Ralliers in Quincy say they're 'taxed enough already'. Rep. Jil Tracy, R-Mount Sterling, repeated one of her favorite sayings, that federal and state governments do not have a revenue problem but an endless spending problem — and it's not unique to one party. "I see many people coming together today in a bipartisan fashion as American citizens united. We have to ask our public officials to be accountable, fiscally responsible and to use common sense as to how to solve problems," Tracy said. "This is the way we will change things. It can be done, and it will be done if you stay united, you get involved, you keep abreast of the issues. Don't trust we politicians to think for you. You have a voice, and you can think for yourself." Quincy Tax Day Tea Party. On December 16, 1773, a group of Boston colonists angry over the British Parliament's tax policies and the British East India Co.'s tea monopoly, raided ships and dumped their tea shipments into the harbor. 236 years later, Quincy's riverfront was the site for a symbolic re-enactment of that well known protest on taxation, company bailouts, uncontrolled government spending and control by a far-away government. Attacking the Tea Party Movement. Those on the left have spent so much time over the past eight years bashing George Bush that they are having trouble shifting gears. Instead of enjoying their big win in 2008 and going positive, following their leader Obama's "hope and change" message, they are still tearing down anyone who doesn't agree with them. Patriots Understand More Than You Think. I don't know how [some people believe] that those against illegal immigration are willing to give up some of their liberties in order to stop the border invasion. Maybe those that believe what the federal government says and does is enough to allow our freedoms to erode[,] when in-fact, the border invasion is a military matter and should not be a civilian action requirement, but has to be, since the feds want it that way. The Meaning of the Tax Day Tea Parties: A new grassroots phenomenon is sweeping the nation — Tax Day Tea Parties. One of the leading sponsoring organizations, the American Family Association (AFA), has announced on its website that AFA TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party Day rallies on April 15 are now scheduled in 1,837 cities. Tea Party Poseurs Sent By Left Working To Undermine Big Day. "Just this morning, I received word that a new radical organization calling itself "A New Way Forward" has put together an underhanded sneak attack designed to undercut the popular uprising known as the Tea Party Movement," Bill Wilson, of Americans for Limited Government (ALG), warned mainstreet Americans yesterday. "Simply put, their idea is to stage phony rallies throughout the country on April 11 — made to look like they are part of the Tea Party movement — while actually opposing Tea Party principles and supporting the complete government takeover of our banking system." Hundreds to gather for Tax Day protest. A national wave of populist unrest will crest on Tax Day this week as protesters gather in hundreds of cities around Michigan and across the country to express their opposition to taxes and increased government spending and intrusion. Organizers say 1,000 people could gather at noon Wednesday on the grounds of the State Capitol in Lansing for a Michigan Taxpayer Tea Party to register their displeasure with government. Coast-to-coast tea parties put lawmakers on notice. Americans took to the streets to protest wasteful government spending today [4/15/2009] -- with estimated crowd sizes of 5,000 to 15,000 in Atlanta, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Olympia, Wash., Lansing, Mich., and Sacramento. Obama's Recipe For Change Not My Cup of Tea. I had no idea how important this week's nationwide anti-tax tea parties were until hearing liberals denounce them with such ferocity. The New York Times' Paul Krugman wrote a column attacking the tea parties, apologizing for making fun of "crazy people." Tea Parties: Real Grassroots. Around America, taxpayers have had enough. Fed up with excessive spending, planned tax increases and a federal government that first caused the financial bubble through misregulation, and then grabbed power in order to "fix" it, they're hitting the streets to protest. The Left's Coordinated Message Operation. American Spectator readers are probably familiar with the nationwide Tax Day Tea Party rallies being planned for Wednesday [4/15/2009]. Readers may be less familiar with the attempt by left-wing propagandists to dismiss the Tea Party movement as being ginned up by Fox News, "Corporate America" and the usual suspects of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. The transparent object of this propaganda effort by the Left is to discourage coverage for the Tea Party movement by their liberal friends in the mainstream media. TARP the Life Insurers? This Is Nuts. The public is clamoring for and end to TARP and bailout nation. That's a key message coming from the heartland tea parties that are cropping up spontaneously around the country. Taxpayers Get Really Tea-ed Off. The Boston Tea Party helped free us from an oppressive king. This week's nationwide anti-stimulus tea party demonstrations have a tougher goal: ending the tyranny of big-spending politicians. Tax Day, 2009: The day the mainstream media died? In the past, major media outlets have given antigovernment 'tea party' protests — like the ones held today — short shrift. Critics say it is because they are out of touch with America. Tea Parties about Far More than Taxes. Many writers have dubbed the Tax Day Tea Parties as inconsequential, a fad that will die quickly, and of foolish origins that have nothing to do with the American patriots of revolutionary days. Patriots dumped a ship full of tea into Boston Harbor, these folks contend, to protest one thing: taxation without representation. We modern patriots have representation and are therefore insane to protest, or so this line of argument goes. Lefties to try and discredit tea parties. Liberals are making fun of conservative "paranoia" over attempts to discredit the tea parties by activists on the left but, as we know, they never let the facts stand in the way of a good fantasy. ... Sounds like the left may be a little worried about the tea party phenomenon. The Tea Party Revolution: Because these events are highly decentralized, with no significant institutional organization or funding behind them, they represent a genuine outpouring of grassroots opinion with enormous political importance. For every person out in the streets today, there are undoubtedly many more who didn't make it who share the same opinions. Tax Day Becomes Protest Day. Today American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies — dubbed "tea parties" — to protest higher taxes and out-of-control government spending. There is no political party behind these rallies, no grand right-wing conspiracy, not even a 501(c) group like MoveOn.org. So who's behind the Tax Day tea parties? Ordinary folks who are using the power of the Internet to organize. Note to the Media — Just Do Your Job and Cover the Tea Parties. If you do something of note and the media choose not to cover it — the issue might just as well not exist. Such is the fate of Wednesday's national Tax Day Tea Party. This mega-gathering of tax protesters is scheduled for every single Congressional district in the country. More than 500 events are planned. And the national news media have either been silent or shown contempt for the effort. Republicans and the Tea Parties: Derided by elitists as phony, the tea-party movement is spontaneous, decentralized, frequently amateurish and sometimes shrill. If it has a father it is CNBC's Rick Santelli, who called for holding a tea party in Chicago on July 4. Yesterday's gatherings were made up of people who may never meet again (there's no central collection point for email addresses). But the concerns driving people to tea parties are real, growing and powerful. Politicians ignore them at their peril. Rally 'round the bag: Thousands turn out for downtown Tea Party. No one could accuse East Texans of political apathy on Wednesday, when an estimated 2,000 protesters packed the downtown square in Nacogdoches to rally against big government, taxes and reckless spending. Wielding American flags and sporting signs written with both wit and anger, the crowds assembled on Pilar Street at the Plaza Principal stage to hear local speakers talk about responsible government and to hear musical acts in celebration of liberty and other political ideals. The Tea Parties. They resemble nothing so much as the anti-war protests during Bush's first term. The claim that they don't have an organizing premise strikes me as obviously wrong: They're anti-bailout, anti-stimulus, anti-deficit, and anti- the tax increases that will eventually be required to pay for the current spending spree, and complaining that they don't also have a ten-point plan for reforming Medicare and Social Security reflects a misunderstanding of the nature of protest marches, I think. Tea Party protests: Could they rally change in government? Two months ago, 300 people showed up in a cold, pouring rain at Georgia's State Capitol as part of the first stirrings of a modern-day Tea Party movement, protesting Washington's expanding reach and a ballooning federal deficit. Wednesday night, Edward Johnson, in a tricorn hat and Paul Revere coat, watched Act II: The capitol square here filled up with more than 10,000 protesters waving signs that said, among other things, "Welcome to Sweden" and "Don't tax me, bro!" CNN Versus the Tea Parties. When thousands of people in all 50 states assemble to protest government policy, you might suppose that this is news. Not according to the coverage on the front pages of the Washington Post, New York Times, or the Wall Street Journal. The "tea party" rallies went unmentioned. Mainstream Media: Only Conservatives Are Sore Losers. The popular meme circulating throughout the "unbiased" media yesterday was: The original Tea Party was about taxation without representation but Americans HAVE representation and Republicans are just mad because they lost. The more I twist that in my head, the more absurd it sounds. What they're really saying is: you are only allowed representation in government if you're the majority. Funny how that didn't seem to be the case in California when Prop. 8 passed. I don't remember any snide reporter telling a disappointed same-sex couple "Hey, you lost, get over it." Tea Parties: What's Next? Most agree that that capitalizing upon the momentum generated by an estimated 2,500 tea parties nationwide on April 15 would be of great benefit to the GOP. But whether or not those efforts should be centrally coordinated — or if they are even able to be centrally coordinated — is a matter of hot debate. Million Taxpayer March. Let's use liberal math to calculate attendance at this week's nationwide Tax Day Tea Party protests. When left-wing activists make crowd estimates, the algorithm is: six figures = one million. An incomplete survey of newspaper accounts and organizer estimates pegged the Tea Party protest population at a minimum of 250,000. We can now, therefore, officially call it the Million Taxpayer March. Tea Party System. Less than three months after a landmark election, throngs of demonstrators everywhere gathered to object to the revolution that our new president is steamrolling into law. It was a landmark protest in the history of the republic. But how can the voices of tens if not hundreds of thousands of angry taxpayers be turned into concrete political action? CNN's Susan Roesgen: Taking Hackery to New Heights. This video with CNN anchor Susan Roesgen is pretty unreal. She attends the Chicago tea party, picks some wacko out of the crowd and tries to argue with him about whether Obama's a fascist (and even then the guy with the ridiculous Obama-as-Hitler sign comes off more willing to engage in discussion than her), then she talks to a guy who seems perfectly reasonable and rudely cuts him off multiple times. She then attacks Fox News, ranting that the crowd is anti-CNN and says that the tea party is not "family viewing." Shortly thereafter... Avoiding Criticism: CNN Shuts Down Anti-Tea Party Reporter's Email Address. So, we are all well aware of the so-called "reporter" from CNN, Susan Roesgen whose on-air haranguing of those she was ostensibly reporting on made obvious her anti-Republican bias. Well, for the past day Americans have been emailing her to let her know how they feel about her unprofessional attitude. Apparently, CNN does not appreciate hearing from its viewers, though, because all of a sudden anyone that sends an email to Roesgen's CNN email address will have it returned as address unknown! [See update on Ms. Roesgen below.] Liberal actress says tea parties were racist. Liberal actress and political activist Janeane Garofalo, in all seriousness, said activists who attended tea parties are racists with dysfunctional brains in a recent prime-time television appearance. ... [Keith] Olbermann did not once try to challenge her on those assertions. Alamo Plaza filled with tea party crowd. The San Antonio Tea Party kicked off today with a live broadcast by Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck and a few thousand flag-waving, sign-holding supporters in front of the Alamo. GOP govs: Tea parties naturally brewed. Republican Govs. Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Haley Barbour of Mississippi insisted Thursday that the anti-tax tea party phenomenon dominating the news cycle represented a serious movement ?bubbling up? around the country. Thousands show up for Dallas 'tea party'; Rick Perry fires up rallies. At least eight North Texas municipalities, and about 1,000 municipalities nationwide, hosted tea party events. Police estimated several thousand people attended the Dallas event, with protesters waving yellow "don't tread on me" flags and a variety of signs alternately decrying taxes, panning a federal economic stimulus package and chiding Obama as a socialist/communist. ABC, CBS and NBC Try to Discredit 'Tea Party' Protests. The broadcast network evening newscasts on Wednesday provided prominent coverage of the "Tea Party" rallies across the nation with time for the views of participants, but they tried to discredit the protests as a front for "corporate interests" or a "fistful of rightward leaning Web sites"... Thousands across U.S. let off steam at tax-day Tea. With The Alamo as a backdrop, thousands of Texans here joined demonstrators across the nation Wednesday to protest federal spending, corporate bailouts and taxes. "The Alamo is the perfect symbolic place to hold this rally," said Carl Benton, a Michigan native who moved to Texas a decade ago. "This is where people who had held deep convictions made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom." Texas governor suggests ... secession? Texas Gov. Rick Perry fired up an anti-tax "tea party" Wednesday [4/15/2009] with his stance against the federal government and for states' rights as some in his U.S. flag-waving audience shouted, "Secede!" An animated Perry told the crowd at Austin City Hall — one of three tea parties he was attending across the state — that officials in Washington have abandoned the country's founding principles of limited government. He said the federal government is strangling Americans with taxation, spending and debt. The Left Is Making a Mistake in Ridiculing the Tea Parties. The political Left in the United States is making a grave mistake in diminishing and dismissing the anger of the American people. Where it may be common place for liberals, Leftists, neo-Marxists and Progressive-Leftists to take to the streets over anything and everything, including a change of wind direction, it is entirely a different story with conservatives and Republicans. Conservatives and Republicans don't march in the streets for anything. The fact that they have now taken to the streets in protest of massive government spending and government's encroachment into our liberties speaks volumes to those who would listen. Hail the tea bag, weapon of terror. "Tea-bag parties" erupted — and "erupted" is the correct verb — across the country on April 15, celebrated by joyous "progressive" taxpayers and loathed by everybody else as the day to report the intimate details of your life, along with cash, to the Internal Revenue Bureau (which the bureau insists that we call not a bureau but a "service"). Bureau or service, it's run by bureaucrats, not servants, and always the target of April ire. Twisted Media Misuses Poll in Attempt to Downplay 'Tea Parties'. In coverage of the hundreds of "tea parties" held April 15 to protest spending and taxation in America, many national reports not only grossly underestimated the real numbers of those present at such rallies, they also managed to include a Gallup Poll that defeated the very point they were trying to make. Many reports referenced "hundreds of people," when the turnout at a given protest might actually have been in the thousands. A Very Polite Tea Party. The demonstrations drew more than 250,000 supporters and some openly hostile news coverage, as reporters painted the gatherings as rage-fests filled with antigovernment crackpots. Ben [Hobbs], who laid aside his tools to head to the tea party, was unsurprised by the tone of the coverage. After all, he said, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano had just labeled small-government entrepreneurs like him potentialterrorist threats. Let them drink tea. Forget media bias. That's just slanting the news. The liberal press judges stories before investigating them. That's prejudice, which sums up how the anti-tax tea parties were covered this week. Excuse Me, Your Leftism is Showing. In thousands of cities and towns across America, hundreds of thousands of plain folks came out into the streets to say, "Enough!" This was not a protest against any party or person in particular but against a paradigm in governments from Washington D.C. to the local city halls that assume there is no end to the amount of money we are willing to kick in. You wouldn't know that from the coverage. Everyone from CNN to MSNBC to my local paper went out of their way to make it seem like anyone who attended one of these gatherings was a right-wing extremist! Government forgets its true duty. A TEA (Taxed Enough Already!) party was conducted in the city park in Chillicothe on Income Tax Day, Wednesday. Those of us who participated were there because we love our country; and because we love our country, we could not keep silent. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." So we were there to voice our protest of an out-ofcontrol government that is unable to put a rein on its irresponsible spending. CNN political contributor is no patriot. Across the country and in dozens of cities, a protest movement has sprung up. Tens of thousands of people have expressed their concern that government spending is out of control and that, in the very near future, taxes will have to be raised drastically to pay for all the goodies our political leaders want to bestow upon us. But Paul [Begala] doesn't see it that way. He doesn't believe these protests are grassroots-based. He believes they were ordered up by "Fox News clowns and right-wing cranks." People who don't even know history. The truths behind the tea parties: [At the tea-party protests held on Tax Day], the message was one of great skepticism about the efficacy of the government's remedies and great apprehension about the expense (along with some of the extremist lunacy that accompanies any mass movement). The scale of the federal response to the crises has come as a frightening surprise to many Americans, who suspect the cure will be worse, and less transitory, than the disease. CNN's Begala: Tea Party Goers 'Wimpy, Whiney, Weasels Who Don't Love Their Country'. On Friday's Hannity on FNC, host Sean Hannity played a clip of liberal CNN contributor Paul Begala as he was interviewed by Don Imus, in which Begala engaged in name-calling against Tax Day Tea Party participants. Thou Shall Not Question Barack Obama. Perhaps they just don't want to think through the details. Then again — maybe some of them don't have the capacity to think through the details. I'm referring to the apparent plethora of partisan, passionate, "see-no-evil" Obama minions, who become outraged should any of the rest of us ask questions about the forty-fourth President. Question Democratic authority? Not! The mainstream media and the Democratic Party —one and the same these days —spent much of the last week furiously attacking the grass-roots tea party protest movement as somehow illegitimate —or worse. Days before the uniformly peaceful and patriotic gatherings took place, Homeland Security czar Janet Napolitano conveniently issued a bizarre report slandering military veterans and assorted right-leaning groups as racist, homegrown terrorism threats. News anchors resorted to prime-time "tea-bagging" jokes in frequent attempts to mock the participants' grievances. MSM's Tea Party Cognitive Dissonance. In all my years of watching news coverage in America, I don't believe I have ever witnessed more condescending, amateurish, purely politicized reporting than what just transpired among the liberal MSM covering America's Tax Day Tea Parties. The Tea Parties represented a very significant news event. Media Struggle to Understand Non-Violent Non-Smelly Protesters. The Tax Day Tea Parties inspired and energized conservatives across the country last week, but the response to the events from the media and Democrat partisans was perhaps the most interesting thing to watch. When people turned out all over the country in the thousands to attend tea parties, Obama followers, especially those in the media, were shocked and bewildered, and it showed. Numerous video clips: Summary of the April 15 TEA Parties Media Coverage. The media coverage of the more than 800 Taxed Enough Already (TEA) Party protests that took place in all fifty states on April 15 ranged from disdainful dismissal of their nature, significance and import, to outright hostility towards the events and individual participants, to sexual innuendo-based full-on ridicule. More examples of biased news coverage. Shall We Texans Secede? With Fedzilla accelerating its gluttonous orgy of unaccountability and ramping up its wanton blow torching of our paychecks with blatant impunity, we the people are once again de-sheeping, stepping forward, and in the grand tradition of Martin Luther King Jr., peaceably marching in protest with the defiant Tea Party spirit of 1773. Shall We Texans Secede? With Fedzilla accelerating its gluttonous orgy of unaccountability and ramping up its wanton blow torching of our paychecks with blatant impunity, we the people are once again de-sheeping, stepping forward, and in the grand tradition of Martin Luther King Jr., peaceably marching in protest with the defiant Tea Party spirit of 1773. America's Tea Parties. The crowd was energetic and well behaved. I got to talking to a few people. ACORN was nowhere near the area. I was told that public reaction to them was: "You know where you can put your acorns." Ah, so much for intimidating real Americans. They had two Obamatons there with a sign, "Give change a chance." Most of them were confronted by women who spoke their mind. For me, they can keep the change and pay for it, and leave me out of it! I Attended a Tea Party. Even I, who try to avoid crowds, attended a gathering here in the San Fernando Valley. If you believe the creeps in the MSM — and why would you? — we were all dues-paying members of political fringe groups, and none of us would think about leaving the house without first donning our little aluminum hats. If you believe Janet Napolitano — and how could you? — we were not merely man-created disasters like Somali pirates and Islamic butchers, but full-fledged terrorists. Some among us even confessed to being military veterans. Well, either she is very wrong or I am. Tea Parties: 'Calling All Racists!' Did you know that only racists turned out for the recent nationwide "tea parties"?! "Let's be very honest about what this is about," actress/comedian Janeane Garofalo said on Keith Olbermann's MSNBC show. "It's not about bashing Democrats. It's not about taxes. They have no idea what the Boston Tea Party was about. They don't know their history at all. This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. That is nothing but a bunch of tea-bagging rednecks." Perception of Tea Parties was incorrect. I was at the Tea Party in St. Paul. I apparently hung out at the wrong end of the Capital grounds, though, because I missed all of those angry, extremist, Obama-haters who I'm told were there. Instead, at my end of the mall, I saw thousands of average, hard-working Minnesota taxpayers (many with family in tow) respectfully voicing deep concerns about the future of our country. Some were wearing suits. Most were wearing jeans or shorts. A few were in biker leathers. I missed all the folks in camo and face paint and saw no one brandishing their semiautomatic. So what did we learn from tea parties? From White House officials to actors with time on their hands, it was not enough to simply disagree with the tea party cornerstone of lower taxes and spending. The Americans attending these events had to be eviscerated as mobs of evil, violent psychopaths. Montana Fires a Warning Shot over States' Rights. Montana is trying to trigger a battle over gun control — and perhaps make a larger point about what many folks in this ruggedly independent state regard as a meddlesome federal government. In a bill passed by the Legislature earlier this month, the state is asserting that guns manufactured in Montana and sold in Montana to people who intend to keep their weapons in Montana are exempt from federal gun registration, background check and dealer-licensing rules because no state lines are crossed. The American People Deserve Better From Their Elected Representatives. Among the political class it has apparently become acceptable, and even fashionable, for American politicians from the President on down to mock the citizens they represent. In a development that can only further denigrate the discourse necessary to any effective democracy, politicians and the "serious" news media are now mocking citizens regularly and with impunity. Tea partiers get riled up in Pasadena. Dozens of people gathered on the steps of Pasadena City Hall Friday [5/1/2009] to advocate for lower taxes, government spending, and stand up against what they view as a burgeoning socialist threat. Arrogant politicians fuel Tea Party protests. Oppressive tax hikes, runaway federal spending, and a spiraling national debt that will burden generations to come were among the most frequently cited worries of the700,000 or more people who turned out April 15 for the Tea Party Protests held in more than 750 cities across the country. But as important as those three issues are, a statement published Friday [5/8/2009] by the Examiner from a national coordinating group of the nascent movement points to an even more fundamental concern. More on Those Dangerous 'Right-Wing Extremists'. Our review and monitoring of public meetings and publications in Virginia have brought to our attention two individuals who fit these profiles and who, in our informed law enforcement opinion, are right-wing extremists who pose an imminent danger to the United States, particularly the federal government. House bypasses governor's veto to claim Oklahoma's sovereignty. Although Gov. Brad Henry vetoed similar legislation 10 days earlier, House members Monday again approved a resolution claiming Oklahoma's sovereignty. Unlike House Joint Resolution 1003, House Concurrent Resolution 1028 does not need the governor's approval. Rick Perry: States will 'assert their independence'. Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday that he expects to see a number of states follow his home state of Texas in pushing resolutions that will "assert their independence from the federal government." "If this administration gets its way, we'll all be the same. We'll all be the way Washington wants us to be," Perry said on a call with Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) and roughly 20,000 callers, which was sponsored by the Republican Governors Association and billed as Tea Party 2.0. Can States Protect Themselves Against Massive Health Care Intrusion? Alabama State Rep. Mac Gipson, R-Prattville, will introduce in the 2010 session of the Legislature the Alabama Care Freedom Act constitutional amendment that will protect the rights of patients to make their own health care choices. Further, his measure prohibits penalties levied on patients for declining participation in any big government passed Pelosi/Obama health care plan. To date, 22 states have introduced similar initiatives. Obama's vast agenda sparks concern. With a set of proposals that will increase federal spending to $3.7 trillion next year now on the table, policy analysts, including some Democrats, are asking whether President Obama is promising more than he can deliver and more than taxpayers can afford. In California, Voters Stage Massive "Tea Party" at the Polls! Despite the threat of being dismissed as right wing extremists by left wing extremists, California voters staged a massive "tea party" at the polls on Tuesday [5/19/2009] to protest proposals by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature (mostly Democrats) to raise taxes without derailing runaway spending. Warning to Obama in California vote. California voters sent one heckuva message Tuesday [6/19/2009], as they unceremoniously shot down attempts by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislative leaders of both parties to raise their taxes, again. The politicos wanted the additional revenues to cover their $44 billion worth of over-spending, aka the state budget deficit. Voters said no, decisively... Terminating illusions in California. California is the beta state, where everything new is tried and then exported, true or not. Rap, rock, lavender love, student riots, Arianna Huffington, hot rods and the Hula Hoop. Ronald Reagan and the tax revolt. The illusion that you can have it all, and somebody else will pay for it. This week California's voters offered a view of what happens when big government finally grinds to a noisy halt. Barack Obama could take note. The state of California, alas, is busted. Broke. California Clarity. Californians' rejection of five tax-and-spend ballot measures on Tuesday's ballot was the first outcome of a national tea party movement that elitists can no longer dismiss. What's coming up for future 'tea party' protests? It was somewhat surprising to hear from numerous folks that their beef wasn't just with Obama's economic policies. Time and again, people said they'd been just as upset with what they saw as profligate spending under Bush. Tim Lee was typical. A councilman from suburban Atlanta's Cobb County. "The Republicans," he said, "were doing just as bad for eight years." The Editor says... Republicans were bad about spending, but the Democrats in 2009 have been four and a half times as bad. Heads Up, Tea Party Patriots! Mired in red tape, the 4th Annual New Hampshire Live Free or Die Rally will be the testing ground on whether July 4th Tea Parties will be squashed throughout the United States of America. Suppressing dissent followed hard on the heels of state-wide April 15 Tea Parties when Department of Homeland Security head honcho Janet Napolitano fingered returning war veterans as right-wing "extremists". Tenth Amendment Movement Aims to Give Power Back to the States. Fed up with Washington's involvement in everything from land use to gun control to education spending, states across the country are fighting back against what they say is the federal government's growing intrusion on their rights. At least 35 states have introduced legislation this year asserting their power under the Tenth Amendment to regulate all matters not specifically delegated to the federal government by the Constitution. After Obama Fails. A failed presidency for Barack Obama could turn into liberalism's worst nightmare. Barely six months into his term, the 44th president has succeeded in generating the most widespread and serious discussion of secession since the Civil War. Despite what Newsweek's Evan Thomas may claim, Obama is not the "God" who will bring us together but the autocratic sponsor of an overbearing, oppressive leviathan from which a growing number of Americans are seeking refuge. Large Democratic Donors Help Shut Down July 4 Atlanta Tea Party. A real estate company whose owners have contributed heavily to Democratic causes apparently used articles and content on conservative blogs to justify bringing about pressure to shut down an Atlanta tea party protest scheduled for the Fourth of July — an event that organizers estimated would attract 20,000 people. The apparent plot was uncovered when blogger and radio talk show host Andrea Shea King noticed an unusual amount of traffic coming to her site earlier this month. From Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama: A Horror Story. On Independence Day, nearly 1,500 or more protest rallies, "Tea parties," will be held in America from coast to coast. Their message will not be lost on Congress though you can be sure the slavish mainstream news media will do what they can to mislead the public into believing they were minor events. ... In October 2010, Americans will have an opportunity to neuter this narcissist, this pretender in the White House. It is time to prepare for the midterm elections. It is time to take America back from the liberals that are ruining it. Tea Party's organizers hope to draw 50,000 to Southfork Ranch. Southfork Ranch, the symbol of Dallas and doing things big, is the stage Saturday for the largest tea party in the nation, aimed at attracting 50,000 folks for fireworks, both in the air and from the microphone. Tea Party Protests Rally Against Taxes. There have been fireworks for a different sort this Independence Day. Thousands of protestors held rallies in cities across the country, protesting big government, and big government spending... "Letting Congress and the federal government know that we're displeased — we are very, very displeased with what they are doing to us and what they are doing to our future children," said Joe Stephanelli, from Morristown, Ohio. Texas-size Tea Party. Brewing interest in The Woodlands Tea Party and its concerns with government came to a full head of steam Thursday [7/2/2009] evening at an event that brought thousands to Conroe's Lone Star Expo Center. Tea Party organizers began forming events following Tax Day in April, with momentum growing to draw participants from across the greater Houston area to hear Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher, who headlined the event. Taxed Enough Already? Nationwide July 4 TEA Parties Scheduled . From the East to West Coasts and in the heartland in between, and to the wilds of Alaska, the Tea Party tax protests are enthusiastically continuing. Over the July 4 holiday, TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party rallies are already planned in 1,267 cities and towns across the nation, and the list grows longer as more volunteers who feel they have been taxed enough join the effort. Schenley Park Tea Party rally blasts President Obama. National and local conservative activists rallying in Schenley Park Saturday [7/4/2009] said their organizational firepower is leagues ahead of where they were in 1994, when Newt Gingrich's Republican Revolution picked up dozens of congressional seats. ... If so, President Obama and his allies in the House and Senate might want to pay attention to what happened yesterday morning on Flagstaff Hill. Joe the Plumber joins Zilker 'tea party'. Wurzelbacher, wearing cowboy boots, jeans and a T-shirt, said that he's not going to change his mind over time on what he believes — and he believes that abortion and same-sex marriage are wrong, that owning guns is an important right and that torturing terrorists isn't wrong. Holiday marked by anti-tax Tea Parties. Fourth of July "Tea Party" rallies, picnics, marches and other demonstrations were scheduled across the country Saturday [7/4/2009] to protest what organizers say is record federal spending and taxes by the Obama administration that enlarges government and threatens the nation's prosperity. Cincinnati Tea Party packs Bethel community center. When the Cincinnati Tea Party decided to hold a meeting in Bethel, organizers expected 15 to 20 people to attend. But Bethel residents surprised the group when more than 100 people packed the village's community center Monday, July 6, for the Cincinnati Tea Party's first meeting there. Change is Coming, Brought to you by Socialism. Over the weekend hundreds and thousands of American citizens gathered at grassroots "Tea Parties" coast to coast to protest Barack Obama's massive expansion by government. During his campaign, Mr. Obama repeatedly said he wanted to be a "transformational" President. Now, that transformation appears to be from a government "of... by... and for" to govern over the people. Lately, this has been in the form of "cap and trade," which will give government the ultimate power over the industrial sector of the economy. Update: Anti-Tea Party Correspondent's Contract Not Renewed by CNN. The last time we saw CNN correspondent Susan Roesgen, she was arguing with folks at the April 15 Tea Party in Chicago claiming the event was "anti-government, anti-CNN [and] highly promoted by the right-wing conservative network Fox." Although CNN officials won't blame the decision specifically on this event, the network has decided not to renew her contract. CNN's Roesgen Reportedly Will Leave Network; Bias Alleged. Ms. Roesgen's "contract will not be renewed and she will be leaving the network," Chris Ariens, managing editor of TV Newser, wrote in an exclusive report. According to Ariens, a CNN spokesperson was not authorized "to comment on personnel matters" regarding Ms. Roesgen, who joined the cable-news channel in 2005. A Constitution in Full Crisis II. More than 32 states are working to pass 10th Amendment resolutions aimed at reclaiming both state sovereignty and states rights. More than 40 states will complete that process in the coming months. ... The states MUST remind the Fed that it is NOT an oligarchy of unelected Czars free to run roughshod over the people and the states. Rather that the Fed exists and serves at the pleasure of the states and the people, and is limited in authority to ONLY those matters assigned it in the Constitution. The Real Reason Americans are Angry: The message of the various Tea Party protests, which predated this summer's ahistorical media panic over town hall "lynch mobs," has been pretty simple, says Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, the nonprofit that has helped organize the protests, told Reason magazine this spring. "It was: stop spending so much money, stop borrowing so much money, and stop bailing out people who were irresponsible." Locals heading to D.C. for another TEA party protest. The national organizers expect protesters to meet in D.C., lobby lawmakers and gather support against health care reform two days after President Obama addresses a joint session of Congress. Organizers quoted in the New York Times said the protest could be "the largest gathering of fiscal conservatives ever." Chicago Tribune Ignores Thousands at Tea Party Express Protest. You might think a major metropolitan newspaper that boasts "The Midwest's largest reporting team" on its front page would report on a suburban demonstration attracting thousands of people. In the case of the Chicago Tribune, you'd be wrong. Today's Tribune print edition makes no mention of yesterday's Tea Party Express protest in New Lenox, Illinois, located only 36 miles from Chicago's Loop. To cry of 'Nobama,' Morristown tea party urges government restraint. Labor Day barbecues took a back seat yesterday [9/7/2009] to a political "tea party" in Morristown that drew about 2,000 people who waved flags, hoisted placards and donned red-white-and-blue outfits to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the federal government. A march on Washington. The armies of "tea party" conservatives who packed town-hall meetings last month to oppose President Obama's $1 trillion government health care plan bring their protest movement to the Capitol on Saturday [9/12/2009] to urge its defeat. Those who thought the hundreds of April 15 tax-day rallies across the country were a flash-in-the-pan phenomenon had better think again. Tea Party Express roars to D.C. When the "tea party" movement kicked off in April to protest record federal spending bills, trillion-dollar deficits and higher tax burdens, its members were fiercely independent and opposed any suggestion that they bond with a larger umbrella group, preferring to work within their local communities. But that go-it-alone approach is changing as a result of the war over health care, and the Tea Party Express tour is leading the way. Tea Party Patriots Cheer Congressman Joe Wilson vs. Obama. Fast forward to Friday morning in Hartford. An estimated 1,500 Tea Party Patriots had gathered outside the state Capitol to hear multiple speeches against the health care plan and in favor of freedom. During his remarks, national tea party organizer Mark Williams was cut off in mid-sentence by the roars from the crowd when he said, "Joe Wilson, the Congressman who stood up." He did not get to finish his sentence as the applause from the crowd drowned him out. NRO at the 912 March. As a journalist who wears his cynicism like a badge of honor, to say that today's tea party protest wildly exceeded my expectations would be an understatement. I've yet to see a reliable estimate of the crowd size and the cops seemed bound and determined to keep any photographers away from any high vantage points, but I'd be shocked if it wasn't well into six figures. Up to two million march to US Capitol to protest against Obama's spending. Up to two million people marched to the U.S. Capitol today, carrying signs with slogans such as "Obamacare makes me sick" as they protested the president's health care plan and what they say is out-of-control spending. The line of protesters spread across Pennsylvania Avenue for blocks, all the way to the capitol, according to the Washington Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. Thousands of Anti-Obama Protestors March in D.C.. When organizers for the Taxpayer March on Washington said they expected tens of thousands of people Saturday, they weren't kidding. Tea Party protestors completely blocked Pennsylvania Ave. from 14th Street, NW, to the U.S. Capitol. The crowds were so dense that organizers for the event decided to start the speeches and march earlier than the scheduled 11:30 a.m. time. March in September. The long-term consequences of this and the preceding populist gatherings are hard to predict. We may see a more libertarian Republican party. A huge turnout for 2010 may result. New, real outsiders may enter politics. And, of course, these protests may scare the dickens out of lawmakers. Anti-Government Protests Draws Tens of Thousands to D.C.. Tens of thousands of conservative protesters crowded outside the U.S. Capitol on Saturday, a massive demonstration aimed at stopping what organizers called the over-expansion of the federal government under the Obama administration. "Hell hath no fury like a taxpayer ignored," declared Andrew Moylan, head of government affairs for the National Taxpayer Union, urging protesters to call their representatives. "You're being ignored today by the media and some politicians." Quick Impressions of the D.C. 9/12 Protest: Big crowd. Do not believe any description that says "thousands." If there weren't at least a healthy six figures there, I will permanently revoke my head-counting license. Nineteen out of 20 signs were hand-made. Tea partiers march on U.S. Capitol. Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers are now storming Washington, D.C., and taking their fight against excessive spending, bailouts, growth of big government and soaring deficits to the front door of the U.S. Capitol. Obama's Titanic arrogance and the folly of ignoring the masses on 9/12. I was at the 9/12 Rally on the Capital Lawn. Like a lot of people I took the time, effort and expense to go to the seat of power and be counted with my fellow American Patriots. I have never seen so many people in one place in my life. The crowd was shoulder to shoulder all the way from the Capital Steps to the Washington Monument a MILE away, and also covered the side streets feeding into the area. First reports from AP and NY Times indicate 'thousands' at DC protest? Pictures supplied by Fox and CNN appeared to me to show a crowd stretching all the way from the Capitol steps, back many, many blocks, stretching off into the distance. By any stretch of the imagination, such a crowd should have been indentified in "the hundreds of thousands." Washington Post Home Page Buries Massive 9-12 Rally in Teeny-Weeny Type. The Washington Post put the 9-12 conservative rally at the top of the Sunday paper with two color pictures, one of them a wide crowd shot below the Capitol dome. The headline was "Lashing Out at the Capitol: Tens of Thousands Protest Obama Initiatives and Government Spending." But what stuck out like a sore liberal thumb on Sunday morning [9/13/2009] was how an Internet browser would need to look hard for it on the Washington Post home page. 9/12 was a transformative event. Sometimes an event occurs which is transformative in a way that everyone who sees it or participates in it instantly is aware of. Yesterday's demonstration in Washington DC is one of those rare happenings in my opinion. The Daily Mail said 2 million Americans participated. My friend Charlie Martin extrapolated from the pictures an attendance figure of 2.3 million. ... Whatever the actual number it is sure to be seriously underestimated by the Obama-besotted members of the press corps who are also likely to misrepresent the participants and their views. We The People come to Washington. Aware that the mainstream media would downplay their numbers and the significance of 9-12, hundreds of thousands of Americans out today to protest massive government spending and massive government health care no longer count on the MSM for coverage. It is one of the necessities of a czar-studded Barack Obama Administration that We The People are now the media. March on Washington: How Big Was the Crowd? After the Million Man March in 1995, Congress restricted the National Park Service from even making estimates — a restriction that was maintained for 14 years and then quietly rescinded this January for the Obama inauguration. ... There have been a lot of estimates, from the "official" one of 60 to 70 thousand, up to the rumored 2 million. 9/12: The Revolution Has Begun. What began on the border in 2005 has spread to DC and every state in the union. The Revolution isn't coming, it is here. Call it the Constitution Revolution. The genie is out of the bottle and there will be no putting her back in. Taking It To The Streets. When Americans have to turn to the foreign press for truthful reports of the size of popular protests in Washington, it's time to wonder: Are we dominated by "state-run media"? Crowd estimates vary wildly for Capitol march. A sea of angry taxpayers marched on the Capitol on Saturday afternoon. That much is certain. But even before the march was over, the news media, bloggers and rally supporters were wrangling over the crowd count, with estimates ranging from 60,000 to 2 million. Numbers Game: How Many REALLY Attended the Sep. 12 Rally. Based on photos and on-scene observation, the crowd on Saturday at its peak occupied ... a total area of densely populated grounds of about 930,000 square feet. ... [Assuming just under four square feet per person], 250,000 is a number I challenge anyone to best. And the precise number, should you need it, using Queueing Theory, Coefficients of Dispersion, and Poisson Distribution Variances, was exactly 239,863. Rep. Joe Wilson, Tea Party Numbers, and Excited Utterances. Michael Laprarie of Wizbang writes, "We may never know a precise number, but reasonable estimates seem to put the 9/12 crowd at between 500,000 and one million." Personally, I'm "guesstimating" that at least a hundred thousand protesters attended the Tea Party in Washington, D.C. But I wouldn't be shocked at a 500,000 figure. A Warning to Washington. Tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of angry Americans stormed Washington last weekend to oppose ObamaCare and government spending. How'd Democrats react? By redoubling efforts to pass "health-care reform"... What next for the Middle America Rebellion of 2009. A day before the event, organizers said a mere 20,000 or so folks had registered for Saturday's amazing 9/12 march on Washington to protest out-of-control government. What they got was hundreds of thousands of intensely patriotic people who came to the nation's capitol to yell "Stop!" Whatever the number of attendees, this was possibly the most significant Washington protest since the civil rights movement's epic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Debate rages over 'tea party' crowd size. A fierce numbers battle has erupted in the aftermath of Saturday's Capitol Hill rally by "tea party" conservatives that is not over the growth of government, the budget deficit or even the $1 trillion cost of President Obama's health care plan, but about the size of the crowd. 75,000 my eye! Who did the counting? There were over 1.78 million people there in D.C. last Saturday but the count was the least of the errors. MSNBC snarky anchor apparently thought the crowds were all white but was he there or was he watching the event in his biased studio? If he was there he should have seen my friend Deneen Borelli speaking and getting loud cheers from the "mostly white" protesters. America Spoke. America spoke September 12th in Washington, DC. Real America. Not black America, not white America, not Hispanic or Asian America, not even conservative or liberal America. Real America. There were mothers, sons, fathers, daughters, newborn children and kids on the way up; there were many, many elderly and a lot of disabled folks, young and old, in wheelchairs. Many of these people had never been to a protest before in their lives. Unexpected Outgrowths of the Tea Party Movement . The Tea Party Movement has awakened a powerful sleeping giant silent majority. Americans are starting to say, "no" to political correctness; "no" to banning God from the public square, "no" to politicians who ignore the Will of the people, "no" to secular progressives and "no" to dead beats who think they are entitled due to their skin color, sex, economic status or whatever. "Enough!" is the battle cry of millions of Tea Party protesters. Tea Party insurgency marches into key states. Begun as a loosely affiliated groundswell of Constitution-waving protesters in tri-cornered hats, the Tea Party movement is now starting to rock the political establishment in key arenas. Conservatives protest Houston media. More than 80 people protested the Houston Chronicle's downtown building today [10/17/2009], asking for publicity for their conservative message as part of a widespread effort to protest news organizations. "We want the government out of our lives and we don't want to see our country become a socialist country," said North Houston/Woodlands Tea Party organizer Suzanne Guggenheim. America's Obama Obsession. [Scroll down slowly] As long as Obama was opposed by calcified Republicans in Congress, there was no real danger to him. But once the opposition proved populist, panicked liberal elites started demonizing populism — and Obama now finds himself opposed to the popular grievance-mongering that was once the mother's milk of our Chicago organizer's existence. Making the Tea Party Tangible. Contrary to left-wing claims, not to mention left-wing tactics, the Tea Party - Town Hall - 912 folks are not paid or bused to events by labor unions, corporate sponsors or Chicago Cabal Community Organizers, in the same way that leftists mobilize their staged events. No, this is a real "grassroots" people's movement of folks taking personal time and resources to unite against an increasingly offensive federal scum-orgy going on in Washington DC, under the "transparent" Marxist agenda of the New World messiah and his many international scumbag buddies, aka Czars, puppet masters and supporters. Not Ashamed to Love My Country. The Tea Party Movement has sparked a resurgence of patriotism. The movement itself was birthed out of fear of the far left agenda and radical changes being implemented by the Obama administration. Despite attempts by the liberal media and the Obama gang to convince us otherwise, we see and feel the threat of destruction of the traditions, values and institutions which we hold dear and have made America great. What Is The Threshold For Revolution? Today, the American people are still capable of collective heroism and the challenge to abusive authority, just as they were during the birth of our freedom some 233 years ago. We see the growing signs of that emerging heroism almost every day now. Who are the Tea Partyers? The 1992 exit polls told the tale. Perot voters were made up (in almost equal parts) of all ages, all races and both genders. Fifteen percent were Democrats and twenty-one percent were Republicans but — most importantly — thirty-three percent were independents. Twenty-six percent of them hadn't voted in the 1988 presidential election. They were angry, sufficiently so to vote against the status quo in Washington. Crowd kicks off 'tea party' tour. A large, enthusiastic crowd of people carrying signs and waving flags in protest of a government they say is not representing them gathered downtown yesterday morning to kick off a cross-country tour to demand change. Revolt on the Right. When taxpayers and conservative activists began holding tea parties to protest an out-of-control federal government's unsustainable growth, it was not entirely unreasonable to ask: Where were these people for the last eight years? George W. Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress increased discretionary spending at twice the rate that prevailed under Bill Clinton. Tangible Tea Party Tactics. I have only ONE goal, to stop and reverse the Obamanation of our country and return the USA to a constitutional status. The strategy for accomplishing this is to retake the GOP so that we have the power needed to accomplish that goal. Hundreds rally for lower taxes as part of Tea Party Express. Hundreds rallied for lower taxes and an end to what they said was a socialist agenda in the Obama White House in a parking lot on Sandy Boulevard Friday [10/30/2009]. Leaders of the Tea Party Express came to Portland aboard two coaches and found a huge crowd eager to participate. Houston Tea Party rally draws more than 10,000. More than 10,000 people turned out Monday night for a North Houston Tea Party Patriots gathering to protest proposed health care reform and what they called big government spending and overzealous government leadership, according to preliminary attendance figures. The Permanent Tea Party. What was learned Tuesday [11/3/2009] is that the American voter is absolutely, totally, unremittingly disgusted with both political parties. More than anything, the American voter is desperate for political leadership. Let states lead the way. Congress is on the verge of enacting the largest unfunded mandate in American history. At a time when most states are struggling with rising unemployment, declining tax revenue and the worst national economic climate in 30 years, Congress is demonstrating that it is more out of touch than ever. Activists bring 'tea party' to Capitol Hill. With the stage set for a historic House vote on health-care reform this weekend, an estimated 10,000 conservative activists descended on Capitol Hill on Thursday [11/5/2009] for a campaign-style rally in a last-ditch effort to defeat a bill they demonized as "Pelosi-Care." Tea Parties: Misunderstood and Vastly Underrated. Elected officials of every political stripe ought to be shaking down to their Gucci loafers and pumps. History is forming and firming up harder than the proverbial brick wall right outside their congressional glass house. Yet they seem utterly oblivious. Town Hall meetings Apparently the teeming masses aren't going to sit quietly while the Socialists take over the country. Imagine that. The resistance seems to be organized loosely, if organized at all, but the radicals on the far left are evidently quite worried about it. Thus we have begun to see what appears to be the return of the old Snitch on Your Neighbor program. Town halls gone wild. Screaming constituents, protesters dragged out by the cops, congressmen fearful for their safety — welcome to the new town-hall-style meeting, the once-staid forum that is rapidly turning into a house of horrors for members of Congress. On the eve of the August recess, members are reporting meetings that have gone terribly awry, marked by angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior. In at least one case, a congressman has stopped holding town hall events because the situation has spiraled so far out of control. Temperatures rise at health-care meeting. If any political prognosticators wanted proof that President Obama faces a tough sell on his health plan, they merely needed to show up at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia yesterday. A raucous standing-room-only crowd of more than 400 cheered, jeered, and booed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. "I'm happy to see democracy is at work," Sebelius said, no detectable irony in her voice. Audience Shouts Down Sebelius, Specter at Health Care Town Hall in Philadelphia. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Sen. Arlen Specter got a preview Sunday of the tough sell lawmakers will face over health care as audience members booed and jeered them during a town hall meeting in Philadelphia. Among those at odds with the officials touting the $1 trillion, 10-year plan was a woman who earned loud applause when she said she doesn't want Washington interfering with her health care choices. Durbin warns other lawmakers of healthcare town hall 'sucker punch'. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) warned other members of Congress against antagonistic audience members at healthcare town hall events who may be funded by industry interest groups. "I hope my colleagues won't fall for a sucker punch like this," Durbin told the liberal blog ThinkProgress. "These health insurance companies and people like them are trying to load these town meetings for visual impact on television," he added. 'Town Hells'. Now you can see why President Obama was in such a rush to have his way with your health care. "Angry protesters shouted down Democrats at public events from Texas to Pennsylvania over the weekend, leaving the party only one real hope for getting its message out over recess: a backlash," Politico reports. Those "Town Hells": Some of the Democrats who want to hijack American health care are not exactly getting a warm welcome from voters back home. It's inspiring to watch our system in action. Town Hall Twilight Zone. Mostly comprised of seniors and veterans, these large crowds at the town hall meetings are actually reading the healthcare bill and asking the tough questions. Democrats are stunned that these Americans are angry about being lied to about the government takeover of healthcare. The growing majority of Americans — at this point 52% now oppose ObamaCare — are under full frontal assault from the White House, the Democrat Congressional leadership and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). At Meet-And-Greet, Rep. Chris Murphy Meets Some Hostility. [Rep. Chris] Murphy, a Democrat who represents the 5th District [of Connecticut], routinely holds informal office hours at supermarkets and strip malls, but such gatherings are generally uneventful. This time, many of the 150 or so attendees were so boisterous that Stop & Shop management called the police to ask that the crowd be moved from the store's entrance. Getting In Their Faces For A Change. The candidate who told his supporters "to argue with them and get in their face" now finds the shoe on the other foot. So they're taking names and encouraging you to turn in your neighbors. Pelosi's Swastika Claim Is A Crock. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) proclaimed that those attending health care town hall meetings are "carrying swastikas." Insult and Injury. President Obama likes to pose as the tribune of the common people, but Americans who show up at town-hall meetings to object to Obama's plans to nationalize health care are, in the words of Obama's Democratic National Committee, "the mob," a bunch of "extremist" yahoos who must be publicly denounced and ridiculed. Congressmen Turn to Tele-Townhall Meetings — Where They Control Audience. Members of Congress are increasingly turning to virtual townhall meetings — conducted by telephone — in an effort to reach more constituents while avoiding the potential that informational meetings might be disrupted by angry and persistent questioners or protesters. One advantage to these telephone townhalls is that the Member of Congress controls the audience and the questioning. Firing up the leftist base. I've been watching the media onslaught aimed at these townhall protesters, and now think I understand why we saw a huge pickup in coverage on the birth certificate controversy over the last 2 weeks. Media Matters and other 527s, like Moveon, send daily communiqués to left-leaning media with their issues highlighted, and talking points suggested. Clearly, they decided to hype attention to the birthers over the past couple of weeks, so that they could now use them to try to discredit other legitimate protest, especially that occurring over the health care takeover. 'You Are Terrifying Us'. We have entered uncharted territory in the fight over national health care. There's a new tone in the debate, and it's ugly. At the moment the Democrats are looking like something they haven't looked like in years, and that is: desperate. They must know at this point they should not have pushed a national health-care plan. Organizing the 'Wrong' Community. Get this: The party of "community organizers" is now whining that President Obama's critics are organizing communities — against his health-care scheme. The nerve of 'em, huh? Faced with mushrooming opposition to ObamaCare, Democrats have launched a multi-media campaign that attacks foes as "extremists" who've "called out the mob" to "destroy President Obama" and "intimidate and silence regular people." Health Care Town Hall Turns Violent in Tampa. A town hall meeting to discuss President Obama's health care reform descended into shouting and violence in a Tampa, Fla., suburb Thursday [8/6/2009] as angry opponents clashed with event organizers. Some people learn more quickly than others. Castor heartened by reaction to town hall tumult. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, the focus of tumultuous reaction at a town hall meeting Thursday night [8/6/2009], said in an interview this morning that the event has strengthened her conviction to support health care reform. "It has strengthened my resolve to stand up for families and seniors," Castor said. ... "A healthy debate is good, but the rude behavior is not helpful," she said. Sneak & Speak on Health Rx. Congressman Anthony Weiner yesterday [8/6/2009] held the city's first town-hall meeting on health-care reform — and, with little advance notice, it was free of the angry protests that have marked forums elsewhere. ... The event was not publicized to reporters until a few hours before its 11:15 a.m. start time, and the majority of attendees said they hadn't even known Weiner would be there. Many said they happened to be at the center for other activities, including the $2 lunch. Tea-Party Bashers Gone Wild. The activist Left can't stand competition. Last week in Long Island, N.Y., opponents of the Democrats' government health care takeover legislation outnumbered Obama supporters 10 to one. The Tea Party activists toted American flags and signs that read "WE CAN'T AFFORD FREE HEALTH CARE " — prompting one foe to stalk into the peaceful crowd, gesticulate wildly and shout unintelligible threats at the top of his lungs. Dems Fear Town Hall Meetings. We are witnessing something really disturbing in America. Our Congressional members — coming home to enjoy their taxpayer funded recess — are facing angry constituents at town meetings. These people — most of whom are voicing concerns we all feel about the economy and what the Democrats are doing to it — want the congress to rein itself in. But instead of listening and understanding the constituents' concerns, some congressmen and the Obama White House are condemning the voters and saying that they're just shills for Republican groups. SEIU boss denounces 'terrorist tactics' of the Right. Dennis Rivera, health care chairman of the Service Employees International Union, denounced "radical fringe right-wingers" this afternoon [8/7/2009] for using "terrorist tactics" to thwart the discussion of health care reform. His remarks came one day after SEIU members allegedly assaulted a conservative protestor outside a town hall meeting in St. Louis County, Mo. The end of the attack and its aftermath were caught on tape. Mr. President, Americans are not an 'angry mob'. They aren't carrying swastikas, either, contrary to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's rant about the legions of worried citizens who have been standing up in multiple town halls and congressional forums to demand straight answers from their congressmen about what they are doing under the guise of "health-care reform." Pelosi's attempt to smear honest citizens as Nazis is only the most reprehensible manifestation of a White House-directed propaganda campaign to discredit anyone who disagrees with President Obama's health-care proposal. Health Care Debate Shifting Into Free Speech Battle. The tensions and passions flaring on both sides of the health care reform battle are starting to overshadow the substance of the debate itself. It's a tinderbox that threatens the health of the reform package being pushed by Democrats. Both sides of the aisle are playing hardball. Though Democrats first accused Republicans of leading "mob rule" at health care meetings, health care reform supporters are now responding in kind. Cynthia Tucker: 45-65% Of Townhall Protesters Are Racists. Are you opposed to ObamaCare? Willing to attend a town hall to express your disapproval? Odds are good you're a racist. Just ask Cynthia Tucker ... As Clay Waters has noted, Paul Krugman alleges that racist motives are at the heart of the town hall protests against ObamaCare. On this evening's Hardball, Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was willing to get specific, estimating that "45 to 65%" of the protesters are motivated by racism. The left can't understand why people don't like Obamacare. America's liberals have gone from swooning over Barack Obama's ascension to the White House and gloating over their Bush-induced domination of Congress to near-hysteria because ordinary middle-class Americans are rising in anger against the Democrats' planned hijacking of the nation's health care system. MSNBC's Chris Matthews worked himself into his characteristic spittle-laced frenzy while sputtering about the legions of protestors showing up to make meetings designed to sell Obamacare into "Town Hell" occasions. Fear and loathing at New York town hall. He wasn't shouted down or chased to his car. But freshman Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) still felt the heat during a two-hour health care town hall meeting Thursday night. The fervor came from both sides, although opponents to Democrats' health reform efforts appeared to outnumber the supporters. 41% View Town Hall Protesters Favorably, 35% Don't. Forty-one percent (41%) of U.S. voters have a favorable opinion of the people opposing health care reform at town hall meetings now being conducted by members of Congress, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But 35% view the protesters unfavorably. Twenty-three percent (23%) are not sure what they think of them. Peddling the Edsel when nobody's buying. The congressional poodles, soon to be fanning out across the country to sample down-home sentiment, will hide out as much as they can. Nobody likes to be shouted down or risk receiving his daily serving of fruit and vegetables served on the fly. Some congressmen will handpick their crowds, hiring smaller auditoriums to keep the numbers down. Grass-Roots Anger, Not Crowd Control. [Most Americans] don't have time to be glued to C-Span all day. Many don't even know who their congressman or senator is. They're busy living life, raising families, building a career. This is what makes the recent protests over Congress' proposed health care "reform" bills so striking. In New York, Rep. Tim Bishop tells a crowd that "no one is talking about the government taking over health care." And the crowd boos, because they know that's not true. Prairie-Fire Anger. The approval ratings on nearly every one of the President's key policy initiatives — cap-and-trade, health care overhaul, government take over of industry and finance, deficit spending, stimulus — are already less than half of polled voters. Obama's own popularity has fallen dramatically and hovers near fifty percent. A number of well-publicized town meetings have erupted in shouting, as administration and congressional representatives try, often in condescending fashion, to explain the Obama agenda. The Democrats' Hypocritical Demonization of Health Reform Protesters. As members of Congress go home for the August recess and face questioning and sometimes angry crowds at local town hall meetings around the country, the White House and the Democratic leadership are busy characterizing this opposition as astroturfers. ... It's a tried and true method of political posturing: demonizing the opposition. It's been especially popular with the Obama administration and the Pelosi-Reid Congress. Atlanta TV Exposes Dem Congressman Yelling At Healthcare Questioner. As national media outlets and their employees depict town hall meeting protesters as right-wing outsiders organized by conservative organizations, the Atlanta affiliate of NBC aired a segment Friday evening that should act as a fine example of how this uprising in America should be covered. Know Your Town Hall Mob Agitators! [Scroll down slowly] Behold the face of infiltrators and saboteurs, citizen! Look at the surly anti-American anger and carefully practiced dishevelment. Note that their signs are scrawled, fiendishly tricking cameramen into closeups. All are expertly handmade, an expensive graphic design luxury only affordable to their puppet masters in the drug and insurance cartels. Note these mobs are so well paid for their agitation that they actually arrived in their own cars and expensive non-matching t-shirts. Fishy? You bet! Report them at once! Report them? You mean... snitch? The photo ops are going so wrong. For years, Democratic politicians have rolled out the town hall meeting as a photo op that shows the wise congressman or senator meeting with real folks to learn about their problems. Unions and other activists (one man's activist is another man's lobbyist) would pack the meetings with people who just happened to agree with the congressman on whatever controversial subject was coming up. Not all town hall meetings are fixed. But if there is a TV camera, the odds of stage management shoot up markedly. Are We In America Or Amerika? Their increasing anxiety and fear of failure are typified in the words of the leader of their party, who wants Republicans to keep their mouths shut while he "fixes" health care. "I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking," the president said Thursday [8/6/2009] at a political rally in Virginia. "I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess." So much for the promises of bipartisan lawmaking. So much for open discussion. So much for understanding who really caused the "mess" in the first place. Obama vs. the 'Outside Agitators'. Whereas it was once lively and brave and culturally imperative to depict George W. Bush as Hitler, complete with swastikas and squared-off moustache, or cast aspersions on the character, intelligence, morals, and family life of Bush or Dick Cheney or Karl Rove, it appears to be something approaching a hate crime to depict President Obama in anything less than hagiographical mode. GOP Congressman Booed for Telling People to Turn Off Glenn Beck. The media would like folks to believe that only Democrats are hearing it from constituents at town hall meetings this August, but given what happened to Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) Thursday evening, nothing could be further from the truth. As he spoke to a group of 350 citizens at the Upstate Family Resource Center in Boiling Springs, he asked an outspoken attendee why she was afraid of Barack Obama. Someone in the crowd suggested the Congressman watch Glenn Beck. Inglis replied, "Turn that television off when he comes on." This was not well-received by folks who started loudly booing their Representative as many stood up and left the building. Protest for Me, But Not for Thee. [Scroll down] What we are seeing now in townhalls across this country are middle-class people demanding that their government drop any and every plan to convert America's healthcare system to one like those failing throughout socialized Europe and Canada. Anyone who honestly believed that a man, who had done nothing whatsoever in his entire life but go to school, shout slogans at rallies, and run for office could be an able president, have now been disabused of that fantasy. ... Honey, even a complete nitwit knows that a president, who hires out his real job to 32 czars, is not CEO material. The Chutzpah of the Town Hall Libel. If the few shout downs you wring your hands over amount to mob rule in your book, you better go back and read your history. Don't forget to include the Bush years when mobs, anger and derangement ruled the day. Outbursts, Hot Tempers Fill Town Hall Meetings Across U.S.. Loud outbursts, hot tempers and pleas for civility at town hall meetings around the country Saturday [8/8/2009] foreshadowed a long, hot August as Democratic lawmakers returning home faced resistance to proposals to reform the nation's costly health care system. At a meeting in Des Moines, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, was interrupted several times by people in the audience shouting criticism and questions, even though he said he didn't expect Iowans to take part in what he called "scare tactics, misinformation and obstruction." Town hall tension: Meeting turns ugly over health care. Hundreds of people crowded into the BRIDGES building in Downtown Memphis on Saturday [8/8/2009] for a congressional town hall meeting that quickly deviated into a raucous shouting free-for-all, requiring extra law enforcement officers to watch over the scene. The meeting, hosted by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, was scheduled to address constituents' concerns about Social Security and veterans' benefits, but the real topic of the day was health care reform legislation being crafted by Congress. "Almost Entirely White and Irritable Crowd" of "Angry" Obama-Care Protesters. After years of mainstreaming and idealizing anti-war protesters and marches supporting illegal immigrants as "grandmothers with canes, parents with children in strollers," dissent against a president's policies is no longer cool in Timesland. The [New York] Times finds the newest batch of protesters against Obama health care to be "angry," "irritable" crowds of whites taking marching orders from conservative talk radio and web sites. Remember when protest was patriotic? When handfuls of Code Pink ladies disrupted congressional hearings or speeches by Bush administration officials, it was taken as evidence that the administration's policies were unpopular, and that the thinking parts of the populace were rising up in true democratic fashion. Even disruptive tactics aimed at blocking President Bush's Social Security reform program were merely seen as evidence of boisterous high spirits and robust, wide-open debate. The ObamaCare Revolution Wages War on American Democracy. The Obama administration has cynically tried to hijack the Town Hall by transforming into a one way series of meetings, in which enthusiastic carefully chosen citizens voice their approval of his proposed policies. That is not an American Town Hall, it is a Soviet party meeting. In a Town Hall meeting, citizens question their elected representatives. At a party meeting, they give them their wholehearted approval. But it is a part of a pattern for the Obama administration, which works to put an All-American stamp on its un-American program. Town Hall Rallies — Orchestrated by Those Who Care. There has been a lot of talk in the news lately about the town hall protests being organized. ... The left wants the public to think that the "evil" insurance companies are behind them, and that this is all a tactic to save their profits. They might also say that it is the Republican party that is behind this, and that it is all an attack on the President and the Democrats. The only attack I see is the attack the liberal media is making against people exercising their first amendment rights. Pro-Obama Group Urges Members to Attend Town Hall Meetings. As the Democrat leadership and their media minions dishonestly depict town hall meeting protesters as an angry mob ginned up by conservative organizations, the group that helped get Barack Obama elected president is urging its members to show up at such events to counter dissenting views. Will this get much press attention in the next 48 hours? At Obama's town hall: Civil disagreement isn't extremism. The Obama administration and the Democratic leadership in Congress dismissed, and even belittled, the taxpayer tea party protests this past spring. Then, ignoring legitimate questions from concerned citizens, they embarked upon an arrogant rush to remake one-sixth of the U.S. economy without giving anyone a chance to read the details. And they wonder why people are showing up at town hall meetings angry and upset. Something Fishy. For liberals, the morally correct stance on every issue is by definition the liberal one. It is a moral imperative that everyone have health insurance, consequences be damned. To cite possible negative repercussions of liberal policies is to reveal yourself to be ethically and intellectually degenerate. Just look at what liberal pundits and politicians are saying about anti-Obamacare protesters: Paul Krugman vilifies them as racists; to Nancy Pelosi, they are literally Nazis. Got that, America? If you're against government-run health care, you're not just a Nazi, you're a racist Nazi. Recycling the contempt. Angry lynch mobs (to hear House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her sidekick Steny Hoyer tell it) of elderly gents on walking sticks and little blue-haired ladies in their 80s have descended on congressmen at town meetings across the country — in California, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland, Ohio, Georgia and other places. They're taking out their anger and frustration at the Obama health care "reform" in the robust American way, but Mrs. Pelosi professes to see "reform" adrift on a turbulent sea of Nazi swastikas. Health care outrage is plenty real. When two of Congress' most powerful Democrats bash disagreeing citizens as "un-American," you know the hinges have fallen off. Their smug lecture in a USA Today op-ed piece this week radiates the sanctimonious condescension that is dragging down President Barack Obama's suddenly human approval ratings. "Health care is complex," professors Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer warn. The attendant message: Those displeased are stupid; if they were smarter, they would agree with us. This is an old game for the left. Only they are the smart, virtuous and responsible stewards of the mountains of taxpayer money that is their lifeblood. Town Hall in Upstate NY: Locals vs the Zombies. I went to a town hall meeting held by my Congressman Scott Murphy (D) yesterday. Here's my report. I found out about the meeting by searching Congressman Murphy's website. The notice was put up less than 24 hours before the meeting. I got to the meeting an hour early. Organizers were already there writing their pro health care reform posters. They brought about 40 people, mostly very nice elderly Democrats who must be on call for such things. Clown Hall Meetings: Rep. Gene Green has voted against bills that require people to present a photo ID before they vote. But don't show up at one of his public gatherings without a driver's license. You won't get in. Dem Rep Who Opposes Photo ID To Vote Requiring Photo ID For Town Halls. Congressman Eugene Green, Democrat from Texas, [is] telling the world that if you're not from his District, you're not welcome at his future town hall meetings — oh, and how he'll enforce his new rule... How many dozen other Congressmen who oppose voter ID laws are going to hypocritically enforce voter-ID rules at their town halls — And does that mean that controlling their meetings more important than controlling the voting process? Did someone mention Voter ID laws? Obama Lies on Single-Payer, Disses Post Office. In a just-completed New Hampshire town hall meeting, President Obama stated that he never said he supported a single-payer health care system. But as clearly evidenced by [a YouTube] video, in 2003, he declared: "I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care plan." Meanwhile, at another point of today's town hall meeting, Obama was pushing back against the idea that the creation of a new government-run plan would drive private insurers out of business, and he said that UPS and FedEx were doing fine, but "it's the post office that's always having problems." Oops! The Alinsky Way Vs. the American Way. It takes neither a genius, nor a shrink, to see why Alinskyite Democrat pols are so confused by all this 1776 Redux confronting them in their home-district townhalls. Since they are so accustomed to calling up pals in unions and various other community agitators for a little rent-a-mob action to bolster support for their agendas, they naturally project this tactic onto anyone opposing their issue positions. Sen. Cardin Booed, Jeered at Health Town Hall. Sen. Ben Cardin had to shout his way through a town hall meeting Monday evening [8/10/2009], where angry constituents booed and jeered as the Democratic senator from Maryland tried to explain health care reform working its way through Congress. Cardin was booed and jeered repeatedly throughout his 25-minute presentation and the question-and-answer period. The crowd had to be asked to calm down to allow him to continue. When the Right Protests, It Must Be Wrong. Americans are not supposed to protest the incredible overreach of government. Congress can pass a $787 billion stimulus bill and not even read it, but the people they work for, well, can sit down and shut up. The president can seize control of the auto companies and give a huge stake in ownership to his union supporters, but challenge that and you are somehow standing in the way of Obama fixing the economy. Next, voters are supposed to watch as the Ego-in-Chief tries to destroy the world's best health care system so he and his buddies can run that too. Raise a stink and you get union thugs pushing you around at town hall meetings, or just outright beating you up. And the news media thinks the protesters are to blame, calling their rallies "nasty" or "unruly." Protester warns: 'You have awakened a sleeping giant'. Nancy Snyder says she kept quiet when abortion was legalized and prayer in schools was eliminated. Not this time. "They did it for prayer, they did it for abortion, and they're not going to do it for our health care," the 70-year-old nurse from Philipsburg, Pa., said Wednesday [8/12/2009] as she and her husband Robert, 74, a retired coal miner, waited in a long, snaking line for Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter's town hall meeting. "We're not standing back this time," Snyder said. Raucous Crowd Greets Cardin at Health-Care Town Hall in Hagerstown. President Obama's call for civility in the health-care debate fell flat Wednesday [8/12/2009] in Maryland's first congressional town hall meeting after his plea. An increasingly rowdy crowd of 450 packed a community college auditorium in Hagerstown and repeatedly shouted down Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), even screaming at questioners who did not quickly make a point. There's Something Happening Here. It began with the tea parties. People of all ages joined in huge protests against the massive spending approved in Washington. They gathered by the thousands in cities and towns from coast to coast to speak out against the huge stimulus plan. Yet, for months not much was covered by the mainstream media and President Barack Obama told the press that he didn't know anything about the tea parties. Obamacare Meltdown. It appears that community organizing and grassroots are terms reserved solely for liberal activism. A number of taxpayer and patients rights groups post the location of town halls on the internet, and Democrats in charge act as though it is an abomination to democracy. Yet when then Senator Obama throws together an operation of a million liberal activists, so organic they created an iPhone app for it, that's just good old fashioned political organizing. Right! Rep. Green to require photo ID at town halls. A Texas congressman, worried about disruptions at his town halls, wants to weed out people who want to attend but don't live in his district. Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) has announced on his website that he will require attendees to show photo identification to get into his town halls to prove that they're his constituents. ... His decision drew derision from Republicans who noted that he voted against a Republican amendment that would have required Medicaid recipients to prove they are citizens by showing photo ID. Yes, They Really Are Mad. Inside, Arlen Specter was taking 30 questions, most, as befits the general well-mannered nature of Central Pennsylvanians, polite if forceful. Only one man invited an invitation to leave, instantly making himself cable fodder. "You have awakened a sleeping giant," said a 35-year old woman captured on camera who confessed she had not heretofore paid much attention to things political. Jackson Lee says she wasn't trying to keep away health plan foes. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee ... denied she had attempted to dodge opponents by giving short notice and not widely publicizing her town hall meeting ... Occasional chastising punctuated the rest of the meeting, some comments accusing her of wasting time when introducing a state politician who had joined the crowd and other jeers when she talked on her cell phone while a constituent posed a question to her. Sheila Jackson Lee Is A Liar, And Not A Convincing One At That. Queen Sheila, known more informally as haughty Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), doesn't even have the decency to apologize for gabbing away on her cellphone during a healthcare townhall meeting and ignoring a concerned woman who was asking her a question. Health care event attendee lied about being doctor. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on Thursday [8/13/2009] distanced herself from a University of Houston graduate student and Texas Obama delegate who falsely identified herself as a pediatric physician at the congresswoman's health care reform town hall meeting this week. ... Jared Woodfill, chairman of Harris County Republican Party, on Thursday said Mayer's misrepresentation "shows you what we've known all along." "The Democrats," he said, "will do anything it takes to pass Obamacare, whether it's misrepresentation, deception, trickery or outright fraud. It appears there are no boundaries to what they are willing to do." Why Sheila Jackson Lee Is the Least Respected Lawmaker in Congress: During a townhall meeting, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), stopped to take a call on her cellphone. Obamacare's Fake Doctor. I guess since Obama's spent the last month insulting surgeons and otolaryngologists, it's no surprise that Obamacare supporters would have to get a fake doctor to come as Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee questions about it. The Houston Chronicle is just catching onto a story about Obamacare's non-doctor that California conservative blogger Patterico broke last week after the Chronicle credulously publicized her question as "from a physician." 'Town Halls' a Chance for the President, Not the Public, to Vent. What the White House is calling a "town hall meeting" does not quite follow in the tradition of the public-driven forums that sprouted centuries ago in New England. It's more like a press conference for the public. In an orderly fashion, selected members of the audience pose brief questions, and the president elaborates. And elaborates. And elaborates. Obamacare Or Logan's Run? The important thing to remember is that the Founding Fathers gave us the opportunity to survive bad administrations by voting the miscreants out of the House every two years. Sorry, Snobs: Town-Hall Rage is Real Democracy. The best moment of almost every YouTube video of the raucous town-hall meetings on health care is the same: It's the nonplussed look on the face of the senators and congressmen who have rarely suffered such indignity. Be assured: No one talks to them that way in the "members only" elevators in the US Capitol. Nancy Pelosi and Co. insist that the town-hall protesters are the tools of special interests. Not likely. Almost all of the special interests have been enticed or bullied into cooperating with ObamaCare. The Etiquette Czar's Rules for Patriotic Protest. [Rule #5] No mean signs. That 11-year-old daughter of a Massachusetts Obama donor and campaigner who was randomly chosen to criticize the scary posters held up by town hall protesters in New Hampshire was right. "Mean" signs are, well, mean. Never mind the placards that blared "Bush is the only dope worth shooting" in Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco and the assassination art depicting former President Bush with a gun to his head in Chicago. "Obama is a socialist" is a sign too far and cannot be tolerated in a civil society. Period. Roadblocks Devised to Push Back Against Health Care Town Hall Protesters. Americans who want to express their opinions on health care reform at town halls across the country are encountering a host of roadblocks, ranging from fake schedules to a demand that they show their driver's licenses or photo identification. Supporters of President Obama's plan say they are pushing back against opposition that is disruptive and designed to shut down debate. But opponents say the supporters' tactics are underhanded and designed to undermine democracy in action. The Anti-Obama Groundswell Begins? The citizens complaining at town hall meetings are not "plants" but a real grass roots swell. The people want their country back. The DNC is firm in their belief that the RNC would use exactly the same tactics as it has used in the past. Planting people at political rallies to cause a raucous is not only a DNC trick, but also the documented behavior of ACORN. NY Times Blames GOP for Town Hall 'Hostility'. The New York Times suddenly isn't so fond of community organizing, now that the right has gotten into the game, attacking Obama's health-care proposals in clamorous town halls held by Democratic congressmen over the August recess. In fact, the Times agrees with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that such meetings have become "hostile" and "extreme." Protesting the Protesters. How odd that in a different context, with different protesters, these disruptions would be seen as brave. But it's not brave at all, according to the media. That's because, for once, the media is not on the protesting side. Instead, the media is the "power" that's being spoken to -- and that confuses them. And so they mock. Protests are now Un-American! ... Huh? [Scroll down slowly] I suggest to you that one of the early steps in the creation of Leviathan in the USA is to outlaw dissent that is not to the Sovereign's liking. To resist this is to be freemen, these are not the actions of a mob. It is our duty to our posterity. Do we really want to become a secular progressive, collectivist paradise with chronic unemployment at 15% or higher? Do we really want to minimize spiritual values and substitute materialism? Do we want to throw out the US Constitution and make up the rules as we go? The Hope of Obama vs. the Wisdom of Madison. [Scroll down] Obama is trying to ram through a massive, wholesale reinvention of American health care, which is alarming and even frightening people, especially the elderly. They, in turn, are reacting en masse, with thousands of people turning out for town halls in venues that can accommodate only several hundred. President Obama has embraced a my-way-or-the-highway approach, and it is stirring up fierce resistance, not just among Republicans, but also increasingly among independents (where Obama's support is dropping at a startling rate). The People Are Angry? You Don't Say. What's becoming apparent to the American public is that we have an imperious Congress full of big egos and little minds, greedy, near-sighted people who are drowning future generations in debt and have the gall to demand that people calm down. Thousands in Atlanta protest health care reform. A few thousand people gathered Saturday [8/15/2009] in downtown Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park to protest a health care overhaul led by the president and other Democratic leaders. Obama's Forfeited Credibility Sabotaging Obamacare. Nothing could be so real as the American people, emboldened by their passion for liberty, standing up against a callous, dishonest government trolling for its freedoms in exchange for false promises. All the proof we need that Obama and Democrats recognize the authenticity of this grass-roots protest is their hysterical reaction to it. They wouldn't be hyperventilating about it if they believed it to be fake, but would use their super-majorities to ram through this bill. ABC Tries to Tie Health Care Town Hall Protesters to Hate Groups. ABC News correspondent Brian Ross tried to connect the health care town hall protesters to hate groups on Friday's [8/14/2009] GMA. Ross cited the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose left-wing political affiliation he omitted, and used two sound bites from the SPLC's Mark Potok, who hyped that President Obama supposedly "triggered fears among ... white people ... that they are somehow losing their country." Elite Meltdown. The face-off between the ruling party and the people continues to unfold, as Democrat politicians hold town hall meetings across the country to build support for the Obama administration's latest power grab, misleadingly labeled 'health care reform.' The faux outrage politicians manufacture on demand has been replaced by real outrage. Outrage at the American people for failing to understand the nuances, the broad outline of a 1,000 page plus bill that most politicians haven't even read. Opposition for 'Obamacare' voiced. If the crowd at a town hall for Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., was indicative of eastern New Mexico, it's a safe bet the region does not approve of health care reform making its way through Congress. Those in attendance made grievances known to Bingaman at the Clovis Civic Center on Tuesday night [8/18/2009]. Who's Crazy Now? Talk of death panels and crazy signs is, if polls are to be believed, a tiny fringe of the many Americans who do not like this health care plan much. It's even, as far as I can tell, a small minority of the many Americans attending town hall meetings to harangue their congressmen. Democrats appear to think that blowing those people up into the totality of the movement will help them win the PR battle on healthcare. All stirred up at Tea Party. About 7,000 people crowded into Falls River Square Wednesday night [8/19/2009] for the first Akron Tea Party. Organizers said it was the largest Ohio Tea Party so far. 'Tea Party' Organizers Plan Anti-'Obamacare' Rallies Across the Country. If Democratic lawmakers thought all the furor over President Obama's health care plan expressed this month at town hall meetings was dying down, they might be in for a surprise Saturday [8/22/2009]. That's when citizens are planning anti-"Obamacare" rallies across the country Saturday in all 435 congressional districts. And their message is clear: We will not stand for socialized, government-controlled health care. Explaining the Town-Hall Protests. For the most part, these individuals are not funded or organized by anybody. They really are grass roots. Sure, there may be a few top-down "astroturf" groups and some special-interest groups that are secretly gleeful. But there is no way the kind of spontaneous outpouring we've witnessed could be bought or organized by anyone. Why are they so angry? The reasons are manifold, but the single biggest reason is the arrogance of our elected officials in Washington. February Prediction Proves True in August: Obama Is New Jimmy Carter. It's as simple as this: Just as semi-rural Georgia politics of the mid-1970s couldn't be imposed on the Washington establishment, Chicago-style, brute-force politics doesn't work, either. Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress started digging a hole when they decided to force-feed massive health care reform on the American people in the middle of an unprecedented financial crisis. And with every town hall meeting, press conference and leak of a new strategy, they just keep digging that hole deeper. Trinkets that stick it to Obama start to sell. In the political paraphernalia department, "Yes, we can" is becoming "No, he can't." Anti-Obama memorabilia — from T-shirts to bumper stickers to buttons — is increasingly emerging in the marketplace as the president's economic and health care policies polarize supporters and detractors. Obama supporters, not health care protesters, are real mob. [Scroll down] The town hall and Tea Party protesters, in contrast, make for a poor mass movement, however discontented they may be. They do not feel empowered — quite the opposite — they have no charismatic leader, no majorities in Congress, nor a clear, overarching alternative agenda to support. They are generally disillusioned with the leftward lurch of the Obama administration. They share a common fear for the nation's prosperity, the exploding deficit and an overreaching Congress. An Open Letter To Obamacare Protesters. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Ca., however, has characterized your protests as "un-American." The DNC has called you an "angry mob," and stated that you are all in the pockets of "special-interest" groups. And Arlen Specter, D-Pa., has stated that you are "not really representative of America." Apparently, it's OK for buses full of ACORN, AFL-CIO, SEIU and HCAN members to roll up to town hall meetings to challenge you while you protest. Those people aren't in the pockets of "special interest" groups; they are merely engaging in "community organizing." When you try it, of course, you're an "angry mob." Why Americans are Up in Arms. [Scroll down] These talking heads glossed over a crucial detail: the man carrying the AR-15 was black. They were dishonestly trying to portray the group of gun toting citizens in Arizona as racists. MSNBC cleverly edited the video footage to show only the semi-automatic rifle, hiding the face of its bearer, Chris, an African American. The liberal media conveniently ignore that in 2000 at one of George W. Bush's events, Black Panthers demonstrated while carrying firearms. The Black Panthers actually have a history of murder and violence in contrast to the Phoenix demonstrators. Stop playing the race card. As an American who happens to be black, I say to those who are playing the race card in the healthcare debate: Stop it! The very people who do all the hand-wringing about racism are the first to use it to divide us, and we are tired of it. The racial denigration of those who show up at town meetings as "angry white folks" is disgusting. More about liberals and the minority voter. Cheers, jeers ... and fears at Town hall forum hosted by Michele Bachmann. The national debate over health care turned into a boisterous and sometimes angry argument Thursday afternoon [8/27/2009] in Lake Elmo during a town hall meeting hosted by Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Stillwater. The auditorium at Oak-Land Junior High School was filled with Bachmann's passionate supporters and opponents, and they frequently erupted into shouting matches during an hourlong question-and-answer session. "It ain't (America) no more, OK?" The very same leftists who won't debate, who shout down, while professing to embrace free speech, have yet again shown the world just who has spat on the First Amendment on their road to fascism. This video was taken on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at Rep. Jim Moran's (D-VA) Town Hall meeting on Obama Deathcare (Howie Dean was there too) held at South Lakes High School in Reston, VA. Thousands attend tea party protest in ABQ. A vocal crowd of over a thousand people gathered near Montgomery and Louisiana Boulevard in Albuquerque Wednesday [9/2/2009] to protest the federal government's spending habits. Retired teacher Yvonne Estrada gave up her bowling night to join thousands of other New Mexicans Wednesday who turned out to voice their concerns about the economy and the federal government's spending habits. Congress Is Shooting the Messenger. So convinced is the left that their health care reform is right, that not only are all others wrong, but their very opposition means they have committed a wrong. They have dare challenged the pharaoh's view and now they must pay -- in the past, with their lives; today, with their reputations. If they hold a tea party to protest, they're quacks. Vent their rage at a town hall, they're stooges. Question the president's agenda, they're racists. Protest Signs Banned From Dem Health Care Reform Rally. [Scroll down] Insiders said a blanket e-mail was sent out to known President Barack Obama backers in Columbus, encouraging a strong showing of support. Rally placards were handed out. Opponents said they were treated unfairly at the rally, though. Those who oppose the measure said they were told to check their signs at the door. "They said no outside signs, but they had union-printed inside signs. So, it's just troubling because we really care about our country, and we really care about all these people," one opponent said. Media Mislead With Coverage Of Town Halls. Health care reform is said to be in trouble partly because of those raucous August town hall meetings in which Democratic members of Congress were besieged by shouters opposed to change. But what if our media-created impression of the meetings is wrong? ... There is an overwhelming case that the electronic media went out of their way to cover the noise and ignored the calmer (and from television's point of view "boring") encounters between elected representatives and their constituents. What I Learned From the 'Mob': I spoke with thousands of voters at town-hall meetings this summer. What I gathered from them is that it's not just the proposed overhaul of health care that has them upset. Many also expressed a sense of betrayal. In spite of their hope for change, it still appears that the government in Washington is run for its own benefit and the benefit of special interests — not for the benefit of the American people. It ain't America no more. In America, school security guards don't get to revise the First Amendment to suit their whims. Nobody does. But that's exactly what happened at a Reston town-hall meeting sponsored by Alexandria Democratic Rep. James P. Moran last week. Fairfax County Public School Security Officer Wesley Cheeks Jr. took it upon himself to decide that one sign — among a panoply found outside the event — crossed the line. Most Voters Say Town Hall Meetings Should Be for Congressmen to Listen, Not Speak. Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters nationwide say that it's more important for Congressmen to hear the view of their constituents rather than explain the proposed health care legislation. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 37% hold the opposite view while 7% are not sure. Inhofe blasts Obama at Grove town hall. Right-thinking Americans can only hope the country will survive the next 16 months of the Obama administration until Republicans can regain control of Congress, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Wednesday [9/2/2009]. "I never dreamed I would see an administration try to disavow all the things that have made this country different from all others," Inhofe told more than 300 people at a town hall meeting in the Grove Community Center. Health care costs money; real rights don't. With all due respect to Cassandra Barham of Cincinnati, whose personal desire for health insurance is perfectly understandable, and to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, whose confusion is not: Health care is not and cannot be a "right." Barham drew boos at a town hall conducted Tuesday [9/1/2009] by Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown when she said, "You know, health care is a right." Jaw Dropping Arrogance From Obscure Congressman. It is not just the career safe seat members of Congress and the Senate who are vulnerable to getting caught up in the arrogance and elitism of power. Relative back bencher Baron Hill from Indiana's 9th District might well have surged into the lead in the contest to see which member of congress had the most out of touch and arrogant attitude during the town hall meetings. The Reason for Our Discontent: The arrogance of power and disdain for average Americans is what fueled much of the dissent expressed in town hall meetings. Growing numbers of people see a small cadre of government, academic and media elites caring nothing about them, except when it comes to their tax dollars. Many, especially those who are conservative and even worse, religious, are viewed by these elites as enemies of progress and sophistication. They are mocked as NASCAR-loving, flag-waving, God-worshipping trailer trash. The people are getting the message and properly expressing themselves by peacefully (and loudly) assembling and petitioning government for a redress of their grievances. The Liberal Media's Favorite "Republican": On the day of the protest, September 12, the Washington Post used an old liberal media trick — trying to depict the protesters showing up in Washington, D.C. as extremists. In order to give this attack some semblance of credibility, the paper ran a story quoting "a former adviser" to Republican senator and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain as saying that he was afraid that "right-wing nutballs" and "freaks" would dominate media coverage of the event. But the real "nutball" or "freak" was the adviser, Mark McKinnon. The Post, which is referred to by critics as the "Compost," failed to disclose that McKinnon is a well-known liberal who panders to the "mainstream media" in order to get headlines. Shouts, insults fly at Rep. Israel's health care town hall. Rep. Steve Israel gamely tried to explain the proposed health care reform Monday night [10/5/2009], but was often shouted down during his town hall-style meeting at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood. Israel (D-Huntington) at one point pleaded with those in the crowd yelling at him to "stop calling me a liar and listen." Judging by the ever-increasing decibel level, he did not win over many converts. Which side is using "Astroturf"? Democrats Rally Their Own Activists. Supporters of President Obama formerly signed up as members of "Obama for America" received an email today [8/9/2009] from Mitch Stewart, the director of the group's current incarnation, Organizing for America, to show up at town halls and congressional offices as a counter to the protestors against the president's health care reform push. Democrats' Fear Is Showing on Health Care. The Democratic Party is panicking, lashing out like a cornered animal, all because its effort to take over the health care industry is coming apart like so much wet toilet paper. Nancy Pelosi, who will get her own bound volume in the annals of asininity, has outdone herself. When asked by a reporter whether the protests at various town hall meetings represented legitimate grassroots opposition or were manufactured "Astroturf" stunts, she replied, "I think they're Astroturf. You be the judge. They're carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on health care." Left begins smear campaign against Town Hall protests. The first thing you have to understand is that it is impossible, according to the left, for conservatives to have a legitimate protest. Only liberals have "authentic" grass roots so the idea of the right demonstrating against anything — in their lights — is a political trick. We are a "Brooks Brothers Brigade" or, "radicals" or "mobs." The demonstrations at Town Hall meetings on health care reform are "astroturfing" — planned and paid for by insurance industry lobbyists. 'Grassroots' vs. 'Astroturf': A Pitched Battle Over Health Care. Is the Astroturf always greener on the other side? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has characterized outspoken protests at town hall meetings on health care as "astroturf" — or disingenuous grassroots organization by conservative opponents of the legislation. But President Obama is now calling on his online network of supporters, Organizing for America (OFA), to get involved in the debate. Grassroots vs. Astroturf. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the White House have called opposition to Democratic health care plans "Astroturf," while organizing their own "authentic" pro-Obamacare rallies at the same time. But there's one important question I have, checking out these protest photos from Denver... If opponents of Obamacare are Astroturf, then how come all of their signs are homemade, with all sorts of different shapes and sizes and colors and stuff... Astroturfers offered $10-15 an hour to demonstrate for Dems. After I recovered from my outrage over the false accusations of town hall astroturfing by Obama opponents, I became a bit optimistic. Now that the Dems have introduced the term themselves, it opens the door to serious examination of their own deep background in astroturfing. The high price of Astroturf... Wanted: Obama healthcare reform volunteers willing to be paid $15 an hour. It seems that, despite all the media attention lavished on e-mail appeals to his political supporters, not everyone pushing for President Obama's embattled healthcare reforms these warm August days is an idealistic volunteer in it for the sake of helping move the country forward and gaining medical attention for millions of uncovered Americans. Coral Gables healthcare rally turns rowdy. A rally called to support a public healthcare option outside Sen. Bill Nelson's Coral Gables office quickly turned into a cross-street chanting and shouting match Thursday afternoon [8/13/2009] between about 250 backers and opponents. The rally, organized by the liberal MoveOn.org, generated the latest in a string of heated and emotional public exchanges about healthcare reform, after opponents of the measures working their way through Congress also showed up. Emphasis added. CBS Describes Democrats as 'Orchestrating' Pro-Obama Town Hall in Montana. On Friday's [8/14/2009] broadcast network evening newscasts, the CBS Evening News uniquely noted that Democrats in Montana had "orchestrated" a friendly environment for President Obama at a Montana town hall event as many Democrats arrived early to secure tickets. After CBS correspondent Chip Reid filed a report in which he relayed that "this crowd was on [Obama's] side," and that "the questions were mostly softballs," Reid brought up "orchestration" as one of the reasons for a friendly crowd: "So why wasn't there more anger in here? For one thing, after accusing Republicans of orchestrating their protests, Democrats did some orchestrating of their own, getting in line early in large numbers and snatching up most of the tickets." Introducing the Tenth Amendment. In the era of Obama's imperial presidency, with ever accumulating and unaccountable Czars, explosive debt, bank bailouts, corporate takeovers, Congressional redistricting, tax increases, a lack of any perceptible restraint on the judiciary, the sad reality is dawning on many if not finally on most that we live in a post-constitutional nation The volume and emotion of the protests comes both from a sincere anger and panic but also from the frustration of an inarticulate and uninformed citizenry that feels what it doesn't know. People may cry "liberty!" and "hands off" but don't have the education and intellectual ammunition to make a solid case. Obama and the Upchuck Factor. [Scroll down] This is the first time that the American middle class has taken to the streets in living memory. ... All of a sudden average middle-class Americans are organizing Tea Parties and street protests. The old politics of the liberal "teach-in" has been replaced by the new politics of the town-hall "shout-in." Liberals are beside themselves with rage. They are recounting how their parents lost their jobs during the McCarthy period, and telling each other that opposition to the president's program is all about racism. Another Even Vaster Right Wing Conspiracy. The vast right wing conspiracy of 2009 has exactly the same purpose it had in 1993 and 1994: to destroy the Democrat's plan to socialize America's health care system. Slipping into quicksand: [Scroll down] But something funny happened on the way to far-left governance: The American people began to reject what was about to be inflicted on them. The Democrats did not anticipate that their constituents might like a say in how they were being governed. (That whole "government for, by, and of the people" is so 18th-century.) Mr. Obama has been particularly perplexed by the revolt against his ideas, for two main reasons: First, he (like the rest of his party) misread November's election results as a mandate to impose a far-left agenda without debate. Marine Corps Vet Blasts Dem Congressman. On August 5, Congressman Brian Baird (D-Wash.) likened recent town hall meeting protesters to Nazis: "What we're seeing right now is close to Brown Shirt tactics. I mean that very seriously." On Tuesday [8/23/2009], at such a political gathering in Vancouver, a Marine Corps veteran named David William Hedrick blasted the Congressman for this disgraceful depiction. Astroturf Liberals vs. Grassroots Conservatives. Watch this video and notice the difference between the professionally printed "official" pro-ObamaCare signs and the homemade unofficial anti-ObamaCare signs. Vocal minority greet Howard Dean at town hall. Groups backing President Obama's healthcare overhaul filled the 2,700-seat gymnasium where Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) held his healthcare town hall with more than enough supporters to drown out a small but vocal minority of opponents. Organizing for America and Change that Works turned out supporters, handed out signs, gathered signatures and turned the town hall meeting into something that resembled a campaign rally. The Editor says... Unions are, I suspect, a major source of "astroturf". All these people have to do is show up — the signs (and sometimes T-shirts) are provided, and no doubt they will be told when to applaud. It is unfortunate that public opinion — and eventually the fate of this country — might be determined by which side shouts the loudest. Astroturf Video: MoveOn Activists At An ObamaCare Rally. Liberal Group Caught Teaching People to Silence Health Care Protesters. An organizer from the left-wing group Health Care for America Now was recently caught on tape training town hall attendees on how to silence anybody speaking out against reform. I Saw Astroturf Grow. [Scroll down] True to her word, Representative Sue Myrick stayed for four and a half hours (until 11:00 p.m.) all three nights to hear everyone out. That was too late for the people with the professionally made signs (the actual "Astroturf"). Most of them went home much earlier, while the conservatives kept the heat on to the very end. That's the kind of passion you must sustain to prevent the government from killing the golden goose of healthcare. Skeptics Surprise in Skokie. If Rep. Jan Schakowsky hoped to use Monday night's [8/31/2009] town hall meeting as a pep rally for the "public option," she failed. It wasn't for lack of trying. Her staff arrived more than three hours before the event, with boxes of literature and a marked-up version of H.R. 3200 for their boss to use as a prop during the meeting. The HCAN crowd arrived soon afterwards with their manufactured signs and rolls of stickers. As the line grew outside the high school, HCAN organizers began handing out signs to sneak into the auditorium, and instructing supporters to block opposing views from being heard in the meeting or seen by the cameras. The revolt against the elite. The revolt keeps growing, from tea parties to angry town hall meetings across the country, an uprising against the attempts of an elite to force on us an all-powerful State, about as welcome as grandma's cod-liver oil. Obama vs. The People. While the official Republican leadership sat in the corner, information flew back and forth between bloggers, activists and talk show hosts and the result was an authentic grass roots movement. "The Mobs" that panicked Democratic politicians and their media press corps decry represent the one thing that a phony grass roots movement like the Obama campaign fear the most... being confronted with an authentic grass roots movement. Boren says Congress should push for removal of unconfirmed "czars". U.S. Rep. Dan Boren said Congress should use the power of the purse to push the Obama administration to remove so-called czars that do not go through a confirmation process. Responding to questions during a telephonic town hall, the Oklahoma Democrat said he was glad Van Jones, who resigned over the weekend as controversy continued to build over past statements, has left his post. Much more has been said about Van Jones, if you're interested. Town Hall meetings by phone Some of our elected representatives have shown their fear of (and/or disdain for) their constituents by phoning in their town hall "appearances." If the crowd gets out of hand or starts asking embarrassing questions, all the congressman has to do is hang up! Don't think for a moment that they're concerned for their physical safety. The people in the angry crowds aren't that type. And besides, a member of Congress can summon security assistance whenever they want it. No, the biggest reason to "phone it in" is to avoid tough unanticipated questions. Reid plans town hall meeting over telephone. A day after holding up a square of Astroturf to denounce the orchestrated attacks on Democratic town hall meetings on health care, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office said he would be talking with his Nevada constituents this month over the phone lines. Klein insists 'telephone town hall' isn't wimpy. Don't expect any YouTubed confrontations when U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, hosts a town hall meeting this month to discuss the 1,018-page House Democratic health care bill. Klein is planning a "telephone town hall" that he says will reach far more constituents than an in-the-flesh event. Nadler Phones It In. New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler is having his first health-care town-hall forum on Monday night [8/17/2009] — it just won't be with any actual people in the room. The Democratic congressman will hold a "telephone town hall," where Manhattan and Brooklyn constituents who have been calling his district office to talk about health-care reform will get return calls. Yarmuth answers questions on health care in call-in meeting. The debate over health care reform came to more than 5,000 Louisville homes on Monday [8/17/2009] as U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth answered questions in a call-in town hall meeting during which he said he believes that Congress needs to move slowly on the issue. He also labeled claims that the House plan for reform would include so-called death panels as "ridiculous." President of Some of the People. The American people who elected these men and women to represent their interests in Washington are becoming increasingly frustrated. They are expressing that frustration at various town hall meetings with their representatives, yet these oft-insulated politicians simply don't know what to do in response to their constituents' outrage. Instead of engaging them and listening to their concerns, they have responded by hiding from them, holding town halls over the telephone, or limiting the public's access to their public meetings. The next logical step: total absence. Congressmen On Milk Cartons? It's amazing how frightened of the community the party of the great community organizer has become now that the community has organized itself against his attempt to impose socialized medicine on the country. They cheered when he told them to get in the faces of their opponents. Now they won't show their faces, period. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois at least had the courage to show up and announce he wasn't going to show up at such events. AWOL: Five Questions for Senator Reid's Town Hall. Today [8/27/2009] Senator Reid is holding a teleconference where he will accept screened questions from selected constituents. It's unfortunate that Senator Reid has declined to hold even a single public town hall for his constituents on the principal reform issue of our day, instead ducking debate and calling constituents who oppose his far-reaching agenda names such as "evil-mongers" and "phonies." And other stealth tactics... Sen. Sherrod Brown is Why We're Angry, My Liberal Friends. Last week I went to a town hall held by Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. Since the Senate went on recess I've been blogging, calling the senator's office and writing opinion pieces for my local paper asking him to have a public meeting in my county. At first the Senator was having stealth get-togethers with supporters and then went back announcing them on his website as "public forums." Do tele-town halls shield lawmakers from rowdy crowds? The telephone town hall, a forum that members of Congress insist offers them an opportunity to reach out to more constituents than through traditional town halls, is coming under increasing scrutiny from critics who insist that the events are largely rigged and designed to shield skittish lawmakers from facing hostile questioning. Somewhat related: The White House wages an unworthy media war. Politicians are sounding a little paranoid about the media these days. The White House is trying to blockade the largest cable news network. A House candidate called the police when a reporter asked her about abortion. Congressional leaders turn to angry media critics as they talk about why support for health care legislation remains tepid. Lashing out at the press has always been a popular play for politicians in distress, and it's often a precursor to eventual failure. "When the people fear their government there is tyranny; |
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Document location http://www.akdart.com/obama121.html Updated November 20, 2009. Page design by Andrew K. Dart ©2009 |