Ask a Conservative

It's been awhile.  Mostly because more important things have been happening in my life, but also because I've been too depressed about what's going on in the world to comment on it.  Right now, all the hullabaloo is about Obama's (aka Nancy Pelosi's, since Obama has yet to write any of the Legislation he's so supportive of) health care/insurance reform.  I add the /insurance because that's how the Left is trying to frame the debate; that our insurance system is so terrible and flawed that that's what needs to be fixed. But don't worry, they're not socializing the system.  Just making single-payer (for the uninformed, they're the same thing.  Rather, single-payer leads to socialization).  But I'm not here to talk about the actual flaws of the bill, but about all the focus being put on the people showing up to protest it.

All of the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate are facing reelection next year, so they've started to follow Obama's lead and are holding town hall meetings with the people in their districts/states.  But they're not following Obama's lead in packing the house with supporters or disciples, and they're letting in the unwashed masses (read:  you and me).  And they're letting these people ask them questions about the bill.  At least, they were until they realized that the people were furious about the bill.  The worst part is, the Congress members quickly realized that many of the people showing up angry had read the bill...and they hadn't.

But because they don't really have a leg to stand on against the town hall-ers (after all, that bill is really, really long!  And the Administration just tells them the important points anyway, so what's the point in reading it?), they've been attacking the people rather than answering their complaints.  So now they're Republican hacks, shills for the insurance agency, or spreading mis- and dis-information.  It all came to a head when Linda Douglass, communications director for the White House health reform office, told people to report anything "fishy" to flag@whitehouse.gov, a "1984"-esque tactic that brings our country further to the brink of tyranny.  Here's the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fubrjxYMzeM.

All of that is background information to what I really wanted to point out, which is how different the town hall protestors are being treated in the media, compared to the anti-war protestors.  Recently, a poster has been created depicting Obama as the Joker from "The Dark Knight" (it's shown above).  Yesterday, it was reported that a post office was defaced with a bunch of these posters.  While I don't condone that, there are a lot of people who are so offended by the mere existence of this picture; I have to wonder if they were offended by the other picture above, comparing Bush to Hitler.  Did they find that particular piece offensive as well?

Hillary Clinton said a few years back that dissent was patriotic.  Does she still feel that way, now that the dissent is coming not just from the other party, but from every side and every person who doesn't believe that this country needs to be 4 trillion in debt (a conservative estimate) and nationalize the best (not the perfect) healthcare system in the world?  I really don't like being compared to sexual deviants (tea-baggers or tea-bagging), and I only wish I could be a paid hack or shill for...well, anyone.  Unemployment is not my friend.

Finally, I want to leave you with two videos.  This one is a video from the "RNC welcoming committee," an organization of anti-Bush protestors who went to the RNC convention in St. Paul in 2008.  Here's the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmGYfgVi5gk
And the second video is from one of the more recent town halls, where Kathy Castor is told by her constituents to "Read the Bill."  Here's that video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTxhWLbEH-Y&feature=related.  I tried to find two comparable videos; I didn't want the anti-war and -Bush protestors to come off as overly violent or herd-ish, and I didn't want the town hall protestors or tea party protestors to come off as too peaceful or knowledgeable.  Because both sides dabble in a little bit of the other's forte.  Form your own conclusions.  Better yet, go out and do the research for yourself, then form your own opinions.  And flag me!  Send in my site to flag@whitehouse.com!