Line Crossed
Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer have crossed a line in an op-ed they published in USA Today. They called the anti-health care “reform” people showing up at lawmaker’s town hall meeting “un-American.”
However, it is now evident that an ugly campaign is underway not merely to misrepresent the health insurance reform legislation, but to disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue. These tactics have included hanging in effigy one Democratic member of Congress in Maryland and protesters holding a sign displaying a tombstone with the name of another congressman in Texas, where protesters also shouted “Just say no!” drowning out those who wanted to hold a substantive discussion.
Let the facts be heard
These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views – but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades. (Emphasis added)
Pelosi was more than willing to have her minions drown out any opposition when she was orchestrating the Democrat’s takeover of the control of Congress. These people who are showing up at town halls are not trying to drown out debate. They are trying to get their elected representatives to listen to them instead of to people like Pelosi and Hoyer. Pelosi is so used to the manufactured, bussed in astroturf protests of the left – which she encouraged when they were on her side of the issues – that she cannot conceive of genuine people getting genuinely upset with Congress.
Your elected representatives work for you, not L’il Nan.
Pelosi and Hoyer are hypocritically attempting to shut off debate by unilaterally delegitimizing about 50% of Americans who disagree with them. And they call the protesters un-American? Pelosi and Hoyer repeat that their measure will cut costs – despite the Congressional Budget Office findings to the contrary.
They think you are not bright enough to see what they are doing.
It will take 40 seats in the House changing hands to retire Nancy and Steny from their leadership posts in 2010. They just gave voters extra incentive to make sure that happens.
40 in ‘10, folks.
Throw these people out of office. Keep pushing and keep those video cameras rolling.
UPDATE: Others (via Memeorandum): Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, JammieWearingFool, Gateway Pundit, Founding Bloggers, Flopping Aces, Patterico’s Pontifications, The Sundries Shack, Shot in the Dark, Kausfiles (Read this one especially. Kaus sees the trap Pelosi, Reid and Obama have set for themselves with this rhetoric)
Other Links to this Post
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Joust The Facts — August 10, 2009 @ 7:48 am
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Un-American | Outside the Beltway | Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs — August 10, 2009 @ 1:48 pm
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Complaining About The Health System Plans? You’re Un-American. John Boehner Responds » Pirate's Cove — August 10, 2009 @ 1:58 pm
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Complaining About The Health System Plans? You’re Un-American. John Boehner Responds : Stop The ACLU — August 10, 2009 @ 1:59 pm
By J, August 10, 2009 @ 6:34 am
Not surprising….they have always wanted to be the sole voice heard in the room, either shouting down the opposition or taking legal and illegal steps to achieve destroying the opposition.
By martian, August 10, 2009 @ 12:55 pm
When Democrats do it it’s grassroots involvement of ordinary citizens. When anyone else (and I do mean anyone, not just Republicans) does it, it’s an evil conspiracy being orchestrated by far right wing fanatics. It’s interesting to hear Democrats excoriate and demonize ‘organization’ when they have an email list of over 8 million people which they call “Organize America”. Again, it’s ok when they do it, evil when anyone does it in opposition to them. The Democrats and liberals are so convinced of the rightness and righteuosness of their ideas that I think they are actually incapable of recognizing their own hypocrisy.