Town Hall Protesters or Patriots

In 2003, Hillary Clinton proclaimed, “I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this [Bush] administration somehow you're not patriotic. We should stand up and say, we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration.”

Well, that was then this is now. Apparently, in this strange Orwellian world we now find ourselves in some protests are more equal than others.

In a recent op-ed piece, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called people who oppose the government takeover of healthcare “un-American.” Pelosi further characterized these town hall citizens as phony, “astroturf,” disrupters of democracy who carry swastikas! Let the record show that it was the Socialist Nazis who nationalized their healthcare with centralized, government control.

Other Democrats, like Representative David Scott of Georgia, have said these town hall “mobs” are preventing civil debate on the issue. Are they serious? Please take note: the Democrats never intended to have a debate at all, much less a civil one. They wanted to pass this overhaul of nearly 20% of our economy before the August recess without even reading the bill. How could there be any kind of relevant debate after a vote? Hmm?

This should serve as another example of how this current administration is attempting to deceive the American people. Remember what Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) said about this particular legislation, “what good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?” Apparently, all those folks in the “mob” out there are just too sensitive about their liberties and should blindly hand over all power to Obama. We simply must trust in Obama’s divine benevolence and forget all logical objections.

The mainstream media, predictably, has joined the chorus of demonizing these town hall activists who have the naïve concept of wanting to express their First Amendment Rights. How is it that Hillary Clinton and others on the Left can so easily abandon their once unified celebration of dissent? I suppose when there is a Republican president and the concerns involve “progressive” issues like: war protests, homosexual demonstrations, tree huggers, and ACLU anti-Christian lawsuits, the proverbial shoe is on the other foot.

Now, with the other party in charge, reasonable Americans should not protest, but rather heed Obama’s warning: “I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess.” So, the President expects us to believe that the town hall protestors, including many Democrats, are somehow responsible for creating the mess. I guess these town hall “hijackers” should be happy about the prospects of paying higher taxes for rationed healthcare that proposes to cut Medicare and Medicaid by $313 billion? I wonder if Obama and Pelosi’s condemnation includes Democrat Governor Phil Bredesen who called ObamaCare, “the mother of all unfunded mandates.” Is he an un-American Nazi too?

The hypocrisy of the Left is on full display. They love protest and agitation, but only when it benefits their pet, political causes. We can’t forget that it was President Obama himself- a former community organizer and Chief National Trainer for ACORN- who told supporters during the campaign, “I want you to argue with them and get in their face.” Staying true to form, Obama has sent out purple-shirted SEIU thugs, who are affiliated with ACORN, to pre-pack town hall audiences and rough-up dissenters like Kenneth Gladney in St. Louis who had to go to the hospital ater the assault.

The White House has also launched a website asking citizens to report on the “fishy” conduct of their fellow citizens. This snitch-on-your-neighbor website (flag@whitehouse.gov) is an insult to our American heritage of popular government and likely violates the law.

Americans who love and value their liberty need to take a stand now to stop this abuse of power before it’s too late. Find a town hall meeting in your area and speak-out while you still can. Power to the People! (send comments to: WFC83197@aol.com, or mail to POB 114, Jacksboro, TN 37757)