Uh oh, yet another crazy Democrat elected official goes off the deep end when questioned about the ObamaCare proposals currently before Congress. And, as is getting to be typical for these Democrats, while going crazier than a rodent residing in an outdoor water closet, he still manages to try to make it look like it’s the doctor who’s out of line,
Tensions are running so high at town hall meetings that Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat, yelled at a local doctor concerned about health care after mistaking him for an “astroturf” political operative looking for a fight.
Mr. Scott became visibly agitated when one of his constituents, a practicing doctor, asked a few questions about health care reform during a town hall meeting. The meeting was held to discuss a road project, but was opened up for questions near the end. That’s when Dr. Brian Hill stood up to speak.
Dr. Hill asked Mr. Scott why he was going to vote for a health care plan similar to that implemented in Massachusetts “that is shown not to work” and if he supported a government-provided health care insurance option.
The congressman replied by accusing the doctor of “hijacking” his event.
“I’m listening to my constituents, OK?” Scott said, “These are people who live in the 13th Congressional district, who vote in this district. That’s who I’ve got to respond to … So what you’ve got to understand, those of you who are here, who have taken and came and hijacked this event we dealing with here, this is not a health care event.”
“You chose to come and to do it on your own,” he yelled. “Not a single one of you had the decency to call my office and set up for a meeting.” He went on, in a threatening voice, “You want a meeting with me on health care, I’ll give it to you!”
The outburst is yet another example of how confrontational town hall meetings have become over recent weeks, as constituents are becoming more forthright in asking their elected representatives challenging questions. These actions and other forms of protest have been encouraged by limited government advocacy groups opposed to the stimulus package, the Democrats favored health care reforms and other big spending government proposals.
The White House has labeled these efforts “astroturf”, shorthand for fake grassroots. To combat these efforts, groups supporting these plans — such as Service Employees International Employees Union — have been appearing at these town halls as well, effectively creating local “showdowns” between opposing political powers.
Mr. Scott’s public tirade against the doctor was filmed by WXIA-TV News, a local NBC affiliate that confirmed the doctor lived in the congressman’s district in a follow-up interview.
The doctor told WXIA he wasn’t working for any outside causes and had called Mr. Scott’s office repeatedly, asking to speak with the congressman.
“I did not go to a meeting to create any problems, I went to the meeting to literally ask a question that I thought was very, very important for my patients,” he said.
Despite all the nonsense being peddled around by the MSM and left-wing bloggers, this is usually the way these town hall meetings work. Concerned citizens show up, ask questions, and get shouted at by elected officials, when they’re not being beaten up by SEIU thugs.
It must be a tremendously frustrating time to be a Democrat right now. See, the plan was for all 1,000+ pages of Obamacare to have been rammed through the Congress and to the President’s waiting pen before the August recess. This was supposed to be over and done by now. It was all supposed to go so smoothly – write the bill and vote on it before anybody read it, before anybody had time to raise any opposition, before the people had time to figure out what was being shoved down their throats. Obama wasn’t supposed to take any heat for this or lose points in the polls. Congressmen weren’t supposed to actually have to answer any questions about the stupid thing. No, it was perfect, until the wheels came off.
And the Democrats’ response to all this has been – as is typical for those on the Left – whiny, petulent, childish, and completely inappropriate.
Yes, you heard me right – it’s the LEFT that has been completely inappropriate in all this, not the town hall protestors.
Obama and the Democrats, apparently believing their own propaganda, are in a state of disbelief that there could really be this much opposition to the nationalisation and destruction of our health care system. So, in their narrow little minds, it’s obviously “astroturf” – fake grassroots opposition being ginned up by a few well-financed special interest groups. Because the American people would never oppose the things that Obama and Co. know are best for them, like waiting lists, taxpayer-funded abortion, and “end of life” counselling. It’s obviously all fake.
Except that it’s not. The polls are showing how deeply unpopular ObamaCare is, and how it is becoming more so over time. I’ve talked to people who I know were never political, and others who are generally center-left, and they’re vociferously against this thing. People who I didn’t even know voted are majorly angry about this bill. The anger level about ObamaCare is palpable, and it’s real. If the Dems want to stay inside their self-contained fact space and ignore the reality out there on the ground, then they will suffer the consequences at the polls in November 2010 – and they’ll probably whine about “vote fraud” when it happens, too.
Apparently, these Democrat Congressmen are still unclear on the concept of “representative government.” And they obviously don’t have a clue what a town hall meeting is supposed to be. Town hall meetings are for the citizens to air their concerns to their duly-elected representatives, not for the representatives to talk down at their constituents and lecture them on what they can and cannot think and speak about. In that sense, it’s absolutely idiotic to talk about ObamaCare protestors “hijacking” these events. Supposedly, the whole point to these events is for citizen protestors to air their grievances to their elected officials. It’s that little thing called “freedom of assembly.” It’s in the First Amendment. You might have heard of it.
But let’s face it, “democracy” and “freedom” have never been strong points for those on the Left, and it’s showing as their frustration level mounts. Responding to Obama’s recent call to “get in their faces,” we see SEIU union thugs beating up American citizens in St. Louis and Tampa for having the temerity to oppose ObamaCare. And of course, you have nimrods on the Left who are defending this, saying the protestors “were out of line” since they were being louder than usual. Of course, that is typically not the case. Usually, the protestors are simply asking the Lefties questions they don’t want to answer, and doing so in a reasoned manner not unlike this doctor in Georgia. But even in cases where protestors are being loud and raucous, guess what? That’s part of free speech. The First Amendment doesn’t guarantee the right only to speech for which you approve of the content and tone. My goodness, you want raucous, try reading some of the things that were written and said by our Patriot forefathers back before the Revolution. It makes anything done today look like a Quaker prayer meeting.
But I guess only those on the Left are allowed to loudly protest something that has their blood boiling. Which leads us back to the hypocrisy that characterizes the Left.
And now, we see the President of the United States and his staff actually creating a website and email address to which other lefties can “snitch” on people who won’t get with the program. In other words, they can send an email in to the White House to narc on people who are spreading “disinformation” about the health care proposals before Congress, a setup which is not unlike the anonymous snitching that people were encouraged to do in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. To date, the White House has defended this program, despite the fact that it is completely illegal under the US Code. It is telling that, to date, the Administration has been completely unforthcoming about what the “disinformation” being turned in even is.
So no, I don’t think that the town hall protesters are at fault. Who is at fault? The Left. The people who think being asked questions they don’t want to answer is “undemocratic.” The people who think that citizen participation in the democratic process is “hijacking.” The people who think that it’s perfectly legitimate to send in union thugs to bust heads on senior citizens concerned about the direction their health care will be taking. The people who think they ought to be the only ones allowed to protest the actions of their government. They people who think we’re “selfish” for wanting to keep our own hard-earned money instead of seeing it wasted on a health care boondoggle that will result in waiting lists, reduced quality of care, “end of life” counselling for grandma, and full funding of elective abortion with public funds. The people who think that it would be even remotely acceptable to create a website encouraging citizens to anonymously “turn in” other citizens who hold differing political views.
They – the Left – are the ones who ought to be ashamed of themselves.
