Friday, August 07, 2009

When The Shoe Is On The Other Foot

Get this: The party of “community organizers” is now whining that President Obama’s critics are organizing communities — against his health-care scheme.

So says the New York Post.

I'm not so sure how accurate that is, in that the organizing seems to be decentralized; despite the spittle from the Left, which implies that there are big, dark, ominous players organizing "mobs" against the President's plan, these protests (often at town hall meetings with Congressmen) do seem to be local in nature. Who, exactly, is the heavy player on the right that's organizing them?

When we on the right accused the left of organizing protests, they didn't really object--they knew it was true and were up front about it. MoveOn.org, International A.N.S.W.E.R., and another Soros-funded group whose name escapes me now were three popular groups. I don't hear anyone on the left identifying the big players on the right; if they could, they would, and they'd attack those groups mercilessly. Instead they issue these vague warnings, the purpose of which is not to educate, not to elucidate, not to engage, but to generate anger at the other side. Perhaps that's just what those community organizers on the left do.

Contrast the President's response (see update #2 below) to these Americans who protest his proposed health care proposals to President Bush's response to Mama Moonbat herself, Cindy Sheehan, who essentially camped outside of his house: instead of trying to rally people against her, he said he was proud to live in and lead a country where such dissent was allowed.

Two very different responses. Two very different levels of classiness. Two very different levels of confidence. Two very different attitudes. Two very different men.

Update: Back to the health care debates and intimidation. A racist crowd beat a black man, with one of the attackers shouting a "racial slur" (I wonder which one). Go read the link, it's both short and worthwhile. (First-person account is here.)

Update #2: This from the White House's own web site:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov. (boldface mine--Darren)


Think about that for a minute. Seriously. Explain to me how that statement jibes with any American values, if such things even exist anymore.

Update #3, 8/9/09: Mark Steyn, as usual, has a brilliant take on this topic:
“The right-wing extremist Republican base is back!” warns the Democratic National Committee. These right-wing extremists have been given their marching orders by their masters: They’ve been directed to show up at “thousands of events,” told to “organize,” “knock on doors” . . .

No, wait. My mistake. That’s the e-mail I got from Mitch Stewart, Director of “Organizing for America” at BarackObama.com. But that’s the good kind of “organizing.” Obama’s a community organizer. We’re the community. He organizes us. What part of that don’t you get?


And Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame has a similar view, although presented with much less sarcasm:

This (protests against President Bush, disrupting meetings about social security reform) was just good, boisterous politics: "Robust, wide-open debate." But when it happens to Democrats, it's something different: A threat to democracy, a sign of incipient fascism, and an opportunity to set up a (possibly illegal) White House "snitch line" where people are encouraged to report "fishy" statements to the authorities.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls the "Tea Party" protesters Nazis, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman --forgetting the events above -- claims that left-leaning groups never engaged in disruptive tactics against Social Security reform, and various other administration-supporting pundits are trying to spin the whole thing as a deadly move toward "mob rule" and – somewhat contradictorily -- as a phony "astroturf" movement.

Remember: When lefties do it, it's called "community organizing." When conservatives and libertarians do it, it's "astroturf."


This President does not like being challenged. The Democrat party does not like being challenged. Fascists never do.

8 comments:

Ellen K said...

Three of the "special attendees" at the St. Louis event were brought in by organizers as handpicked supporters of the Obamacare measure. In addition, 1000 protesters, who drove in their own vehicles from areas around St. Louis were told there was no room. In short, this ELECTED OFFICIAL does not care what members of his constituency has to say if they oppose HIS WILL. What is sad is that while I may have opposed the views of leftists, I never really said they shouldn't be heard. Heck, even though he disagreed, President Bush never took action to stop Cindy Sheehan from her gadfly party. Yet because we are conservative, because we are folks who have never protested before, we are expected to just sit here and take it as elected officials force programs into fruition that many of us believe will bankrupt us. In scanning many internet sites, including relatively liberal newspapers like the Boston Globe, the New York Time and the Chicago Tribune, the drumbeats are getting louder. Even some of those who voted for Obama are wonder what in the world they supported. He ran as a moderate, but he's a marxist. If the media had bothered to even as moderately hard questions, maybe more people would have had second thoughts. As it is, the DNC intends on using bullies from union activists and Soros' funded organizations to silence our opposition. This is just the beginning-I hope the end if political and not something worse.

Anonymous said...

If the shoe is on the other foot, then I openly question your patriotism, hippie!

Darren said...

I haven't badmouthed my country or wished its men harm in battle. I haven't openly cheered for an enemy of the United States.

And I can't be a hippie. I've shaved my head and I shower daily. :-)

Matt Mangels said...

The big players on the right are the health insurance industry and FreedomWorks, who are using their enormous wealth and resources to rally gullible people into fightinh against their own interests. It's that simple.

I'm curious as to what your opinion is on Sarah Palin's statement that Obama's healthcare plan would not let her own baby with Down Syndrome live.

Darren said...

It's not up to you to determine what other people's "own interests" are. To think that you can smacks of elitism and arrogance. I *want* private health care for myself; I don't think a federal system is in my best interest.

The health insurance industry may be fighting for its very survival here, but the pharmaceutical industry sees a huge opening for itself. The Wall Street Journal Online has reported on how the White House and PhRMA have essentially colluded: see here.

I don't know enough about President Obama's plan to know how it would deal with Down Syndrome babies, so I'm not going to comment on Governor Palin's comment. It's certainly not out of bounds of possibility--it's not a stretch to imagine a doctor's counseling an abortion in a case like hers. Worse than that has already happened in the developed world, read here and here to learn about the Groningen Protocol.

On a completely separate front, I appreciate the tone of your comment. It's clear that you disagree with my stand, but you were not at all disagreeable. Thank you.

Matt Mangels said...

Perhaps I should not have said "their own interests", in many cases it is old people doing the shouting at townhalls who already have a government health plan. It would be in their children's and grandchildren's interests that they never have to worry about losing their healthcare when they lose their job. I think we can all agree, liberal or conservative, that that facet of our current system is downright evil.

And your link to the WSJ article didn't work BTW. The difference between Palin's comment and what you linked to in the Netherlands is she implied she wouldn't have a choice. It was, quite simply, a bald-faced lie on her part that had no real basis in fact. It's not like she could point to a part of the bill that's up for voting, because there is no bill yet. Do you really think that Obama and the Dems would want such a system in place? it would be political suicide (no pun intended).

Darren said...

Most odd, as I click on the link and get the story I want. If it continues not to work for you, go to the WSJ Online site and search for this article:
Drug Dealers
The White House buys Big Pharma’s silence.

As for Palin's comments, I don't know if she was saying something definite or expressing fears like the Groningen Protocol. You ask if the president and his party would want such a system, and I say they already promote abortion. It's not such a leap. Whether Palin was being literal or lyrical, I don't know, but the fear is the same.

As for your "evil" comment, I'm all for divorcing health care from employment and letting workers know the true cost of their health care. This employer-provided care is a remnant of wage controls and tax policy during World War II, and it's time we get rid of it. What the Democrats are proposing, though, is not what I consider a positive change.

Darren said...

Former Clinton cabinet secretary and UC Berkeley professor Robert Reich doesn't like this "Big Pharma Deal" either:

"I'm a strong supporter of universal health insurance, and a fan of the Obama administration. But I'm appalled by the deal the White House has made with the pharmaceutical industry's lobbying arm to buy their support."
http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2009/08/white-houses-deal-with-big-pharma.html