When does a group gathering become a mob?
When is a mob merely a gathering of Americans passionately speaking their minds?
That seems to be the back-and-forth debate that has emerged across the country between the left and right as movement continues toward possible reform of the national health care system.
Stories have been popping up across the country about town halls held by congressmen to talk about the issue in their home districts. Many have been disrupted by shouting that has escalated to the point where events have been suspended. One in Michigan on Thursday became particularly nasty, according to several reports.
Here in Arizona, U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat who represents Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, was holding a “Chat with Ann’’ event Thursday in Holbrook, one of several she has scheduled this summer around her northern Arizona district. According to a statement issued by her office, the event was abruptly stopped after protestors disrupted the event, where health care was a primary topic. (I didn’t witness this myself, I’m only reporting what the congresswoman has said about the event. if someone has more details, by all means, send me an e-mail)..
“I am disappointed that the event was disrupted by a small but vocal group,’’ she said in a prepared statement.
She added: “I look forward to more public events, but more importantly, I look forward to a return to civility and respectful dialogue where the focus is on the people and not scoring political points.’’
Public events are being planned elsewhere in Arizona, including planned demonstrations outside of various Congressmen’s offices in Arizona Saturday (Aug. 8), including Rep. Harry Mitchell, a Democrat who represents west Mesa, Tempe and Scottsdale. Republicans also are being targeted locally. Many are expected to attend a public forum being held by Rep. John Shadegg today, and another Monday in Chandler by Rep. Jeff Flake.
The Arizona Tea Party web site has a fairly well organized thread of chat and information geared toward organizing demonstrations. The tone clearly is aimed against President Obama’s health initiative.
There are some wildly different takes being offered about what’s really behind all of this.
To get a good idea of where the left is coming from, Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize winning economist and columnist for The New York Times, offers his insights, suggesting it’s an extremely well orchestrated national effort by powerful GOP interests.
The White House has even started advising Democrat members of Congress on ways to counter the shout-downs, according to a story on MSNBC’s web site.
Republican strategists, however, see things quite differently. Columnist Kevin McCullough, writing on the Fox News web site, not only argues that this is a shining example of angry Americans justifiably rising up to say enough, but also suggests that Democrats have been orchestrating shout-downs of their own around the country.
I honestly appreciate Kirkpatrick’s call for a more civil discourse. I’ve suggested before in this blog more than once that public disagreements do not have to always translate into public standoffs, name calling and other boorish behavior.
At the same time, her assertion that this should not be about “scoring political points’’ seems a bit disingenuous. Like it or not, the very act of holding a series of “Chats with Ann’’ is all about scoring political points. And there’s nothing wrong with that – for her, or for her opponents – as long as it’s done in a civil manner. Health care reform, like every other issue our elected officials deal with, is happening in the context of politics – there simply is no way around that fact.
Chris Coppola is editor of the Tribune Newspapers and eastvalleytribune.com. He can be reached at ccoppola@evtrib.com. Follow his newsroom updates on Twitter: EVTribEditor.)
““I am disappointed that the event was disrupted by a small but vocal group,’’ she said in a prepared statement.”
Interesting that that is exactly how we feel. Our lives are being disrupted by Congress’ insane actions.
“She added: “I look forward to more public events, but more importantly, I look forward to a return to civility and respectful dialogue where the focus is on the people and not scoring political points.’’”
Yes, we als look forward to civility but it is hard to get from BOTH sides in DC. ALL INCUMBENTS NEED TO GO.
Some people’s lives may be disrupted, some others are being helped greatly. Health insurance is wonderful for people who can afford the ever rising premiums, but it is not a cure all for the American people. We who have insurance are constantly paying for those who don’t. Saying that people who don’t have health care simply have to go to an emergency room is particularly silly. Somebody pays for it. A public health care option has to happen, even though it might cause the priveleged some discomfort.
It is quite revealing that, as a member of the media, you naturally give credence to Krugman and Kirkpatrick, citing the need for civility. Perhaps I am wrong, but didn’t Krugman, in the article you cited, call those who are opposed to the proposed health care initiative a “mob”? Is that the kind of civility you are calling for? Or perhaps you are calling for the kind of civility captured on video where some pro-Obama union members are caught forcing those who disagree out of a meeting, or even assaulting them. As Krauthammer has said, “. . when you have a conservative protest. . . It is called a mob. If it’s a liberal protest, it is called grassroots expressing themselves.” The media have been fawning lapdogs for Obama’s policies since before the election, so it’s not a surprise to see where you find civility and incivility on this issue.
The difference between “a small but vocal group” and “a ground swell of grass roots support” is the position of the politician issuing the statement.
The politicians who refuse to listen to their constituents simply because they disagree with the party line are making a huge mistake. The protesters shown in this video are mostly elderly and none of them are violent. The opposition to the Health Care Reform bill are being misrepresented in the media. They aren’t being paid by the “villainous insurance companies.” Why is our community organizer president so upset about the American people organizing to oppose legislation they know will destroy our health care system? Simple answer: read the bill.
DEMO-CRAPS CAN FLOOD A MEETING WITH YELLING, SCREAMING “HISPANIC ILLEGAL ALIEN SUPPORTERS” AT A MARICOPA COUNTY SUPERVISORS MEETING AND THE LOCAL PRESS AND TV MEDIA CALL IS …”SPONTANEOUS PUBLIC REACTION”.
IF REPUBLICANS FLOOD A MEETING WITH YELLING, SCREAMING “WHITE” AMERICANS AND THE LOCAL AND NATIONAL TV AND MEDIA PRESS CALL IT …”MOB MENTALITY”.
FOLKS, IF YOU ARE A GUN-LOVING, GOD-FEARING, TAX-PAYING, HARD-WORKING, PATRIOTIC-AMERICAN (WHITE, BROWN, YELLOW, BLACK, GREEN, PURPLE…WHATEVER)………IT IS TIME FOR YOUR TO JOIN THE …….”MOB”…..AND TAKE BACK OUR BELOVED DEMOCRACY FROM THE …..OBAMA/PELOSI/REID….COMMUNIST/SOCIALIST/LEFTISTS IN CONGRESS, THE SENATE, THE STATE GOVERNORS, THE STATE LEGISLATURES, THE COUNTY SUPERVISORS, THE CITY COUNCILS, THE CITY MAYORS…….HECK….THE ..”TOWN DOG CATCHERS TOO”…….LOL.
Government Takeover of HealthCare Hits Resistance and Nationwide Protest
The Tea Party coalitions across the nation are groups formed earlier this year to protest government spending and taxation. The Tea Party protest is a true American grass roots movement by U.S. citizens who also oppose government takeover and healthcare issues.
According to the story and photos in gatewaypundit web, the OBAMA SECRET SERVICE pulls guns on conservative Tea Party Protesters, at town hall event on Obamacare in Bristol, Virginia. http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/07/obama-secret-service-pulls-guns-on-tea.html
Republican Rep. Tom Price, head of the Republican Study Committee, admonishes government takeover of healthcare, and Republicans also call it a government takeover that will drive up the deficit and hurt the economy at a time when the United States is facing its longest recession since the Great Depression.
I thought the democracy was taken back from the Bush/Cheney fascists who love spying on their own people, starting wars for no good reason, filling CEO’s pockets with money during that invasion, among several other wonderful things that they have done to this country. Democracy is back and republicans like the above just can’t take it.
I one hundred percent agree with you HISKOLEDUKATED.!! It’s becoming more and more apparent that the Libs are doing their best to stifle, discredit and silence our freedom of speech and the right to protest, while they drag the US down, down, DOWN!!!
We have a right to speak up , and the more WE ARE IGNORED, THE MORE VOCAL AND LOUD WE SHALL BECOME!!!!
We’ve all watched as the democrats, on party line votes, have passed Trillions of dollars of spending WITHOUT reading what they voted on. The House Cap and Trade (Tax) bill was passed without having been written yet. Rep. Dingell said on camera there’s no point in reading a thousand page bill, you’d need two lawyers and still wouldn’t know what it meant. Enough is enough. Our medical care is great, but increasingly expensive because of malpractice suits and CYA medical tests. Thank you John Edwards, Democrat VP candidate for 2004, for majoring in medical malpractice suits and pulling $137 million from the medical system yourself.
This administration doesn’t want a debate on health care, it wants us to shut up and let Obama put his program in place. I don’t trust him - no one should.
This is the biggest lie on the planet earth. “The Mob” are angry United States Citizens who want their voice heard not suppressed as the white house is trying to do and they want their free capitalistic Country back not a socialist run country which is exactly what is happening. The media is spewing out lies and propaganda to push the socialist agenda. The media should be ashamed of themselves for reporting lies and not a neutral fair view of what is really happening in america. Sarah Palin is right. Stop making things up.
Spying on their own people?
Oh, you must be referring to Obama and his flag@whitehouse.gov.
The 10th Amendment:
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The government has no authroity, NONE, to even discuss health care.
If Americans begin to question and/or criticize the Obama administration they are immediately labeled as a “mob”. Seems to me this very thing happened in Germant in 1938!