Thread: Regarding Angry Health Care Debates

Here is an article that was released by the Associated Press which summarizes events revolving around the Health Care Issues.

We all know that anger is generated primarily by those within the Democratic Party who are trying to ramrod the Health Care Issue into law without input from the American Public. We all know that the sometimes violent behavior that has occurred at some town hall meetings was instigated and carried out by Obama supporters in an attempt to quell the voices of American Patriots. And we have all seen how that faction of Democrats have tried to turn the tables by erroneously stating that Americans who voice their opinions are "unpatriotic dissenters." Just read some of the statements below to see how they twist things all around.

All such situations clearly show that by taking a stand, Americans are speaking up and letting their voices be heard about a Congress that appears to be self-serving and cares little about the economic security of U.S. Taxpaying Citizens. We are learning how to stand up and speak up for ourselves again, and that is a very good thing.

However; and I am sure that our officers at ALIPAC would fully agree, there are reports here as listed in the article below that cause great concern to all of us. Reports of threats against Congressional leaders. Some people carrying guns to gatherings. Reports of threats against the President and against his wife and children. Such behavior is totally unacceptable to all Patriotic Americans and it only serves to make all opponents of the President's issues appear to be just as rowdy and lawless as his own constituents.

The way to have one's voice heard is to be firm and to be determined, yes, but not with rhetorical threats of violence. It is sometimes difficult to speak up when people are being shouted down by a bunch of mannerless Soviets like the SEIU "Purple Gang;" but speak up one must, and all Americans should demand equal time in town hall meetings or any other public meeting where important issues are being presented and discussed; and in a way that is civil but right to the point. Have they forgotten about Parliamentary Procedure, or does it even apply to Town Hall Meetings?

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

VIOLENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER. RHETORIC THAT REFERS TO ANY KIND OF VIOLENCE DOES NOT HELP ANY CAUSE! YES... BE FIRM IN REGARD TO WHAT YOU BELIEVE. BE DETERMINED. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD, BUT DO IT IN A WAY THAT WILL EARN THE RESPECT OF YOUR OPPONENTS... AND THIS GOES FOR BOTH SIDES. IF "LEADERS" OF BOTH SIDES CANNOT AGREE, THEN AN ULTIMATE MAJORITY ELECTION BY THE CITIZENRY SHOULD BE HELD. BUT VIOLENCE OR EVEN A SUGGESTION OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOR IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN ANY CASE.

Americans are recognizing the perils of Socialism and are making the statement that we do not want any part of it in the United States. We do not want Government manipulating our private lives and we want our basic freedoms to continue unchecked and supported by our U.S. Constitution.

Those Politicians who insist upon having their own way or who clandestinely insist upon espousing Socialist/Marxist ideals are being recognized for their actions. It is up to Americans, then, to fix the situation in the best way possible... and that is to dethrone them in the next elections. Get them out of office with your vote... not with threats of violent behavior.

I don't mean to preach to anyone here, but we all have to remember that there are ways of accomplishing things by doing it right... and threats of violent behavior are not the way to accomplish anything.

Anyway, here's the article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090819/ap_ ... gry_summer

Threats, jeers saturate angry health care debateBy DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer David Crary, Ap National Writer – 1 hr 12 mins ago

NEW YORK – The images are striking: One congressman's office defaced by a swastika, other congressmen heckled at public meetings, videos and placards likening Barack Obama to Hitler, private citizens with guns joining anti-Obama protests.

Outside one meeting hosted by Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, authorities detained a man with a sign reading, "Death To Obama, Death To Michelle And Her Two Stupid Kids."

In this season of searing political heat generated by the health care debate, these incidents have raised divisive questions of their own. Are they simply the latest twists in a long tradition of vigorous, public engagement or evidence of some new, alarming brand of political virulence?

"Hate, if it ever truly threatened to leave the political stage, is most definitely back, larger and nastier than ever," University of Missouri journalism professor Charles Davis wrote this week in his local paper, the Columbia Daily Tribune. He urged the media to put a spotlight on the hate, rather than ignore it.

To some political veterans, the phenomenon is unprecedented.

"There is more anger in America today than at any time I can remember," said Sen. Arlen Specter, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, after one of a series of town hall meetings at which he was jeered.

Many conservatives agree that the depth of anger is unusual, but insist that it is understandable as well — with the health care issue overlapping with worries about the economy.

"People are frustrated — they don't want to be lied to," said Mat Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based Christian legal group. "Rather than just listening, they want be heard, and they feel Washington isn't listening to them."

Another conservative activist, the Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, said he was dismayed by the recent surfacing of threats against political leaders. But he noted that venomous rhetoric was nothing new in U.S. politics and recalled that former President George W. Bush had been called a terrorist and war criminal by some of his critics.

"You'll find on both ends of the divide — the political left and political right — the more extreme elements have completely different ideological viewpoints, but they are identical on imagery," Mahoney said. "They use Nazi, Hitler, terrorist."

Beyond the extremists, Mahoney said he was impressed by the backgrounds of the angry citizens appearing at recent town hall meetings. Unlike many left-of-center protesters, he said, "these are people who normally stay home and don't get involved."

One such political newcomer is Rick Smith, a 38-year-old North Carolina store owner who in the past thought protests were pointless. But recently he joined rallies and pickets targeting Kay Hagan, a first-term Democratic senator.

"I hope the freshmen have their eyes open to what's going on out here — to see that they need to represent the people that put them in office," Smith said.

At some of the meetings, politicians and their critics have engaged in substantive dialogue over health care policy and other issues. At other times, the exchanges have been curt.

"On what planet do you spend most of your time?" Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts asked a woman at a meeting Tuesday when she held up a poster depicting Obama with a Hitler-style mustache.

Andrew Kohut, who oversees public opinion surveys as president of the Pew Research Center, says the health care debate has fueled intense anti-government sentiment in some quarters.

"I also think the conservatives are frustrated politically — they don't feel they have a leader," Kohut said. "They're worried about a government takeover of health care and feeling not so empowered with a strong Democratic Congress. All these things lead to a summer of intense points of view."

Kohut expressed doubt that racism was a major factor behind the hostility toward Obama, but others disagree.

African-American congressman David Scott, whose Smyrna, Ga., office outside Atlanta was defaced with a spray-painted swastika, said he also has received mail in recent days using racial slurs.

"We have got to make sure that the symbol of the swastika does not win, that the racial hatred that's bubbling up does not win this debate," Scott said. "That's what is bubbling up with all of this. There's so much hatred out there for President Obama."

For many of Obama's supporters, a new source of apprehension has surfaced in the form of private citizens showing up with guns outside venues where the president was speaking.

In Arizona, about a dozen people carried guns Monday outside the convention center where Obama addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars. And last week during Obama's health care town hall in Portsmouth, N.H., a man stood outside with a pistol strapped to his leg, carrying a sign reading, "It is time to water the tree of liberty."

That's part of a longer quote from Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that the tree should be watered periodically "with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

The Secret Service said the armed men were in compliance with state laws, and were neither trying to enter the meeting hall nor get near Obama's motorcade route. Nonetheless, their appearance raised concern in the liberal blogosphere that the trend could lead to violence.

"It just takes one wacko with a gun to cause a huge problem at one of these events — if not trying to kill Obama then to kill others," wrote Kansas City Star columnist Yael T. Abouhalkah.

Matthew Spalding, director of the conservative Heritage Foundation's Center for American Studies, said Democratic leaders should not dismiss the surge of anger as an extremist-fringe phenomenon.

"There are components of liberalism that try to paint the whole thing as right-wing paranoia," he said. "That would be a large political mistake. There's a sense that our country is at a great turning point, and there's widespread confusion and concern about where we're going."

PS
Seniors that are upset that AARP has backed Obama's Communist health care are dropping AARP and joining other organizations.

I don't know much about this organization, but just posting it, for review.

http://www.amac.us/contact-us/

SEIU foreign interest! Seniors think How are American Citizens going to afford the whole world?