Being called un-American doesn't feel too good, does it?

But, honestly I don't approve of this tactic of defining "Americanness" and then finding it lacking in your political opponents. It's ridiculous, and smacks of the kind of groupthink, brownshirt type behavior we abhor in our opponents.

Come on, man. Both sides use these tactics. Remember when people were calling in to conservative talk shows and jamming the phone lines?

Just as the Rethuglicans were wrong to whine about it then, I find it repulsive that the Democrats are whining about it now. The same people who said dissent was patriotic are now calling it terrorism.

Both sides look like hypocrites, but I think the Democrats are being the most hurt by their statements right now.

As long as they continue to place party before country, corporate interests before people, and profit before public good, they are in fact unpatriotic, indeed they become exemplars of it - those who willingly damage the nation for their own benefit.

Pelosi: Opposition is un-American, unless I agree with their cause.

This does point up a rather profound differences between Democrats and Republicans that's developed in the last few decades.

Democrats define "Americanism" in terms of adherence to a shared set of constitutional ideals, aspirations and civic assumptions, along, perhaps, with the adoption a set of uniquely American meta-cultural attitudes that are generally accepted across ethnic groups--stuff like the value of hard work, a belief in upward mobility and a better life for your kids and so on.

Increasingly, Republicans have come to adopt a of "Americanism" grounded in 19th century European notions as modified by Roger Taney's opinion in the Dred Scott case. It's about being white, somewhat xenophobic, militaristic, and is rooted in quasi-mystical notions about soil and the virtures of rurality. The only Constitutional value that enters into it is the Second Amendment. People with brown skins are entitled to a kind of conditional mesne citizenship as long as they talk and act like WASP's and are constantly showing fealty and obscience to the right wing version of Americanism.

It's no wonder we spend so much time talking past each other. We can't even agree on what it means to be an American and, to the extent we can even understand what the other side means by the term, we find it repulsive.

First, the person who released this letter, I can not tell if it is Ken Spain or not, would appear to be a pretty decent writer. He/she is by no mean a Sallinger or Woodward but there are several basic problems I have with this written statement. The first which jumped out to me is towards the end. The above statement reads, "David Obey resorted to calling his constituents thugs:" then below is the actual quote which was cited ,"[House Appropriations Chairman David] Obey also blamed Republican-affiliated groups for the loud protests that have greeted lawmakers at health-care forums. Obey says the groups are deliberately trying to shut down dialogue and debate, and he called their actions 'thuggery' and 'disgraceful.'"

Here is a perfect example of the type of word-jujitsu I have seen many political people use before. It is clear just by reading the quote used that Mr Obey called their ACTIONS "thuggery", so how the hell does the writer of this email/letter draw the conclusion that Obey has called "his constituents thugs:"? I mean this is basic friggin grammer, Obey was talking about an action, an action does not necessarily define a person nor does a verb get to suddenly be a noun. Does this person have an editor? I understand it is a small grievance but it disregards the actual quote and any context the quote came from. The other basic problem I have with this is the fact that the GOP freely admits that Freedomworks is part of this campaign to get people fired up going to townhalls. If the GOP really wanted to claim that the DEM's or the WH is on smear campaign against its the people, then why have they not come out against the efforts of groups like Freedomworks, (a conservative lobby group)? Clearly whatever genuine concern their constituents have is maligned by groups like this who expose the entire campaign as spurred on by corporate interest. Again if the GOP is really genuine then they would come out against this sort of impropriety or at least the appearance of it, yet they don't.

As an aside I talked to a Dr from Houston this weekend while celebrating a birthday and was excited to ask her some questions regarding this health-care debate. She told me that she thought America needs to move in the direction that other developed western nations have gone to, a fully realized social health-care system. Maybe we can all ask those who are close to us who are in the health-care profession what their thoughts are on the matter of Us health-care. Start a blog so we can share their stories.

By the way, why no link to the putative PR release? I couldn't find it on the NRCC web site. You didn't make all that up did you? Tsk.

ROLL GREEN WAVE

Sargent reports:

Tens of thousands” of people have signed up to visit members of Congress under a new program launched by Obama’s political operation, Organizing for America officials tell me.

By now you’ve heard about OFA’s next move in combatting the Tea Party brigade: Calling directly on supporters to visit the offices of members of Congress to show support for health care reform.
The new initiative, called Office Visits for Health Reform, was announced in an email to supporters from OFA director Mitch Stewart that calls on backers to counter the “partisan mobs” that are getting “stirred up with lies” by “special interest attack groups. The email asks supporers to sign up.

I asked OFA officials what kind of response they’ve received, and they said that in less than 24 hours, “tens of thousands” have registered for specific visits.

These less than human republicans call out Pelosi true statements while NEVER criticizing the Un American vile rantings of Limbaugh, You can’t have it both ways

Stoßtrupp

I get so frustrated when I see what I believe to be mistakes by Democrats.
First, and this may be a side note, I hate it when Democrats and progressive bloggers use wonky, inside terms like "politics ain't bean bag" and "astroturf." The average American has no idea what these mean. Stop using them. People just get confused and stop listening when they hear terms like that.
Second, I think it's a big mistake to focus on the organization part of the Right with respect to these town hall shout-downs. Sure, there is some organization to it, but a lot of these people are just average Americans. And when you get into this argument, Republicans just respond with, "So, MoveOn organizes. The Democrats organize. There's nothing wrong with it." And they're right; there is nothing wrong with it. What we need to focus on is the fact that what's wrong is the fact that these people are being a-holes by disrupting the event and focus on the fact that they are armed with untruths. It looks like Pelosi may have been doing this. But, using the term "un-American" is just inviting a backlash.

"Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades."

Won't that second sentence just encourage them?

You gotta admit the thugs are masters at turning this around and onto the dems. If I fault the dems for anything is that they don't jump on this stuff like the thugs do. Maybe if they did and screamed louder that the thugs they would STFU!!!!

If the Democrats wanted to be sneaky and put one over on the rethuglicans, they could schedule all townhall meeting to occur on the same day, at the same time, from east coast to west coast. Think of the logistical nightmare the rethuglicans would have to go thru in order to cover all events at the same time across the entire continental US! We would then see if it really was a national concern or just a group of people coordinating a rowdy bunch of uninformed thugs from venue to venue.

It's time to give in. They're just too strong for us.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/9/764064/-Alright-Republicans,-We-Give-Up

Dear Republicans,

Over the past week, we have seen your passionate protests and heard your concerns about Democratic proposals for health care reform. We have considered your insightful and well reasoned arguments, and on behalf of progressives everywhere, I am here to say: OK! We give up! We are willing to compromise on the proposals that concern you. You've won! Yay!

In accordance with your cogent and potent criticisms, these are the terms of our concession:

1. We will not euthanize your grandmother. This is the big one, and I really hope you guys appreciate how much of a concession this is on behalf of the progressive movement. Since the days of the Bull Moose Party, progressives have wanted nothing more than to slaughter old people by the millions. That much is obvious. After all, if we wanted senior citizens to have long and healthy lives, why would we have created Social Security and Medicare? Think about it. Death to grannies has long been the core of progressive policy, so it's not without some consternation that we give it up. So there: no euthanizing old people. You've got it.

2. Rahm Emanuel's brother will not kill Sarah Palin's baby. While this will require us to gut HR 3200 "America's Health Choices and Murder Sarah Palin's Baby Act of 2009," we're currently working with Henry Waxman to remove the extensive Sarah Palin's baby-killing provisions from the final bill. While this will probably cost us Andrew Sullivan's support, we recognize that this is a necessary sacrifice for securing broad bipartisan support of health care reform.

3. The government will not nationalize hospitals and other health service providers. This is another big one. Though the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has correctly pointed out that current Democratic proposals involve adopting the British health care system, we now recognize that this is not politically viable. The final bill, accordingly, will not involve the nationalization of hospitals and other health service providers. This will be a major setback to Obama's well known communist agenda, but again, we progressives agree with the Blue Dogs that we need to reach a broad national consensus by responding to Republican concerns.

4. We will make the health care reform bill available for all Americans to read as soon as possible. I know that conservatives and pundits have been eagerly anticipating an opportunity to read the final health care reform bill, and after extensive discussion, we have decided to comply with your request. While we would like to have unseen drafts languishing in committee forever, we have asked Senate Democrats like Max Baucus and Kent Conrad to deliver a bill as soon as possible in order to allow the public to read it. As you know, progressives wanted nothing more than to keep these drafts hidden for as long as possible, but in the interests of transparency and bipartisan consensus, we recognize that it's vital to move the legislative process forward. In fact, it is our hope that Baucus and Conrad will return from the August recess early in order to ensure that the public has as much time as possible to inspect their work.

5. We will not subsidize abortions with your hard-earned tax dollars. Despite the fact that both FactCheck.org and Politifact insist that we already made this concession months ago, we're going to make extra-special-super sure that we did. Just give me a second...

...

...

...

... yep, we did.

6. We will not allow the government to have direct access to your bank account. I know several conservatives I've spoken to are deeply concerned about this measure, and while we progressives are always looking for new ways for the government to unlawfully violate your privacy and steal your money, we have decided to remove this provision from the final bill. While we may include a way for individuals to voluntarily set up an electronic funds transfer with their insurance provider, we will no longer push for government access to all individual bank accounts. You've won this one.

7. We will not provide illegal immigrants with unlimited free health care. Though progressives want nothing more than to provide unlimited social services to illegal immigrants while denying them to everyone else, we now recognize that this plan was, perhaps, a bit inequitable. However, while they will not be receiving unlimited free health care, each illegal immigrant will still receive a pretty pony. I'm sorry, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

8. Private health insurance will not be eliminated. Though, as Drudge recently pointed out with a damning YouTube video, the long-stated Republican goal of moving away from employer-based coverage somehow means "eliminating private insurance" when Obama talks about the same thing, we've decided to preserve private insurance plans for those who want them. However, we have yet to convince ultra-socialist Charles Krauthammer to drop his communist crusade against employer-based (i.e., according to Drudge, "all private") coverage.

9. You will not be issued a "National Health Insurance ID." While we thought this was a fun idea, the final version of the health care reform bill will not require you to have any kind of ID when you're pulled over for drunk driving or found loitering outside of a military base. In fact, you are hereby encouraged not to carry any proof of insurance whatsoever. Trust me, it's a terrible idea!

10. There will be no super-secret-awesome health care program for ACORN employees. Though we love our election-stealing squirrels, we have decided that they'll have to settle for the same options as everyone else.

With these concessions having been made, I trust that we can now move forward on health care reform with a broad, bipartisan consensus. Blue Dogs and Republicans, you can now rest easy knowing that the concerns of the town hall protesters have been met. While the progressive dream of a nation in which old people are slaughtered to pay for the abortions of ACORN-employed illegal immigrants will again have to be deferred, we are willing to settle for a bill without these measures in the name of bipartisanship.

Congratulations, Republicans. You've won this round.

But they Walk With God.

People! This is not brain surgery.

If the President of the United States has not proposed a scheme of global forced military domination, and has not proposed a scheme of massive, organized genocide (and for you utter *ninnies* out there, NO, abortion doesn't count!), if you are nonetheless comparing him to Hitler...

You are not merely unpatriotic, you are traitor. Own that. If you fill good about being a traitor, enjoy it and try not to get caught. You are a seditionist and a traitor -- that's about you, not us. Traitor, that's who's looking back at you in the mirror. Period. You like? It's your deal.