Democrats should not appease the right on health care

 

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Paul Krugman said today:

Sure enough, President Obama is now facing the same kind of opposition that President Bill Clinton had to deal with: an enraged right that denies the legitimacy of his presidency, that eagerly seizes on every wild rumor manufactured by the right-wing media complex.

This opposition cannot be appeased. Some pundits claim that Mr. Obama has polarized the country by following too liberal an agenda. But the truth is that the attacks on the president have no relationship to anything he is actually doing or proposing. 

The Democratic Party won the election and the sentiments of misguided and misinformed zealots should be ignored. We need to get the Organising for America volunteers back on the streets. 

It is not surprising that older Americans are Astroturfers because this was the only demographic that Obama lost.  Once America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009  is completed, AARP will endorse it. You can be sure Obama has been having many conservestations with AARP. 

If the tables were turned and the president was Republican, Democratic agaitators would not be able to get into the GOP tent. When George W. Bush was trying to privatize  Sicail security, his people looked for bumper stickers on cars. If you had the wrong sticker on you car like 'Save the Whales,' you wouldn't be admitted to the event.

For example, three men legally obtained tickets to the event from U.S. Congressman Bob Beauprez’s (R-CO) office and had done nothing to disrupt the event. An individual, wearing a blue suit, an earpiece, and a red lapel pin, who represented himself as affiliated with the presidential event told the three that they had been "ID’ed" and eventually forced them to leave before the event began.

According to press reports, Secret Service Agent Lon Garner, who is posted in the Denver field office, stated that the three were screened and removed by a Republican staffer because the car in which they arrived had a "No More Blood for Oil" bumper sticker on it. He also stated that staffing and control of public access to the presidential event was the responsibility of the local Republican Party.

Similar incidents have occurred in other states. On March 21, 2005 University of Arizona student Steven Gerner was denied access to a Presidential event in Tucson, Arizona, also on the future of Social Security. Gerner, who was wearing a UA Young Democrats t-shirt, was waiting in line to enter the venue when someone identified as event staff took and destroyed his properly-obtained ticket.

Forty-two people were denied access to a Presidential event on the future of Social Security in Fargo, North Dakota on February 3, 2005, because their names had been placed on a blacklist created by local Republicans. Those excluded from this taxpayer-funded event included a Fargo city commissioner, a progressive radio producer, a deputy Democratic campaign manager, and a number of university professors.

It is disconcerting and irresponsible for Administration staff, or the Administration’s local event staff, to deny certain Americans the opportunity to see the President of the United States at a public event based on their political affiliation or viewpoints if there is no security threat and the attendees have made no effort to disrupt the event.  At best, this is an example of overzealous event staff politicizing what should non-partisan public events. At worse, public officials may be violating citizens' constitutionally-protected rights to free speech and assembly while misusing taxpayer funds.

The incidents in Colorado, Arizona, and North Dakota appear to be part of a coordinated campaign penalizing Americans for their political beliefs and denying them the opportunity to see their President speak in person. As similar incidents occur in state after state, the questions of impropriety surrounding these events grow larger and larger.

Judge Rasmussen of Lane County Circuit Court signed an order today, May 11, 2006, dismissing the appeal of the City of Eugene v. Perry Patterson. On September 17, 2004, black-clad government operatives unlawfully removed Eugene citizen Perry Patterson from a “City of Eugene Welcomes Dick Cheney” rally that was held at the Monaco Coach hangar leased by the City of Eugene.

Her “crime” was daring to utter the word “No” in response to a statement Cheney made where he asserted that “the world is a safer place because of the war in Iraq.” Ms. Patterson, a private person who has two draft-aged sons, emotionally responded to Cheney’s statement while the crowd chanted “four more years, four more years!” Eugene Police subsequently arrested and handcuffed her, and the City prosecuted her for criminal trespass in the second degree.

It is obvious what political party in the US has fascist tendencies. it is obvious what party is sending its storm troopers to town hall meetings that discuss health care.

Democrats don't need to get mad. They need to get even. Bring some rotten tomatoes to the next town hall event to throw at the Astroturfers.

http://www.emailthecongress.com/news/2005/04-05-bumper-sticker-gets-colorado-residents-barred-from-bush-event.html

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