Are Republicans and their thugs killing off the Town Hall as a democratic forum?
By David Neiwert Friday Aug 07, 2009 9:00am
Does anyone remember when Town Hall forums were civil affairs that gave citizens a chance to speak freely to their elected representatives in a civil conversation?
Yeah, that would have been last week. In the days since, Republicans and their astroturf gangs of protesters have transformed town halls into outlets for their prearranged shoutfests ginned up by Fox talkers.
The old town-hall forum may never be the same. And the country is the worse for it.
Check out the ugliness yesterday in Tampa Bay. It certainly fits the blueprint for action laid out early on in this effort: Disrupt, distract, and destroy any chance for an actual civil and informed conversation. In other words, demolish the entire purpose of a town-hall forum.
Some commentators have tried to play down the mob aspect of these scenes, likening the campaign against health reform to the campaign against Social Security privatization back in 2005. But there’s no comparison. I’ve gone through many news reports from 2005, and while anti-privatization activists were sometimes raucous and rude, I can’t find any examples of congressmen shouted down, congressmen hanged in effigy, congressmen surrounded and followed by taunting crowds.
And I can’t find any counterpart to the death threats at least one congressman has received.
... [T]he driving force behind the town hall mobs is probably the same cultural and racial anxiety that’s behind the “birther” movement, which denies Mr. Obama’s citizenship. Senator Dick Durbin has suggested that the birthers and the health care protesters are one and the same; we don’t know how many of the protesters are birthers, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s a substantial fraction.
And cynical political operators are exploiting that anxiety to further the economic interests of their backers.
No one has a problem with right-wingers marching in protest of the health-care plans. That's certainly their right. And no one minds that they choose to participate in these forums. But town halls were never designed to be vehicles for protest. They have always been about enabling real democratic discourse in a civil setting.
When someone's entire purpose in coming out to a town-hall forum is to chant and shout and protest and disrupt, they aren't just expressing their opinions -- they are actively shutting down democracy.
And that, folks, is a classically fascist thing to do.
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by shutting down any forum it cannot control.
This is stunningly reminiscent of the Nazi SA...
Now I shall await the appearance of the cliche: "All that's required for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing."
Whereupon it should be recalled that the bad people have 1) rage 2) guns, and 3) protection of the cops. Agaisnt which it is risible to suggest Good people can have any effect...
How dare the corporate and republican a.. H...s control what goes on in our country and stop democracy and freedom in our country.
Why have the democrats not ""placed police"" at the doors which are there to really take the a.. h...s away..
Bush's republicans thugs have no problem censoring ALL democrats from the town hall meetings of Bush and Cheney. In fact they issues tickets tot their town hall meetings and censored democrats for the event..
Have our democrats lost their will to fight for what we want... If so we are a lost party in disgrace and deserve every bad thing that happens.
If freedom and liberity is not worth fighting for them you will lose it..
The Democrats are also Corporatists.
The Democrats WANT their members of Congress to be subjected to threats and abuse and their townhall meetings intended to explain the Democratic position to drown in shouting.
Give me a break...
Your statement is a non sequitur.
My observation that the Democrats are also Corporatists is not related specifically with this meeting or its disruption.
The Democrats 'plan' is a sell out to big Pharma, big Insurance and the AMA. For starters.
However the disruptive cretins here have another agenda.
You need to do more research, and thinking.
1: you write "Have our democrats lost their will to fight for what we want..."
the mistake here is the word "our." They are not "oour" representatives, they are exactly the same species of Corporat clones and drones that inhabit the "other" party.
2: you write: "If freedom and liberity is not worth fighting for them you will lose it.."
rthe mistake here is not recognizing that, in any meningful political sense, freedom and liberty have been dead since Reagan...
If you weren't alive or compos mentis at the time, you mightn't remember what it was like before the fascisti coup of '80.
Fascist Coup of 1947 - See the NSA, CIA, MIC et al
It should be blindingly obvious.
And I'm not just saying that to look cool, witty, or smart on a message board.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcWVL4B-4pI
Are only hearing from the democrats like Reid , Emanuel's policies , Blue Dogs and the centrists...
These republican democrats have controlled the democrat party because together with the republicans they are the majority and have control of our government.
Pelosi and Reid are wimps and we have seen this in the past..
Pelosi with her no impeachment on the table and Reid how states he is for a policy and then at the 11th hour switches horses and his votes..
n/c
listen too both sides...Havoc is to drown out another side when you have NONE OF YOUR OWN!
Most townhalls are one sided but they have been forced in recent years to listen but these are riot tactics... Not to be tolerated---get the officers there to check ID's--make sure they are from the District represented by the Senators/representatives!
Read Pearlstein on the GOP/ industry lies:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/...
that was not the reason you were calling the Democrats "sellouts" even before I read the rest of your comment.
Yes I was alive and well during the Kennedy administration. Kennedy make me proud to be an American..
Kennedy also stated that Americans had to be on guard about this country being controlled by peoples other then the American citizens and was shot a few months later... Then his brother Ted Was shot as soon as he threw his hat in the ring... We have seen by the Previous administration the length and criminal crimes they would commit to control the wealth and power of this country ,,, so it speaks for it's self.
But if you have no will to fight for what you believe in ,,then you should pull up your bed and go to sleep..
The democrat party has over the years been been infiltrated by Republicans running on THE democratic ticket and DEMOCRATS have not been paying attention to this..
Emanuel and other democrat leaders have taken over THE democrat party and have been electing republicans as blue dogs and centrists... Emanuel , Obama has stated they wish to move the democrat party to the center ,,, which has to be more to the center right , because it is always to the center right and to take their advise from the center and forget the left of progressive democrats and this looks like what they have done..
The only way to purge these NON democrats from our party is to fund , support and elected REAL democrats to replace the a.. h...s in office now,,, instead of bitching about them not being democrats.
Obama and the democrats have even funded some of the corporations which have use this money to help them outsource American jobs overseas and well as increase the number of passports for foreigners to come into our country and take jobs here...
H... I have called the white house two dozen times since Obama has become president and received a busy signal every time except ONE>
H... As least bush's white house answered the phone , all thru we might have got into heated discussions about their policy and what I believe way corrupted about it...
thank you.
... was embroiled in scandal. Bobby Kennedy was shot.
Both Bobby and John were killed under suspicious circumstances.
JFK II (A very good expose on the JFK murder)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=81826...
Bobby was assassinated by the CIA (According to the BBC)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkkUJp2pi3Q
Us conspiracy 'nutjobs' warned you about the Fascism 5 years ago and no one paid us any attention. Perhaps now you will see what the heck we were warning you about.
Please do yourself a favour and look behind the headlines and check carefully on who owns who and how this vast network of like minded fascists use fear and a media monopoly to control most of us.
I understand that moonlanding hoaxers and birthers are true examples of unthinking reactionary conspiracies, once you examine in detail both of the above, you see there is no real substance to them that cannot be explained by real science or real facts, (such as a birth certificate)
But when the big questions are never addressed and even real scientists and engineers come out speaking on 'conspiratorial issues' citing evidence and data that contradicts accepted 'theories' then you need to be discerning and rational in order to discover the truth of the matter.
Questioning and doubting is not the same as 'believing without thinking'.
"No one would do that. No one would go that far. You must be crazy to think that." To be a real intellectual requires continuous research and constant thought. Many could handle it, but so few actually do. Ignore the naysayers.
Stand on electing government officials and just who will you support and vote in the 2010 election..
A republican or a independent or a green party member or pick a number..
What makes a party do as the people wish , is that they form a group in order to vote a people not listening to the people OUT of office..
Why is Pelosi , Reid , Schumer , Hoyer , Emanuel , Blue dogs , centrists still in office..'
If you read the news about the blue dogs right after the 2006 election they had a private meeting with BUSH>>> SO right there we knew who and want they were and what is being done to replace them in their districts...
...and to anybody paying attention the actions of the Blue Dogs(Cross) Dems have not been surprising. It was like winning half of a seat, which is still better than having had an R win it.
Not saying I like it, but I'm not shocked.
Then prosecute Limbaugh, Beck, et. al. for threatening the lives of public officials. If all this fails, it's time to kick some wingnut's asses-literally. Hell, this country was born in violence & worhips it as the American Ideal.
Going to a town hall meeting and rumbling with the Retards might be fun for them.
but they simply don't have the attention span to keep it up.
More appropriate name
Fascism always needs a 'secret' society/religion like the Aryan Mystique, like Judaism, like KKKristianity and the Rapture (GAG), the Prosperity Bible, like 'C' Street,
AND, Fascism has been the dominating political M.O. since before Prescott Bush and traitors (1932), tried to recruit Gen. Smedly Butler.
Anybody still hallucinating otherwise needs a new supply, cause you are dreaming of Camolot - past.
Thank god for Gen. Smedly Butler, otherwise we would be deeper into the Bush crime families pockets. A good man did something and evil was halted, if only for a few decades.
Jay Gould
US Robber Baron (1836 - 1892)
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/07/woman-mom...
GOP operatives at town hall meetings.
Something the left strongly suspected, but here's teh puddin...and there's proof in it!
WALLSTREETBANKSTERS/ZIONISTS, $$$$$$$$MONEY people. Use Fux propaganda and turn the stupid, brain-dead, against their brothers and sisters with an iota more of common sence.
I agree but what do we do about it ? The MSM caters to these scum and to the ignorant and stupid . The Dems as usual are totally impotent and seemingly defenseless . Take these town halls , you think the Repugs would just sit there and let people yell and scream and create chaos in order to stop their meeting ? Hell no ! But the wimp Dems ... " Oh my gosh ! What do we do ? " , we fight back and kick ass and throw them out is what we need to do . Damned frustrating ! This country is being destroyed and torn apart by the right , the mob , who are no less than domestic terrorists , we damned well better stand up and get together to counter these treasonous saboteurs .
those who want to have legitimate town hall meetings should come prepared with bullhorns and rig speakers in the meeting places to play the Barney the Dinosaur theme, "I Love You, You Love Me" at decibles so loud nobody can be heard. Use some tactic to shut up the troublemakers every time they cause chaos and disruptions.
That will fix them!
The re-thug-nicans have brown trousers, not brown shirts.
They're soiling themselves because they're not getting their way anymore.
Literally make them soil themselves if they start causing trouble.
The Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) is a crowd-control ... device
I don't understand why people who disrupt a townhall aren't escorted out of the building? Wouldn't that deter others from doing so? Seems to work in Congressional hearings. Someone stands up to protest, they are removed, hearing goes on.
ID everyone when they enter to make sure everyone inside the townhall is a constituent of the representative speaking. Explain the ground rules. One question at a time, no yelling, no disruption- if you do, you will be removed.
How hard is it?
... with the right-wing noise machine casting even that - IDs, rules, expulsion - as more proof of liberal fascism.
I'm not saying you can't have these things - priority seating to constituents, ground rules emphasizing civility (one possibility is to have people submit questions in writing), acknowledgement that civil behavior is encouraged, disruptive behavior is not - but it will be a long, painful road to recapture a sense of civil behavior when you have Beckshirts ready to throw down and bust heads.
...that argument from the right can easily be refuted by bringing up Bush's "town hall" meetings where his crew handpicked people who agreed with him. Bootpdx is right. This is supposed to be a forum and if there's disruptions these assholes should be forcibly removed.
.
Think Fred Phelps, et al.
Cops protect 'em...
And if the Dims were to try to keep the meetings free of disturbances, they'd be accused of stifling debate.
the Pukes always win these pissing contests, because they start pissing soonest...
oh yea, and by the way: THE SERVER IS FUCKED!
and why isn't anybody going to jail?
which is who compose the masses of fucktards trying to close down democracy.
Facts may be 'liberal,' but the pigs are ALL fascists...
I'm not willing to characterize the police like that. There's some truth to what you say but they aren't all like that and it's a sweeping generalization.
Certainly attack , beat , fined and jail democrats that were not even within a mile of the republican functions.
The republicans gave out tickets to their town hall meeting and any one they please they rejected..
You say this is a bad policy but it worked for Bush and if this is what it takes to have an open debate about the health bill policies then do it..
I would like to see some fines , arrest and jail terms for the Health corporation and republicans behind these corrupted policies..
I know people will point out that then they'll be cast as stifling alternate views, but the thing is, there's no way to stop them from saying that anyway! At this point they're running roughshod over people and they're still casting themselves as the victim just because people are talking about it. Their stance now is "How dare you call us bullies?!"
So why even pretend that the other side's behavior has anything to do with how it's going to be presented? Just crack down on the Town Hall meetings. It's not stifling debate, it's making debate possible. Everyone gets to talk, everyone has to listen.
People wouldn't accept this kind of behavior in a jr. high school assembly.
are always able to do: Put the Dims in a lose-lose situation.
And the Dims--gutless, fedckless, useless, supine, cringing fuckwits--always just lie there and take it...
... self-validate themselves by asking the Republicans if they're doing a good job.
To some of the advisors on the TV talk. They sound like wimps and say that this will blow over.... YES it will as soon as the corporate republicans get their way...
All I can think of is Heath Ledger as the Joker, saying, "You have all these rules, and you think they'll save you!"
that those who oppose them do. This is corporations using the ignorant and insane. They are so clever, aren't they?
n/t
There's an abundant supply of stupidity and ignorance in this country. If we could harness that and produce energy, we'd be oil-free for a millenium.
It never used to be the case. We're were learning Greek classics in grade 7-8 in the 1800's. In university you would study the Greek classics IN GREEK.
Thinking was cherished, not it's an abomination to be destroyed. Thinking is not even taught until university now, and that weeds out all the 'free thinkers'.
proles didn't start to get educated until the 1850s, when the pace of the industrial revolution started to pick up speed and momentum. and then mostly only in simple arithmetic and basic reading/writing.
the youth who were schooled in latin, greek, the clasics, history, etc, were children of the wealthy, almost exclusively...
It does seem like a case of being smart enough to totally see what's going on (unlike the teabaggers) but completely incapable of coming up with an efficient solution.
And the weird thing is, I don't think it's just the left that would respect them more for standing up for themselves.
I remember reading a thing once about John Brown, and how the Abolitionist movement was always powerless because it was made up of northern intellectuals who had no idea how to deal with the hate and violence of their Southern opposition. John Brown's genius was that he, too, was a crazy violent Southern man.
I am no expert on the subject, though, so any John Brown historians feel free to correct me on an article I remember reading years ago!
Bush era free speech zones. Set up a fenced off area a mile or so away from the town hall anyone wishing to disrupt and yell can yell as much as they want and democracy can go on as it was intended
As the MSM actually begins to cover the thuggery (keep those videos coming folks!), GOP support will continue to dwindle. Looks like a store run for more popcorn is in my immediate future.
Some of us are good at noticing one-sided videos. (During the Gulf War, we got a lot of videos purporting to show 'police brutality' that conveniently left out the provocations that preceded the police response.)
Let the teabaggers hang themselves. Think of it as aikido - turn their violence, their anger, their frustration against them.
I've learned that O'sensei put the "harm" back into harmony.
GOP, Dem, no actual difference. It must be faced and dealt with, or it will just be more of the same. Anyone sick of spinning their wheels yet?
"Anyone sick of spinning their wheels yet?"
Answer: Yes.
I wish I could say, "Me 50 millionth."
Here is a clip of Chris Matthews going after a Freedomworks' spokesperson and calling him a fraud.
Pretty good stuff.
http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=2429
http://chawedrosin.files.wordpress.com/2007/1...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzf0rvQa4Mc
How about comparing them to the brownshirts of nazi Germany? It fits very well.
Wonder why nobody ever thought of it...
Easy there woodrow...we all miss stuff sometimes.
Even when or perhaps ESCPECIALLY when it's right in our faces.
At a meeting around here by wearing black slacks and a brown long sleeve shirt and a red do-rag tied around my upper right arm, then standing by them shouting with them.
with my shaved noggin and goattee, folks might think I was serious though, lol!
There is no difference. I can cite numerous examples of brownshirts breaking up political gatherings of opposition parties.
One tool to help shut these nuts down is just to mercilessly and repeatedly mock them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOhV45z5CN8
Mock the Dummy
Awesome vid
Those republicans would kill a penguin if it suited their needs.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/07/maddow-afp/
Brian Baird (D-WA) was on Rachel Maddow's show (can't find the clip or I'd post it) and said he's not going to have a Town Hall meeting this August (tho he's had hundreds in the past) specifically to avoid the TeaBagger Insanity.
Instead he's planning a Conference Call Town Hall - 4-5000 constituents on the line simultaneously discussing Health Care Reform.
Novel Solution.
Saw this last night....I hope his solution works, but knowing these evil reichwingers, they'll probably organize to overload the phone lines.
Don't give them any ideas!
Yeah, I really hope they've thought of that and have a way to get around it.
I keep getting knocked off site today, and get messages that it's off-line.
Are y'all too?
. . if you can get in
Yes. Blank page with no content is what a get.
Usually I get a full page with no content.
Nyuck-nyuck-nyuck!
I actually have been having a lot more problems than usual the last few weeks.
I've been having trouble logging in; sometimes, when trying to post a comment, I get an error message; sometimes I get double postings. I've seen other problems.
I have several PCs networked together....all of them have had similar problems.
Nothing personal C+L
I just tried to respond, Evet.....and got kicked out!
With the denial of service attacks on Twitter and perhaps Facebook yesterday, wonder if there's something going on out on the net causing these C&L problems? I wouldn't doubt if it were a teabag virus of sorts.
I'll be reading the middle of a thread and will go to a link (like one of Ysbadaden's YouTubes) and when I come back the whole thread is shortened to maybe 10 posts when a moment ago it was 50.
I hit the refresh button and it comes back but then I've lost my freakin' place and have to try to find where I was.
I'm not a computer geek, but I'd think there should be a way to make things function more smoothly.
right click on the link and then in the menu that falls down, click on "open in new window". That way after you watch the video or whatever just close that window down and you'll still be here at C&L and it'll be just as you left it.
Think they've been hijacked by Kenyans?
The sites been a little slow for me lately.
Now would be the perfect time to conduct the Census.
The census takers could go to any town hall meeting and count how many really stupid people there are. (Those would be the ones shouting and not listening.)
At least we could be honest as a country and admit what our collective average intelligence actually is.
I think the number would be a real wake-up call for all of us.
Maybe it started earlier, but when bush used to do townhalls and only allow pre-screened sycophants to attend, it kind of invalidated the whole idea then and there for me.
Oh, oh I'm sorry your upset Mr. Teabagger . . okay, we'll just be leaving here in minute, don't hurt me now!
parking lot and let the air out of their tires.
I have had second thoughts about this. Use an ice pick on the tires.
Ohhh...ya finally figured it out. I'm proud of you.
You think this was about healthcare? LOLOLOL.
Let's see...the Fourth Estate...no longer independent.
The Courts...no longer independent.
The Congress...owned.
The Presidency...owned.
The public square...presently being eliminated as a place for polite political discourse.
Read your history. Want to know what's SUPPOSED to happen in the public square. Exacty what IS happening. You go there to express your displeasure...and when you're faced with fists...you pick up a club...faced with guns...you pick up rocks...faced with an army...you form a mob.
It's time to understand that democracy was ALWAYS a struggle. Progressives are pansies. We think everything should be all nice and cordial. Bull! This is about power, and power is never given up without a fight.
Naaah...that's just soooooo unpleaseant let's just put on our Ipods and go back to sleep.
man... I wish I could afford an iPod. :(
No....when these frgn' reich wingers take their cues from the likes of Beck and limpballs and show nazi imagery, "SS" signs, compare Obama to Hitler, etc., etc., they are not only displaying extreme hatred; they are entirely obfuscating the health care issues.
they are juiced up by rhetoric.
Pay attention to what is going on. Why is no one doing anything about this? Very easy...if you arrest them...you have to investigate...you investigate...you find out WHO is behind all of this. You do that...it exposes EVERYONE in the system...including BOTH parties that are taking money from the instigators.
That ain't happening.
Sweet.
Why can't the more intelligent side win?
Why can't the more intelligent side win?
It is.
The American People are MORANS.
Tony Anthony Moron. I saw it on his birth certificate. Her husband's last name was Moran. He couldn't read, though. Sad but still stupid, as she could read. These are your typical Republican operatives at the Town hall meetings, etc.
you make death threats and hang them in effigy.
Nice analogy.
The astroturf - teabagging - birther (corporate conservative) movement sure knows how to mobilize a few busloads of kooks to undermine democracy. Way to go guys.
America wasn't dumbed-down enough after eight years of Bush-Cheney.
When will the MSM call this disruption for what it is and embarrass the Republican party for supporting this.
But all I see is "Town Hall's show clear oppostion to Obama Healthcare"
and corrupt these politicians, too? And by attacking, I mean boycotts and anything else anyone can think of to discredit them and destroy their businesses. They have reduced real people to mere consumers who channel money to them. They poison us with toxic food and environmental pollution. I could go on, but my point is made.
Reporter: "So, are you here because Glenn Beck and a fake grassroots organization told you to come here?"
Teabag Fuckwit III: "Nope. I'm here exercisin' my constitutional right to free speech and because of these damn socialists driving this country right into a ditch."
The headlines are a literal truth. There is opposition, but it's not characterized in terms of its source or credibility, because to do so would reveal a 'liberal bias.'
These Reslug lunatics don't have any brain cells to kill in the first place.
The insurance executives have to be laughing themselves into self urination watching these powerless moronic racist martyrs fight for the right to give them even more of their hard earned money just to be against the black President.
Ignorance, religion and patriotism - a potent and toxic blend of manipulation juice for stirring up the racist rabble.
who do you think is FUNDING them!!!
with pre-screened bootlickers, and yet the Democrats can't even get Town Halls filled with just the constituents of the area they are being held?
Would it really be that hard to require an ID with a valid LOCAL address for entry?
...don't get Secret Service protection.
Because then you are dealing with voters only.
You're still going to see teabaggers who are just trying for a do-over of the November elections (those who didn't and never will vote for the Congresspeople holding the meetings), but you'd probably have a lot fewer of them disrupting the meetings.
We're not going to see anything like this in my district- Republican representative, ya know. But I'm sure that there are Republican acyivists who are planning on going to townhall meetings in neighboring districts where the representative hosting the meeting is a Democrat.
are to fuckng naive.
Yes. All the while screaming their rights are being violated.
When I was in high school, a Jewish friend of mine protested at a local Nazi rally, and there were policemen there defending the Nazi's and their right to free speech. Things got ugly really fast and she started throwing rocks and bottles at the rallying group. She got a bit banged up, and ended up getting arrested. I hate Nazi's, but it does seem that the cops did the right thing.
Is there no police or security presence at these town hall meetings? No bouncers to eject people who are completely out of line? No rules about what is appropriate behaviour? If people go there to hear someone speak and are prevented from doing so by rude-ass pricks, is there no other recourse but to cancel the meeting?
Cops are almost always Rightards.
They never mess with Rightard fuckwitz. Only the left/dfh gets the treatment.
who had 2 uncles in the biz as well, I agree.
My father still refers to his cowboy boots as "Hippie stompers" and claims he's slightly to the right of Ghengis Khan.
Yeah, dad and I aren't real close.
Most of the cops I know are pretty fair-minded.
Late of the Boston PD, for this expression of fair-mindedness and tolerance?
Three generations of policemen in my family. I've been to many of my brother's cop get togethers. It's like the fucking military with most of the people...they just recite right wing mythical bullshit like "I love Bush, he's not indecisive or a pussy like you Democrats!" Some cops are educated and thoughtful, but most I've encountered talk like typical Fox viewers.
They become cops because it gives 'em license to throw their weight around and a gun to back up their dickishness...
Actually there are shared qualities, primarily which is a hierarchical, authoritarian view, with clear-cut channels of command. That's not necessarily a bad thing when you're engaged in first-responder, dangerous work like the military and the paramilitary, but it's is antithema to an egalitarian system like demos kratos.
Combination of "antithesis" and "anathema." Very Chimpian, and I mean that in a good way...lol
I was shifting sentences, and didn't complete it.
I'll just mention Rodney King and the old homeless lady who threatened a woman cop with a screwdriver so she shot her.
Ummm, several dawn battering rams going through the wrong house where totally innocent old people were gunned down.
Don Scott up in Malibu. Google that one. I do believe the L.A.P.D. was in on that.
Of course one of the most representative comments came from the then Chief of Police, Daryl Gates: "ALL POT SMOKERS SHOULD BE LINED UP AGAINST A WALL AND SHOT."
America is only somewhere you would want to leave now. I can't imagine living in such a hateful place.
Up here in Canada we walked up to the old man at the convenience store and asked him 'Sell pot yet?'
He replied 'No, but if you come back tomorrow a bit earlier I know a guy who can set you up.'
I was a bit shocked for a sec, but laughed.
'I'd rather have people toking than drinking, at least they'll live longer.' He added.
And we continued to have a wonderful conversation...
No one cares. We only care that the government has made over 90% of the population criminals for no reason and now we don't care anymore.
We all know crimes involved perpetrators and victims, and drug laws cut the victim part out. It's a non law.
It's giving the government control over what you put in your body. I would rather them slam down on Sugars, Fats, Highfructous Corn Syrup, caffeine and other such legalize killing devices...
that only focuses on the disruptions it's alwsys going appear as though public support is declining. Come on people, remember, we don't have aa far left MSM.
Post a good solid security force at the door, and only admit people who have ID proving they live in the district. Everyone else gets tossed out. All signs and banners get confiscated. Disruptive people get escorted out of the room.
A shame it's come to this, but these people are like unruly brats in nursery school and they need to be shown how to behave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg8rR9DxcK8
AND, these protesters, who have now crossed the line, as noted here and in most other US media today, should be put on NEW buses and transported to the nearest jail...There they get to sit on their collective fat asses until their sentence for Incitement and Disturbing the Peace runs it's course.
Since they clearly have no other agenda than to disrupt and disturb the peace, this should be an easy fix and should be implemented TODAY.
screwing people for their own enterprise$ while praising and enforcing virtues they never possessed to begin with to enforce some basic civil decency and order.
Short buses would we need to haul them all to jail though?
The Party who shoved greedy failures Bush, Cheney, Palin down our throats are health experts, economists and nanny-state supporters.
haha, hoho, haha..........
can make you do the unthinkable..."
words to that effect...
There were several instances during the GW Bush years where if a person simply wore an anti Bush t-shirt, they were ejected from the building....
These right wingers opposed any critisism of Bush- but now the shoe is on the other foot, they demand full rights to slam obama...
These Chriso-fascists have ZERO credibility, because they were the same ones that backed Bush's expansion of executive powers and out of control spending policies..
but they got money and from the very people who intend to screw us and them.
authorizes their attacks on Obama...
is authorized by your attacks on the Chimp, who, by virtue of his Caucasoid Connecticutt based parentage, can be called a Chimp without fear of race baiting.
In good sign, job losses slow as unemployment dips!
Okay nonfarm payrolls decreased by 247,000 in July. The economy has lost almost 5.7 million jobs over the last year, and 6.65 million jobs during the 19 consecutive months of job losses.
How the hell is this a good sign? An improvement?
Reminds me of the Brown shirts and the famous photo of taking over the Reichstag in 1933. Smashing all dissent by claiming a breech of liberty. Nothing like manipulating public opinion by appealing to the malcontents and fearful of society - and playing them like puppets.
I don't know - I am afraid something very violent is going to happen in the coming days that could go one of two ways - completely backfire on the right by portraying them as the lunatics they really are, or setting up martyrs. In any event, you've got a lot of people who just want to stir up shit for its own sake - and Fox loves it, the lobbyists love it. What surprises me is the lack of death threats people like Limbaugh and Beck are getting. It makes one wonder since the ones pouring the gasoline are on the air behind the safety of microphones.
I'm glad the Obama dog isn't a Weimaraner...
"I dunno, a fire I guess"
"Yeah, well ya want to go have a brewski?"
"I dunno, I think I'm gonna go shop a while"
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/rethi...
People who are overweight and over 50 should be banned from voting or holding public office. These two groups of people represent the vast majority of conservatives, and if you could remove them from politics, social progress might again become a possibility in this country.
when they say there's a tint of Stalinism in the "Left."
Cuz you couldn't even PRETEND to be a 'democracy' if you followed those ideas...
not much ethnic diversity in this crowd- Hardly a shock, as White supremacy groups are heavily involved- they see this right wing backlash aganst obama as their chance to 'take america back for white people'.
What upsets these righties most of all is that a black man is president..
I am 60 and thin as a rail.
I do wish people would be more health conscious, but it is far more important that they are politically conscious.
I have my doubts in general that one can truly understand life on this Earth before age 50. Although there are a precocious few.
I certainly did not know enough to trust anyone over thirty until I turned that age.
No doubt there are many older liberals out there, but it's a statistical fact that most people become politically more conservative as they get older. There's also a clear correlation between obesity and conservative politics. For example, the percentage of people who are overweight is far higher in red states. While it's just wishful thinking on my part, there's no doubt the country would become more progressive and open-minded if we could remove the obese and the elderly from American politics.
I am not a liberal, I am a socialist neocom.
I am a democrat, small 'd'.
What you observe as a correlation between obesity, the red states and conservatism is an artifact of the Corporate Consumer Propaganda Agenda.
They do not want citizens of a community, that would possibly lead to social consciousness. They want consumers, nothing more, fat ones indicate a successful indoctrination program.
What you should be concerned with is the commonweal.
I would like most to rescue those poor unfortunates from the clutches of the Corporate Propaganda Machine.
You seem to be content to exclude them.
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