The GOP, as Limbaugh stated "wants Obama to fail . That means all of his policies--including improving health care, they would do anything to prevent from succeeding. We've seen all of the anti-Obama rhetoric and we've seen people going to town hall meetings with concealed and unconcealed weapons. Let's face it. The GOP hate mongering has riled up their apathetic base to a fevered pitch. This is a dangerous time.
The article "The Last Time Right-Wing Hatred Ran Wild Like This a President Was Killed at
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print/23941/
discusses there are parallels to now and when J.F.K. was assassinated and concludes "Today, conservatives are expressing outrage [3] that Rep. Nancy Pelosi had the nerve to raise concerns about the onrush of violent political rhetoric. The Noise Machine claims it has no idea what Pelosi's talking about. But the truth is, America's most famous bouts of political violence (i.e. JFK, Oklahoma City, etc.) have always been accompanied by waves of radical, right-wing rhetoric.
Given that history, the GOP's insistence that the hate now filling the streets couldn't possibly inspire violence seems woefully naive.
Liberals traditionally appeal to the intellect. The GOP fear and mongering misinformation appeal to the baser emotions of our apoplectic red-staters.
Instead of concentrating on the plight of 47 million US citizens without health care we are dealing with the typical GOP tactics. The GOP policies are so bereft of concern for anyone other than the top 1%--in this case in the insurance industry, whose only concern is their bottom lines, that they can't discuss the Democrats' health care improvements -- so they attack. It is reminiscent of Atwater's, or his star pupil Rove's, politics of personal destruction.
Instead of discussing how we could provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance, we are talking about a redneck Congressman Joe Wilson insulting our president. Instead of discussing how we could provide insurance to those who don't have it we are discussing whether it is right for lunatics to show up at town hall meetings with unconcealed guns. Instead of discussing how an improved health care system would slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government, we are sidetracked into talking about "death panels , "killing grannies and whether illegal aliens will benefit from Obama's health care proposals.
The GOP has historically reveled in destroying their opponents with no concern other than making sure the top 1% of the population gets every last cent it can and that the red-staters get propaganda, stoking their fear and hatred. When you get riled-up people whose education -- and consequentially their income -- is below average, awful things can occur. Were we all amazed at Joe Wilson's actions? No, the GOP has a history of scams like this, but a Democrat in a position of power and consequentially the ability to influence other Democrats, would never do anything similar to that because Democrats traditionally appeal to intellectually oriented techniques. Maybe it is time we nominate someone to fight the GOP smear tactics immediately. It was only five years ago that we got our noses rubbed in it with the "Swift Boat misinformation campaign. Obama did a better job responding to McCain half-truth smears than Kerry did, but we let the GOP control the Obamacare conversation all summer "a strategy that hasn't worked. Also, the Democrats don't possess a TV news propaganda organ such as the GOP possesses in FOX news, which also has been a significant factor in how the Obamacare discussion has failed. They also have that master liar Limbaugh and his clones on Clear Channel Radio. Obama was scheduled for five different TV news interviews on September 20th. Can that turn the tide?
Who are the GOP goons doing all of their yelling at town hall meetings? The article "Anti-abortion group may have violated tax code at
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/09/15/exclusive-anti-abortion-group-may-have-broken-irs-rules/
describes one such group as it states "The American Life League (ALL) is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization which claims to be the "largest grassroots Catholic pro-life education organization in the United States. During a Sept. 12, 2009 rally in Washington, D.C. sponsored by right-wing lobbyists, the health-care industry and other partisan groups, numerous protesters carried a sign which said "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy. The ALL logo can be plainly seen at the bottom right-hand corner of the sign.
ALL can't qualify for section 501(c)(3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation. Being at the Sept. 12, 2009 rally alone should suffice in disqualifying them, but for the GOP nothing matters other than attacking their opponents and getting their way. They will worry about ALL losing its status after they try their best to ruin Obama's effort to improve our health care "which comprises 1/6 of the US' economy.
The article also described the rally and how completely organized and funded this supposedly spontaneous outrage of Obamacare is, "The rally at which the ALL signs were distributed drew tens of thousands of people from around the country to oppose health care reform. The main sponsor of the rally was FreedomWorks, a partisan astroturf group headed by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey.Â
Last April, even before that month's tea party protests, FreedomWorks grassroots organizer Brendan Steinhauser posted at the group's website, "I have secured a permit for the West Front of the United States Capitol for a taxpayer tea party on Saturday, September 12th, 2009. " FreedomWorks is inviting everyone to join us on Saturday, 9-12-2009 to protest at the U.S. Capitol Building. The website announced in that post, 912dc.org, prominently lists FreedomWorks as its National Sponsor.
Anything Dick Armey runs is going to have a sole purpose "to create GOP gain and that is what FreedomWorks does. They have these experienced mercenaries who can be transported anywhere to disrupt any issue that runs counter to the top 1%'s wishes "the only GOP concern.
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