Laura Hollis, one of our favorite Townhall writers, gives instructions to us tea-partying, ramble rousers
...how have the liberal elites responded to their countrymen’s concerns, their exercise of their First Amendment rights of free speech, assembly, and petitioning the government? By calling them Nazis, accusing them of bringing swastikas to town halls, characterizing American taxpayers as “angry mobs,” dismissing their grassroots protests as fake “Astroturf,” drummed up and funded by multinational corporations; by cancelling town halls, and insulting constituents who want to know why Congress passes laws without reading them. Uh-huh, sure. When ACORN and other Lefty activist groups pay and bus in homeless people, union members, and others to disrupt and intimidate, that’s “democracy.” When taxpayers, parents, and senior citizens show up on their own and protest how the government plans to spend their money, they’re a threat.
Hey there, average American - NOW do you understand how much they hate you and everything you stand for? The lengths they will go to to discredit and marginalize you, and take from you everything you have worked a lifetime to secure for yourself and your family? They want you to shut up. They want you to go away. They want to humiliate you into backing down while they take over your country, dismantle your constitutional protections, seize your assets, tax you into submission, and insert themselves and their appointed bureaucrats between you and your doctor.
Are you going to lay down and let them get away with it?
Hey there, average American - NOW do you understand how much they hate you and everything you stand for? The lengths they will go to to discredit and marginalize you, and take from you everything you have worked a lifetime to secure for yourself and your family? They want you to shut up. They want you to go away. They want to humiliate you into backing down while they take over your country, dismantle your constitutional protections, seize your assets, tax you into submission, and insert themselves and their appointed bureaucrats between you and your doctor.
Are you going to lay down and let them get away with it?
Michelle Malkin: The Etiquette Czar's Rules for Patriotic Protest. No ruling on wearing a Commie Obama Rally Cap to future protests, so we'll continue wearing one until told otherwise. Some of our favorites:
No shouting. Congressional representatives cannot sell Obamacare with mobs of unruly senior citizens and small-business owners interrupting to press them on specific sections of the bill. Limit your objections to a library whisper and only challenge your lawmakers with hushed, dulcet tones. Otherwise, you will scare them, and they will be forced to hide behind teleconference calls, sick children at hospitals or union bosses.
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No laughing. Snickering at proponents of nationalized health care is rude, bordering on political terrorism. Stifle all derisive chuckling at bogus statistics and denials that Obamacare will lead to long lines and rationed care. That would be "evil-mongering," as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put it on Thursday.
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No Nazi comparisons. References to fascism are ugly and un-American. Swastikas have no place in debates about nationalizing 20 percent of the economy. Swastikas may, however, still be used as substitutes for the "S" in "BusHitler" and tattoos on the forehead of Darth Cheney.
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No laughing. Snickering at proponents of nationalized health care is rude, bordering on political terrorism. Stifle all derisive chuckling at bogus statistics and denials that Obamacare will lead to long lines and rationed care. That would be "evil-mongering," as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put it on Thursday.
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No Nazi comparisons. References to fascism are ugly and un-American. Swastikas have no place in debates about nationalizing 20 percent of the economy. Swastikas may, however, still be used as substitutes for the "S" in "BusHitler" and tattoos on the forehead of Darth Cheney.
James Taranto at the WSJ discusses the poor analogy to Bush going into Iraq to Obama's faltering Healthcare efforts in his Tuesday Best of the Web post, The ObamaCare Quagmire:
...the comparison sells President Bush short in a way that is independent of the merits of the policies. Whereas Obama seems to think the country owes it to him to accept ObamaCare because he was kind enough to agree to be our president, Bush actually made an effort to persuade the public--including the opposite party--that his plan for Iraq was a good idea. The effort was very successful: Congress authorized the use of military force with strong bipartisan majorities, and by early 2003, public approval of the plan was in the 70% range.
Republican politicians did not label opponents of the war effort "un-American," as Steny Pelosi and Nancy Hoyer have done to ObamaCare foes. Bush's White House, unlike Obama's, did not urge supporters to report "fishy" pro-Saddam arguments. Bush did not tell his critics to shut up and "get out of the way," as Obama did last week. The Bush administration simply made a compelling argument and won. The Obama administration, on the verge of losing after making a poor argument, now is lashing out at its critics--which seems a strategy to maximize the damage of this effort.
Republican politicians did not label opponents of the war effort "un-American," as Steny Pelosi and Nancy Hoyer have done to ObamaCare foes. Bush's White House, unlike Obama's, did not urge supporters to report "fishy" pro-Saddam arguments. Bush did not tell his critics to shut up and "get out of the way," as Obama did last week. The Bush administration simply made a compelling argument and won. The Obama administration, on the verge of losing after making a poor argument, now is lashing out at its critics--which seems a strategy to maximize the damage of this effort.
Yep. Bush = Class.
Karl Rove suggests Obama should snap out of campaign mode and start acting like a president in the WSJ article, Obama and the Permanent Campaign.
Team Obama is suffering from Extended Campaign Syndrome. In an election, campaign staffers are often just trying to survive until the next week or the next primary. They cut corners because they are fatigued or under pressure. They can be purposely combative and even portray critics as enemies.
Carrying this mindset into the White House can get you into trouble, a lesson the Obama administration is now learning the hard way.
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Life inside the White House is far different from life inside a presidential campaign. The spotlight is brighter and scrutiny greater. While the posse in the White House pressroom is still slow to challenge Mr. Obama, ordinary people are forming their own judgments and they are increasingly negative.
Carrying this mindset into the White House can get you into trouble, a lesson the Obama administration is now learning the hard way.
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Life inside the White House is far different from life inside a presidential campaign. The spotlight is brighter and scrutiny greater. While the posse in the White House pressroom is still slow to challenge Mr. Obama, ordinary people are forming their own judgments and they are increasingly negative.
Daniel Henninger at the WSJ offers some analysis on the slow-motion trainwreck in Will They Still Love Him Tomorrow?
It's early. A lot of Mr. Obama's centrist admirers are no doubt willing to wait for their moderate man to emerge. I don't think that will ever happen.
The moderates have nearly no presence in the administration, its agenda, or the congressional leadership. Maybe Larry Summers, on paper. The president likes to talk to moderates, but he doesn't ask too many to work for him. The internal exile of Paul Volcker speaks volumes. Obama can't keep the moderate-man conceit going indefinitely.
The moderates have nearly no presence in the administration, its agenda, or the congressional leadership. Maybe Larry Summers, on paper. The president likes to talk to moderates, but he doesn't ask too many to work for him. The internal exile of Paul Volcker speaks volumes. Obama can't keep the moderate-man conceit going indefinitely.
James Lewis, at American Thinker, lowers the political discourse with his article, At What Point Does a Liberal Become a Stalinist? The gall. But actually, it is a very reasoned, measured discussion.
The first adjective that comes to mind for "liberal" may be "touchy-feely." The best adjective for a Stalinist might be "murderous." That's a pretty big difference. I would never want to mistake a well-meaning liberal for a nasty Stalinist. At the same time, I hope we don't fail to spot any Stalinists who might be looking for mischief and pretending to be liberals.
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Don't look for Communists under every bed, but don't be foolish enough to ignore self-proclaimed Marxist Radicals who wish us ill. Keep your faith in the strength and common sense of the American people. Spread the truth, as you see it, and let others express theirs.
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Don't look for Communists under every bed, but don't be foolish enough to ignore self-proclaimed Marxist Radicals who wish us ill. Keep your faith in the strength and common sense of the American people. Spread the truth, as you see it, and let others express theirs.
Good advice.
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