manufactured outrage, indeed

I have a theory. Humor me. After watching footage of a cancer survivor speak before Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee at a town hall in California today and watching as Lee openly took out her cell phone as the cancer survivor spoke, I concluded that the US Congress has been disproportionately stricken by Attention Deficit Disorder and are urgently in need of Ritalin. Unfortunately, on a Congressional salary, a gal like Lee can barely afford her hefty dose of Hallucinogenic drugs, let alone Ritalin, to boot.

Lee’s aloofness to the public outrage certainly explains Congress’ paranoid response to the Health Care protesters who have been greeting them at town hall after town hall. It couldn’t by any means be real outrage, could it?

Just the other day I opened my Twitter feed to find that even the BBC is now asking whether the Health Care Reform protesters are part of a “manufactured” “conspiracy.”

First, it is trite to even discuss the infinite, blatant and documented examples of extreme-leftists planting protesters at public events; of leftists shouting down public speakers they disagree with; and of leftists ‘organizing’ to protest.

Second, to say that the Republicans are behind all this is laughable. With the party of Bush-McCain in disarray, the Conservative, Independent, and Libertarian movements momentously and vocally lashing out at the US government’s march toward Socialism, the Republican Party can only wish it could claim credit.

Third, I should state upfront that the BBC article by Jonathan Beale was one of the fairer takes on the subject I’ve seen yet.

Nevertheless, I still find the concept of dissecting the motives behind town hall protesters in and of itself rather specious – conspiratorial, one might say. Ultimately, unless these protesters are insincere in their beliefs, who cares who organized them? Why are people so concerned about this?

Indeed, it seems that the moment the Speaker of the House, others in Congress, and the White House itself all began spreading the rumor that these protesters are just “manufactured” protesters planted by special interests, various news outlets simply ran with it.

A few days ago for instance, an unsettled Nancy Pelosi mentioned seeing mobs of protesters “carrying Swastikas and symbols like that.”

Curious, I Googled “health-care-protesters-swastika” and came across a single photo of a protester. The protester is holding up a sign with a Swastika on it and “? Obama” written underneath. Of course, Frau Pelosi surely felt that the inclusion of a red line – the universal symbol for opposition – drawn across the Swastika is contextually insignificant to the point being raised:  these protesters are simply ‘uncivil’ Swastika-flashing ‘mobs’ destroying political discourse and dialogue and lions and tigers and bears oh my!

So, anyone listening to Pelosi’s disconcerted ramblings about unspecified protesters with Swastikas would think your local Neo-Nazis had turned out in force to protest Health Care Reform. In reality (a place that Pelosi rarely makes it to these days), the one protester I’ve seen carried an anti-Swastika, clearly communicating (a) that Obama is nazi-esque and (b) that Nazism is bad.

Perhaps “(a)” is an extreme position, but let’s keep in mind the all important “(b).” This much, at least, I can concede to the approximately eighty-three billion protesters we have been seen carrying effigies of George W. Bush plastered with every imaginable reference to Nazism – yes, including a Swastika or two. Yes, their mental faculties notwithstanding, I can at least concede that these protesters didn’t seem to prefer Nazism.

Thankfully, the Speaker toned down her criticism of the protesters: now she simply calls them “Un-American” in her official press release.

Barbara Boxer (no, she really hasn’t earned, nor does she deserve the title “Senator”) provided a pointless anecdote to NBC news about the last time she’d seen protesters so “well dressed.” She said that in 2000, when Al Gore asked her to come to Florida, she was told to ‘go back to California.’ Unabashed, the fierce lioness said ‘your hero Ronald Regan’ is from California, and they all quieted down.

I seem to have missed or forgotten that soaring example of rhetorical savoir-faire during the course of Gore’s thirty-five day coup d’état. I firstly doubt very much that it ever happened; yet, if it did, I doubt that it caused any protesters to eat their words. Charles Manson, Scott Peterson and Grey Davis are also Californians. Certainly, having shared a state with one’s favorite former president seems an unlikely criterion for making it into one’s heart.

Now, the upshot of Boxer’s drug-induced babble is this: the Health Care protesters, like the 2000 election protesters, are just a well funded, well connected, ‘well dressed’ mob who doesn’t represent America. They are just members of a vast, wealthy, organized conspiracy, planted by insurance companies.

Being that she is a fabulously wealthy millionairess, who has spent the better part of thirty years soaking up tax money as a cradle-to-grave-politician, I shan’t doubt Boxer’s keen ability to spot fine and expensive clothing. However, the clips and photos of protesters I’m seeing are looking rather Wall-Mart-chic these days.

Is it Boxer’s belief that average Americans – people likely to show up to protest a town hall meeting on an expensive and increasingly unpopular bill – would sloppily shuffle into a town hall meeting with their Congressman wearing their filthiest peasant rags?

Perhaps she’s just unaware of the new USA Today/Gallup poll showing that a majority of people over fifty, and of people with existing Health Care, and of seniors (many of whom are already on Medicare) are opposed to government run health care. These are citizens who generally work, earn money, pay their taxes and take an interest in civics. I’ll go out a limb and assume they typically shower and dust off their polo shirts and blouses from time to time, “Ma’am.”

These well-dressed mobs are clearly the result of all that “fishy” information being disseminated. As a public service, White House Communications Director for Health Care Reform, Linda Douglas, posted this message on an official White House blog:

“There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care.  These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.  Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.”

Now, I’m not one of those who would go so far as to say that President Obama is compiling an enemies list, but let’s stay here for just a moment. First, its very likely, any email sent to the White House is archived in a database and investigated – even if the FBI doesn’t show up at your door.

Second, while I certainly doubt that Douglas was attempting to silence political opposition, maybe advising people to report all casual conversations they’re having with friends, neighbors and colleagues if the content of those conversations seems “fishy,” at least has the flavor of a Totalitarian thought-control policy, no?

This statement can still be read at http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/facts-are-stubborn-things/

Rather than asking us to report suspicious conversations to the White House so they can respond email-by-email, Obama could just speak directly to the American people and convince those of us who aren’t so stupid as to think universal Health Care will be deficit neutral – you know, like those crazy folks at the Congressional Budget Office, who are now foretelling of unavoidable deficits in the proposed program reaching the low twelve digits within the first decade.

Well, yesterday, he did just that in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

First question.

Q: ‘I’m a senior citizen I have a wonderful government run healthcare plan called Medicare. I like it. Its affordable. Its reasonable. No one tells me what to do, I just go to my doctor, my hospital, I get care . . . . you’ve been striving for bipartisanship . . . .

(Really?)

. . . . my question is, if the Republicans actively refuse to participate in a reasonable way with reasonable proposals, isn’t it time to just say we’re going to pass what people need and what they want without the Republicans.’

Sure, I mean, that’s a fair and evenhanded point. Obviously this was just your average Joe the Plumber Six-pack off the street at Obama’s town hall. Nothing like those dreadful town halls we’ve been seeing – full of planted protesters and manufactured outrage.

A little later, an angel-faced, starry-eyed eleven year old pixie of a girl warmed our hearts and dulled our senses with this question:

Q: ‘I saw a lot of signs outside saying mean things about reforming health care, how do kids know what is true, and why do people want a new system that can help more of us?’

What a sharp little princess. Why would people – get this – why would people want to create a ‘system’ that helps more people? I’ve been as confused as she on this point. Prey tell my für? Mr. Obama, you’re not one of these crazy guys – these, these guys who likes to help people all the time, are you? What a crazy concept. That’s just crazy!

I wonder. Could it be that this well-informed little girl inherited her smarts from her dear old mom, Manning Hall, a coordinator for Massachusetts Women for Obama during the 2008 election?

Yes, the Boston Globe is now reporting that little Julia’s mommy was a campaign fund raiser – a community organizer of sorts – who has actually met with Michelle Obama, the Obama daughters and Vice President Biden during the campaign.

I give you a manufactured, well-organized town hall brimming with planted questions, compliments of the Community Organizer in Chief.

Yet, the President’s finest hour surely came with:

Q: ‘How can a private company compete against the government?’

A: “I think private insurance should be able to compete . . . . if you think about it, uh, ya’know UPS and Fedex are doin’ just fine. Right? No, they are, it’s the Post Office that’s always havin’ problems.”

Huh. You know, that’s exactly the best analogy someone could give in making the case for government run health care. Phew, that certainly cleared up all the “fishy” misconceptions I had.

With his credibility on Health Care hemorrhaging, Obama’s response to broad, bipartisan public outrage is to ‘manufacture’ his own friendly town hall – totally unrepresentative of what’s occurring in dozens of town halls across the country – in which he gives few details, plays with numbers (giving wishful, at best, estimates about cost-control measures that are totally contrary to the non-partisan CBO) and playing with facts, in the end amounting to little more than a, “Trust me folks, I got this one!”

Even before this shameless spectacle occurred, Dorothy Rabinowitz wrote a slam-dunk of an article in the Wall Street Journal of Obama’s tone-deafness to this public outrage.

She wrote that, “[Obama] seems unable to grasp . . . . [t]hat Americans don’t take well, for instance, to bullying, especially of the moralizing kind, implicit in those speeches on health care for everybody. Neither do they wish to be taken where they don’t know they want to go and being told it’s good for them.”

Well, in fairness to Obama, at least he turned his Black Berry on vibrate during his town hall. Are you listening Sheila Jackson Lee? Didn’t think so.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342653428074782.html