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This is democracy, with a small d

I don’t have much else to add to what Leah from New Hampshire, C-SPAN caller says. Here we go:

This is democracy in action — Leah gets it and the questioner in the next video gets it.
The video shows the same town hall meeting with GA Rep Scott with a question from another constituent. Notice there is no sign of a mob or disruption. But of course the congressman acts as if there is because he has no good and substantive answers to their questions.

[HT to Hillaryis44 for the videos]

While that is going on around the country, the hired clowns from the Hill, Pelosi and Hoyer have written an op-ed in the USA Today where they are branding people looking for answers as Un-American. Now when did dissent or information-seeking become Un-American? Is this a new version of “you’re with us or with them” or “if you’re not with us, you’re not patriotic”? According to Pelosi and Hoyer, protesting a non-answer or cop out by politicians in these town hall meetings is unacceptable and un-American while they turn a blind eye to the havoc caused by their own people. The disruptions in recent town hall meetings if you notice came from Obama supporters, for instance, the SEIU thugs roughing up a black man (see video below, and then getting arrested, see at 2:44 marker). For people who did not pay attention to the Democratic party primary, this is what happened pretty much in every caucus, including Iowa with the intimidation from Obama thugs on Hillary supporters. It is not much of a surprise to me that they are resorting to their time tested method of suppressing opposition through these vile means.

Obama and his supporters do not know how to propose major legislation; they don’t know how to build trust and support among their voters and constituents for it; they don’t know how to deal with opposition. So far they have lost the battle with message control and are aggressively going after their own voters. That is NOT democracy.

  • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

    Leah captures the organic movement that is very real and very unscripted beautifully. Her voice IS the voice of this very real and growing dissent.

    The anger is real and it is coming from all directions.

    Note to Obama: This is the real America you are witnessing. This is not manufactured. If you can’t become congruent with America, America will leave you behind in 2012.

    • Obamastolemycountry

      Can we leave him behind sooner? Pretty please???

      • FrenchNail

        My sentiment exactly!

    • carol haka

      Sending a letter to the IRS requesting all of my tax money to be returned as I have been declared not an American. No need for me to pay taxes in this country. Nothing here to look at, move along ………….

      CAROL HAKA :evil:

      Oh wait, I just found my Long Form Birth Certificate ———— turns out I am an American…………

      • tzada

        We would be treated BETTER if we were here illegally.

    • Nellie

      YEAH! NH the Live Free or Die State.

      Leah from Manchester is in Carol Shea-Porter’s district. From talking to people, seems Carol is going to be retired come 2010 and they really want to fire her NOW!

      Tomorrow in Portsmouth NH, Obama is staging one of his phony scripted “Town Hall” Meetings. And people are really PO’d. When I asked a friend why the Mayor of Portsmouth acquiesced I was told the Mayor felt he “had no choice“. This was followed by the comment The Mayor seems to have forgotten he is paid to listen to the people of his city and not the Obama Administration”

      I followed up and asked Is he going to be Mayor much longer? The response was – not yet decided. We will have meetings after the demonstration we are having OUTSIDE the Town Hall Obama will be in.

      Gotta love my HOME state. Hopefully they will have live coverage for OUTSIDE The hall, as well as OBAMA performing for the cameras on the inside!

      Truly Democracy with a capital “D”.

    • TeakWoodKite

      This is not manufactured.

      Hey BuzzisbackLatte; We off-shored all that.

      • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

        Which makes the dems look even more stupid because they are the ones that dreamed up the little piece of crap about the townhall protesters.

  • Donna Brazile

    To quoteth That One, “Let me be clear….”

    Leah nailed it!

    Stop the unpatrioticfest!

  • http://shhhithitsthefan.wordpress.com/ It hits the fan

    The Democrats have nothing to offer except lies and distortion. And when the public wises up to them they resort to attacks upon the citizenry. All those years when we heard how bad Bush was for doing this and that, and here comes the Dims reading out of the same playbook.

    Our country has been hijacked by political parties. And as long as we allow it, democracy will remain spelled with a little d. It’s time to stand up and fight back.

  • Peggy Sue

    If I lived in New Hamshire, I’d vote for Leah! She very succiently stated how the public feels: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

    We’re at the 30-count marker and these clueless representatives and members of the media are shocked that there’s anger in the country or pretend the frustration is manufactured?

    And then, to add fuel to the fire Pelosi has the unmitigated gall to say people protesting at Town Hall meetings is “unAmerican.”

    These people need to voted out toute suite! 2010 can’t come soon enough.

    • johninca

      Or, as rewritten by G.W. Bush, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me– you can’t get fooled again.”

  • Seattle Moss

    Did you noticed the strained looks on the faces of the reporters. One of them had a real problem with his eye balls.
    I give them credit for at least not interrupting while Leah made her points.

    Way to go Leah!

    • Cindy

      Seattle–OT, but we just got back from LLano, and I just read what you said about us all being the Treaty Oak. So true and WONDERFULLY put! You really should write (and teach!). I have an extra piece of “the oak” I bought years ago…..and will be glad to give it to you, when you and your wife come through the Lost Pines!

    • gonzotx

      I was cracking up about the eyeballs too. He looked so not up to it

  • Tammy

    CSPAN is one of the true public news sites.
    For the most part, they let the callers speak their piece.

    The strained look was on the Obamabot’s face.
    True joy for me.

  • jwrjr

    The voters should send a message to Pelousy and Hoyer – “If you’re not with us you are unemployed.”

  • whoisjohngalt

    Leah for President in 2012!

  • William L. Donlon

    I must admit that I am shocked!

    Obama has proved to be a bigger Political Klutz than “W”

    I never really believed that he was as “Gifted” as the media types made him out to be.

    But he ran a tight ship during the campaign and was really cool in Sept. Oct. when McCain was rattled by the Economic melt down.

    In March, when the cracks started to show through, I just thought that it was bound to happen given the adjustments to a “New Job”.

    But it was the night of the “Health Presser” when he took the Question about Gates, that I sat bolt upright in my chair. My jaw dropped as I watched the “Gifted One” go right off message.

    “W” Clinton, Regan, even Carter never did that.

    The media types knew it that night, I could tell .
    Almost with out exception they were at a loss for words when the Presser ended.

    But the combination of that with the attacks on the American People over the last six days is beyond astonishing.

    It’s beyond down right dumb.

    It’s blind rage that he can’t seem to manage to keep under raps.

    Sicking Acorn and Union thugs on angry and confused American Citizens attending town hall meetings,.

    Setting up WHsnitch.com

    Telling his followers to ” get in their face” to “Hit back twice as hard”

    Calling the American people “A mob, Un American, Nazis” and worse.

    These are the acts of a political thug not a gifted leader.

    And if you think August is hard, Wait until you see Oct & Nov when the economy double dips, Afghanistan comes calling and a shell shocked Congress returns and backs away from his agenda items like Health care and Cape & trade.

    He has a political glass jaw!

    Who would have guessed??

    I must admit, I’m shocked.

    • Tammy

      I’m not shocked at all.
      This man has been an artificial poser from day one.
      He never ran anything except campaigns, and he has been told over and over that he’s “brilliant”, and he believes his own press.

      He will destroy his own party before this four year stint is up. And he doesn’t care, because it’s all about HIM.

    • Mia

      This is just a continuation of his well known “…clinging on gun, religion,..” comment he gave to a chosen group of people last year. Or continuation of race biting which his clowns were throwing around for him. Nothing new here – it was expected.

  • Ani

    Leah rocks!!!

    That was amazing. Succinct. Objective. She covered every single concern. Everyone in congress should have to take the three minutes to hear what this lady has to say.

    She is reasonable, reasonably frustrated and angry. God bless her for speaking up. Kudos to the host and to CSpan for not interrupting her and letting her finish her point.

    • pm317

      I was also impressed with the questioner in the second video — the quality of the video is not good. He was pleading for the congressman to help and do the right thing. We all saw how that congressman reacted.

    • http://sarainitalyblog.blogspot.com/ American Girl in Italy

      I second that! :O) She was spot on!!

      Thanks for posting pm317!

  • William L. Donlon

    I must admit, I’m Shocked!

    Obama, The ‘gifted one” has a political glass jaw!

    Who would have guessed that he is even a bigger political klutz than “W”?

    First there was the Gates fiasco and now THIS:

    Sicking ACORN and Union thugs on confused and angry Americans attenting Town Halls.

    Setting up whsnitch.com

    Calling American Citizens Thugs, Astroterfers, Nazis, UnAmerican, etc.

    These are acts of rage by a steet thug not a gifted leader.

    If you think August is bad, wait till Oct. Nov.

    When the economy does a double dip.
    When unemployment hits double didgits.
    When Afghanistan comes calling.
    When a shell shocked Congress refuses to pass Cap & Trade, Health reform and Son of Stimulus.

    He has a political Glass Jaw.
    It’s over!
    Who knew??

    • tzada

      U.S. Web-Tracking Plan Stirs Privacy Fears

      The Obama administration is proposing to scale back a long-standing ban on tracking how people use government Internet sites with “cookies” and other technologies, raising alarms among privacy groups.
      A two-week public comment period ended Monday on a proposal by the White House Office of Management and Budget to end a ban on federal Internet sites using such technologies and replace it with other privacy safeguards. The current prohibition, in place since 2000, can be waived if an agency head cites a “compelling need.”
      Two prominent technology policy advocacy groups, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Electronic Frontier Foundation, cited the terms of a Feb. 19 contract with Google, in which a unnamed federal agency explicitly carved out an exemption from the ban so that the agency could use Google’s YouTube video player.
      Contract Terms
      The terms of the contract, negotiated through the General Services Administration, “expressly waives those rules or guidelines as they may apply to Google.” The contract was obtained by EPIC through a Freedom of Information Act request.
      “Our primary concern is that the GSA has failed to protect the privacy rights of U.S. citizens,” EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg said. “The expectation is they should be complying with the government regulations, not that the government should change its regulations to accommodate these companies.”

      http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081002743_pf.html

      • I’m a Linda too

        thank you for this.

        Just amazing. Google has become such a disappointment. I told hubby, no way on google voice and no way on google “chrome” browser….uhhh…where’s the lawsuit for Google monopoly, like Microsoft…

  • Tammy

    Body language/face gave it all away. That congressman did NOT like it.

    This woman is asking the same kinds of questions that the people at the Town Hall meetings are asking.

    You know, those “mobs”. Those “un Americans”.

    This despot will go down, and he will go down fast.
    That’s my prediction.

  • Objective Analysis

    Amen, Leah. I am sick of all of this parties and fake ass media pundits like MsNBC and CNN who have the gall to state that organic voters (of regular citizens who are doctors, seniors, regular people of all races) who are tired of this bullshit (BS) are “un-american, nazis, brownshirts, teabaggers, racists, etc….” because they won’t kiss Obama, Pelosi and Reid’s far left wing liberal asses who want to make this country the second Reich under Hitler II, (socialist, facism, and under their control).

    You got a Revolution on your hands. American Revolution II. Give me liberty or give me death.

  • Confused American
    • Seattle Moss

      Maybe Nony Mouse can finally get a job confronting elderly mobsters and leave us alone.

  • Cindy

    Leah—Sing it, sister!!!
    And thanks for the post, pm317.

  • http://! stodgie

    the dims are getting their arse kicked next year. get ready for a whooping nancy, barry and gang.

  • Cindy

    Seattle—I have a comment for you, you sweet thang, but it’s caught in the filter….should show up soon.
    keep up your infectious enthusiasm!

    • Seattle Moss

      Hey Cindy,
      Did you see my post on the Treaty Oak?

      Just for you!

      • Cindy

        Seattle–yes, shug— I wrote you about it, but they haven’t posted it yet. Thank you! We just returned from Llano and I read your comment.You’re so right….we ARE The Treaty Oak…and that’s WONDERFULLY stated. That image! You should really write and teach, of course…Also, I have an extra piece of the oak I bought years ago that I’d be happy to give to you and your wife when you come through the Lost Pines.
        This revolutionary movement is so exciting, isn’t it…Liberty is intoxicating!

        • Seattle Moss

          We just returned from Llano

          I just love llano!

          I consider Llano the center of our continent and just up the street near San Angelo I used to collect Trilobite fossils that lived in a shallow sea 500 million years ago.
          I would find these fossils and others and donate them to Texas State back in the day.

          I’m going to make sure I come out and see you and your hubby this winter with my wife when we see my Mom in Houston.
          The Lost pines…Blessed memories of a time when I took our liberty for granted and enjoyed the renaissance of the Reagan years.
          We need to fight for that freedom again.

          Nothing like driving through Texas watching the big sky in the early evening with a rolling thunderstorm in the distance.

          • Cindy

            Seattle—-Keep up that writing…do you have your own blog yet? You combine nature, politics, geology and music, beautifully, like a master weaver.
            And yes, thanks to you and those here at No Q and at the Town Halls we really are fighting for our freedom again. Who thought it’d come to this?
            Leah is one voice, and yet, she’s thousands of voices!

            • Seattle Moss

              Cindy,
              I’m working towards that end. To have my own blog and maybe write essays about my experiences throughout the world. At 48 I find that I’m the last of the old school traditionalists schooled in the classics which now needs to be taught in earnest to a generation who can’t even find America on a map and have no understanding of our founding principles.
              Now that I have built the business over the years to a self sustainable enterprise I now have freedom to pursue the endeavors for which you speak.
              My main goal is to support industry and the jobs they create and be the liaison for business between Canada and the United States. I’m becoming uniquely qualified for this position.
              I will keep writing everyday and keep my romantic love for this country and all it’s beauty and traditions alive so that they will never be lost on future generations.

              • Cindy

                Kudos, kiddo! The eyes of not just Texas but the rest of America are upon you. Give ‘em hell!

                “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” Harry S Truman

                • Seattle Moss

                  Cindy,
                  You are my Texas Rose!

                  Later this year I will create that blog and get in the business of daily editorial writing.
                  I probably will link it to NQ and use both my real name and my Moss moniker.
                  2010 is the year of the backlash revolution. The beginnings of that revolution began on blogs like NQ but next year will expand exponentially throughout the country as we take back this country from those that would dare call us Un American.

                  This is going to be big!!!!

                  I’m glad that folks like yourself and I can be part of this glorious revolution.

                  • Cindy

                    You are my Texas Rose

                    Thank you, shug!

  • Diana L. C.

    Go Leah!

  • MrX

    The Democratic party is the party of hate. If it’s not the race card, it’s calling people crazies, or un-American, etc. The media itself is really vile. But I think it’s because they’ve committed to Obama. If Obama becomes unpopular, the media will go down with him.

  • helenk

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8194485.stm

    This article raises some good questions. the last sentence says it all

    WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS

    PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE

  • helenk

    http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/white-house-disputes-pelosi-contention-that-town-hall-protests-are-un-american.html

    Backtrack throws nancy under the bus. There is no room near me let her run along behind.

    WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS

    PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE

  • I’m a Linda too

    Woooo! Wooohooo LEA. She said it straight on. Fantastic. Thank you Lea.

  • Katmoon

    Leah, you said it well, thank you so much. I’m glad this video is out and at least Leah’s voice may be heard! thanks pm317, great article.

  • tzada

    Google reveals caffeine: a new faster search engine

    Google has revealed project “caffeine”, a new test version of its search engine which it claims will be faster and more relevant than ever before.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/6009176/Google-reveals-caffeine-a-new-faster-search-engine.html

    As for me I just divorced Google by removing them as my home page. See my above post if you wonder why.

  • Doc99

    Note to Pelosi and Hoyer:

    “I say we are Americans and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration.”

    Hillary Rodham Clinton

  • http://helpmejoseph.typepad.com/puma_for_life/ Puma for Life

    I got an email from from Free-us-now with the suggestion that we all put yard signs out that say:

    “I am the mob”

    I think that is a great idea in particular for those of us who have congressman who refuse to meet with us. (Like blue dog democrat HEATH SHULER of NC. His phone number:(202) 225-6401

    • TeakWoodKite

      Bada Bing

  • tzada

    Dirty Secret No. 1 in Obamacare
    Chuck Norris

    Health care reforms are turning into health care revolts. Americans are turning up the heat on congressmen in town hall meetings across the U.S.
    While watching these political hot August nights, I decided to research the reasons so many are opposed to Obamacare to separate the facts from the fantasy. What I discovered is that there are indeed dirty little secrets buried deep within the 1,000-plus page health care bill.
    Dirty secret No. 1 in Obamacare is about the government’s coming into homes and usurping parental rights over child care and development.
    It’s outlined in sections 440 and 1904 of the House bill (Page 838), under the heading “home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children.” The programs (provided via grants to states) would educate parents on child behavior and parenting skills.
    on Page 840: The state “shall identify and prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families.”
    Are we further to conclude by those words that low-income families know less about parenting? Are middle- and upper-class parents really better parents? Less neglectful of their children? Less needful of parental help and training? Is this “prioritized” training not a biased, discriminatory and even prejudicial stereotype and generalization that has no place in federal government, law or practice?

    http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2009/08/11/dirty_secret_no_1_in_obamacare

  • tzada

    MSNBC Host: “Socialist” Code For The “N-Word”

    MSNBC’s Carlos Watson: “What concerns me is that in some of those town hall meetings including the one we saw in Missouri recently where there were jokes made about lynching etc, you start to wonder whether in fact the word socialist is becoming a code word, whether or not socialist is becoming the new n-word for frankly for some angry upset birthers and others, I hope that’s not the case, but that sure does say to you what David Brooks said the other day on T.V. which is that more credible conservatives have to stand up and say there’s a line that has to be drawn, that there’s a line of responsibility, that’s important that extends to the words we choose including how choose even legitimate words like socialist.”

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/08/10/msnbc_host_socialist_code_for_the_n-word.html

    Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) was shouted down at a health care town hall meeting. The man accused Specter of having his pockets stuffed with money from lobbyists.

    “One day God is going to stand before you and he’s going to judge you and the rest of your damn cronies up on the Hill and then you will get your just deserts,” the man said.

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/08/11/sen_specter_shouted_down_over_health_care.html

  • Pingback: Manufactured Angry Mobs

  • tzada

    This came in an email so I cannot post a link, which is why a posted the whole article

    Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.

     545 PEOPLEBy Charlie Reese

    Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them..

    Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

    Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

    You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does.

    You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

    You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.

    You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.

    You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

    One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

    I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

    I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash.
    The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes..

    Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

    What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

    The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is also the leader of the majority party.
    She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

    It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

    If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.

    If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red .

    If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it’s because they want them in IRAQ

    If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.

    There are no insolvable government problems.

    Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

    Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

    They, and they alone, have the power.

    They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

    Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
    We must vote ALL of them out of office and clean up their mess! Whatever you do,….next election,
    DO NOT RE-ELECT ANY OF THESE INDIVIDUALS!!!!!

  • Johnboy NJ

    My question is where were these people when we sent so many of our servicemen to war and many to their deaths and many, many to a life of pain and injury?

    I hope this proves to Obama he should damn the inclusiveness routine and force a bold bill that he will live or die on.

    I just watched much a Spector’s town hall and not many of those who were allowed to ask a question made much sense. These town halls are not debates they are photo op’s for a disenfranchised group who see their majority disappearing and who are not open to anything a democrat has to say nevermind the fact he is black.

    Interestingly enough many of their rants were generic and anti-govt but one wonders if they are giving republicans the same hard time. I hope they are. That would prove that Fox News is the winner here and not the republicans or the democrats.