August 12, 2009 | Comments
Perhaps the question above would be better posed as “How stupid do they think we are?” — “they,” of course, being those on the political left, who have made their answer to this query abundantly clear for years. Oppose the left, profess your allegiance to conservative and even traditional American values, and, despite your level of education and life experience, you are a toothless, illiterate shlub, clinging to your guns, your Bible and your family.
Today our own government regards any who oppose its extreme left-wing agenda in this same light, and they are not afraid to say it. Case in point: HR 3200, the notorious “health care” bill being touted by the President and his democratic Congress. As public support for this bill plummets, the administration and the dems are becoming more livid by the second. They have thus resorted to name-calling, a tradition that began at the beginning of this administration’s “rule,” when those who oppose government takeover of industry, finance, health care and such, were christened “right-wing extremists” (especially valid for those who happen to be members of the NRA, oppose abortion, or are returning home from a tour of duty in the United States military).
Now that the health-care debate has caught fire, Americans who have never protested anything are showing up in droves at town hall meetings and protests across the nation, channeling eloquently the spirit of Thomas Paine to express their opposition to what they consider a dangerous and un-American piece of legislation. In response these fledgling protesters have sustained a steady tirade of insults from their own elected officials, and even the White House itself, each barrage becoming more shrill and hysterical and extreme by the day. They’re un-American! An unruly mob! Brooks Brothers brigade! Astroturfers with manufactured anger! They’re sabotaging democracy! They’re Nazis! Terrorists! The KKK! Brown shirts! And, when all else has failed, the ever popular: They’re just racists.
The more incendiary their pronouncements, the left has believed, the more frightened we toothless masses will become, and the more likely we will finally shut our mouths (just as you suggested, Mr. President), crawl back under our rocks in fear and surrender, and allow the almighty government to do what is best for the collective.
So I must ask again: Just who do they think we are?
Obviously they have no idea. His own frustration escalating, the President called out his unions and various, shall we say, community activists, to wreak havoc at town halls and protests, to “punch back twice as hard.” Several victims of physical assault can testify to the success of this tactic. The White House also launched what has become known as “the snitch line” on its website, asking supporters to report anyone who, through email or “casual conversation,” might be spreading negative, misguided or otherwise “fishy” opinions and information about HR 3200. While supporters have apparently obeyed this order, demonized Americans have also answered the call, reporting themselves to the White House for their opposition to nationalized government health care, end-of-life counseling, health-care rationing, and socialism in general.
And again the left — from White House to Congress to mainstream-media conspirators to community-organized groups and unions, are shocked to discover that in the wake of such not-so-veiled threats and attacks, the American people still refuse to succumb. Oh no, the opposite has occurred, typically the result when one threatens the American spirit. The left, in turn, is stunned to learn not only that we have teeth, but we also know how to read, and many of us have actually put this latter skill to use and read HR 3200. So when we stand up to speak at protests and town halls (true town halls, not phony, staged, presidential town halls, of course), we come armed with facts, figures, and direct quotes.
The startled politicos at the receiving end of such informed and heartfelt dissent are hiding in their offices and refusing to explain why they themselves are exempt from the plan to which they seek to sentence the rest of us. They appear even more foolish and frightened when we scan the faces of those they are attacking, insulting and evading: grandmothers, grandfathers, moms, dads and kids, veterans, working people, students, taxpayers, consumers, professionals….Americans who are perfectly capable of running their own lives and will not tolerate a government intent on damaging their families. I look in the eyes of these people, these Americans, and I see no evidence of collusion or fraud. And no evidence of fear.
Then I look into the eyes of the name-callers, those standing behind elevated podiums at community centers or behind desks in network newsrooms, calling their voters, their audiences, ignorant fools, terrorists and thugs. In the faces of those name-callers…that is where I see the fear. The vitriol the left has released against the American public seems indeed to have hit the intended targets, yet, finding these targeted Americans draped in an unexpected armor, it has ricocheted back on the individuals who fired that first misguided shot. Terrified of anything so authentic, they are left dazed and uncertain, forced to acknowledge, even if only in the quiet of their own souls, that the anger and the love of country they are witnessing at these gatherings of Americans is real – and undeniably American.
Betsy Siino | Comments
Portrait of an Everyday Patriot
August 3, 2010 | Comments (1)For those unfamiliar, Congressman Miller (D-CA) is an entrenched San Francisco Bay Area representative who not only votes however his Bay Area mistress Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — and, by extension, fearless leader Obama — mandate, but is also the driving force behind the idea that the federal government should take possession of the nation’s 401K accounts. According to Congressman Miller, the feds are far more qualified to take care of your 401K money than you are. You understand.
But on this particular summer day, suddenly believing the media propaganda that the American people have forgotten their rage and are climbing onboard the Obama express, Congressman Miller ventured out into the sunlight and into a Bay Area auditorium.
It didn’t take long for the Congressman to learn he had severely misread the tea leaves. Before he knew it, he was being hailed by a woman – a mom, a grandma, a regular American – a woman whose emails, letters and phone calls he had successfully dodged for over a year. Before the night was over, this woman, a woman so near and dear to me, would emerge an everyday American patriot.
She took the microphone and told Congressman Miller that she had no question, but rather a statement to share with him. Her only intention was to verbalize what she had been writing to him for months, this time making sure he heard. She would report afterwards that she no idea her words would garner such cheers and applause from the other people surrounding her as, for the first time in her life, she spoke in a public forum. Health care, cap and trade, crippling taxes, the future of her grandchildren – she covered them all with that pure and organic eloquence that comes only when true passion is the source.
And as a mom and a grandma, practiced in the art of motherhood, not politics, she informed her representative that she did not appreciate the canned mass-mailed and spammed form letters that were his only contact with his constituents. “Congressman,” she said, “in one of your emails you said, and I quote, ‘I am working very hard to pass these bills in order to help you make smarter decisions.’ Congressman, I am 71 years old. I do not need you or the government to help me make smarter decisions!”
What she did need, she told him, was for the government to stop. “Please stop,” she pleaded. “Just stop the spending and the government takeover of every aspect of our lives….we have the right to make our own decisions, and we will make our own choices.”
Much to Congressman Miller’s relief, you won’t find this on YouTube. The woman at its heart wasn’t looking for viral notoriety so she made no such preparations. Her intent was simply to be heard by the man ostensibly elected to represent her and her family’s interests, a man who at one point during her statement tried to stop her, to quiet her, but, trained as she is as mom and grandma, she informed him she would finish, and he would listen.
And he did listen. He had no choice. What he heard will have no bearing on what he does, of course. Nancy and fearless leader Obama hold those reins. But others listened. And others are listening all across the country. And others are speaking up for the first time in their lives, too, just like this everyday patriot who is so near and dear to me. And to you. And to all Americans who applaud those who are finding a courage they never knew they had to stand up in defense of the country we love.