Most Republicans Hating, Fighting Against Their Own Interest
By Andrew T. Mason, blogger of “Andrew T. Is On The Cut”
I was raised, as most of us were, to respect our elders. It’s good policy. They have years of experience and valuable insight. Most of the time, they offer good advice. That said, they’re not always right. In fact, they can be downright stubborn about things. Firmly set in their ways, like dry concrete. They’ve been known to have a, “that’s how it is, and that’s how it will always be” attitude and will fight any threats to their acceptable comfort range, regardless if it will help them or not. This would explain why I’ve seen so many of them at the manufactured protests taking place at Congressional Town Halls around the country.
I say manufactured because they’ve been built by the same conservative lobbying groups that gave us the Tax Day Tea Parties. These groups like say that they’re grassroots organizations, the conservative equivalent of MoveOn.org. Unlike MoveOn.org, which is funded by regular folks like us, these conservative groups, mainly FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity, are funded by big corporate money. It’s not grassroots, it’s Astroturf; as fake as the Brady Bunch back yard.
How does one manufacture protest? It’s actually pretty simple, especially when the base is already riled up. The lobbyists know that they believe that ACORN helped steal the election. They believe that he is a Kenyan. They believe he’s the Antichrist. They believe that he’s a socialist, and/or communist, and/or fascist. They don’t like all the Government intervention. They don’t like the stimulus. They don’t like the bailouts. They don’t like energy reform. They don’t like peas.* And they certainly don’t like health care reform.
To them, health care reform brings this country one step closer to socialism. More Government interference and more Government spending, a/k/a socialism. They fear rationed care and waiting in long lines, a/k/a the DMV scare. Some even believe that health care reform will allow for the mass euthanization of the elderly, a/k/a the Old Yeller directive.
With all this hate and anger swirling around, all the lobbyists has to do is focus that energy into a movement. Work the websites and reinforce their fears. Get them so mad that they’re willing to take that anger to the streets! Fire them up enough to travel to town halls outside their district.
Finally, and most important, give them a script. Tell them to go to these town halls with the express goal to rattle the host. Make him or her look bad! Cheer your cohorts when they ask questions and shout down the Representative when they try to answer. Make sure to put on an especially good show for the cameras. That way, the media will have no choice but to show support for reform dying. Intimidate! Should anybody in the crowd be so naive as to want reform, shout at them and tell them to sit down. Express your Constitutional rights to free speech and protest! But under no circumstances allow a differing view point to express theirs. In other words, exercise your rights while squashing the opposition’s.
I watch the footage of these protests and notice that the majority of the protesters are about 10 years from retirement, if they haven’t retired already. All of them will get Medicare, which is Government run health care. The irony is, these folks are too dense to understand that Medicare is a public system administered by the Government! Check out this exchange from Rep. Gene Greene’s (D-TX) town hall:
During the town hall, one conservative activist turns to his fellow attendees and asks them to raise their hands if they “oppose any form of socialized or government-run health care.” Almost all the hands shot up. Rep Green quickly turned the question on the audience and asked, “How many of you have Medicare?” Nearly half the attendees raised their hands, failing to note the irony.
This, my friends, is what really gets my goat. These people, who fight for the liberties of free speech and protest, as well as the scourge of socialism, want me to pay for their Government supplied health benefits at retirement. But ask them to kick in on a Government plan for everybody, and it’s like they’ve been asked to switch from WordPerfect to Word (What?). On top of that, they’re too dumb to realize that they’re being manipulated by corporate interests that are loving the chaos these numskulls are creating.
What’s most frustrating is the fact that every one of us, those with insurance and those without, will be infinitely better off with strong health care reform. Instead, these protesters allow their rage to blind them as they work against their own interests. Their corporate masters have fanned the flames hate, distributed torches and pitchforks and ordered them to win at all costs. They’re doing it with glee.
As an optimist, I don’t hate back. In fact, I hope that, in the end, they all get stellar health care!
*I am fully aware that the like or dislike of peas have no political boundaries and that one side does not like or dislike them more than the other, so save your indignation.
Marcos,
The anger is not “fake” nor is the conservative ideology. But the “movement” is not some sort of spontaneous uprising, but rather a carefully choreographed display of anger with, as Andrew reports, a careful script written and distributed with lots of corporate money.
What Andrew is suggesting is that very many of those who yell loudly at Town Hall meetings and those who gathered for their “Tea Parties” can’t really articulate what they’re so mad about. They scream about becoming a “Socialist” country without being able to state either the specifics of health care reform proposals or even the definition of socialism. They were upset on Tax Day because why? Taxes were simply returning to the levels that existed under … (wait for it) … President Reagan, conservatism’s biggest hero.
That lobbying groups funded by large corporate interests have distributed guidelines for how to effectively disrupt Town Hall meetings, and that those who disrupt those meetings are doing exactly what it says in the guidelines is fact, easily proven. To be truly hate speech, Andrew would have to resort to lies or baseless name-calling. Just because the truth hurts, it doesn’t mean it’s hateful.
So you are saying that when an AARP meeting in Texas is stopped by the facilitator is hatred when the Representatives were the ones shouting down their constituants by unplugging the microphone? This is a very real fear for the elderly that we are obligated to care for for their contibutions to our standard of living. Failing to do is the main reason why our country is going down the drain along with the million babies aborted every year that could have contributed to the system in the future. The real astro turf is ACORN that had the whole election rigged.
Did you even read the article? Seriously
I really hope this is sarcasm. Otherwise you should probably learn to read and turn off Rush
Marcos,
You do realize that by saying that “we are obligated to care for [the elderly]” that you are condoning government health care. This is the whole point that the article was trying to make. Medicare is a government run health care program. We are trying to extend that to everyone. Not every old person has “contributed to our standard of living” and that shouldn’t matter anyway. We should take care of each other not because we are old, but because we are human beings…and we CAN and SHOULD take care of each other (damn you CAPS LOCK!)
Two more things. That abortion comment was pretty much the most UNinsightful (your statement allowed me to invent a word…yay!) comment I have read in a long time. It’s like when my friend’s mom used to tell him that he was the batch she should’ve swallowed. Also, Firefox has a great built-in spellchecker, if you are interested…you’re on your own with the whole grammar thing, though.
So caring for the ederly is having them euthanised because the system will be bogged down by them. At the same time granting more money to abortion mills to eradicate the ethnic population if this country? Margarate Sanger founded planned parent hood and she was Hitlers biggest fan thats why she was invited to speak at a KKK rally in Jersey in 1926. You liberals really cant live one day with out hate.
Marcos, who has said the elderly should be euthanized? Who wants to open abortion mills? Was Sanger the president of Hitler’s fan club? If not, how do you know she was his biggest fan? Not all KKK members like or support Hitler. And not all Democrats are liberals. In a sentence, your words make no sense, you have no proof of anything you write, your spelling and grammar are atrocious, and you should look up the definition of “liberal”: You’re perfect for the Republican party.
typical emotional shrilly response you can expect from a hate mongering liberal. there facts
…out there to but you dont want your hate to be exposed for what it is. Im not writing this for a grade this is a casual forum. Read the bill man stop being an Obama groupie.
Margaret Sanger was not a Nazi supporter. Read the site linked above, at NYU where her papers are archived. It is extremist nonsense. This talk about abortion mills and euthanasia is more of the same–ignorant hysteria.
Here’s the link; read it http://tinyurl.com/nzts3o
there is proof she was racist and funded the “Negro Project” as well as getting along with the KKKhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1294086/posts
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story has entered the popular today section on popurls.com…
First, a gubernatorial election refers to an election for the Governor of a State. Congressmen (Representatives) are elected every 2 years under a federal election schedule. Learn about government if you are going to become involved (which is a good thing). Second, I worked for a firm that manufactures “grassroots” movements on behalf of large, corporate clients. Firms such as the one I worked at will spin an issue any way they can to get people to upset/angry/not thinking rationally. It is about stirring emotion, not thought. We used the same tactics: making it seem like the federal government was taking too much power, was about to ruin the lives of middle class americans, taking seniors pensions, etc…… and then asking them to sign petitions, show up at town halls, etc.
If you don’t like President Obama, if you sincerely disagree with his policies, so be it. But before you agree to sign that petition, call your Congressman, go to a town hall and read that script someone gave you, ask some questions: Who are the people asking you to do this, why are they calling you, who do ythey represent?
Get informed, then get involved (not saying you aren’t informed already), but do it for you and your family, not because some voice over the phone told you that you should be angry. I mean this not to be insulting, but speaking from experience I know how these “grassroots” lobbying firms operate, and they do so by taking advantage of people through manipulation and deceit. Working for the company I did (it was a temp job and i needed the money) was hands down the worst job I have every taken.
-Matt
While your article lacks any sources for your position, I think the point at which I decided that your comments were not only unsupported but almost laughable was when you stated: “Unlike MoveOn.org, which is funded by regular folks like us, these conservative groups, mainly FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity, are funded by big corporate money.”
Your statement about MoveOn.org is either a lie or based on ignorance. Either way it discredits the remainder of your writing.
Let me offer you some reading material: http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/26/elec04.prez.bush.soros.reut/
To summarize the CNN article states that MoveOn.org was funded by the foreign investor George Soros to the tune of $12.5 million.
One suggestion from a 20-something: Do some research and don’t speculate so much. It shows your age.
My original submission did have cites. I submit to the NJP editors in Word via email. I have republished the full opinion with links to sources here:
http://www.andrewtisonthecut.com/2009/08/yesterdays-njp-opinion-with-cites.html
I do research, and George Soros is an individual, while Bristol-Myers Squibb is a corporation, thus backing up my claim that MoveOn.org is funded by individuals while FreedomWorks is funded by corporations.
It’s true that George Soros has given a lot of money to Democratic causes, including MoveOn, but, although foreign-born, he is a naturalized American citizen.
I also agree that a person on Medicare isn’t in a good position to criticize government run-health care as socialistic or un-American.
Wow taking down the comments of those that dont agree with you is democracy? Wankers!
Stop tellng lies read the whole bill. Second rate Affirmative action quota filling doctors, federal funding for abortions, Driving the deficit up. Obamacare is bad for America
The authors of a NEJM study wrote that “Sweeping statements about the cost-saving potential of prevention … are overreaching. Studies have concluded that preventing illness can in some cases save money but in other cases can add to health care costs. For example, screening costs will exceed the savings from avoided treatment in cases in which only a very small fraction of the population would have become ill in the absence of preventive measures. Preventive measures that do not save money may or may not represent cost-effective care (i.e., good value for the resources expended). Whether any preventive measure saves money or is a reasonable investment despite adding to costs depends entirely on the particular intervention and the specific population in question.”
The authors based their conclusions on an analysis of the Tufts–New England Medical Center Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry. They concluded, “Although some preventive measures do save money, the vast majority reviewed in the health economics literature do not.”
CBO also cited a study in Circulation magazine called “The Impact of Prevention on Reducing the Burden of Cardiovascular Disease” that “estimated the effects of achieving widespread use of several highly recommended preventive measures aimed at cardiovascular disease — such as monitoring blood pressure levels for diabetics and cholesterol levels for individuals at high risk of heart disease and using medications to reduce those levels. The researchers found that those steps would substantially reduce the projected number of heart attacks and strokes that occurred but would also increase total spending on medical care because the ultimate savings would offset only about 10 percent of the costs of the preventive services, on average.”
Obama suppporters that signed up for Obama for America, received an email encouraging them to show up at townhalls to speak on behalf of Obamacare, while at the same time accusing citizens showing up on their own to dissent, of being “UnAmerican.”
Jake Tapper, via ABC’s Political Punch concludes his piece on this with a quote from Brian Walsh of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“It’s interesting to see the President’s political machine calling on his supporters to use their Constitutional right to free speech when the White House spent the last week criticizing others for doing the exact same thing. Republicans agree that every American should have the right to voice their opinion in a calm, respectful manner but after the ‘astroturfing’ rhetoric from the Democrats this week, it’s hard to ignore the hypocrisy in this mass email.”