Three words that succinctly describe just about every nationally elected official today: ARROGANCE, IGNORANCE, & INSOLENCE. How quickly they forget they were elected to represent US, not serve THEMSELVES! How can they show their faces in public, admitting they DON'T EVEN READ the legislation they pass? We cry out against oppressive government and bad policy, yet they ram their measures through Congress IN SPITE OF US!.... THE MISSION IS CLEAR: Expose the arrogance, ignorance, and insolence of our elected officials. Since public outcry against bad legislation has had little effect, maybe public embarrassment will. Be a participant in government, not a spectator. Join the operation and confront your congressman with the truth, facts, and their own arrogance, ignorance, and insolence! Capture it on film or audio. Expose it for all the world to see!
Historically, democracy has always been a messy and not very pretty process. This is what happens in a society where free speech and expression is a constitutionally-guaranteed right. Under normal circumstances, expressions of disagreement and dissent are generally spontaneous and organic, something that emerges from an individual or group due to honest, heart-felt convictions. These days, though, you too often can't distinguish genuine emotion and conviction from "astroturf", manufactured outrage generated by Conservative groups determined to do whatever it takes to maintain the status quo and/or advance their do-nothing agenda.
I have nothing against legitimate outrage; Lord knows I engage in enough of that here in this dark corner of da Interweb. The difference, of course, is I don't get my marching orders from MoveOn or George Soros or the Democratic National Committee. I'm not disrupting town hall meetings simply because I want to stifle legitimate debate and discussion. What's happening now, and what's being pushed by sites like Operation Embarrass Your Congressman is something akin to bad theater. Organize a group of diehard wingnuts, convince them that Our Way of Life is under siege, and turn them loose at a town hall meeting. Behavior that normal, decent, respectful human beings might engage in as a matter of course goes right out the window as these fools shout down everyone, particularly elected officials, that they disagree with. No one gets to speak, the video ends up on YouTube, and Voila!!, you have what to the untrained and undiscerning eye looks like the spontaneous eruption of dissent and righteous anger. Yeah, right.... What you actually have is the carefully coordinated and choreographed effort to stifle debate and discussion. No one wins, nothing gets resolved, and the wingnuts leave with a smile on their face...because when nothing happens and nothing changes, they (and their corporate overlords) win.
Sadly, this trend only serves to demonstrates that there are Conservatives who willing to demand that their freedoms be respected even as they deny those freedoms to other who happen to think differently. Yes, this may well be a small minority of Conservatives, but the silence emanating from the Right could, and probably should be taken, as implicit support for these despicable tactics. A small, ignorant, and shameless rabble have taken it upon themselves to shut down the legitimate expression of democracy at the behest of special interest groups. Screaming about "Socialism" and President Obama's birth certificate (OMIGOD!! THERE'S A BLACK MAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE!) only serves to demonstrate just how phenomenally ignorant and detached from reality most of these folks are. Facts be damned; we demand that we get our way, and if we can't we're going to raise Hell, shut things down, and post the results on YouTube. Now there's something to be proud of- openly displaying your ignorance, your racism, AND being a dupe for corporate interests. Then again, it certainly beats the Hell out of thinking, eh?
WE DESERVE BETTER.
