Results tagged “town hall meeting” from What Would Jack Do?

Every now and then, my mind willing stop spinning long enough for me to organize some of the many questions I find myself pondering. Here's the the latest download, in no particular order or time frame and presented with no claim of consistency or sensibility. It is what it is....

...Why are so many porn stars following my Twitter feed? 'Cuz, ya gotta know, y'all, that I really DON'T want to see your crazy pics.

...Why are so many of those so vehemently opposed to government involvement in health care on Medicare and Medicaid? Truly, irony is dead...and brain-dead ignorance has risen to to take it's place, no?

...Why is it that, as time passes, fewer Congresscritters are willing to stand up and insist that a public option be part of any health care reform bill?

...Why would anyone feel in necessary to carry a gun on a college campus?

...How is it that Conservatives, even allegedly intelligent and lucid ones, can expound on the worst sort of lies and propaganda...and be given serious face time in the Mainstream Media?

...Why are we not outraged that this is happening is the greatest, most powerful nation in the world?

...Why is it that when a Liberal Democrat has an extramarital affair, it's decried as an egregious, indefensible, and unforgivable moral trespass and character flaw? Yet the same "offense", when committed by a Conservative Republican is merely the personal expression of a man possessed of great passion, tremendous appetite, and significant unmet needs?

...Why do Republicans insist on integrity, honesty, and transparency...from eveyone but themselves?

...Why do we even care what Dick Cheney thinks...about anything?

....Miyuki Hatoyama, Japan's First Lady, Would Love To Visit Uranus. Man, I got nothin'. How could you possibly add anything of note to that??

....If not for Glenn Beck, we'd never know that NBC is a haven for Communist art. Why does GE hate America??

....Your Legislators At Work. Or not.

....Yep, nothin' quite like pouring salt into an open wound, eh?

....Hey, There's Listeria In The Eggo Waffles. Leggo my Eggo! No, really...uh, actually, you can have it....

...."Thank you, dear...but I think Mommy can pick her own nose."

....Hey, just because a Republican governor takes a helicopter to church...well, that doesn't make him a hypocrite. Or does it? IS Bobby Jindal a tool or what?

....Uh, is that a dead weasel on your head...or are you just glad to see me?

....Curt Schilling Not Done Promoting Curt Schilling. Does anyone REALLY care what Curt Schilling thinks...except Curt Schilling? Yawn....

....So, you wondering just how despicably low town hall protestors can sink? Well, this ought to give you some indication. Man, these people are scum....

....Anti-reform town hall attendees are unable to locate Iraq on a map. Right. Anyone else (not) shocked at this news? Truly, ignorance is it's own reward.

....Astroturf: it's not just for football fields anymore.

....Remember when banks used to turn a profit?

....Danica Patrick in a bikini. Wait...I'm still trying to figure out if this is a bad thing....

....John Stossel: facts shipped separately.

....Sarah Palin is going to Asia. Apparently, she couldn't get decent Chinese takeout in Wasilla.

....An Attorney General not pursuing a political agenda? Trying to do the right thing? How sad is it that this is such a novel, noteworthy concept?

....From the Department of Creative Math: When you can have "free" for the low, low price of $1.50.

....Four years later, and we're still fiddling while New Orleans drown...buy, hey, we're sure kicking @$$ in Iraq and Afghanistan, aren't we??

....Jon Voight: Voice of Reason. Or not.

....Republicans hate loud, angry, unruly people...unless they can be used for their advantage, of course.

....Welcom to the place where meat, engineering, and architecture intersect....

....Yeah, we know you're a reporter...but are you a "good" American or an "evil, freedom-hating" American?

....SKANK WAR!!!!

....OK. so you're a model and you're nude. It's only art if you're dead and in a museum, 'kay??

....OK, so I'm willing to demonize President Obama based on the color of his skin...but that doesn't make me a racist.

....Sure, fear can often be an effective motivational tool, but this is silly.

....Just in case you were searching for something else to live in mortal fear of, try this one on for size: paraffin wax birthday candles may contribute to indoor air pollution

....Hide the Twinkies and the Frosted Flakes, Ma! It looks like the diet police are back.

....Rick Pitino is really, really, REALLY frustrated with all the lying liars in the media and how they lying tell their lying lies.

As I've watched various Congressman deal with the lunatics that seem to have taken over the August town hall meeting season, I find myself wondering why no one seems willing to push back. Perhaps it's that they recognize that these are constituents and potential votes in their column when they're up for re-election. Perhaps they're afraid of providing sound bites for potential competitors. Or perhaps they just lack the balls to stand up and call out the crazies for what they are. Too many Congresscritters have implicitly enabled this sort of madness through their refusal to demand that civility be the rule and not the notable exception. This is why I'm elated at Barney Frank's response to a question directed at him by one of the lunatics. It's not as if folks like this are going to respond to reason, so why not question their intelligence and sanity?

It's one thing to disagree with what you see happening in Washington. This is a democracy; that's you're right under the Constitution. Nowhere, however, are you guaranteed the right to engage in lies, insults, propaganda, and just plain lunacy. For a Congressman to finally demonstrate that he possesses the cojones to push back against the lunacy is a welcome sight. The sad thing is that it's such a rare occurrence. Through their reluctance to push back and demand civility, members of Congress have implicitly encouraged and enabled the sort of madness and incivility that's made rational, reasoned discussion and debate all but impossible.

There are crazies on both sides, of course; that's the nature of the beast. What you haven't seen at town hall meetings, though, are Liberals screaming, carrying on, and shouting down anyone they disagree with. Conservative protesters clearly didn't get the memo that indicated it's better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Disagreeing with someone doesn't make you a Nazi or a Socialist or anti-American. It just means you disagree. If you think that the ability to shout someone down as you insult and denigrate them proves the superiority of your argument, you really need to do some serious rethinking. All you're really proving is that your position lacks the strength to win on it's own merits...and that you lack the intellectual agility to make a convincing argument for your point of view. Of course, if you want to be thought a fool, if you want to blithely toss around insults like "Nazi", "socialist", or "anti-American"...well, this is still a free country, and you're certainly free to make an ass of yourself if you're so inclined. And Barney Frank is free to question your sanity and your planet of primary residence.

Man, how can so much ignorance, lunacy, and hate come in such a pretty package?

You know, I get tired of feeling angry when I'm writing, but when I look around, it's difficult not to feel anger, and a lot of it. Frankly, if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. Given the tone and the tenor of public debate these, how can any reasonable person be happy with the lunacy, the lies, and the disinformation? We've evolved into a country in which the lowest common denominator (those who think the least and shout the loudest) rule. We've turned into a political entity in which so many have become impervious to reason and reality. Truth? I've joked about this before, but truth really is for losers and Liberals these days...and I'm sorry, but that really pisses me off. I'm incensed that we can't have a reasoned, rational discussion based on facts and reality. I'm tired of seeing so many normally well-meaning people joining the ignorant, reactionary mob by checking their intellect and ability to reason at the door.

I have some pretty strong feelings, and I'm generally not afraid to put them out there. I may not always be right, but you can bet that I've given my opinions a good deal of thought before I toss them out there into the ether. I'm not afraid to discuss things I feel strongly about. Occasionally I learn something, and sometimes I may even change my mind. Yes, sometimes I'm wrong. That's the nature of debate- we put our heads together, and hopefully the sum total of our intellect and experience will rise to the surface and create something better and more viable than any one person might have come up with on their own. What we have now are large numbers of people willing to assume the absolute worst and draw a maximum conclusion based on a minimum of factual information. Screaming and tossing insults at Congressman and those who think differently does nothing to address the issues surrounding health care reform. This is a serious issue that deserves serious, sober reflection- not volume, insults, and demagoguery.

If you disagree with the idea of health care reform, fine. Tell us what your ideas are. Talk about what you think might be a wiser course than the one currently being proposed. Convince us with the weight and sensibility of your arguments. If you're convinced that the road we're currently headed down is the wrong approach, you should be able to marshal your arguments in a lucid, forthright manner. If you can't do that, if you're reduced to screaming about socialism and Nazism, I'm not altogether certain you should even be considered as having a right to speak your mind. If you add nothing of value to the public debate, why should you even be acknowledged? No, I'm not about censorship, but neither do I appreciate having my intelligence insulted. It's simply not possible to have a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent...so why should I even be expected to try?

Health care is one of a number of very serious issues facing this country- issues crying out for sober reflection and reasoned consideration. No reasonable person should have to deal with being insulted and shouted down by people too rude and ignorant to countenance anything outside their own narrow frame of reference. This country used to be better than that. I used to think that their wasn't anything that we couldn't do if we put our minds to it. Looking around, it's difficult to pretend that I retain that confidence...because I don't. There are simply too many people seemingly without a mind to put to anything. They've become empty, reactionary vessels just waiting to be filled with hatred, ignorance, and Right-wing propaganda...and there are plenty of people willing to fill that role.

WE DESERVE BETTER.

....They're reactionary, as ignorant as the day is long, and they think they're the guardians of all that's good and holy about America. Too bad they can't see that they're carrying water for the very corporate interests that specialize in taking advantage of them.

....'Tis better to thought to be The Dumbest (&^%$#@ Human Being on the Face of the Planet © than to be Glenn Beck and remove all doubt.

....Somehow, I managed to (once again) miss the World Sauna Championships.

....The Right-wing Echo Chamber: where truth and reality go to die.

....Finally, definitive proof that Barack Obama is literally Adolf Hitler. Ask and ye shall receive....

....New Craigslist hookers...same as the old Craigslist hookers. Then again, consistency is a good thing, no?

....If it looks like a dick, walks like a dick, and talks like a dick....

....The Year in Parents Gone Wild: with parents like these, it's no wonder so many kids grow up to be serial killers.

....Kate Gosselin: self-promoting attention seeker or world class media whore? What sort of person airs their dirty laundry on the "Today Show"?

....If you're looking for reasoned, rational, intelligent debate about health care reform...well, this isn't where you want to be.

PINKERTON: Here's scare tactics. Scare tactics is Rachel Maddow taking the first ten minutes of every show this week to denounce them and call them names and talk about Astroturf. By contrast, Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat from Missouri, said in her Twitter account, listen, I think this is just real people. That's the choice. The real terrorism going on is MSNBC and the liberal media.... I can help with a key distinction. If you're Barack Obama, and you're a community organizer, whatever you do is good, according to the mainstream media. If you're a white middle-class American, who happens to be reading from the same Saul Alinsky, the patron saint of community organizer's play book, then you're, as Steve Pearlstein of the Washington Post put it, a, quote, political terrorist.

There's ignorant. There's ill-informed. There's brain dead. And then there's Jim Pinkerton, who, if you hooked him up to an EEG monitor likely wouldn't budge the needle off zero. I don't mind the fact that I disagree with Pinkerton. If it was that simple, I wouldn't even feel the need to launch into this rant. No, what really get my knickers in a twist is the sheer audacity of Pinkerton's smug, self-satisfied ignorance. It's almost as if he's proud of being stupid...like he wears his ignorance and his mental inelasticity like some sort of freakin' Cub Scout merit badge. Stoopid, arrogant...and WAY too proud of it.

That ANYONE could in anything resembling seriousness refer to Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, and the "Liberal Media" as terrorists almost defies rational explanation. It also demonstrates and appalling and offensive lack of perspective. Terrorism is what brought down the World Trade Towers and dropped planes into both the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, PA. Terrorism is what killed almost 3,000 innocent Americans, one of them who was a friend and a college classmate of mine. Because of that, I will freely admit to not being the most objective of observers when it comes to defining terrorism. I can tell you, though, what terrorism is not. It's not the legitimate expression of a different viewpoint. It's not calling out faux, manufactured outrage that's being passed off as legitimate dissent. It's not the recognition that far too many town hall meetings have been transformed into pointless ragefests by Right-wing lies and propaganda. It's not calling out disinformation and "AstroTurf" for what it is.

Like I said, I'm not the most objective, disinterested observer when it comes to this sort of lunacy. I find it highly offensive that someone as morally and intellectually handicapped as Pinkerton could toss off accusations of "terrorism" as casually as if he was discussing last night's Dodgers-Giants game. Terrorism is not a matter to be taken lightly, not when you reflect on what 9.11 did to our understanding of what real terrorism is all about. There are times when I recognize the ageless wisdom of Georges Santayana- those who don't know history really ARE condemned to repeat it. The problem is that these folks are generally too smugly stupid to have any grasp of the lunacy they're advancing in the name of punditry. Pinkerton is so in love with his self-professed brilliance and the sound of his own voice that he's lost whatever grip on reality he may once have possessed.

Perhaps Pinkerton might do well to face up to the reality that words have meaning, and that disagreeing with someone doesn't automatically convey upon him the right to equate the "less enlightened" with those who would destroy America. When last I checked, this was still a democracy, and dissent is still part and parcel of conducting any sort of national political conversation. That intelligent, thoughtful people disagree with Jim Pinkerton doesn't mean they're bad people. It just means they possess a degree of intellectual maturity and a grip on reality that Pinkerton couldn't achieve in his wildest dreams.

Memo to Jim Pinkerton: You want to talk about terrorism? How about going to a NYFD or NYPD station in lower Manhattan and spewing your bile? Let's see how far you get before one of New York's finest stuffs you into a trash compactor. You add nothing. You contribute nothing of any value to the public discourse. Why not just do all of us a favor, go home, and spend an evening playing a rousing game of Seppuku. Then again, why would you? It's not as if you have any honor to preserve.

....More bombings in Iraq. Suffering, death, destruction, yadayadayada....

....So you were wondering why you shouldn't "friend" your boss? Remember, people actually do read that stuff.

....Welcome to Continental Airlines, where you're not just customers, you're hostages!

....A gun at a town hall meeting? You had to know it was just a matter of time....

....Orly Taitz has a Plan B? Does it involve changing her name to something less comical??

....So how are we going to defeat health care reform? How about with these approved talking points? They're guaranteed to be 100% free of truth or reality!

....Everyone knows that government programs don't work. Except when they do. Which only proves that they don't.

....Today's sign of the decline and fall of Western Civilization? How about a 16-year-old girl doing a pole dance on national television? Billy Ray Cyrus for Father of the Year...or not....

....Ben Stein: How can someone so smart be so (&^%$#@ stupid?

....There are things made of bacon that shouldn't be? Say it ain't so....

...."Death Panels for Dummies". It's SO much easier when you break things down scientifically, eh?

....So, you think you've got it tough? As if.... Trying being an atheist in the Bible Belt.

...."Mr. Independent" becomes "Mr. Right-wing Birther Nutjob"...and he's STILL drawing a paycheck from CNN- the Coward News Network.

...."Mr. Independent" becomes "Mr. I-Happily-Carry-Water-For-The-Health-Care-Industry". Now that's a fine example of some journalistic integrity, eh?

....So, what does Sen. David Vitter(R-LA) have in common with George W. Bush? Sadly, more than you might think.

....If you can't compete on the merits of your argument, it's OK to be rude, aggressive, and do whatever you can to deny the opposition their right to speak. After all, that's democracy, ain't it?

....'Tis better to be thought a fool than to be Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK)....

....Howard Dean makes Newt Gingrich look like a blithering idiot...not that there's any real challenge in that, of course.

...."When in doubt, add bacon and cheese." And this is a bad thing?? ;-)

....Disrupting town hall meetings is completely unacceptable...unless, of course, it works to our advantage. Then it's a perfectly legitimate tactic.

....Any headline that contains the words "Greek Woman Denies Setting Man's Testicles On Fire" is bound to get your attention, eh? I know it got mine.

....Town Hall (n.): a gathering thronged with an overabundance of belligerent, ignorant, self-righteous, and LOUD jackasses.

....You know "The Man" is trying to keep you down when He tells you that you can't begin your gameday tailgate bacchanal until 8am. Oh, the humanity....

....Ben Stein: Latin for "not funny ethical black hole." Perhaps he should go back to writing speeches for Richard Nixon.

....Is this country on the brink of fascism? No, it's not the silly question you might think it is. It's something we would do well to give some serious consideration to.

....Aw...how cute; now the NBA has it's own precious little steroid problem....

....How are "birthers" like global warming deniers? Funny you should ask....

....Feeling as if you're being bled dry by your bank? Perhaps it's because you're being bled dry by your bank.

....Yeah, so we tortured protesters. It's not like they didn't have it coming...and it was God's will.

....Sadly, having a smart President still doesn't translate to having a smart country. We're still ruled by the knee-jerk emotional reactions of the lowest common intellectual denominator.