Tony Perkins, Family Research Council Action, reports on the growing movement against Democrat attempt to take over American health care. Be sure to watch the video.
Townhall or Townbrawl?
Being home is no picnic for the Democrats in charge, as one blogger makes abundantly clear in a home video taken during a recent townhall meeting on health care. In a packed gymnasium, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were booed so loudly that you can barely hear their answers to some basic questions. The comments that were audible only managed to cause more outrage. One audience member asked how Americans can be confident in Congress to reform the health care system when members won't even read the legislation. Sebelius's response? "I'm not a member of Congress," which apparently absolves her from understanding the $1 trillion plan her Department will be tasked with implementing. That answer is still better than Sen. Specter's explanation, which was, "...[W]e have to make judgments very fast, and every bill is... understood by me before I vote." Sebelius tried to interrupt the hissing crowd but her defense of Senate Democrats was almost impossible to hear amid the jeering.
Of course, the mainstream press would have us believe through carefully choreographed broadcasts that Americans are perplexed but receptive to the White House plan. Producers have been wary to air anything but footage of the President in a controlled townhall environment, where he answers softball questions from a handpicked crowd. The media may show the grassroots as an agreeable bunch on the President's proposal, but as you'll see from the video on Panzramic, these public forums are turning into a public relations nightmare for the liberals in power.
In "Townhalls gone wild," Politico chronicles another side of the debate that includes "screaming constituents, protestors dragged out by the cops, [and, sad to say] congressmen fearful for their safety." More Democrats are canceling meetings, concerned about "angry, sign-carrying mobs" that greeted a long list of their colleagues including: Reps. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), Thomas Perriello (D-Va.), Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), and Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.). Bishop, who was escorted away by police after his meeting got out of hand, said, "I have no problem with someone disagreeing with positions I hold. But I also believe no one is served if you can't talk through your differences."
Unfortunately, Americans are talking. The leadership just refuses to listen. Until it does, House and Senate Democrats can expect a long, uncomfortable August where the temperatures outside are nothing compared to the heat they're feeling inside their District offices. FRC has posted a schedule of townhall meetings across the country and sample questions you can ask. Please make a point of going to the forums near you and share--in a respectable manner--your thoughts with your congressman. While you're at it, why not bring your video camera?
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