Friday, October 16, 2009

GOP Hate Speech Brings a Death Threat

It just goes on and on.  Recently Congressional Republicans have signed onto a conspiracy theory that Muslims are trying to take over Congress by becoming Interns.  Rachael Maddow had the story:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Here’s more information about the creator of this hogwash, David Gaubatz.

dave-gaubatz Let's take a closer look at the co-author of Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America, just out from WND Books, and now at #16 among all books on Amazon.

That would be David Gaubatz, a former Air Force investigator and Arabic speaker, who dispatched his son Chris to grow a beard and go undercover as a Muslim to obtain an internship at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Gaubatz, who has long warned about the threat of Islamism in the United States, has claimed that he found Saddam's long-lost WMDs while in Iraq and has labeled Obama "Muslim" and a "self-admitted 'crack head.'"

The documents Chris took from CAIR are the basis for the new book, which has been seized on by four House Republicans to call for a probe into whether the group planted Muslim "intern spies" on key national security committees.

Keep in mind that Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) actually wrote the foreward for the book, warning that "We Americans must wake up before it is too late!"

Here's the lowdown on Gaubatz:

  • He referred to "our Muslim leader" Barack Obama on his blog last year.
  • He has claimed that he personally found sites with Iraqi weapons of mass destruction when he was an agent with the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations in 2003. But the Syrians beat us to the punch on excavating the sites, Gaubatz claims, and the U.S. government suppressed the information to avoid the "explosive revelation of their own lethal incompetence."
  • Just yesterday he wondered about Congress' two Muslim representatives, "How much information do we have on Carson and Congressman Keith Ellison?"
  • According to Glenn Greenwald, Gaubatz in 2007 was focusing his time on creating "a comprehensive map of every mosque and Islamic school in the U.S" in order to determine which ones were preaching "Islamic law." The Web site that explained that project has since been made private.
  • He said in September 2008 on a now scrubbed blog post at www.jihadishere.blogspot.com that: "We are now on the verge of allowing a self admitted 'crack-head' to have his finger on every nuclear weapon in America."
  • He apparently has a history of faking conversions to Islam as part of his investigations.

Media Matters has a comprehensive roundup here and Greenwald has more here… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <TPM>

Please don’t think I’m equating ALL Republicans to David Gaubatz.  This guy is lunatic fringe for sure.  Nobody in their right mind would take him seriously.  But I have to ask the question.  Why did a Republican Congresswoman, Sue Myrick, write the forward to his book?  Why are Republicans in Congress presenting his views on the floor of Congress.  GOP hate speech is going to cause more deaths.  Why haven’t GOP leaders come out and condemned this?  I can only come to one conclusion.  The leadership of the GOP, not Republican people, do not care how many die.  They care only about grabbing power, no mater what they have to do, who they have to harm, or who gets killed in the process.  Until that changes, every Republican in office is one Republican too many!

47 comments:

Sue said...

OMG! Tom can it get any worse?? What the hell is going on with these rethugs? What next? There are no republicans speaking up because there are NO republicans who want to speak up about trash talk. I'm not even sure there is a fringe anymore,I think the fringe has grown into the whole party, can you name some sane republicans??

rjs said...

none of this rhetoric is strange to those of us who left Marketwatch and are now on our own...this kind of dialog takes place daily among the dittoheads on their politics board:

http://community.marketwatch.com/groups/us-politics/topics

Here Be Monsters, again. said...

Leave it to Dr. Maddow to professorially state the situation with the facts, obvious rising or risen issues and the sanity / insanity within this ongoing political fiasco called the GOP. Nope, not all Repubs are this intently conspiratorial, (or ignorant) but you'd hate to pay the bar tab for those who are...ya follow? Happy Friday TC! nice pick up ... I missed this... Friday Night Lights was Thursday this week and we got rained / lightning-ed out...not afore the most handsome player on the team intercepted opposing team's pass and ran the field to make a touchdown!!! Yes, I'm the proud aunt of Mr. Handsome the running back, D Captain and all around best HS football player in south FL! (Ta for letting me brag!) and sending me to Maddow for last night's recap. LOL

ivan said...

In all reverence, Sweet Jesus!

The freaks!
Buy a baseball team, why don't you.

TomCat said...

Sue, I'm sure that there are some Republicans that are kind, decent people, General Powell for example. However, I can not tell the difference between the current party leadership and the fringe.

Gwen, I have no doubt that Mr. Handsome has the cutest aunt in south FL as well. You're most welcome.

Ivan they already tried to break into the NFL, but they sent Rush packing.

TomCat said...

OOPS! Hit the wrong button.

C, that's certainly true of the theocons, but not so much so of the neocons and plutocons. That is not apparent, because they goose-step together on each other's issues.

Thanks RJS. Good info. Not at all surprising either.

LOL, Randal. On the other hand, the Browns could not have won that game were it not for the Great Muslim Conspiracy. ;-)

Mary Ellen said...

No doubt, there's a lunatic right within the Republican party, as there is a lunatic left in the Democratic Party (can't tell you how many times I read blogs during the Bush reign calling for him to be "disposed of" and there are the "truthers" who believed that Bush planned 9/11).

I think we need to clean house and get the whole bunch of the R's and D's out and start from scratch.

TomCat said...

Nunly, you know I always spoke out against such staements from the left whenever I saw them, calling instead for using all legal means to remove him from office, investigate his crimes and encarcerate him. I know that a lunatic left exists, but there is a key difference here. They represent the most obscure part of the left. On the other hand, the lunatic right in the Republican Party are not an obscure fringe. Party leaders echo their lies. Members of Congress write Forwards for their books. Republicans who do not cater to the lunatic right are driven from the party. That is why Specter became a Democrat.

Mary Ellen said...

They represent the most obscure part of the left.

I think the amount of obscurity is in the eyes of the beholder,TC. I know it's hard for you to see, but if you look at MSNBC and CNN you can see the bs propaganda that's being put out in the public and then I see the Dem Congress and Senators repeating it as if it's truth.

If you look at the film from the Louisiana rally that Obama did (on his extremely short visit to LA), you think that he is loved and admired by all of Louisiana. When in fact, just as Bush did, the rally was by invitation only AND the film of the little boy asking about why people hate him was nothing more than another one of Obama's hoaxes.

Bush used the military as his backdrops and Obama uses kids to ask him the questions which he has an "answer" at the ready.

It's all smoke and mirrors, on both sides of the aisle and there are people that we call "lunatic fringes" who swallow every bit of the garbage that is being fed to them.

I know it sounds cynical, but that's what has become of our government. They used to hide it, but now they are more bold or stupid...not sure which.

Unknown said...

David Gaubatz..Bigotry and racism together..nice!

It's all the fault of those damn brown and black folks! They want to take over 'Murica!

Give me an effin break..

Tao Dao Man said...

i agree with dusty; the main and most vocal voice against obama are the [birthers]. they veil their racism by calling obama a muslim, socialist, communist, usurper, or even the anti-christ. they are maybe 10-20% of the american people that keep an imaginary white sheet, and pointy white hat in their closets. we are not suppose to speak of this great hidden american secret. it is called racism. america is probably the most racist country in the industrialized world. the sooner america comes out of this racist state of denial. the sooner it can be fully addressed. i was with rjs who made that former comment about marketwatch.com. some are even blatant about it. i paid my dues there, but found it was no longer good for my soul fighting the [good battle]. they can not and will not change their spots. they see their america disappearing. they are still afraid of the black man. i can promise you if obama was [fully white] most of this nonsense would have never come about.

TomCat said...

Nunly, MSNBC reported that the invited crowd was friendly, but that the demonstrators outside were not.

I usually have CSPAN (one of the three channels) on while I'm on my computer, so I hear what goes on there. The most extreme claim I have heard, and nothing else has come close to it was Alan Grayson's claim about the Republican health care plan. It had all the tact and diplomacy of a bull moose in heat. But he was telling the truth. Nothing the Democrats have said could hold a candle to the GOP lies on the floor of Congress that the Democrats want "death panels" to "knock off grandma", thet the Democrats will use the census to put all Republicans in "concentration camps", that the Democrats are trying to make the US a "muslim nation", and the list goes on and on. I'm sorry you feel so disenfranchised. I know you were strongly for Hillary Clinton and disliked Obama. It was a close race, and I did not make up my mind until the end, because I had been an Edwards supporter (oops!). Believe me, I know Democrats are not perfect, and I criticize them regularly, but I thank God the Republicans no longer rule.

TomCat said...

LOL, Dusty. Yep!! ;-)

RZ, I disagree, but only in part. They came after Bill Clinton with passion. They were just not quite as blatent in their tactics.

Here Be Monsters, again. said...

SO!... i c emails on my iphone cuz I'm otherwise occupied busy,,, i c this comment by Randal G and think, O MY! did i say something that could be taken as nasty? and then!!! then, mind you I can't log back into Pol+ for some reason and when I do push on links to find out who Mr. Graves is... and then! Then! oh, he's a pirate. Then, everything is all right again...

ok. I work during the day. (mantra said for the last hour) I work during the day... no surfing, no surfing... gee, I'm like Merlin, I'm youthening... I used to cut class to surf all day.... I guess it's time to take a break... ta TC.

Anon-Paranoid said...

Oops...

And now that Democrats are in power they will do and say anything to further destroy our country.

Should say:
And now that Democrats are in power the Republican Nazi's will do and say anything to further destroy our country.

Take care and ...

God Bless.

Jolly Roger said...

You know, of course, that no Rushpubliscum criticizes any of these hateful, homophobic, racist pieces of sh*t safely, because they are the favorites of the "base" now. If you want to be a Rushpubliscum, you must cater to the base that's there right now.

rjs said...

"But remember – the Republican Party is not a political party. It's a mindset, like Hitler Youth. It's full of hatred. You're not going to get them aboard. Don't even try. The only way to handle them is to terrify them."
- Gore Vidal

US gun sales have doubled; some are thinking coup; dont think it cant happen here...

Oso said...

Mary Ellen,
please reply with times these lunatic left programs on CNN and MSNBC come on. No TV I've ever seen shows them.Just the same "Iran has nukes Poor Israel US has the best health care in the world Get rid of Social Security" garbage as FOX.

I'm serious.My Fox-watching coworkers say the same thing as you.liberal media.if there were a liberal media,wouldn't you expect them to take liberal positions rather than siding with everything the administration does ?

I'd hardly categorize anything not as extreme as Limbaugh as "liberal".

Mary Ellen said...

Oso- For one thing, your criticism of me is way off base and you don't know me well enough to make the claims you just did.

I never defended Fox news...where in my comment did I say anything about Fox. Where in any of my comments have I ever said that I was a Republican? Where did you EVER see me say anything good about Rush Limbaugh? Where did you ever see me talk about "liberal" media?

Do you see what happens when you judge others with little or no information? This is the problem that I often find with Obama supporters, quick to accuse even though they haven't a clue as to what they are talking about. It just so happens that I was a Democrat and I am now an Independent. I have just as much disgust over some in the GOP as I do with those in the DNC.

Mary Ellen said...

TC- Like you, I listen to C-span or I watch BBC. As far as the cable stations, I will watch a few minutes of CNN but usually get disgusted and turn it off. MSNBC is a total waste of time so I don't bother with that either. I can't remember the last time I watched Fox News. I do read the Chicago Tribune, though.

Yeah, I've heard all kinds of far out stuff...but I have to say, there is just as much coming from the Democrats...or I should say the "Progressives" as from the Republicans.

And just for the record, my dislike for Obama has nothing to do with my support for Hillary. In fact, like you, I was fooled by John Edwards...oops is right!

I had Obama pegged long before the primary's began. Don't forget, he was my Senator and I already knew of his ties to corruption in Chicago and that he was nothing more than a political opportunist who would step on his own mother to get where he wanted to go. He hasn't changed a bit, the same old lying sack of shit he's always been.

Right now, I think the only guy that could have done a decent job on the Dem side is Kucinich. At least he's honest and actually gives a rats ass about this country. But we all know what the media did to him...shut him out.

Mary Ellen said...

TC- Read what anon-paranoid wrote and tell me that the words, "We better wake up and be prepared for a war is coming to the streets of America and Blood will run in them as it does now in Baghdad and Kabul Afghanistan." aren't a call to violence. This is hatred and violence pointed toward Republicans. Republicans (or anyone that doesn't support Obama or this administration) are pegged as Nazis, racists, fascists and bigots.

Now,I know this isn't something you would say, personally, but this is the kind of thing I see written all over the Internet on a daily basis. Hate is flowing just as readily from the Dems.

Like I said...there's a "fringe" on both sides of the political coin here and anon-paranoid proved my point perfectly.

rjs said...

New Report: Conservative Republicans Are Delusional Paranoids
" the majority of the GOP base, harbor a well-developed, consistent, peculiar worldview about President Obama and his “hidden agenda” for the country. Armed with “facts” from conservative media, these individuals, fully 2/3 of the Republican Party at this point according to Democracy Corps estimates, believe that the President has been installed by powerful interests to enact socialist policies, violate the Constitution and destroy America. Independents and even GOP-leaning moderates exhibit none of these characteristics, making life difficult for GOP leaders who must choose between support inside the party and support in the country"

Here Be Monsters, again. said...

Ahoy!
Well, HERE'S TO US! THE SICK PUPPIES who are pissing the Repubs off with dug up / reached for transparency and info ala blog!

Anon-P... and may the Goddess look after you, too!

TomCat said...

ARGH! I just spent 20 minutes replying here and blogger ate it.

ROTF Gwen! Getting comments on your phone puts them out of context. But don't worry about insulting Randal. I've been trying for years without success.;-) All work and no play...

AP, it is true that the Republican leadership cares so much about regaining power, that they do not care how much they damage the nation in the process. I'm with you up to there, old friend, but war in the streets and bloody vengeance? Wow!! That's out in the ozone! In the event of a rebellion, which I consider unlikely, I would support the use of only the minimum force required to put it down, followed by a massive effort at restoration.

JR, I agree with your point. Republican leaders cannot stay in power unless they cater to the Limbaugh/Beck/Coulter set.

RJS, see my reply to AP, please. I'm far more concerned about an assassination than a rebellion.

Oso and Nunly. You are both good people who disagree.

Nunly, we're listening to the same things, but I'm not hearing it. I've documented specific examples of hate filled speech coming from the GOP in Congress. Would you tell me what specific things you've heard from Democrats? On AP, he has a right to his opinion just as Republicans with extreme views do. As you can see from my reply, I disagree. Here is the difference. Nobody is echoing AP in Congress, but Republicans in Congress do echo their extremists.

RJS, while the title is Firedog Lake's interpretation, the text you provide echos what I just replied to JR.

And after starting with Gwen...

Gwen, LOL!! Great humor. And on the latter, Amen.

Mary Ellen said...

TC- You know I love a challenge. ;-)

Let's see...Nancy Pelosi calls protesters "Un-American". The result of the media, such as MSNBC who consistently repeated this and used hate mongering and degrading names brought out the SEIU goons to actually go to the protest rallies and beat up some of the protesters.

Pelosi also called those protesting against "Obamacare" a bunch of Nazi's. What you and other Obama supporters have not seen (because MSNBC would NEVER carry this on their news, nor would Huff Post)...in at least one case (I don't have time to dig up the rest) the guy carrying the Obama/Hitler poster at a "Teabag" rally was a Democrat! Most of the others carrying them were Lyndon LaRouche supporters who go to all the rallies. But they are the only ones that are being filmed by the media and shown on yes...MSNBC/CNN and on blogs such as Huffpost, Dkos, etc.

The point that I'm making is that these are only a few examples which go ignored by those who point the finger at Republicans or anyone who does not support Obama. Calling those of us who don't support him racists and other derogatory names is not making the political climate any better,but fueling it further. That's where the hate is, IMO.

Sorry for the long comment, but you wanted examples and I did my best to supply just a few. Believe me, there are many many more examples of this kind of stuff on the Dem side.

TomCat said...

Hiya, Nunly. What Pelosi actually said on the floor of Congress was "Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American."

That SEIU goons beat up a protester is wrong, but where do you get the connection between that and MSNBC? I have heard no calls for violent opposition.

The people whom Pelosi were called Nazis were not all protesters. She said that she was referring to a group at a protest who were wearing swastikas. I was watching that speech myself.

And I don't doubt that one protester you mention was a Democrat.

What you have come up with here does not rise to the level of hate speech by members of Congress or the media.

Read my top article today if you think I back Obama in all things.

Mary Ellen said...

TC- Are you kidding me? Nancy Pelosi calls the protesters "Astro-turf" and that's not inciting hate? Aren't you splitting hairs with the remark about those at the townhall meetings being "un-American"?

If you had watched the videos of what was going on outside those townhall meetings...people being barred from going in unless they were pro-Obama health care, only SEIU union members allowed in, those who questioned Obama's plan being shouted down by SEIU and ACORN people in the meetings. There's a lot you didn't see and Nancy has the nerve to call anyone un-American? What's un-American is not allowing town-hall meetings to be open to the public...not just the "invited" public...which is EXACTLY what Bush did when he was President and we didn't like that one bit either! Maybe if those opposing the health care plan at those town hall meetings wouldn't need to shout if they were actually able to finish their question without being boo-ed and yelled at by those who were in support of OBama's health care plan.

If you do watch MSNBC, then you would see the scorn in which those so-called "teabaggers" are treated. You can't be so blind that you don't see Obama supporters calling anyone who doesn't back him a racist. Have you not seen this? Do you honestly believe that stuff like this doesn't incite violence?

And you seemed to have dismissed the SEIU thugs bullying and beating up people. That wasn't the only incident, there were many more that didn't make the news that didn't come to blows, but lots of shoving and in your face screaming. There was a story about an older woman who was knocked down by those thugs and told to get lost. So, who do you think hired the SEIU thugs to go out and act this way? Who do you think allowed the SEIU members to be a part of their town-hall meetings while they kept the others out? The Democratic Congressmen/Congresswomen who were having the town-hall meetings!

I know you don't back Obama all the time, but I have to call you on the stuff you write about how it's Republicans inciting hate when in fact it is just as much as the Democrats who incite hate.

Unknown said...

The Kenneth Gladney story that Nunley talks about is suspect because there were never charges pressed against anyone for 'beating him up'. She quotes a blog, not a news source. When I tried to read the news source in the blog, it went to a dead link.

The Washington Independent has a short article on this purported attack here:
http://washingtonindependent.com/60269/the-mystery-of-kenneth-gladney

Unknown said...

As for Nan Pelosi calling the rightwing nutters UnAmerican..the context is this:

Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. I have to agree with Nan, drowning out opposing views at the townhall fiasco's IS UnAmerican.

Mary Ellen said...

Dusty- I did answer to the drowning out of opposing views...opposing views were not welcome, often kept out of the town hall meetings and when they did stand up to talk THEY were drowned out with boo's and heckling. So, does that no make those who tried to prevent them from talking "Un-American"? (oh...and AGAIN I will say, not everyone who opposed Obamacare at the town hall meetings were "right wing nutters", there were many senior citizens and many Dems and Independents at those meetings. Grouping them altogether with a swipe of a derogatory name does not benefit your argument.)

Also, there was nothing "suspect" about the guy who got beat up, it was on YouTube. How much more evidence do you need to face reality?

Unknown said...

Mary Ellen, everything is suspect about the black conservative being 'beatup by SEIU blueshirts' as your Catholic blog calls them.

The YouTube video doesn't make your case either. Sorry but it doesn't. As media matters, who has followed this 'incident' closely, states about the video:
The problem was when you watched the clip, viewers saw Gladney get pulled to the ground before he popped right back up less than two seconds later. Viewers saw Gladney walking around after the incident without an obvious scratch on his body, and in no apparent pain.

Using an obviously rightwing religious blog to 'prove' your point is laughable. All you are doing is spreading more falsehoods.

Mary Ellen said...

Here you go, Dusty--

SEIU thugs in action as they beat up Gladny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqpfU_AC7Ls

Below:Over 1,000 St. Louis Tea Party Taxpayers showed up to attend the Russ Carnahan town hall meeting in South St. Louis.

They were Locked Out!
But... The Carnahah staff was sneaking in SEIU members in the side door marked "handicapped."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--ZJhR3T4aw&feature=related

Mary Ellen said...

Dusty- I see, so the only place to get information is from MSNBC and a video showing Gladney being pulled to the ground and kicked is not enough evidence? I guess you would have been happier to see the guy beaten to a pulp with no one to help him, right?

There's no doubt in my mind that you just can't accept reality, which is so sad.

Oh and "my" Catholic blog calls them "blueshirts" because of the blue shirts that the SEIU wears. I wouldn't exactly call that horrible...at least they are not calling people racists, right wing nutters, fascists, rednecks, and other such slurs, as you do.

Mary Ellen said...

Oh, and for your information, Catholics aren't "right wing". There are just as many Democrats and Independents who are Catholic. Again...throwing your slurs doesn't help your argument.

Unknown said...

Mary Ellen, the catholic blog you are quoting from is obviously rightwing. If you are trying to deny that you are seriously in denial.

It's not a slur, it's a fact regarding that site..I wandered around the site a bit and all I found was rightwing extremism. Never did I say ALL catholics are rightwing nutters..do not put words in my comments that aren't there.

The rightwing blog you are quoting uses the term 'blue shirts' with a negative connotation..reminiscent of the 'brown shirts' of the Nazi era. That is a no-brainer.

So no, your reality is not my reality. You are entitled to believe whatever you wish..the facts just don't back you up.

Unknown said...

And Mary Ellen..I did not link to MSNBC..so what is your point there?

Mary Ellen said...

Dusty- That's right, your information came from Moveon.org, which IMO is worse than MSNBC. But I'll refrain from calling them a bunch of left wing lunatics, which is obvious. ;-)

So, you got the "blueshirt" thing and turned it into "brownshirts". Interesting how your mind works.

Mary Ellen said...

oops...that was supposed to be "media matters", but the description still holds for them. :-)

Unknown said...

My original link was to the Washington Independent Mary Ellen.

As for the YT video you keep hawking..I watched it several times, yes,on the Media Matter site, and Gladney didn't show any signs of being injured, as no blood was visible and he was walking around quite easily.

As I stated previously..the St Louis police dept has not arrested anyone for anything done to Gladney, even with video evidence!

That is a fact that you can not dispute.

So continue to hate on lefties if you so choose Mary Ellen. I find the rightwing nutters who employ lies and obfuscation to make their points sadly pathetic..that is my opinion.

rjs said...

reluctantly, ive been following this debate in my email, and have also watched the videos... could you please tell the rest of us at what time on the video you see the alleged beating occur?

Mary Ellen said...

Dusty- Look at the video at about 3:16 and you will see the police cuffing and arresting the SEIU guy.

As far as seeing Gladney being knocked down and hit, the film was started just as people were coming to his rescue. Look at the guy standing over him, protecting him. Listen to those people around him screaming for the SEIU guys to get off him. Those weren't "friends" of Gladney, they were people who were there buying his souvenirs at the time the SEIU guy went after him.

As far as what happened in court, I have no idea and that isn't the point. The point is that the SEIU guy did attack him, there were witnesses, and it is on film. That was never under dispute except from people like you who just can't accept that there are Obama supporters who are out of control.

There were no lies here, Dusty, you just can't accept the facts even when they are on film.

Unknown said...

If he, or anyone, was arrested, then his name would be published by now and he would of been charged with something by now..it's been awhile and the St Louis police aren't as worked up as the extreme right is over this. Next you will be saying the StLouis PD are a bunch of liberal's right? Nasty liberals like those on MSNBC, right?

I have better things to do then argue this ridiculous charge you have laid out here. The same crap is being spewed by Powerline and Freeper. So you are in great company Mary Ellen.

Oh, and have a great Sunday okey dokey?

TomCat said...

My!! Haven't we been busy. :-)

ME, "Astro-turf protesters" is certainly not hate speech. It refers to organizations who claim to be grass roots when they are not. The organizations, organized and paid for by Republican consultants and fund raisers, that bussed protesters all over the country posted a manual on how they should disrupt town hall meetings. All the communications for the "tea party protests" were coordinated through these organizations and Faux Noise. These protests were not grass roots. They were professionally organized. The woman Keith interviewed was rude and obnoxious, but her comments did not descend to the level of hate speech. She did not call for violence. She spoke against it. The Gladney incident occurred before I was back online, so I was not aware of the controversy Dusty brought up. After watching your YouTube video from beginning to end, carefully, and watching it again, I saw no proof that the 'beating' took place. Gladney did not appear at all injured as he made the accusations. People in plain clothes, who I imagine were demonstrators clearly outnumbered the uniformed SEIU representatives. I did see an SEIU guy who was holding his shoulder, clearly in pain. Whatever violence there was, whoever instigated it was wrong. At first, town hall meetings were open to the public. Those meetings were disrupted by demonstrators, many of whom were not even residents of the districts, who were not content to ask questions and state opinions in their turn. They shouted down the Representatives and anyone else who tried to ask a legitimate question. After that people had to apply to attend most town halls, and in most cases, all they had to do was prove that they lived in the Representatives' districts to be allowed in. Because so many demonstrators were out-of-area activists, they were locked out and rightfully so. For most of what she said, I agree with Dusty, but I do agree with you on one point. That the conservative blog you use as a source is also Catholic is irrelevant. Catholic does not necessarily mean conservative. Catholics invented liberation theology, a highly progressive view. Now I agree that the blog is conservative, but being Catholic is not what makes it so.

At this point, I guess it's clear that we disagree.

Mary Ellen said...

Dusty- Did you ever consider that the SEIU had settled with Gladney and that's why both the SEIU and Gladney have been mum on this? Of course not, that would make too much sense.

I'm already having a great Sunday! Thanks! :-D

TomCat said...

Good morning, kind loving people. :-)

I searched for evidence to support thayt claim and found none.

Distributorcap said...

wow.

as for the left spewing out hate --- the fact that there are CONGRESSPEOPLE actually siding with the birthers.

to me, that says it all

TomCat said...

I know, DC. It amazes me that some people fail to see it.