Protesting ObamaCare: What Really Happened on March 20?
On the afternoon of March 20, a few hours before the House of Representatives would vote on the wildly-unpopular “ObamaCare” bill, a group of Democratic representatives led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi carried out a symbolic “march” from the Cannon Office Building to the Capitol.
They had scarcely climbed the marble steps before the headlines blazed across the internet. McClatchy blared, “Tea party protesters scream ‘ni**er’ at black congressman.” The AP reported:
Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., told a reporter that as he left the Cannon House Office Building with Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a leader of the civil rights era, some among the crowd chanted “the N-word, the N-word, 15 times.” Both Carson and Lewis are black, and Lewis spokeswoman Brenda Jones also said that it occurred.
James Clyburn of South Carolina, the House whip and number three in the Democratic leadership hierarchy, also weighed in with similar charges, and Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri charged that a protester had been arrested for spitting on him.
It was as ugly a charge as you can possibly make in American politics. The national media picked up the story and ran with it, and right on cue the following Monday, the liberal commentariat slathered on the indignation, much of it simply echoing a florid DNC fundraising letter from Sunday afternoon. Leftie “JournoList” writers from activist Matt Yglesias to wacky professor Paul Krugman (or perhaps it was Krugman’s wife; it’s hard to tell who’s actually providing the invective in his columns these days) dutifully filed florid denunciations of “the dark cancer at the heart of modern American conservatism” (Yglesias).
Problem is, there is no evidence whatsoever that any such thing actually happened. YouTube is littered with videos from the “Pelosi March” (here’s a representative collection of them), but not one contains an actual racial epithet. There’s plenty of booing and partisan chanting (most notably “kill the bill!”), but the alleged racist rhetoric is nowhere to be heard.
It’s not like nobody was around doing any recording. Even the Democratic staffers who were in the midst of the “march” and clearly seen operating video cameras in other YouTube rolls haven’t come forward with actual evidence of the alleged slurs. Also roiling the waters is the fact that at least one of the guys making the original charges — Jim Clyburn — has a long and florid history of leveling charges of “RACISM!” in practically any conceivable political debate.
But what about the protester “arrested for spitting”? Didn’t happen. No one was arrested that day, and video of the alleged incident shows a protester yelling at Cleaver, but not spitting on him or uttering racist epithets.
All of which begs the question, what exactly did happen on March 20?
Doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to me that this was the game plan all along. That Pelosi & Co. decided to arrogantly march through the crowd was clearly intended as an act of provocation. When the hoped for reaction didn’t materialize, they simply manufactured it. How very classy of them to rub their victory in the faces of the protesters, and wasn’t it a nice touch that the Queen brandished her super gavel (I wonder how many House members she knee-capped with that) along with her everpresent Botoxed grin?
I think it’s been conclusively proven that these power-hungry elitists will do anything to expand the scope and control of government. The opposition must be discredited and ultimately crushed. And, as with the enactment of the health care bill, the ends justify the means.
The Social Democrats are not merely misguided idealogues. They have deliberately chosen to ignore not only the will of the American people, but also the traditions of individual choice and achievement that have made this country great. They have no regard for the Constitution. Are they not traitors?
I saw Mr. Cleaver et al. three times that day. First on the street, second, just as they were going in the Longworth building, and a third time. I could tell they were congressmen but did not recognize any of them. At one point, there was a female walking with them who was also black. I also remember the bearded fella with glasses and a navy blue jacket carrying a camera phone. I was standing there with my daughter and a friend. I never once heard a slur uttered against these people, not once, and I saw them three times, each of the times it was in a very crowded area. The crowd was riled up but very polite. There were capitol police all over the place, armed, alert, and obviously on the lookout for problems—a hate crime, or racist slur would’ve caught their attention, or would’ve /should’ve been brought to their attention immediately and apparently wasn’t. I do not believe that it happened–it certainly did not around the three of us.
If these charges are unfounded, what consequences befall these people. If I charged the CBC with something publicly, I’d have to substantiate the charge with some proof to validate my charge. If I could not, then I should be subject to some consequences. Are these congressmen who cry “racism” not subject to consequences?
They learned all the Alinsky rules rather well. You couldn’t pull this off however without a complicit media.
Their Hail Mary pass may have failed to do much damage, but no one can say that is the case about what they did to our country.
They have lost the war of public opinion. It is clear that they lied and even more Americans of good heart will continue to move towards the side of limited government, less taxes(control) and more personal freedom. The liberal left is doing mortal harm to the Democrat party but is creating unneeded strife that is very dangerous.
I know they mean to do this but it is unconscionable.
I’m not sure which is worse. That they are cynical enough to organize something like that or if they are delusional enough that they actually expected racial epithets.
Ofcourse they planned it. It’s part and parcel of the tired old Leftist playbook,all white people gathered in a group are racists nothing new here. It is rather odd that looking at all of the statist MSM video of the “perp walk” reveals a Democrat Stooge, er Staffer dutifully following the most highly honorable congresspersons with a video camera. “Urkel” puts the video camera in the faces of each protester along the way. If any of these incidents had occurred, shouldn’t said stooge’s video camera have caught them? Oh, I get it, Urkel failed at capturing these particular transgressions. Uh huh.
The charge of racism “fell harmlessly to the turf,” Mr. Collier? When are conservatives going to start calling this canard what it is? It’s a malicious attempt to divide the body politic using hatred as a means. The Breitbart response was spot-on. It’s time we started intercepting these lobs and stuffing them back in the face of the liars who use this disgraceful tactic. A curse upon all those who use hatred for political gain; may they reap the whirlwind.
Planting “agitators” in crowds is one of the oldest political tricks and I bet that’s what was planned and I bet that’s what happened. They knew what was going to happen before the event and had their “confrontations” worked out and practiced.
Dear Lord, Regarding the evil liberals destroying my nation. I’m sorry but even though you want me to pray for those who despitefully use us …. I can’t do it. You can ignore all my unbidden thoughts of horrible violence I’d like to see happen to them however. I’m sorry for those. They just wont’ stop.
There is a reason why the left reflexively and predictably hurls charges such as “racist!” at those on the right — and it would be good for the right to understand this reason.
The left has two animating ideologies to which they cling to this day: socialism (in some form or another) as a domestic policy and pacifism as an international policy. However, the events of the 20th century thoroughly refuted the claims of both of these ideas.
Socialism did not bring prosperity to the masses — rather, where it was practiced fully and consistently, it brought mass death by starvation to the masses (See the U.S.S.R., Communist China, North Korea, Cuba, Nazi Germany, etc.) and where it was practiced only partially it brought economic ruin and stagnation (see England). Likewise, pacifism did not bring about world peace — rather, it invited the horrific aggressions of two world wars that saw the murder of millions of innocents and the eventual enslavement of millions more under Communism throughout the “cold war”.
So the left has no valid arguments to offer in support of its ideas — no empirical evidence to make anyone believe the ideas will work. And lacking valid arguments, the left simply resorts to invalid ones, such as the ad hominem of calling those on the right, “racist”.
The charge is false, but more importantly, it is irrelevant. Even if every tea partier was a racist, this would not invalidate their arguments against government expansion and would not justify Obama’s massive looting of America’s most productive individuals.
It is elementary logic that the truth or falsehood of an argument does not depend on the character of the person making the argument. But today’s angry left has never heard of logic, elementary or otherwise. Thus, they go on repeating the fallacy of ad hominem, which remains a fallacy no matter how loudly or how often the left screams it.
Ad hominem is a desperate tactic employed by the intellectually bankrupt — and the right would do well to point this out at every opportunity.
A government coup–that’s what happened. The people our fathers fought against in WWII overthrew the US governement.
it was a group of warmerbagger t partei activists
One of the accusers is a representative from the district next door. I just sent a donation to his opponent’s campaign fund. This article prompts me to send another.
(My district’s representative voted “NO”.)
Get busy and support people to replace these thugs.
These segment of the American Public that “produces”, which the Tea Partiers epitomizes — I was at the big DC Tea Party last year — has just about had enough of this faux-racist crap. It’s going to get ugly and violent in this country if this continues.
“Racism” has been used as an unwarranted cudgel so often that it doesn’t have the power to manipulate and destroy it once had. In a way, that’s bad, because if Rep. Lewis and his ilk had to confront real, actual racism in society, they’d have no protection against it, from having cried “wolf” too many times.
So next time they’ll be better prepared and have a plant–shouting something hateful to be caught on tape.
No doubt about it–planned from the start and I believe the FBI raids yesterday on “Christian militias” may be another attempt at propaganda against the tea party movement with the drudge headline of “planning war against the US”. They will connect some of these people to the tea party movement and attempt to smear us all as a bunch of conspiracy theorists, etc.
A government coup–that’s what happened. The people our fathers fought against in WWII overthrew the US governement.
The Germans?
11. Michael Smith: I would add to this adroit observation the following. What struck me about this sendup to the final act in the Dems Kabuki theatrics was where I’d seen it all before – played out in more modest ways; college.
The first time was particularly unique since I am a Kent State grad; the May 4th fixation – a ritual that from my first experience (’78 – before enrolling) I watched (having patched together an undergrad as a working student) evolve through graduation in ’92.
There were at least a half dozen people (one being a former student victim – Alan Canfora) who literally made a full time living off of MAY 4ht. Only in America – and only in Academia in America could this happen. Literally – the majority of the money they made to feed their family came directly in one form or another from this ‘historical event’ and the subsequent enshrinment it held at a left leaning American University.
Many of us undergrads joked that these turds were kind of like a sick version of fantasy land at Disney World – but instead of riding the tram to work hawking Mickey and Pluto key chains they were selling the National Guard as Nazi death camp facilitators – partly out of rent free offices on campus – but mainly as stay at home moms or dads.
The closer you look the more Congress, esspcially the Pelosi run House, resembles a largely unregulated left leaning college campus from the Carter through the early Reagan years.
Shock of shocks, Pelosi choregoraphs a parade – many of the actors members in good standing of the congressional Black Caucus (what bigger bubble of a nearly indecipherable universe exists in American politics today beyond the Black Caucus?)- and, stuck after having just brought her parties most covented domestic policy ‘get’ across the finish line – an obsession of every high ranking Dem since LBJ – only to find said accomplishment overwhelmingly rejected by the majority of the American people, leaving her no choice but to dovetail a wee bit more propaganda to FINALLY, PLEASE FINALLY explain what Obama failed to get entirely across speaking no matter how slowly he explained it again and again over the past year. (the old constitutional adjucnt proff days coming in quite handy – sort of – I guess?)
What better than a mini version of the Edmund Pettis bridge! (no Bull Conner/Dogs or fire hoses – just imaginary ‘spittle’?) Surely it doesn’t take a Cali House Leader – a 40 year vet to boot – to know what the narrative necessitates for the upcoming HBO doc! What knucklehead can’t get that?
The professional worlds of Academia and Congress – particularly under Pelosi – has – with historic health care – fused as unrecognizable alternative universes – just worlds apart from the daily struggles and strife of ordinary Americans – and too bad that is for the great unwashed – tsk tsk.
Leave it is up to Chuckie Toad and David Shyster to translate to the barely bathed (or college educated); veritable ‘Steven Hawking’s’ to every-voter.
Only in wing-nut conservative cookoo land can we get ‘historic’ legislation that the American people are too stupid (or in this case, bigoted) to understand.
But unlike Academia, where the ‘sausage making’ of cutting deals, either through influential alum or dept heads, can still allow a wounded/useless proff (once tenured) to find a niche to hide in and thus free-ride through retirement, there is no such luxury for the modern professional politician (at least not in the House or Senate), irregardless of how compliant a MSM is.
Instead – racist slurrs are ‘heard’ although they excape filmed detection. And the anger of the public is ominiously reflected via the kind of militia movement interrupted (the FBI Ohio & Michigan busts) just days after the flood of death threats and what not.
Eric Cantor obviously didn’t get the same script ‘table read’ for the sit-com now playing. (It doesn’t qualify for a Dick Wolf like cop drama until there are 60′s like actual outbreaks of violence playing out – sorry libs)
You are absolutely correct Michael. But propaganda has a tendency to be both intellectually bankrupt AND desperate.
19. The National Socialist.
Our congress is filled with craziness and shenanigans when highly charged pieces of legislation are being considered. Much worse has happened than what happened the day Health Care Reform was acted on by the Democrats. Republicans were very jealous and some of their t-party activists let their emotions get the better of them….
The sensible Republican leadership has said “sorry” and have ordered their troops to cease fire and retreat. And with time I think cooler heads will prevail, the law will take effect and become popular and over time, it will be of great benefit to our great people. Dont you agree?
Bleh . . . we’re doomed as a country. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but the democrat’s actions are just beyond belief.
“The poor, the old, the infirm, the government employee, the union worker, the dropout, and the slothful have cause to rejoice as their party has delivered the goods.
Or so they think. Let’s take a quick look at the numbers.
According to the most recent Social Security and Medicare trustees report, the unfunded liabilities of these New Deal and Great Society programs exceed $100 trillion dollars. Add the unfunded Medicaid mandates imposed on the states along with the pension liabilities of millions of federal, state, and local government employees and the total becomes almost impossible to comprehend.
Try this on for size. If you confiscated the entire Gross Domestic Product of the US for ten years you couldn’t cover all these liabilities.
Confiscate the GDP? That’s Communism! OK, how about confiscating half the GDP? Too late, that money is already spoken for.”
You can read the rest here:
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2010/03/29/the_dawn_of_a_new_age_in_the_united_states_98396.html
22. Hell no! They’re idiots and they have no business apologizing for us. We have nothing to apologize for, except perhaps not doing enough! Obama wants to double down? Let’s see his bait and triple it!
The liberals can call these people – racist (even though most of the white people in these groups voted for Obummer. They call them astroturf and then set up a coffee potter group that went flat. They have called them extremeist and then we watch a video of the SEIU beating a poor black man in the street for selling flags. LMAO! This is the best you can do? No wonder the healthcare bill and your careers are a bust.
Exactly how is publicly making a false claim that you have been the victim of a hate crime, and publicly making a false claim that you have reported that crime to the police… NOT in itself a hate crime?
I am personally appalled at the whole notion that the motive for a crime is an aggravating factor, or that open public speech can be a crime, but these are the blunt instruments that these faux egalitarians use against us, and we must reluctantly pick them up and use them in our defense. Is there no congressman on OUR side who will take this up as a class action on behalf of those people who were there and were slandered?
Let’s see those tapes that were taken by the Congressman’s staff! Make them put up or shut up!
And don’t forget the media who repeated the scurrilous charge without the feeblest attempt at confirmation, a professional requirement they “forget” when the story is just too good to check, but rigidly enforce when it suits them (right, John Edwards?).
Staged. Video would have provided if it existed. Conservatives must become immune to the cry of racism.
Myself, I think a big part of that was for internal consumption, to give several Democrats more backbone about absorbing this huge hit. A Democrat cant’ be seen voting the way supposed racists want them to.
I was there. It did not happen. Period end of story
I reached the same conclusion myself. They were hoping for trouble, they were expecting trouble, and when none materialized they simply told a lie that many were only too eager to believe. (And many still do.)
This of course assumes that members of Congress can lie…oh, wait, sorry…drifted off into flying unicorn land there for a moment.
Well, the House members always use the underground walkway or subway systems so the perp walk was an obvious bit of theater at the least and likely an attempt at provocation. My speculation is that the “screamer” planted in the crowd got cold feet at the ludicrous-ness of it all. Perhaps next time they should try broadcasting in Polish from a German border radio station.
Are these congressmen who cry “racism” not subject to consequences?
No. None whatsoever. They represent ultra-safe black congressional districts whose constituents would vote in a convicted criminal if he/she were 1) African-American, and 2) a Democrat. Think I’m exaggerating or being “racist?” Then let me remind you that Alcee Hastings, an impeached and disbarred Federal Judge is now a Congressman, and he’s the one who the other day said “we (the Democrats) make up the rules as we go along.”
It is hard to consider serious or worth attention anything that is printed on the same pages as Kim Zigfeld’s anti-Russian screeds.
Keep spilling ink, guys…
#26 said:
“Let’s see those tapes that were taken by the Congressman’s staff! Make them put up or shut up!”
Apparently it takes a while for them to doctor their “proof”…
Even if the stories of racist taunts are fake, they are certainly accurate. And, even if the facts are wrong, the narrative is right. Republicans hate Obamacare because they hate Obama, and Obama is black. And everyone knows that Republicans are racists. Therefore, if you are against Obamacare, or a Republican, you are racist. My logic is undeniable.
I promise you that next time, in a similar circumstance, they will make sure someone in the crowd DOES scream the N word loud and proud. Just make sure you have your video camera to capture an image of the person saying it, so that it can be proven the shouter was, in reality, a SEIU, ACORN or AFSME plant.
Collier, this was also my suspicion that day. After all, when do these “elites” every walk through among the commoners? There was no reason for them to do their little march (with cameras at the ready) unless they were trying to incite something.
I have a liberal SIL who wondered the same thing. Opened her eyes a bit.
So am I correct that in all of this hyperventilating over threatened and actual violence resulting from Health Care passage, the only arrest to date is the “gentleman” who fired shots at the office of Representative Cantor? Norman Leboon? My my, what a tangled web we weave… Fight the power!
I have watched gang members do this same walk through church fund raiser festivals just to prove that they can like they are marking out turf. Like Polosi and friends they don’t stick around long when they notice no one is afraid.
It is interesting, isn’t it? There is an underground system for House & Senate members to get in w/o even looking at “we the people.” So, why that exact day did Nancy & company decide to go across a bridge to the Capitol AND to symbolically carry a huge gavel. They wanted it to look like th Selma or Montgomery march.
They want to portray this legislation as a civil rights (read: racial) issue. It is not & they know it. They are pushing a theme & they use any tactic available to them. Alinsky would be proud.
Did they plan it? Under normal circumstances I’d say no. But, the march, the gavel, the Representative following along with his video camera…. yep, they planned it. Jesse Jackson, Jr. had that camera. When they could not get the video, or the audio to go w/ their outrageous & deliberately inciting accusations, they simply “said they happened.” They had no proof. So what? Just say it, and in their small minds, it happened.
Racist is becoming meaningless in America anymore. Why, because its become a chicken little accusation. They have used this canard so many times & in so many obviously false situations, that now they use it all the time for anything, & its beginning to mean nothing to the people. The media carrying their water? We now expect the official Democratic party propaganda operation, better known as the old mainstream media (or: NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, NPR, New York Times, et al), lost all credibility just as they are losing market share. That is why Obama hates FOX. FOX, who may or may not be great, are the only guys left who at least “try” to give some semblance of objectivity. If a Republican or conservative screws up, FOX does not carry the water. W/ the old mainstream organizations, they rarely mention a Democrats political affiliation if they are involved in a crime or scandal. But, let it be a conservative or Republican & those folks label each & every person & they do so each time they mention the story which is usually three to five times as much as they mention a scandal involving a Democrat.
Democrats officially fear what will happen in November, so they contrived a victim scene to elicit sympathy. See, those mean Republicans and Tea Party people are so mean they get nasty & vicious & show their bigotry & that is why we must lead & decide for all. Yeah, right!
The Democrats overplayed their hand on Health Care, plan to do so on Cap & Trade, on Immigration, and on so much more. Nancy is trying to save some seats after she convinced a group of fools to throw away their seats in congress for a bill that may not be constitutional, more than half the public wants repealed, and for the first time in history, was to be challenged in court by state attorney’s general, even before it was passed by the congress & the president signed it. Never happened before in our history.
Yep, this was a put up job & a poor one at that. Too many camera’s proved the Democrats are lying!
Aw, poor deemocrats. They just can’t figure out that normal people with a great deal of common sense who have a habit of not using foul language or physical violence actually don’t resort to it under the pressure of a momentary situation, even when they are being baited by those who are experts in foul language and physical violence. Poor deemocrats. They don’t understand that most of us who attend Tea Parties will end up taking the blows and getting the stitches before we’ll behave the way they do. My immediate family knows I’m ready for broken bones, etc. and their ONLY comment to the press (or at the funeral) should be, “Way to go, Mom!” Vicious, vicious demoncrats. Deceivers and deceived–that’s who they are. And that’s all they are…everything else goes under that: America-haters for starters.
I am absolutely stunned that they didn’t have agent provocateurs in the crowd to call out the racial epitaphs, except for the fear maybe that they would get their butts handed to them by the tea-partiers. That would have been truly glorious.
Tell me, is it normal for Pelosi and her sycophants walk to work arm in arm surrounded by security from the Cannon building and up the Capitol steps every day?
Or did they make the trip this way only on this day and with a specific purpose in mind?
@44
I think I remember reading a couple of accounts from some attendees that a few leftists attempted to join the crowd and were turned away. As I recall one of the tea partiers was pretty much in their face, and they backed off. I can’t find the reference now. Anyone remember this? I wonder if they were trying to get someone in their to shout something, and it didnt come off.
A powerful cartoon showing “Congressional Abuse” and what it is doing to Liberty in this country at http://drawfortruth.wordpress.com/category/liberty/
On O’Reilley I saw a video clip of the famous march and there on tape was Jesse Jackson Jr using his video camera. Did he miss something or did nothing happen? You are sooooooooo correct, this was a planned excursion with charges rehearsed before they even left their offices. Makes me sick. They must stir their base or lose and they are using racism to do it. As a black person I would be deeply offended by this stunt but mob mentality will set in and we shall see some ugly incidents in the near future and the Democrats have accomplished their objective. Notice to all non-black races to not be baited! Notice to all white racists do not be baited you will do exactly what they want. Ignore the whole thing till it quietly dies a well-deserved death. AND TEA Partiers bring a camera and have it ready, there will be agent provacatoeurs at all future gatherings. Tell them to leave they and their hate speech are not welcome and tape it because their agents will have someone taping them. Tis the season of dirty tricks and the Democrats have cornered themselves.
These are the neo-fascists. These are the tactics that were employed in Germany. These people calling someone “racist” is no different than a brownshirt calling someone a “jew-lover” in 1933 Germany.
I believe that Mr Carson heard what he claimed. People with mental illness “hears” voices. Having known the previous Representative Carson, it quite evident that mental illness runs in the family. I am not saying this to be mean. It is just an observation.