This is a verbatim excerpt from a White House Blog called The Blog (http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/). It’s a request to notify them of sites or people who are saying bad things about the administration’s health care “reform” proposals.
There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov
Leaving aside the creepier aspects of the request, the call for ‘tips’ by The Blog may just be an example of the Online Reputation Management (ORM) of an endangered brand. The Foundry, a site associated with the Heritage Foundation, notes that the administration’s health care proposal has been taking a beating in the polls. The word is out: Obamacare sucks and the professionals are out in force to “manage” its faltering image. So isn’t it natural to find out who is dissing it, as a prelude to setting them straight?
Google Alerts is one of several ORM tools “which notifies its users by email (or as a feed) about the latest web and news pages of their choice.” Unfortunately, Google doesn’t spider emails too well; hence, the The Blog’s request to readers to report suspicious emails to flag@whitehouse.gov. What sets The Blog’s efforts apart from other ORM efforts is the context. It’s not just defending a product; it’s defending a side. I predict that if the current debate continues to polarize people they will start to form trust networks. The dreaded question “whose side are you on?” will start to be asked before any views are exchanged. When people choose sides it is inevitably the beginning of the end of “honest debate”. Sides in unalterable conflict don’t debate each other, they contend with each other for victory. Is health care “reform” worth that kind of polarization? Maybe health care really isn’t what the debate is about anyway. At any rate, if you see anything interesting, do note it at The Belmont Club. In the interests of honest debate.
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Trust networks? Polarization? I guess that is one way of saying that we are one step closer to civil insurrection. Hard left socialist-marxists can’t be negotiated with, only defeated. When Pelosi calls honest dissent facist thuggery, isn’t that straight out of the marxist playbook? Political assasinations aren’t too far away, it seems.
The “trust networks” comment by W above is interesting.
I heavily discount anything from AP, NYT, ABC.NBC.CBS, etc. They are outside my trust network, based on repeated instances of what I evaluate as intentionally misleading reporting. They have achieved negative credibility – I assume they are going to be lying to me before reading the report, just based on their brand.
On the other hand, Michael Yon I assume is going to be telling the truth, based on his brand.
The single thing that I dislike most about of the left-wing politicians is how profoundly – and often transparently – dishonest they are. After a while, there doesn’t seem much point in trying to have an honest debate. And one can’t assume any agreement will be honored.
I tend to think health care – as discussed here – is indeed a critical enough issue to choose sides on. If the Left wins, fundamental freedoms will be lost, I think permanently. Government will expand, permanently. Government intrusion into everyday life will expand, permanently. The US will become more like the worst aspects of the Chicago machine. There is a lot of down side.
And frankly, I don’t trust anyone on the Left enough to want to negotiate anything with them. I just assume they won’t live up to any agreement they might make.
We Need A New Movement!
“THROW THE BUMS OUT”
If you ever needed documentation of an authoritarian intention to chill freedom of speech, here it is.
The most ominous aspect is the casualness with which private communications are included within the scope of what government should be “monitoring.” These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.
Any English sentence can be parsed in many different ways but it seems unavoidable to arrive at any conclusion other than that the Obama administration is purposely recruiting neighborhood snitches to finger people who “may present a problem.”
What happens after the WH is informed that Joe Sixpack is telling his fellow employees that Obama’s public pronouncements about the proposed health care legislation differ from the plain language in the bill? Does he get a telephone call or a visit from some bureaucrat, or from ACORN?
The best way to handle this is to overwhelm flag@whitehouse.gov with reports of what administration officials and leading Democrat luminaries are saying about health insurance. That should be fishy enough for anybody.
I have added the White House to my political news e-mail list. They might as well get it first hand.
The best way to handle this is to make the issue so big the media is force to cover it.
“Does he get a telephone call or a visit from some bureaucrat, or from ACORN?”
You’ll get an End of Life Consultation, Boston.
Being caring people, they want you to be aware
of the palliative care Hospice can provide.
If you used the flag@whitehouse.gov address to, say, send them on a wild goose chase, would they come after you?
Why do you think the media, who were so deficient in probing into Obama’s past during the presidential campaign, will be “forced” to cover any story?
Surely something as important as what Barak Obama was doing while an undergraduate at Columbia would be “news,” yet we stil know next to nothing about this time in his life.
I have to agree with The Old Guy that most MSM sources are outside of my trust network
#6 Davod
That would mean the media would be reporting on itself. The office is run by a former Main Stream News matron.
Oh,
Here is my latest contribution to the office of Blog, WH Health care reform flag site
to flag@whitehouse.gov
date Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 5:20 AM
subject Something fishy here
HERE, (linked to the following BBC Report)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8185753.stm
Follow up message
HERE
A British judge ordered suspected gang members not to associate with each other online.
In another case, a British schoolteacher found herself suspended after making a slightly disparaging remark about the behavior of classes on her Facebook page.
You can make the argument that the only reputation that matters any more is your online reputation. Databases increasingly define your character definitively. In a world where you buy things online, deal with strangers over the phone, apply for jobs by email and run for political office on TV a credit rating, criminal record and the tone of articles written about you not only help describe who you are; it is who you are. Your physical reality will be less definitive than your online one. Perhaps in the future we will experience the virtual equivalent of those documentary inspections that were the staple of wartime and Cold War fiction. Paperzz plizz. Paperzz.
duplicate
If submitting to an End of Life consultation with some snotty bureaucrat is a requirement for getting medical attention then I won’t be getting any. My drug of choice is Advil anyway so who cares? It’s a great substitute for actually stretching before a round of golf.
Polarization is the watchword. What’s most interesting is that the demonization of the opposition is coming from the top down. Here’s a link to a video produced by the Democrat Party. DNC Calls Protestors a Mob.
Pelosi says that opponents are showing up at town hall meetings with swastikas. Boxer says that town hall protestors are too well dressed to not be part of some GOP mob – just like in 2000.
The Rule of Law is going down the rat hole along with the Republic.
Wrichard writes: “Maybe health care really isn’t what the debate is about anyway.
It’s about health care, yes, but also in the more general sense of being about what people consider their “pursuit of happiness,” which is greatly about health. But the issue is also about a bigger question, namely whether government by the people, of the people, and for the people might be replaced by “government for the people” solely.
President Bush was a man who valued loyalty, to a fault. (Should have pardoned Scooter, however.) And he elicited loyalty from those around him. But the unelected bureaucracy and media wore down his support, leaving him exposed and open to attack and betrayal (where are you Scott McClellen?)
President Obama is not a man of loyalty, as many have discovered upon their meeting the wheels of the bus. The media covers for him, but the kryptonite of politics is weakening the president’s super powers. There are many people out there who got their arms twisted, got bumped aside, and got betrayed by Obama. The chickens are very likely to come home to roost. When his staff starts asking for informers, they may get more than they bargained for, both from those who want to preserve “government by the people” and those who, sensing a weakened Obama, want revenge. (Hmmm, might there even be a cabinet secretary out there who might be in that category?)
Whatever one thinks of the birth certificate story, people agree that we know little of Obama. And surely there are a lot of people out there who know things about who he is and what he’s done. A book contract here, one there, and pretty soon information starts emerging from the shadows. And the federal prosecutor continues his methodical work in Chicago. The conviction of Cold Cash Jefferson may be the big crack in what seemed to be Democratic invincibility. The Joker posters are another.
When you sow disloyalty and snitching, you will reap disloyalty and snitching. We may have to adapt Orwell’s ditty somewhat:
“Under the spreading chestnut limb,
He sold you, and you sold Him.”
The More Obama brings Change to America,
the more things stay the same:
The front page of the NY Times features a 17 minute interview with Budd Schulberg, conducted when he was 92.
In the second half he speaks of his membership in the Communist Party, and his leave-taking over the prospect of having to write his novel (What Makes Sammy Run) in such a way that it “reflected favorably” on the party.
When his “friends” sided with The Party, he concluded that they were for
Free Speech for themselves, but not for those who disagreed with them.
…an all too familiar theme, no?
He decided he could no longer consider them friends, and would later testify against some of them.
His father was impressed by his writing, but urged him not to publish “Sammy” because of the political fallout/backlash. Schulberg was not dissuaded.
“On the Waterfront” receives some attention, also, believe it or not.
—
We are paying 18 Million Dollars for that Website[!] FWIW.
Or, rather what it is not worth.
Political akido is required. When uke attacks, help him. Accelerate his downfall. For example, I have pointed out to several of my liberal friends that I really admire their paying $4500 in taxes to help buy a new car for those less fortunate. I then tell them that I hope they have enough left to help pay for the health care for those less fortunate. I realize they may have to cut costs and reduce spending on Starbucks, etc., but that is what being a liberal is all about. I appreciate them setting such a good example for me, reprobate that I am. In fact, if they should not be able to continue paying for their 4000 square foot house, I’m sure those less fortunates that they helped will be more than willing to repay their generosity 10 fold and share all they have, as they are doing now.
I love watching little minds struggling with difficult concepts. It is a small gift to give.
I attended my local “Tea Party” protest in April marking my first ever political protest. It was held in the middle of the week and I had to take time off from work to attend. Parking was scarce and I had to walk at least a mile to get to the main part of the protest. As I approached the crowd I saw one of my customers in the front line holding a hand made sign. This woman is also a small business person running a special interest publication out of her home. I stopped and talked with her for a moment before mingling with the crowd. I did not see many “Brooks Brothers” types although there were some better dressed state employees and office workers in the crowd. I saw Ron Paul supporters, some people opposed to open borders, a lot of people holding signs protesting taxes. A lot of American flags. The mood was festive and with a lot of energy. The main theme though, from what I could tell, is that people are afraid of the speed and direction of change. These people, and I include myself, love this country. Yes, things could be better but what we fear is screwing up the things that are good in America. I don’t know where Obama was born and at this point don’t care. What I do know is that he does not share my view of America as a place of special and unique blessing to us and the rest of the world.
As soon as I heard about it I wrote in and mentioned 5 or 6 things about O’s policies I thought were fishy, nothing abusive, and signed my name.
Now I’m worried I may be on my way to the Gulag. Will someone please look after my wife and kids?
Mark/14–agree with your comment re the book deals; it’s just a matter of when greed overcomes fear.
“DNC Calls Protestors a Mob.”
—
A caller to Dennis Miller referred to something that the MSM is not reporting:
He said that while loud, “The Mob” was never profane, whereas the opposition shocked him with their level of profanity.
Said his years in the Marines had not prepared him to expect to hear the filth coming out of the mouths of well-coiffed 50 year old women!
When one suggested that he should shut up, he informed her that he did not serve 23 years in the Marines defending our freedoms so that she could tell him he had none.
PB/4 & Doug/7: you ask, “What does a ‘troublemaker’ get from a permanent gov’t?
((btw, i still can’t use me reg’lar handle here –whut gives, i wonders))
I spent an hour writing a post and the machine crashed and ate it. So much for communication.
The suggestions that people attempt to flood the White House portal strike me as ill advised. If the concern is that the administration is asking people to send them information that can be used to identify possible enemies then how does it help for those enemies to themselves send the White House their email addresses and IP numbers? It will be a simple matter to harvest those numbers and build a data base for future reference. Those numbers can then be screened out to prevent the inbox from being jammed in the future and effectively eliminating the opposition voices from any policy debate.
Effective communications require at least some minimum level of shared values. You can negotiate with an enemy who sees some value in your continued existence. You cannot negotiate with a wild animal that is seeking to kill you. Billions of dollars have been spent and whole careers have been built on a Middle -East Peace Process that is almost completely devoid of content. On the other hand the successful return of the two journalists from North Korea indicates that their can be some benefit in keeping a communications line open to even the most irrational corespondent.
The problem with communicating with the current White House can be summed up in two words, Rahm Emmanuel. He seeks power for its own sake. He is like O’Brien in Nineteen Eighty-Four.
If you fail to cooperate with his sincere efforts to manage the message then you may suffer for your Failure to Communicate.
“If submitting to an End of Life consultation with some snotty bureaucrat is a requirement for getting medical attention then I won’t be getting any.”
That’s good. But before the end of life consultation there will be the long form wherew you will -at pain of no coverage and a Federal perjury prosecution -
commit to give-up, smoking, non-listed foods and liquids,owning or driving a non-listed vehicle, purchasing or renting accomodation which exceeds the size allowance for you and your family,etc.
LotM/21; yes, RE is also who brought so much of the Jewish/American vote to disregard Obama’s virtual keffiyeh. His IDF connections & all. Oops!
You might want to read this (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obamas-dissident-database-could-be-secret—-and-permanent-52571822.html) by Byron York at the Washington Examiner before firing off any jokey emails.
#2 Old Guy:
As a fellow old guy I totally agree with your take.
I watched O say what he really wants healthcare to be. And then I watched a WH “spokesperson” explain that he didn’t say it.
I also watched Dingy Harry blame the media for healthcare “deadlines”. I then watched the same Dingy Harry outlining “deadlines” for passage of the bill in previous statements.
It is beyond my comprehension how the left gets away with so many out and out lies when the truth is front and center for all to see.
“Big Brother LOVES you.”
now repeat after me…………
There was a report on Laura Ingraham’s show the the “flag” operation was against the law per US Code. Not that that would bother these radicals.
The code number and section were mentioned on Laura’s show, but I don’t see it posted on her website. Perhaps it will be posted
later.
Boss said: “Maybe health care really isn’t what the debate is about anyway.”
It isnt. Its about control achieved thru dependency. If you have them by the balls their hearts and minds will follow. The left in America (which is to say the fascists) has consistently pursued a program of increasing the share of the population that is dependent on the government. This permits compromises with liberty to gain the “greater good”. With Health Care its about making everybody healthier for less cost. With surveillance its about making everybody safer. With global warming its about making life possible. If sick folks die, the costs end and the average health of the nation is improved. If everybody is constantly watched, crime will go down because every offense will be punished. If fossil fuels are banned, the earth will be cleaner because people will die from lack of food and will stop polluting the earth.
It promotes the concept of a utterly benign regime that only wants to help. Go back and read the Founders. Their attitude toward government would get them investigated if not imprisoned.
Ive stopped referring to them as leftists. The correct term is fascist.
Edit unavailable.
Guideline #2 above. Shirley: You cant be serious.
Edit’s back.
Aristide,
it’s called the Privacy Act. Key section:
According to 5 U.S.C. § 552a, United States agencies, including the Executive Office of the President shall, “maintain no record describing how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment unless expressly authorized by statute or by the individual about whom the record is maintained or unless pertinent to and within the scope of an authorized law enforcement activity.”
from Eric Ericksen at Redstate.
Now of course the White House and the Senate Judiciary lawyers say that the White House is exempt from that ” including the Executive office of the President” part or something.
Gee, isn’t it great we get to have a President who can pick and choose what laws he will comply with and what he won’t.
Unsk, when Nixon claimed ‘executive privilege’ on ‘national security’ grounds re the watergate probing, these same people came literally unglued and ramped up the impeachment effort for it.
How to respond?
1. Is there a way to send email that cannot be tracked back to a person’s true identity?
2. How about a “resistance website” posting our “fishy” submissions, while destroying all data relating to the origin of the submission.
3. Along with #2 above, this resistance website could forward the submissions to the WH. They asked for it; let’s give it to ‘em!
4. Having been put on alert by the WH, I noticed this suspicious couple hanging around a town hall meeting.
http://www.encount.com/images/staff/b_n_2.gif
How to respond – follow up.
Naturally, the WH would just filter out mass emailing from a resistance website.
That’s OK. The submissions can be turned into hard copy and physically delivered to the WH.
They asked for it; let’s give it to ‘em…good and hard!
If you’re going to be sending names, then send the names and addresses of the membership or board of the local ACORN affiliate. I would recommend you use the local library computer: the site may have an agreement page as does the cars for clunker page declaring your computer is now property of the federal government.
…an End of Life consultation with some snotty bureaucrat…
Q: who will be the consultor and who will be the consultee?
Regarding flag@whitehouse.gov, I thought the best suggestion was to send in the names and emails of committed Obama supporters, reporting them for ungoodthink.
Another interesting possibility would be to send in a floood of false “right-wing” talking points and get them spending their time creating rebuttals to agruments that never get made. Of course, I suspect they and their media allies would claim those arguments were being made anyway.
Do not assume that webmails such as hotmail or yahoo protect your identity. They do not. While there are services that attach a false IP to your session, really a filter through their servers, it would not stop a serious law enforcement search. Bottom line is that anyone who sends anything to the White House that could legitimately attract the attention of the Secret Service deserves what happens. Such activities only empower those who seek to discredit legitimate opposition to Obama.
#32 Unsk
The Presidential Records Act provides specific statutory authorization in this case.
As far as people noting that internet communications can be traced back to you it all depends on the value of determining who that person is. In the case of this orewellian plea for the names & communications of dissenters I hardly think it worth the costs of getting at the true ID of all communication endpoints. Especially if the zone gets flooded and they have to sort out tons of noise from bits of signal and it seems the zone is getting flooded. At least one blogger put a form for his readers to automatically report him, I have seen some people claim they self-reported and I am sure there are those out there doing the suggested submission of names of health care proponents.
One interesting gag occurred recently. The DNC put out a communication calling on their supporters to call the RNC. Someone at the RNC set up their phone tree in an interesting way. “Hello, if you are calling to discuss healthcare please press 1″. One was setup to reroute the call to the DNC!
Is there a point to a debate? The end implys that you hope to change the other side’s minds.
Nowaday, both sides pretty much made up their minds, no matter what is being discussed. For example, nobody can convince me Obama (and the current crop of Dems) represent anything remotely good.
So I don’t debate anymore and my ‘discussion’ tends to be short and not too interesting (according to my other half).
An observation here, not a personal attack: Those of you getting breathless over emailing this snitch website need to get some tonic for your nerves. You are already known anyway. Be it a mailing list, a donation, a firearm permit or gun owner registration, a purchase of ammo on one of your plastic cards, your reading of this post on this blog, you are known.
You’re going to need to find some more spine before the rattle of muskets begins. We are millions strong, take heart! Fear is natural in a healthy mind, just don’t let it rule you.
always right,
Not everyone is on our side or the other side. There are millions of undecideds out there. They are the prize.
Sure, it may be a waste of effort to try explaining reality to a brain dead Lefty. But that doesn’t mean you can’t educate an average citizen who is just beginning to pay attention to what’s going on. The Tea Parties are full of people who didn’t “get it” until quite recently.
I made a report to the white house-
Sirs,
I would like to report disinformation being spread concerning the debate on Healthcare. I heard an officeholder who professes to be an expert on healthcare state that a young pregnant woman was turned away from an emergency room because she was unable to pay for treatment. As the officeholder was no doubt aware, it is illegal for a hospital to deny treatment to anyone in need of care, yet she told the story to advance her agenda and attack the healthcare system. It is the use of such urban myths for political purposes that make it nearly impossible to have meaningful debate on healthcare reform.The name of the officeholder is Hillary Clinton, she is currently a member of your administration. You may watch at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E6a2dXGM1k&feature=related.
Thanks for addressing this matter.
Word has come to me from friends in other parts of the country that they now customarily keep a few extra Jacksons in the wallet and use them in frequent transactions that end up adding a few more boxes of nineMm, dot-forty-five, or other expendables for their pistolas.
This bizarre person went on to confess that he acquires some expendables that do not even fit any of his personal weepons, as they may in time of need be used for barter.
Imagine that…
Cash is King.
Use not American Express, or DungeonMaster or any other such device of the Devil for those exchanges.
By the way, the previous post (44, one of my personal favorite numbers) is bang on topic, as it relates directly to both Health Care (i.e., ensuring your own at a fundamental level) and contributing to the certainty of fairness in debate.
Thanks, Mr. Colt!
(41) Of course we are in databases, this is the base of modern society. The problem we face is that we are in the middle of a slow motion revolution. We realize that Obama is out to destroy us and our way of life. Tea Party is a reaction to the realization that if we don’t act now, we won’t have a chance later.
As we all know, a con man is eventually revealed to be what he is. And some folks really hate to admit that they’ve been had. And the “buyers remorse” that friends of mine are suffering is moving to disgust and rage. When I went to my first tea party on April 15th, I spoke to a lot of folks. Disgust with Geitner, Taxes, Obama, IRS, and leftist agendas were the main topics of discussion.
So, we are at a turning point. We have a race baiting hustler who is falling in the poll numbers and in the public trust. Asking people to inform on free speech is treason. Is he a national socialist? What will he do when the town hall situation makes it clear that we have no further use for him? When distrust is so rampant that he is publicly ridiculed? And we are supposed to snitch out folks to this marxist?
You know, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live in historic times. To be truthful, for a person with a historical perspective, it’s a bit scary. We can lose our freedoms to this Charlatan.
42. jimbo:
always right,
Not everyone is on our side or the other side. There are millions of undecideds out there. They are the prize.
Sure, it may be a waste of effort to try explaining reality to a brain dead Lefty. But that doesn’t mean you can’t educate an average citizen who is just beginning to pay attention to what’s going on. The Tea Parties are full of people who didn’t “get it” until quite recently.
Aug 6, 2009 – 9:04 am
Quite.
You can lead a horse to water
But you can’t make him drink.
You can state the facts to Democrats
But you cannot make them think.
tomw
Perhaps others have made these comments before. If so, sorry for the repetition.
How is it that spying on suspected terrorists is an abridgement of our civil liberties but a tattle tale secret White House web site is just fine?
How is it that it took months for the Obamas to select a dog but only days for the stimulus bill to be rammed through? (See also health care.)
Discussion and dialog with Tories of any kind; be they Democrats or their fellow totalitarians, is as much a waste of time for Patriots as dialog with the Japanese soldiers on Peleliu would have been for Marines. There is no longer anything in common between us and them. I do hope that some group [it won't be the RNC, because they can be depended on not to stand and fight because like the worshippers of Cthulu they pray to be eaten last] will take the White House to court over the violation of 5 U.S.C. § 552a.
Mind you,I do not expect that any American citizen will be found to have standing to file [that statute is one of the few that grants automatic standing for all US citizens and legal residents to file in court; however it has been shown that the Justice Department says that functionally no American individual, candidate, or political party has standing to file to enforce election laws]; but the refusal can be used as a teaching moment in alternate media. There, of course, will be absolutely no coverage by the same MSM that was appalled by Nixon doing less than this.
#44 JJRedfan
Amen. With the additional notes that besides being tracable, use of plastic adds to your debt load at a time when we are at the end of a recession and the beginning of a depression. If you HAVE to use plastic, take a cash draw and if they ask say you used it for hookers and booze. Spending soon-to-be-inflated dollars on items of real value is a good thought.
Subotai Bahadur
The notion of “brand” illuminates what’s happening with the MSM.
A brand is established in your mind deliberately. It is reputation, hopefully, to encourage you to put your trust in that brand. The consumer or purchaser uses the brand to save energy in decision making. He doesn’t have to evaluate specifics and can generalize from his brand reputation.
Look at Brooks Brothers. Once a solid brand that one could trust for quality. It was sold and now the clothes sorta look the same but careful inspection and actual use shows that corners are being cut. They are priced like quality, and sold as quality, but the products have been cheapened and the difference pocketed as profits. They have conned you.
Likewise with the MSM. Once it had a solid reputation as independent and trustworthy. That is still a slogan and catchphrase for some of them.
Yet, they abuse that trust and let the quality slip. The difference goes to the political class that controls the MSM, the liberals.
You’ve been conned again.
The moral is brands can and will be abused to cheat you out of value.
At least Senator Cornyn has spoken up about it–
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, accusing the White House of compiling an “enemies list,” has asked President Barack Obama to stop an effort to collect “fishy” information Americans see about a health care overhaul.
Cornyn, who leads the Republicans’ Senate campaign effort, said Wednesday in a letter to Obama that he’s concerned that citizen engagement on the issue could be “chilled.” He also expressed alarm that the White House could end up collecting electronic information on its critics.
“I can only imagine the level of justifiable outrage had your predecessor asked Americans to forward e-mails critical of his policies to the White House,” Cornyn wrote.
I guess I am already in the big Obama database…
I am sure my koolaid drinking friends have already ID’d me to the Big Brother machine..
Remember the database he started to build was the phone bank call in during the run up to the election..
they have those that like obama, those that disliked and those that hated him all checked off in a master database ready to add additional variables to the mix…
Obama’s already got 10′s of millions of names, addresses, emails, phone numbers..
Let’s see, you go for a government program of some sort?
Yes mr applicant I see you gave up some free time to work for change in 2008!
you got the job….
No Mr applicant no Job for you ( we see that you refused to help obama or acorn in 2008, you’re blacklisted)
Herb said: “Its about control achieved thru dependency. If you have them by the balls their hearts and minds will follow.” Or, if your end-of-life consultation ends with your rejecting public health care with some comment like “Live free or die”, you will be presumed insane and a Public Guardian will take away the rest of your rights. The Soviet Union took care of most dissidents either by liquidation or institionalization. Even in America, a doctor has more power to commit individuals with much less proof than a prosecutor must show. Big Brother could put you in the asylum originally built for the Guantanamo detainees after their release.
Subotai, I’ve enjoyed your comments for a while now. IMO, civil wars start in steps, and we’re headed that way. Marxist-socialists aren’t fixing to change their ways, and will ALWAYS work to our destruction. When people no longer can trust their government, and the judicial system is politicized, then conditions are ripe. You see, if you live among snakes, you can’t reason with them. Alas, you find yourself in a situation that you have to send those snakes on to their maker. Well, these folks ain’t gonna go away. They are always gonna be there ready to spread their poison, and kill our freedoms. The Spanish civil war and the death squads in Central America are an example of what can happen here.
As for the fight to the death between the Japanese and the Marines, it was grenades, gasoline and diesel, satchel charges, and small arms fire that resolved the argument in the Pacific Theater. Most effiminate liberal males simply can’t understand something like that. No frame of reference, you see….they’ve been lied to all their lives – you know – that everything can be talked out, that physically fighting for your life is wrong, that actually fighting against evil is right, the list is long…..
And now we have the fact that the President of the United States is officially establishing an “enemies” list. Words may fail me here, but let me say that this totalitarian behavior must be stopped.
I think this snitch line will generate a serious case of unintended consequences for O. It is so brazen, so at variance with American history, so blatantly Stasi-like and shameless while doing so, that it’s going to creep out more than a few people still somewhat disposed to give that charming young black fellow a chance.
It’s timed perfectly with the Joker Poster too, and it adds to the coming perfect storm of seeing this administration as the crime syndicate that it is, complete with informers and snitches. Stoolies and rats, you know.
Perhaps the very best thing that could happen is that they actually hunt down a “thought-criminal” via this snitch-line, and it breaks (somehow) into the press. That, I think, would galvanize opinion. I’d feel sorry for the poor slob whose life might be ruined (hell, it might be me), but it could be a true martyrdom to a worthy cause.
Right now I think we all need to flood the zone with the fact that this exists. I bet a lot of people don’t realize it yet. Write to your local papers, call in to Liberal talk shows (pretend to be a shocked Obama voter), tell your ignorant Liberal neighbors, do what you can. This thing is really, really bad, and enormously revealing.
You can almost hear the wheels — finally — starting to turn in people’s heads.
I believe the theme song for the Comrade Obama
should be “Smiling Faces”, the 1971 hit by the
The Undisputed Truth:
Smiling faces sometimes pretend to be your friend
Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that
lurks within
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don’t tell the truth uh
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof.
Well speaking about debate, will the PJM “Topic Police” come after us now if we go OT?
Really Wretchard, that little gray disclaimer area is pretty obnoxious. What is that about?
Wash Times poll –comments are interesting. Is the ball beginning to roll?
***
mongoose, i agree it’s a shitty little gray box –but –PJM is carrying our torch and trying to maintain ‘diplomatic access’. I can dig it. Gotta have diplomatic entre, it’s an all fronts war. Well, not *all* fronts yet.
“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” John 12:3-6
Beware those who pretend to care for you and speak up for your needs and know what’s best for you. More often they are in it for themselves, and are liars and thieves. That one of Christ’s closest was able to do this ought to be a warning to us. Universal healthcare for the poor is simply an opportunity to agrandize power and influence. It isn’t about care. It’s about power!
I too am wondering if it is safe to comment on this blog. My last post from (winslow) was mostly excised and the program seems to have forgotten who I am. I had been very forthright about my opinions, but my practice is not to ad hominem.
Buddy is that you? You are slurring. What is it, liquored up this early in the day? must be that town hall meetin’. (just joshing)
Well, I find it condescending–and not a little threatening. What is this “report you to the authorities” nonsense? Trolls attack, and we are lectured? We cannot defend ourselves? If it weren’t for BC I’d just skedaddle.
Someone is drinking the MSM koolaid, methinks.
Bet it cuts into the ad rev hereabouts.
Lest we forget, President Woodrow Wilson, the bespectacled academic and fountain of idealism, did have an army of goons that broke heads, shot off limbs, and occasionally lynched for show those folks who did not agree with Mr. Wilson’s grand vision of what American’s should believe.
The local constabulary, for the most part, willingly participated in this extra legal assault on free speech and association.
Think it can’t happen? It already did.
Mr. Obama rallied his extra legal troops yesterday to get out there and counter the GOP mob.
The society is fractured and the highest levels of government are doing everything they can to encourage it and make it worse.
“Boss said: ‘Maybe health care really isn’t what the debate is about anyway.’
It isnt. Its about control achieved thru dependency.”
Give that man a cigar.
For those in government who want Obamacare, this is the motivation.
For those outside of government, it’s the idea that they will get all the health care they want plus all the money ‘saved’ put in their pockets if Obamacare is enacted.
What does PJM define as “hate speech,” and why are they using that loaded term in the guidelines above?
When I was growing up in New Mexico, we had a little code of honor about snitching. We just didn’t do it. Anyone who did got cut out of our society permanently. Even the teachers lost respect for a snitch. Anyways, if the “gentlemen” at the whitehouse are looking to pillory someone for “thought crimes”, well, I’m a guilty individual. Boy howdy am I guilty…..Just as is most folks who have posted very much on the ‘net, I suppose….So, we have a marxist that wants us to snitch out our neighbors for “thought crimes”? My oh my, why that’s just askin’ for a severe correction.
i dunno, mongoose –but there’s a story, for sure, behind graybox. w has made his bones long ago, so whatever it is, i’m gonna pretend it ain’t there and wait n see.
do wish i knew why my name is become persona non grata.
wretchard, could you post proof of life –got today’s paper handy?
–kidding. heh heh heh (…!)
Something unusual is going on with the site to be sure. Up to this point I have had no issues while browsing or posting. Today though I have had regular difficulty even accessing PajamasMedia.com. Could this be part of the same denial of service attack affecting Facebook and Twitter? I am very thorough in taking all necessary security measures for my own computer so it’s unlikely that the problems are at my end.
wretchard writes:
Oh, you must have missed that one. By The 0bamanation being an Alinskyite construct there is no honest debate. “Rules For Radicals” codifies that quite clearly:
Subotai @ 49:
I LOL’ed at that! Pray to be eaten last! Yup, we have no thing to discuss with the Tories. The time is past. This WH “blog” (what is a blog without comments but an echo chamber or propaganda?) set the rules of engagement. They are now in the ‘takin’ names’ phase. What will be the ‘wag of the dog’ that initiates the ‘kickin’ ass’ stage? Perhaps violent astroturfed opposition during a townhall? Where some Congresscritter is harmed? Just gathering blue sky. THAT is the question. Not “If” but “How”.
Wendon – There has been a change in the operation of the comments section here for some reason. We are learning to adapt.
As safe as commenting anywhere when the WH is compiling enemies lists. That has always been the rub of the web/intertubes. People assume that because we use ‘aliases’ we are not traceable which is just dead wrong. Comments become public record.
Just consider this:
Now is not the time to become shy of voicing your opinions as is your G-d given right.
Peter Boston: See this from Prof Reynolds:
TALKING POINTS MEMO: The HCAN playbook for thwarting Town Hall protesters.
Gotta love those Alinsky rules!
Why do Obama and team keep returning to the same old tactics and messages? They are true believers in Alinsky:
“RULE 2: “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals don’t address the “real” issues. This is why. They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)”
Since the expertise of Obama and friends is Alinsky-ite expertise, they are stuck within that loop and are experiencing confusion, fear, and retreat as the tables turn. Their tactics aren’t working. But they will keep within their “expertise,” i.e., attack and ridicule. Expect more of the same tactics, only with some escalation via rough stuff.
And remember Rule One: “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.”
This WH “blog” (what is a blog without comments but an echo chamber or propaganda?) set the rules of engagement. They are now in the ‘takin’ names’ phase.
As I’ve been saying for weeks now, we all are in this phase, but the party which purportedly represents the center/right refuses to acknowledge this.
Why did my nym come up misspelled?
no mo uro @ 72:
One of the inconsistencies we are all seeing?
wretchard – Can we have proof of life? Or has PJM been co-opted into the collective?
“we’re asking for your help”.
I think all of us here feared, to varying degrees, that this was going to be a bad time, but I tend to become agitated when what I had assumed were merely my paranoid imaginings start appearing in real life.
Trying to look on the bright side, the probability is that this Orwellian request is intended to be frightening, and is therefore a threat, and a government which threatens the electorate has already lost the battle for hearts and minds and, in effect, declared itself to be without a mandate to govern.
Al_Batross
The Left (which includes a lot of the dems in congress) are achieving what Osama bin Laden could only dream of doing, and that is the destruction of the US economy and American basic values. The dems have the same goals as our our mortal enemy, so what does that make them?
some stuff for background on the questions of why the Democrats seem so stupid on basic economics (they need poor people) and why after trillion$ and decades of war on poverty we still have it (one of the two major parties wants it: “hands off our poor people!”).
So where is the rapprochement gonna be, one wonders. bewtween ”upward mobility” policy and ”downward mobility” policy, are we doomed to have peace only when passing each other in the night? On the way to two entirely different places? Antipodal places?
The way to attack the Progressive’s radical tactics is to show them for what they are.
Bullying tactics – Alyinsky Rule number
The truth doesn’t matter – Rule number
Divide the country – rule number.
There goes Obama again radical rule number.
Look at Pelosi lying again – rule number
Progressives using class warfare again – rule number.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt emphasizing Rules for Radicals is over thirty years old, just like the Progressive agenda.
This whole business of demonizing town hall meeting attendees goes hand-in-glove with the habit of going to court to reverse the results of state referendums.
Any mechanisms that allow ordinary citizens to participate in the governing process outside of electing people to office has become very inconvenient for the political class.
‘Tis but a step, with whispered smile
He said, To catch what’s fishy
To having all the names on file
Whose politics are squishy
Those folks who dare to disagree
With things that we are doing
While on this little spending spree
That some think is ungluing
The country that was forged in pain
And sacrifice and valor
And seem to think that there’s no gain
In bleeding down to pallor
All once held dear by all who claim
To love the country dearly
And yet will not accept the blame
For poor health care that yearly
Causes deaths and broken dreams
While costs are nearly tripling
And tea parties with right wing teams
Are very nearly crippling
Our plans to take this country down
The road to wrack and ruin
Those folks outside this DC town
Don’t know what they are doin’
Peter Boston, your #62 reminds me of Wilson’s American Protective League, who were in many respects superannuated Junior G-Men who actually wore badges identifying themselves as “Operatives” and “Auxiliaries to U. S. Dept. of Justice.”
ACORN, The New Black Panther Party and Nation of Islam could be readily badged and “deputized” by Holder in much the same way.
[No wierdness encountered in the posting of this comment]
Cannoneer: Does it remember your name? I have made 0 changes to my browser but now it does not remember me and it should.
You all make me sick!
All you have to do to not be on The List, is just swear a personal loyalty oath. It’ short, it’s simple and you get a number burned on your inner arm.
Easy Peasy.
#80 Cannoneer
I hope you are wrong, but should that day ever come the body bags won’t be far behind.
Democratic Congressmen and Senators are conducting “tele-town halls” where only carefully screened supporters can say nice things about them.
According to Hot Air, Obama is unleashing Union goons, presumably to beat with impunity (no prosecution politically possible) any protestors. The New Black Panther Party will also be on the job, no doubt.
The solution for “Rahming it through” will be to throw out protestor votes, only Black/Hispanic votes will be allowed, massive fraud, and again Union and New Black Panther Party goons suppressing and intimidating and beating people.
NONE of that will covered in the media, which worships Obama as a living GOD. And the connected SWPL yuppies will make out like bandits, as will folks like Sharpton, Farrakhan, and of course Rev. Wright.
It’s a pretty good play. Don’t worry about popularity, worry about goons in the streets beating people, and fraudulent elections with the “right” people endorsing the fraudulent result: the View, Katie Couric, CBS, NBC, Vanity Fair, etc.
The only question is, will middle class White people cower when being beaten, or call in vets groups (like Vet bikers), ex-service men, and even active service people off duty? Will this in fact spread to the Armed Forces, and will regional State and Local governments just cower or fight back against fraud and violence?
It’s clear Obama won’t back down, is intent on ramming Obamacare through, and seeks to throw in prison people who disagree with Obamacare, with a measure of beat-downs from Union/Acorn goons and massive voting fraud in 2010.
This is why Obama backed Zelaya and Ahmadinejad. He too seeks to add goons/thugs + massive voting fraud to equal power. To rule without limits forever.
It has begun. The only question is where the first beating or fatality among Obamacare protestors will be? Will it be a retired Marine? A schoolteacher? A home-maker? Will it be caught on video? How will Obama’s enemies list be used to put people in Ayer’s prison camps? How will people fight back? These are the only questions.
Upon reading this story I recalled this old quip:
I then then mixed in a couple of other more familiar quotes.
Stirred.
I came up with this: Provisions, Madmen, and History.
New blocs are needed whom you trust to represent your interests.
They start with you probably for the same reason one has started with me.
No, robo, it does not rememeber my name. I have to fill out the name, email, and url each time.
That may actually be a good thing.
Why is the President trying to stuff a health care bill down our throats in three or four weeks when it took him six months to pick out a dog for his kids?
That’s fishy.
i don’t think they’ll start any real violence –too many cellphone cameras, too many armed middle-classers, too much of the Aristos’ wealth tied up in urban property values.
What they want to do is as much damage to “America” as possible –and that will be in the cultural, racial, fiscal, monetary, and currency realms –where they can hopefully cripple the one thing that stands in the global criminal conspiracy’s way: the global cop –the U.S. military.
JD @ 83, I hope I’m wrong, too.
I would not trust any Justice Department of the Obama Administration to recruit “Auxiliaries” that would be acceptable to me.
Out of curiosity I googled Pajamas Media for news and found this:
http://www.intermarkets.net/index.html
I am guessing that Intermarkets is imposing some standards on the BC that conflict with the frank talk that is a prominent feature on the blog.
Cannoneer/89; But look at this force’s base: strictly blue city. This force won’t be able to supply itself, be hungry in three days, capitulate on day 4. Outside the cities we won’t play along with all this crap. They’d need the Nat’l Guard. I can only speak for central Texas, but i can tell you, ain’t gonna happen, these guys’d rally on Austin, not DC.
#88 luddy barsen (sic)
i don’t think they’ll start any real violence –too many cellphone cameras, too many armed middle-classers, too much of the Aristos’ wealth tied up in urban property values.
I beg to differ. First because while our Commissars are indeed of the Aristo class [read Nomenklatura], and they have wealth tied up in the cities; the Commissariat now has access to the only things better than wealth, power and access to the Treasury. They will have no qualms about violence. Secondly, they have to work with the tools that they have. Their primary tool up to now has been their control of the educational and information filtering organs of the Left. However, the very fact that we are here and we are commenting on the failure of the peasantry to tug their forelocks at these constituent meetings indicates that to a great extent the Left has lost total control of the agenda, albeit they are still strong. In the short period of time left before the organic waste starts impacting the rotating airfoil; absent the dog being wagged and a complete lockdown of information being established [and I do have worries about the ongoing DoS attacks on Pajamas Media, Twitter, and Facebook as test runs] the Information organs of the State [the media having offered up their independence, limited integrity, and birthright for pot of Socialist message] are not going to reverse this. And such a wag the dog scenario will itself have first and second order effects that might be unpredictable to the regime.
Their only other tool is brute coercion. And given that public resistance has appeared earlier and stronger than planned; they have not yet had time to either mobilize their CNSF version of the SA, or to isolate those members of the military and police forces [and veterans of both] who know that the Oath does not expire. Their only tools are indeed not the sharpest in the box. Buraq has ACORN, OFA/Americorps, SEIU [and possibly other Union thugs like the UAW], various fringe political and religious groups like the New Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam, certainly some criminal gangs, and the closest thing to a dependable organized government force that they have … units like the BATF who are already known to have limited allegiance to the rule of law and the Constitution.
These groups are relatively few in actual numbers and are not known for carefully calibrating the political aftershocks of their actions. Indeed their only methods are terror and brute force. Reality testing is not their strong point, and assuming results of their actions will be as they wish, because they want it so, is basic to their decision tree.
I anticipate attacks at varying levels of intensity and mortality on those considered to be enemies of the state. These groups that Buraq has to depend on are not real big on sparing innocents, women, and children. It may start with beatings. Where it will end is only known to the Great Blue-Sky Tengri Nor.
My advice to all is to first, keep thy codpieces buttoned, as things may get busy without warning. Second, remember two things; the Oath and Merriam’s Corner.
Subotai Bahadur
good points, subotai –very good points.
Well Big Labor at these meetings has two signal aspects (from their POV);
1. Get media bites that support the left’s memes about the Tea party people and attempt to show that the country is behind it and the Dems are only being reasonable.
2. Directly intimidate by presence as opposed to outright violence (a large presence in the case of large gatherings).
(and if they can start a tussle and blame it on someone, great.)
So two issues fall out of this:
A. Will the two items above work? Will people allow themselves to be swayed or intimidated? Remember that actually outside of government and the car industry, the unions are quite small. The largest sector of the AFL_CIO is government worker. How will people react to this?
B. What does it mean to have a sitting president do such a thing? This is even worse than FDR. Obama is saying essentially that he represents only a certain portion of the nation. He is not saying even that he is representing those who voted for him. It is an amazing circumstance to have a sitting president call out union thugs to shape debate.
So A and B are related. Whiskey is right: the battle has been joined. The questions are: 1) Do enough people realize it, 2) if so, can it be stopped by sheer numbers and public opinion and 3) what will they try next.
We have really moved into an “Luke Warm Civil War” phase here. The government is actively seeking to brand a large portion of the electorate as the enemy. It is not merely ignoring their wishes; it is actively seeking to publicly belittle and slander them.
It is one thing for a campus radical to do this. It is quite another thing for the two branches of the government to do this. This potentially is much worse than the case of Wilson; it is certainly very close to being on a par with his actions.
Even if it is only by the tip of a big toe, they have truly crossed the line from representational democracy to despotism.
Perhaps we are lucky the gloves have come off so soon, but it begs the question: Why the rush? why risk so much so soon?
Lifeofthemind: Years ago I started composing long posts in Notepad, saving frequently. Where I am right now, Central Florida, we get a lot of lightning during the summer. I often lose power for less than a second but of course I have to reboot.
Govt web-site, birthers & c.
It’s pure Alinsky: ask for reasoned debate then say something outrageous. The opponent, being of good will, then tries to rebut the comment. This serves to distract the opponent and divert their attention. Alinsky: Use their own rules against them.
I think that most of the “birthers” that are ubiquitous on the blogs are actually agent provocateurs. Huge distraction. I have seen fairly serious sites like Patterico and Riehl waste days trying to untangle the confusion. Rationally refuting the arguments has absolutely no effect on the issue – it is purposely irrational.
The recent video from the WH refuting the video on Drudge re Obama’s comments on single payer was not meant as a rebuttal. It was an attempt to flood the RNC phone lines. Fortunately the RNC turned it back on them.
There’s an old shibboleth in basketball, football and hockey. Never watch their eyes. Watch the bellybutton. You can’t fake with your bellybutton.
We are dealing with an ancient foe. Communism, fascism, socialism – the names keep changing – progressive to liberal then back to progressive. They seek to make us play the game by our own values – they give lip service to them – and they feel absolutely no shame or guilt in deceiving us.
We cannot fight the silver tongued devil with words. He does not play by the rules. Shout him down. He’ll squeal and yell that it is un American. Our forbearance does not extend to the forked tongues.
What to do about trolls and other lesser forms? ROFL sounds about right to me.
Re 92: Subotai,
What do you believe the “balloons going up” will be? When the internet doesn’t work one morning? I doubt it will be something that ABC is going to be broadcasting, they’ll try to keep it as hush as possible why they hit as many as they can, before the smoke gets on the wind.
As for here, well the boogie bag has been packed (for several months) and there are freikorps waiting. Our light infantry might not all be so light around the middle any more, but we’ll make do.
mongoose/94; asks ‘why the rush, why risk so much so soon?’ This may play into it –trying to get to this problem in a position of unchallenged power, i.e. “I’m the only thing standing between you and the pitchforks” (as he told some hesitant TARP candidate/financial execs a few months ago).
I never considered another civil war in america was possible, let alone happen in my lifetime.
sgi @90: I found this at the link:
“Intermarkets is committed to hiring smart, caring people and providing an inclusive, caring and creative environment that enables them to do their best work. Ugghhhhhhh!!
In turn, our clients get the highest level of attention to their needs and goals. Ptoooie!
Plus, it makes Intermarkets a fun place to work—and an enjoyable company with which to do business.” Yecchhh!
<<<<>>>>>
A new ad agency full of itself and pc ‘feelings’ drivel. Blech. Say, do they have any unicorns around?
Hope I don’t get Wretch into trouble with my reaction, but, at this point I have had it up to here (holds hands above head) with this sort of drivel. It just strikes a raw nerve.
I’m just not in an ‘inclusive’ ‘caring’ or ‘fun’ mood.
Sorry to rain on the skittles parade. Bah and humbug.
“My advice to all is to first, keep thy codpieces buttoned, as things may get busy without warning. Second, remember two things; the Oath and Merriam’s Corner.
Subotai Bahadur
Aug 6, 2009 – 5:29 pm 93. luddy barsen:
good points, subotai –very good points.”
Right! Everyone don his codpiece! This will confuse the UAW big time!
elby/99; LOL –no you’re not alone, the humanity-lite bubble-gum phrases are about as irritatingly pointless & empty as talk can get. I much prefer a more archaic and earthy way of of expression –like subotai’s, for a handy example. Shakespeare ain’t much of modernist and dang he writes real good!
#96 LFMayor
Господи! If I knew that, I would not be nearly as nervous as I am. If any sort of communications breakdown occurs; the pucker factor should go up. If anything approximating a state of emergency is declared, that is not a good thing. If you hear of hostile action, it probably is. It would not be beyond the Pale if someone important on the Patriot side died. We just do not know. Alternate, albeit slower, communications will be vital. I recommend that some study of Tradecraft be done.
And there is the very good chance that it will be something totally out of the blue that surprises both sides. I really don’t think that Lord North had any idea that a British Captain and a handful of soldiers would open fire on Boston civilians, killing 5. Similarly, I don’t think, that General Gage in Boston had any expectation that his swift snatch and grab raid looking for American arms and Patriot leaders would lead to his being beseiged in Boston by the militia. Only megalomaniacs believe that they can drive events by will and that events will never drive them.
#100 Mark
It helps if the codpieces are kevlar or nomex, the world being what it is. *smile*
Subotai Bahadur
Well it has started.
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/08/06/kathy-castor-event-in-tampa-ends-with-seiu-pushing-out-voters/
One of the commentators was actually there. Scroll down.
We will soon see of there is a decent official in the Democrat Party.
(note: they reserved half of the seats for the union.)
On Day White House Advocates “Punching Back Twice As Hard” At Heretofore Peaceful Protestors, Violence Breaks Out At Townhall
More hypocritical denouncement of Tea Party folks, this time by a US Senator.
http://www.nowhampshire.com/2009/08/06/shaheen-constituents%E2%80%99-%E2%80%9Cright-have-been-trampled-on%E2%80%9D-by-protesters/
The Democrats are beyond belief given how obnoxious they were during the Bush years.
I hope people are not intimidated–I hope that they are incensed.
Better to push back now. They are showing their true colors.
And another Dem packing the halls with union people:
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/08/shock-video-dems-sneak-union-thugs-into.html
This time the Tea Party folks could not get in.
Those comments under the Shaheen article are *blistering*. Good.
Lately I’ve been feeling a lot like Dustin Hoffman’s Michael Dorsey in the movie “Tootsie” when he realized he was falling for Jessica Lange’s Julie Nichols… There are so many people here who seem to share my views and concerns… “If you could just see me out of these clothes!” I’d love to shed the cloaca of invisibility, so I could commune directly with individuals and small groups whom I’ve seen here commenting, and sharing their experiences and insights.
I’ve never had the slightest doubt that even Obama’s dumb-ass henchvolk know how to trace back to initial IP addresses and figure out who’s really mashing the keys down. We use internet monickers for a lot of different reasons. But I s’picion it’s most often a fig leaf to avoid catching the attention of employers, or relatives or pastors, or supervisors, or sex partners who may prefer to be ignorant of our actual beliefs, or jes’ busybodies who don’t really have reason except their natural intrusiveness to snoop inta things as ain’t no nevermind of theirs no how.
It looks as though the pot – whether you judge that O’s tactic has been Watching or Stirring – is just about to boil over and scald anyone who hasn’t been paying attention. It is vaguely encouraging that O telegraphed his plan by the statement quoted in Cannoneer’s Post #89. A lot of us felt a certain muscle suddenly contract, the one that requires fighter jet crews to replace the pilot’s seat cushion that went missing after exciting missions.
Events to watch for:
The aforementioned “deputization” and arming of groups like ACORN volunteers.
The assignment of powers of entry without warrants to search homes or businesses, by executive order or some other administrative regulation, for census takers, home HVAC efficiency inspectors, and other such illegitimate goons.
Suspension of Habeas Corpus; The promulgation of orders to detain without arrest on suspicion of various activities declared to be dangerous, again by executive order or administrative agency regulations, not legislation.
Suspension of the right to assemble in public for any number of “justifications.”
Declaration of Martial Law; Remember that the NOLA police and National Guard units on someone’s orders went around New Orleans after Katrina demanding and confiscating weapons from law-abiding citizens AFTER the MSM reported that looters were firing on police, a report later proven to be completely false.
NEWS BLACKOUT/ interruption of internet-phone/broadcast of TV/Radio – that would be an absolutely unambiguous sign that a disaster of some sort has occurred, terrorism by some party or other, or natural disaster on a grand scale.
Those of us who have lived in Northern CA, especially the SF Bay area for more than a few weeks, are very much aware that if any large scale disaster hits, you have to be prepared to be without police, doctors, firefighters, gas & electric service, etc., FOR SEVERAL WEEKS.
I wonder if any of you know of a forum for discussing disaster preparedness.
Thanks for the link to the Carnahan LOCKOUT of American Citizens. (Yeah, yeah, the folks they let into the “town hall meeting” were probably citizens, too, God Bless they pointy lil’ heads.)
The sheer stinking arrogance of these stunts by elected officials is sickening.
To understand some of these hijinx, it’s important to remember the Constitution at which Reid and Pelosi and Boxer so readily sneer, has a clause that holds any senator or representative safe from any action for anything they say on the floor of the House or the Senate. This, along with their immunity from arrest when in transit to the Capitol, was meant to prevent shabby political interference or retribution for free exercise of speech in the course of duties.
More recently it has meant they can speak the most astoundingly vicious lies, counter-factual crap, insults, and such, without any possibility of legal action. It’s interesting to notice how specific their outrages are when they speak from the Capitol, and how suddenly oblique and circuitous they become when they’re NOT in the protected forum.
An important upshot to that protection is that their lies then are REQUIRED to be printed – even revised and extended – in the Congressional Record. So they can then distribute the lies all at taxpayer expense.
It’s amazing the country has lasted this long, considering that in order to function, the system depends on having people of good will and some detectable moral code.
The crowd of Dems doesn’t have a moral compass.
Just a weather vane.
Subotai @ 92:
Few Leftists realize that. Even the ones who happen to have taken the oath.
Roy @ 95:
Nope, we are not. We just have questions that have not been decently answered by The 0bamanation – BC, school records, etc. Nothing has been released that is “normal and customary”. Why?
This type of foe is universal and archetypal. He is called in places ‘The Deceiver’. I am NOT saying that The 0bamanation is Satan but the evil this person represents is basic to the human experience. He is empty. See his eyes when he thinks none are observing.
Scythianeedle @ 108:
Any of those would do and are the oracles of coming problems.
One reason people got excited is that it was so unnecessary to run this, if taken at face value with best intentions, rumor collecting operation from the White House. Soros, who owns this administration, has already set up Factcheck.org and they have dozens of other media outlets toiling on their behalf. So why the need to drag in the symbol of the Executive Mansion? Was it just to rub salt in the wounds of conservatives? A variation of Clinton’s renting out the Lincoln bedroom to prove it is theirs now? Much of what happens seems to be designed by Axelrod and company to deliberately inflame the Right in order to discredit it.
Much of what happens seems to be designed by Axelrod and company to deliberately inflame the Right in order to discredit it –right outta the playbook! You betcha.
I have sent, and have invited my friends to send, a “fishy e-mail” containing images of carp and trout. Hope that’s what they’re after.
108: I wonder if any of you know of a forum for discussing disaster preparedness.
Survivalblog.com has some good discussions.
Thanks, Aaron. I should have been a little more specific. I would love to be able to converse with some folks now and then without subjecting our host to our blather.
There was a time someone started a weblocus named “The Elephant Bar.”
Well, just a click aweigh, as they say.