Barack Obama set these animals loose, and I hold him directly responsible. This man has been practicing intentionally divisive politics on a national level since the early days of his campaign, and now he and Pelosi are taking it to the streets.
Here’s video of SEIU members apparently beating a black conservative who was handing out ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ flags. Link to the full (and still breaking) story below.
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From Gateway Pundit: RAW VIDEO!!…..TEA PARTY PROTESTERS ATTACKED– 1 Black Conservative Seriously Hurt in St. Louis!… 6 Arrested Including SEIU Members
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-Cnation
Are you claiming that Obama sent the SEIU to beat up protestors at townhall meetings?
Did you notice that the SEIU guy was replying “he attacked the minister” to the guy in the white shirt that kept yelling “you attacked him”?
I am unable to find any mention anywhere of anyone in the SEIU being charged with assault. The SEIU have released a statement saying that a Reverend had his shoulder broken in the ruckus. It is unclear from the wording whether the minister is a member of the SEIU or associated with them.
There appears to be a hell of a lot of jumping to conclusions going on when there simply is not enough clear information available yet about what happened. In the video the fight is already in progress and the first person visible on the ground is actually an SEIU guy. It would be just as easy to draw the conclusion that HE was attacked!
Cool heads need to prevail or someone will be killed. Speculation and accusations based on the reports from biased blogs on one side or the other are not helpful.
Death threats fromthe radical right are coming thick and fast:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/08/unions-receive-increasing_n_254704.html
And in case you are inclined to call these lies becuase Huffpo posted about them, I can assure you I saw one of these threats firsthand.
You are kidding, right? The unions are complaining because people are saying they’re refusing to be intimidated by them? These thugs go around for YEARS whacking the shit out of whoever gets in their way. Now they’re having people stand up to them and they have no fucking clue how to act.
I’m inclined to call the “death threats” lies because:
A) There is absolutely no reason for them to be made in the first place
B) Those that want to avoid meeting with their constituents are using them as a convenient dodge
C) This whole administration from top to bottom is completely falling apart and acting like a kid being told “no” by a parent for the first time.
Explain to me why the unions would even be in favor of this health care mess in the first place. They’re doing much better now with negotiated contracts than they ever could hope to under Soroscare. This is absolutely nothing but pure payback for shit they expect to receive in the future - card check, etc. What’s going to be hilarious is watching the union once they figure out they’re going to get fucked like the rest of us.
How many of you union friendly dupes have run out and bought a UAW Malibu this year? I mean before you got bribed with $4500 of taxpayer money (that hasn’t even been printed yet) first?
Is it even possible for you all to think more than one move ahead? Are you really so clueless as to not be able to see what’s happening here?
Oh yeah, and Algore is a cretin.
Do I think Obama got on the phone with the SEIU and said “go kick some ass”? No. However, the rhetoric coming out of the white house over the past week was clear:
Deputy Chief of staff Jim Messina: “If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard,…
Obama himself in this past Wednesday’s emailed marching orders to organizing for America telling them “This is the moment our movement was built for”, and adding to the divisiveness by once again portraying conservatives as the bad guys and telling OFA to “get out there, fight lies with truth, and set the record straight.”
His “shut up and get out of the way” speech on Thursday
Sebelius, the day after SEIU beat up the flag guy, addressing her SEIU ‘brothers and sisters’ and telling them “keep doing what you’re doing”
The Obama administration and the SEIU are thick as thieves, and, as Nuevo Con pointed out above, there was no violence until they started showing up.
Obama is a master of nuance, the scripted word, and generating manufactured outrage among his core constituency. He knows exactly what his language means to his people and what kind of reaction to expect from them.
As someone who had such serious concerns about what my blog posts might incite in people, I’m really rather surprised you’re neither acknowledging nor condemning what Obama and his people are doing, especially considering how blatantly obvious it is.
So to answer your question, yes, I hold Barack Obama directly responsible for the instances of violence at these events.
-Cnation
I went to the huffpo thread….I swear I tried to get through it, but my God, those people over there are just….a good cry and a group hug will solve everything, you know what I mean? All emotion, not a lick of common sense between them. No acknowledgement of cost, sustainability, quality of service, constitutional issues, nothing. I was unable to get through it, so I’ll take your word for what it said.
I’m inclined to call it lies because it’s simply too convenient for these threats to be coming in now, and it is entirely within the realm of established radical left tactics to call in death threats on themselves to simultaneously garner sympathy and make the right look bad.
One of our local congressmen, Brad Miller, claimed he received a death threat several days ago, and practically the very first thing out of his mouth was ‘no town hall meetings now, sorry”.
Nobody I’ve spoken to in Miller’s district believes him. Apparently, he did have a invitation-only meeting a few days later, and the reports are that he got his ass handed to him on the healthcare issue. By an invitation-only crowd. (awaiting the audio of this meeting to be released, which I’ll post here). That speaks volumes.
BTW, if you watch the video I just linked, I want you to pay attention to the people driving by and honking/cheering in support\ of the protesters . It’s like that every single time, and I promise we did not bus them in.
I would like to know what you saw first-hand though, and how you came to see it. And for the record, if these threats are for real, then I - and I think I can safely speak for everyone else on my side of the aisle - condemn both the acts and the people who are behind them.
-Cnation
Very interesting that there’s been exactly ZERO followup on this and absolutely NOTHING on it other than the original press release.
As far as I’m concerned, the chances that it did happen are getting slimmer and slimmer by the day. Just way too convenient for this cretin.
I have to ask what would anyone have to gain by actually making this sort of threat? I mean, those on the side against this monstrosity of a bill *want* to talk to him and his ilk. On the other hand, it’s a very convenient way for him to say he’s too scared to meet with his constituency in public.
Like the entirety of this administration - all smoke and mirrors.
Actually, it wasn’t Miller that made this claim. It was a staffer. This conveniently lets Miller say he was just acting on the advice of others. This, I believe. I believe these congresstwits were told what to expect this summer and told to do everything possible to avoid talking with the majority that have seen through this mess.
Cnation, you asked what I saw first-hand.
I moderate on a liberal blog. A threat came in the day after the video of the fight from someone with a Georgia IP, telling us that s/he was going to go to townhall meetings over the weekend and shoot some union members, and that we should notify the local A+E departments to prepare.
Two of us notified various authorities and my colleague received confirmation yesterday from the Capitol Police that the issue is being actively pursued.
This is not the first time we have had to report death threats to the FBI or Secret Service. There are the usual generic death threats against “you libs” or “all Dims” which we just delete, but then there have also been specific ones threatening President Obama (at the time of the inauguration) or other Democratic figures, which we save, screenshot with the IP and time stamp, and pass on to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
Whatever about the rest of them, you can take it from me that this one really did occur. Based on the uptick of threats we receive against public figures at crucial times like this, I have no problem believing that they are also being made directly to those figures.
I’ll get back to you again on the rest of your comment to me.
CNation referenced [Obama's]“shut up and get out of the way” speech on Thursday
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Do you mean the one Glenn Beck lied about, claiming that Obama is telling conservatives against health care reform to shut up and get out of the way?
BECK: Barack Obama’s got to be tickled pink with all of the people getting involved and being informed. Yet, here’s his reaction to the health care protests.
OBAMA [video clip]: But I don’t want the folks who created the mess — I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them just to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don’t mind cleaning up after them, but don’t do a lot of talking.
Ahem:
From Obama’s August 6 remarks in Virginia:
OBAMA: So, now, you got folks on the other side of the aisle pointing at the federal budget and somehow trying to put that at our feet. Well, let’s look at the history. When I walked in, we had a $1.3 trillion deficit. That was gift-wrapped and waiting for me when I walked in the Oval Office. Without my policies, we’d have an even higher deficit going forward. The one exception is the recovery package that we had to do in order to get this economy moving again.
So you can’t go out there and charge up the credit card, go on a — all kinds of things — shopping sprees on things that didn’t grow the economy, hand over the bill to us, and say — then say, “Why haven’t you paid it off yet?” I got that bill from you.
So, we’ve got some work to do. I don’t mind, by the way, being responsible; I expect to be held responsible for these issues because I’m the president. But I don’t want the folks who created the mess — I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them just to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don’t mind cleaning up after them, but don’t do a lot of talking.
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/08/06/HP/A/21902/Pres+Obama+Remarks+at+VA+State+Senator+Creigh+Deeds+Fundraiser.aspx
Now, you tell me: Where in here did he say anything about citizens protesting the health care bill? He was talking about Republicans in Congress constantly bitchig about the deficit as if their party had nothing to do with it.
Glenn Beck: Sloppy and unprepared partisan hack, or outright liar? We report, you decide.
And you can ask the same question about the other so-called “journalists” who are too damn lazy to look for the original source and context of what they bounce around their echo chamber before the print it or spew it over the airwaves.
This sort of thing - and I could give you many more examples - is why I have a hard time believing that Obama is up to all the nefarious things they say he is. Almost every time I research some rightwing claim I find that a statement has been taken WAY out of context, or that claims are being made without solid facts to back them up. Or I find just plain, outright lies, like some of the bizarrely over-the-top ones being told about the healthcare bill. So while I can be very critical of Obama - and I am not happy with the way he and Congress are dealing with the healthcare bill and have concerns about some of its contents (probably not the same ones as yours) - I am not going to “condemn” what he is “doing” when I see little proof that he is “doing” all the awful things you claim. What I see is a politician doing what politicians do.
He tells people to get out and fight lies with the truth? Well, SOME far-right conservatives ARE telling lies.
Messina says “If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard”? Well, gee. Ever heard of metaphor? He was talking to other politicians about preparing for townhall meetings, where, according to what I’ve seen on Fox News, a lot of objectors haven’t been asking the tough questions and waiting for an answer - they’ve been shouting slogans and off-topic guff (”What about ACORN” is a healthcare bill question?!) and shouting people down. Those are aggressive tactics designed not to get real answers to real questions but to be disruptive; and as far as the Democrats are concerned they are fighting for the survival of this bill, so given that it was a pep talk to often woefully inarticulate and way too nicey-nice Democratic politicians, IMHO combative metaphor (which is very common in other areas like sports and business) is not out of place.
Sebelius: I was not able to find anything outside of the RW blogosphere, where two versions of the same story are flying around unattributed. NO ONE has a link to a transcript. NO ONE credits a source. Where’d it come from? Is someone putting words in her mouth? Were the remarks taken out of context (very likely)? Why should I believe that she was congratulating the SEIU for beating people up, as you are implying?
I’ve gotta hand it to the right wing, the spinmasters have it down to an art. In the age of the 7-second soundbite and short attention spans, all they have to do is throw out a punchy accusation designed to elicit an emotional response, and it works. It leaves the Democrats backfooted and having to go “no, wait a minute…” to people who for the most part aren’t willing to spare even 15 seconds.
You said “Obama is a master of nuance, the scripted word, and generating manufactured outrage among his core constituency. He knows exactly what his language means to his people and what kind of reaction to expect from them.” Actually, that sounds like an excellent description of the spinmeisters of the far right. As a matter of fact, if I hadn’t known you were talking about Obama I would have guessed Hannity or O’Reilly.
You say “tomato” and I say “banana”. But thanks for publishing my comments.