Tim and Alissa Birkel
That Blasted 2nd Amendment, or yet another attempt to demonize anti-Obamacare protesters
You can tell the media think they’ve got it. The smoking gun. The story that will tar anti-Obamacare protesters as crazy. The story that will—finally!—reverse the current trends in health-care-reform public opinion.
You can tell, because this guy:
is everywhere. Last night, he was the center of a smear piece by CNN’s Campbell Brown. He showed up on Anderson Cooper 360 as well. At that time, we thought it was just a cable-news story, one more in a seemingly endless series of breathless stories about those angry, rabid right-wingers (who actually represent the majority of Americans, but never mind that!) who are ruining health care reform.
But this morning, we couldn’t get away from him. There he was, top story on Yahoo.com. There he was, front and center on CNN’s homepage. MSNBC, too. All the reliably left-wing media sources trumpeted this story as loudly as they could. Because in Leftwingistan, “gun” automatically equals “crazy,” don’t you know?
Last night on Campbell Brown’s program, the host was beside herself that someone would dare to exercise his Constitutional rights in such a manner:
BROWN: I’m about to show you something that is perfectly legal, but think about your own reaction when I tell you this is right outside the convention center where President Obama spoke today in Phoenix. This is a man who showed up with what we believe to be a semiautomatic rifle hanging off his shoulder. Arizona, among the states where you can carry a firearm in public.
Oh no! A gun! In public! Conforming to all laws and regulations! Whatever shall we do?
She continued:
And he was not alone. About a dozen others were also in the crowd armed. Are they merely invoking their right or part of what could be a really dangerous trend here? … Nobody’s questioning anybody’s Second Amendment rights here. This is about just basic rational thought….But the bottom line is, there are kids there. There are other people at this rally. The president is there. I mean…Can’t the Secret Service do something about this?
I think that’s the entire checklist of leftist talking point with regard to guns. Not illegal, but! The Children! Can’t somebody please Just Do Something about those gun owners?
We are always amused watching leftists, especially leftists in the media, talk about guns. It’s obvious that they hate guns, and even more that they are afraid of them. People who own guns are nearly invariably portrayed in the media as hot-headed crazies, or misguided idiots. Often, the reporter will express wishes that politicians could somehow get around that pesky 2nd Ammendment and take guns away anyway.
We wonder, why is that? Is it simple Pauline Kael-ism—no one they know owns a gun, so they don’t believe that their version of right-thinking Americans could possibly own one? Forty-two percent of American homes have at least one gun, including 33% of Democrat homes, so you would think that the media would not want to offend such a sizable group. Then again, if ratings are any indication, maybe they just figure no one who owns a gun watches them anymore, so why not?
Is their palpable fear of guns rooted in ignorance? Does the left fear guns because they do not understand them? Look at Brown’s words again as she introduced the story – “what we believe to be a semiautomatic rifle.†“What we believe?” This isn’t some recently-unearthed artifact of an ancient civilization, whose purpose and function is unknown. It’s just a gun.
We do not own a gun at present, although we fully support those who do, and we plan to purchase at least one for our home in the near future. But even we could tell you that yes, that’s a semiautomatic weapon. That’s an AR-15. It’s not a machine gun or a military grade weapon, it’s a semiautomatic rifle. It’s not a submachine gun like an Uzi — those are completely different. It’s not a menace or a threat simply to carry a weapon like that. Police use semiautomatic weapons every day.
Now there’s an idea. Maybe the leftist media doesn’t like the idea of a citizenry armed as well as the government. To which we say: please, re-read some history. Read the Constitution. It is not an armed populace you should fear, but a government with absolutely no checks on its power.
Later, after the hoopla about the guns, another moment passed unremarked upon by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. In a brief video clip of health-care supporters, behind the ready-made signs from HCAN (Health Care for America Now) and SEIU (the notoriously thuggish Service Employees International Union), was a black-and-white poster reading “9/11 Truth.â€
Truthers, mixed in among professional protestors supporting Obamacare: There’s an actual story. There are the real crazies. But don’t expect the media to report that any time soon. It wouldn’t fit the narrative.
It turns out, those poor, poor Democrats just can’t catch a break. Even after winning the Presidency, the Senate, and the House, they’re still getting picked on and pushed around by mean, evil opponents of their agenda.
What brought this up was a phrase that passed almost unnoticed by us as we watched a little fluff piece on Anderson Cooper 360 last night. It was a feel-good piece about 11-year old child reporter Damon Weaver interviewing President Obama. The questions Weaver asked were mostly the kind you’d expect – generally softballs about education and school lunches.
But CNN correspondent Tom Foreman sat down and interviewed Weaver, and asked a question that made us both sit up and raise our eyebrows as we watched.
FOREMAN: Do you think [Obama] gets picked on a lot as president?
WEAVER: Well, by Republicans.
Now, hold on just one minute. Criticized, sure. Questioned, yes. But picked on? I’m pretty sure that Barack Obama, arguably the most powerful man in America, the man whose party controls both houses of Congress, cannot be “picked on.†Picked on is something that those with power do to those without power. You know, like Nancy Pelosi calling senior citizens at town halls “Un-American.†Or President Obama telling opponents of his agenda to “get out of the way†and “not do a lot of talking.”
Sorry, Damon, you’re a cute story, I’m sure, but you’ve got a ways to go before you’re a real, hard-hitting reporter worthy of a day job at CNN.
Or maybe Damon is ready after all, since his words echo in sentiment the way Anderson Cooper himself opened the show last night.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight: President Obama’s big push for health care reform, is it now make or break? Can he counter the town hall critics, or will he and all of us end up with watered-down reform or no change at all?
Now, we’re sorry, Anderson, but can’t have your rhetorical cake and eat it, too.  Contrary to your assertion, it’s not the big meanies at these town halls who are delaying any sort of “reform.†It’s your media‘s precious Democrats.
If these “town hall critics†are somehow a small minority in opposition to “all of us,†then the Democrats should go right ahead and pass whatever bill they want, right? After all, they have all the power — a supermajority in both houses of Congress. If Democrats so desired, they could pass any bill they chose. You can’t blame critics, or Republicans, or talk show hosts, or anyone else for not passing a bill. It’s up to the Democrats.
Democrats are very good at criticizing and demonizing their opponents as enemies of change, but when they have power that is literally unstoppable, they aren’t so good at getting that change done.
So why are Democrats balking, trying to get Republicans to vote for the bill as well, trying anything to give themselves political cover for the next election? Could it be because they, despite their talking points and despite the President’s rhetoric about the will of people, realize that We The People don’t support their leftist agenda? Could it be because they realize that ramming yet another nebulous, expensive, and government-expanding bill through Congress will cost many Democrats what they value above anything else – power?
Remember this, Anderson Cooper. Remember this, Democrat voters of America. The Senators and Representatives you elected think health care reform is the most important issue facing America today. Right after keeping their cushy, taxpayer-funded jobs.
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Oh dear. It seems those Evil, Extremist, Racist, Right-Wing Militias are On The Rise Again. At least they are if you ask the Southern Poverty Law Center, a supposedly non-profit tracker of “hate groups,†which has released a new study (seen here, though it contains little research and mostly anecdote and innuendo) finding just that.
Theoretically, the SPLC would find itself out of its lucrative line of work if hate groups weren’t continually on the rise everywhere, at all times. The Center makes a pretty penny churning out similar headlines every few years, always with calls for money to oppose such groups – though strangely enough, when a real hate crime, like that committed by the New Black Panther Party occurs, the SPLC is nowhere to be found.
But during an otherwise unremarkable, paint-by-numbers rant, SPLC Director Mark Potok used this new study to pull a particularly egregious slur during his dialogue with Anderson Cooper (on Anderson Cooper 360) Wednesday evening. After going on for some time about the reasons these groups are on the rise – mainly, Potok asserts, because a black man was elected president – we got this little gem of an exchange:
COOPER: And how many of these groups are just, you know, talkers? People who, you know, talk big, you know, love running around in forests dressed up in paramilitary gear, but ultimately, they don’t amount to much?
POTOK: Well, I think that a lot of them are essentially just talkers, but talk is not always completely benign. I mean, I think we’re seeing that right now in the town-hall meetings and so on.â€
Get it? If you’re a town hall protester, you are just like those militias. You may not actually do anything, but Potok knows that in all your hearts lies a simmering pot of racism that is, naturally, the only reason anyone could be opposed to anything Dear Leader Obama wants. And you, like the militia, are just poised for a real outbreak of violence. All this despite the fact that these protesters are the ones having violence done to them.
Then Potok went on to accuse the protesters of being the ones responsible for the “poisoning of the mainstream political discourse.â€
I’m sorry, Mr. Potok, are you familiar with the ancient computer proverb “does not compute� Mr. Potok, could quit chugging that Hypocrisy Cola for just a second, and look in the mirror? Would that be too much to ask?
It’s not terribly surprising that Potok would make such a statement–the SPLC’s definition of “hate group,†once solely the province of organizations like the KKK or White Aryan Resistance, has expanded in recent years to include anyone who disagrees with the SPLC’s politics (while still containing groups like the KKK, of course, because guilt-by-association character assassination is just that cool). It’s just disheartening that Potok can make such a claim with a straight face. And even more disappointing, though not necessarily surprising, that Anderson Cooper gave the man unchecked latitude to spew this over the airwaves.
None of this is to diminish the fact that there are militias out there with very racist and racialist tenets. And those people should be properly marginalized and discredited. But it’s a far cry from extremist militias to opponents of government-run health care … er, health-care reform … er, health insurance reform — sorry, I lose track of Obama’s shifting euphemisms. And it is extremely “irresponsible” (I’ll steal one of the left’s favorite scold-words for this) to make comparisons between the two.
That would be like me comparing every leftwing union member, every Democrat in Congress, and every leftist university professor to members of the Earth Liberation Front, an eco-terrorist organization responsible for at least $95 million in property damage since the late 1990s. And if I did just that, I’m sure Anderson Cooper would be willing to give me 5 minutes on his show. Right?
On boogeymen and reality, or "We're from the government and we're here to help raise your kids"
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Shortly after 10 o’clock in the evening Tuesday night, I (Alissa) watched a clip of President Obama on Anderson Cooper 360. I had just had a bowl of ice cream and was nursing my almost-7 month old, Sam. The President was talking about health care reform, of course. He said, “Where we do disagree, let’s disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that’s actually been proposed.â€
I don’t think anyone is opposed to reading the bill. In fact, I can think of a chant at a recent town hall meeting in Tampa where the concerned citizens wanted Representative Kathy Castor to do just that. I, too, want to get through the “wild misrepresentations†and know what is really going on with the bill.
The President continued:
“Because the way politics works sometimes is that people who want to keep things the way they are will try to scare the heck out of folks, and they’ll create boogeymen out there that just aren’t real.â€
Sam stirred. He’d fallen asleep nursing, which is not unusual for him at that time of day. I am so blessed that he is healthy and happy, but this mama’s heart worries about what the future holds, and how health care reform will affect him.
This isn’t a scare tactic, or a boogeyman, Mr. President. This is a real fear, from a real woman, about her baby boy and the world in which he will grow up. My fears are not uncommon or unusual; I’m sure every mom watches the news at night and worries about those sleeping babes down the hall (or in their laps). And call me crazy, but I am not sure that the answer is to put our trust in Big Government and It Will All Be Okay.
Especially when ObamaCare, as currently written in H.R. 3200, wants to “provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional … and coaching on parenting practices.†What exactly, Mr. President, does this mean? I’m not trying to create a “boogeyman,†but it sounds to me like the government is going to tell me how to parent my child, and if I don’t do it “right†someone will intervene. Does this mean the government is going to tell me when my child should be walking, talking, crawling, sleeping through the night, teething, weaned? And just what will happen if my child doesn’t fall into what some government official thinks is “normal�
After the show ended I carried Sam to bed – our bed, which is where we all get the most sleep. At this writing, co-sleeping is not illegal, although a recent ad campaign in Indiana made co-sleeping seem very dangerous (a side note: co-sleeping on a couch or other unsafe surface is not a good idea. All co-sleeping safety guidelines must be followed). But what happens if my Government Parenting Coach decides co-sleeping is bad, and that Sam should sleep in his own bed?
I chose to give birth to Sam at a freestanding birth center, not at a hospital. I am planning to follow a similar route with any other babies we might have in the future. What if my Government Parenting Coach decides that it is “unsafe†to give birth anywhere other than a hospital?
We’ve decided to selectively vaccinate but I know many parents who have decided to forgo vaccination altogether. I respect their choice – but what if their Government Parenting Coach decides that all children must be vaccinated according to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ schedule?
What happens if we don’t need or want this “coaching� What does “provides†really mean? Must we comply? And what happens if we don’t?
And this is a real problem with the health care bill, and so many more like it – vaguely worded phrases ripe for bureaucratic expansion and endless reinterpretation. If history has taught us anything, it’s that unless governmental powers are strictly and explicitly limited, government will expand to take every inch it can. And even when those powers are specifically limited, it takes the vigilance of patriots to keep the government from seizing more power anyway.
The problem I think we, the concerned citizens of America, have with health care reform is not that we have not read the bill. The problem is that we’ve read this bill, and based on the actual wording, foresee many possible negative implications. And when we ask questions about these implications, no one has any answers; more often than not, we’re told we’re simply “fear-mongering.” We’re having a hard time differentiating between the boogeymen and what’s real because even the people who wrote this bill can’t tell. Some Democrats, in fact, snicker at anyone who suggests they should read the bill. Remember Rep. John Conyers‘ smug comments a couple of weeks ago:
“I love these members [of Congress], they get up and say, ‘Read the bill.’ What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?â€
I think what it boils down to it that we patriots are not content to let Barack Obama, John Conyers, or anyone else in power wave their hand and tell us, “These are not the boogeymen you’re looking for.â€
It’s morning now, and Sam is napping, again, on my lap as I awkwardly type around his small-but-growing frame. There’s simply too much at stake to leave discerning boogeymen and reality to someone other than us.
A funny thing happened on the way to universal health care – the media stopped talking about it. Oh, it’s true you still can hardly go five minutes watching a major network without hearing someone mention “health care reform†or “government option.†But the stories themselves have foregone any content about Obama’s intended “reforms,” or how government-run health care might affect America. The stories are now about the debate itself. Wonder why that is?
Could it be because the more the public hears about the leftist health care bill, the more and more they turn against it?
And so the lapdog media has dutifully switched from honest debate tactics – discussing facts and opposing viewpoints – to dishonest ones.
Case in point: On Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night, guest host John Roberts invited Ron Reagan Jr. (of Air America Radio) and radio host Dana Loesch to debate not health care, but the health care debate itself. The first question out of Roberts’ mouth (directed at Ms. Loesch) was “Why so much anger, mistrust and misinformation out there?â€
That statement runs a veritable gamut of dishonest debate tactics: posing false premises, begging the question, attacking the messenger –Â the list goes on.
No mention of what “misinformation†might be out there. No mention of real instances of anger like SEIU thugs attacking conservatives in Tampa and St. Louis. No mention that, given this administration’s history of ramming bills though Congress without anyone having read them, people have very real reasons to be mistrustful of the government.
And so, like most conservatives on CNN, Loesch was forced to start on the defensive. Despite the radio host’s attempts to mention inconvenient facts like SEIU working with Kathleen Sebelius to pack a town hall, Roberts spent the next ten minutes asking leading questions about how “angry†town hall attendees have been. He asked Reagan about “the argument†contending that the people at these town halls constitute “a grassroots movement.†So, in AC360-land, accusations are facts, and facts are merely “arguments.â€
Roberts then went on to allow Ron Reagan to exploit the fact that someone had dropped – not fired or brandished, but dropped — a gun out of his pocket, as evidence that the town hall protesters are, by and large, gun-wielding crazies.
Dana Loesch did manage to make one good analogy, at the very end of her segment. “With the government calling the shots,†she said, “It’s [having the public option compete with private insurance] like owning a football team and also owning the league.â€
That’s a very good analogy, and one that might be extended to apply to AC360 itself. If politics is football, then AC360 is a stadium. Conservatives should be aware: when you show up on gameday, you’ll be playing against not only the other team, but the referees as well. And you might not even be playing the same game you thought you were playing.
There’s only one problem with the media’s attempt to change the narrative from being about the health care bill itself to the “anger†and “fear†present at town hall meetings. While Democrats might be able to set up enough of an echo chamber to convince themselves their bill is popular, the public is, again, not so easily fooled. And if the only argument the left has remaining is “we don’t like your tone,†then they’ve already lost.
