FINALLY! A Democrat who isn't afraid to call BS exactly what it is! We need Barney Frank running ALL the town halls!

That's fantastic

I attended a town hall yesterday with Rep. Vic Snyder, and I'm pleased to report that it was civil. Yes, there were a few badly misinformed people who asked questions making it clear that they had no idea what was being proposed. But there was no shouting, chanting, or other disruption. And the last man who got the microphone said something along the lines of Frank's response in this clip: a lot of people are gullible and will believe whatever they're being told, and they're getting their information from liars. He encouraged them to study up on the arguments pro and con for themselves rather than taking the word of people who just want to manipulate them into opposing things that are in their own best interest.

The tide has turned.

For those who don't know, when Frank refers to his ethnic heritage, he means he's Jewish.

Imagine the depth of historical ignorance it takes to make baseless Nazi accusations to someone with a a Jewish heritage.

Barney Frank is da man!

More, please.

I'm of the opinion that the dining room table needs to become the iconic symbol rational people us to refer to this whole movement. Someone with more graphic skills than me get right on that, okay?

It's sad though, because despite being in a "safe," "educated" district, Frank's office is not giving out any advance information on any scheduled town hall meetings he may or may not be planning to hold.

I had called his office last week to find out and was told none were scheduled. The most the staffer I spoke to this morning would/could tell me is to check back next week.

I'm proud to be a constituent of Barney Frank. This is just the latest example of what a sensible, honest person he is. I don't know how happy he would be to be pulled out of the House, but I'd like to see him move into Senator Kennedy's senate seat. At this point it's my belief that Kennedy should resign, but the pool of potential candidates is full of algae.

Good to see this. Democrats had better be aware that the overhaul effort is about a lot more than healthcare, given the tactics the Republicans have chosen. Any Democrat who opposes the final legislation is endorsing the bullyboy tactics that threaten to undermine not just Obama, but our entire way of governing. They are endorsing the lies of Sarah Palin, the assault-rifle gun nuts and psychotic screamers at town halls, the death threats, etc.

equipped with our species' excellent ability to read the emotional states of other human beings.

Actually, that is one of the most notable and important traits/skills of dogs, who dont have the luxury of understanding our entire vocabulary.

Not that I am comparing low information voters (who apparently unwilling to use that whole vocabulary advantage) to dogs. My dog was much smarter than your average wingnut.

I think maybe Obama has proven to be the master again, or just lucky to have such unhinged opponents.
Like with Sarah Palin and her supporters during the campaign last year, when it seems that Obama is letting them hammer him to death, he's really just letting them expose themselves as lunatics, and the public gets turned off without him having to say too much.
Same sort of scenario with Repubs in congress--he showed that he was maybe willing to consider alternatives to a public option, and Repubs exposed themselves has opposing any type of reform for purely political reasons.
I just hope this means that the process won't continue to be held hostage by the Baucus secret committee of six.

Currently Hitler is the Tyrant of Choice for Republicans to use to silence opposition to anything. Just compare any Democratic speaker on any subject to Hitler and you immediately charge up the room & get other ignorant people incensed.

We're onto the Republicans' new manipulative ways. As with all the lies & distortions of the bush administration this too will pass as Republicans further define themselves as a fringe party of extremists.

I watched this before dawn, bleary-eyed and nightgown-clad, and the nightgown is no more. The coffee stains are probably so extensive as to be permanent.

The look on that vicious fool's face after Frank's response was absolutely priceless.

How about if Congresscritters in less safe districts replied like this:

"Under the current system - if you're kind enough to call it a 'system,' which I'm not - thousands of people die each year because, as a result of having lousy or nonexistent health insurance, they didn't get timely diagnoses of serious illnesses. By and large, these people are the ones who are struggling just to get by. They're the ones who the Nazis would most likely characterize as 'undesirables' who are just getting in the way of the creation of a race of supermen.

"The health care reform plans moving through Congress would drastically reduce the number of people who just didn't see a doctor until it was too late. The Nazis would be quite livid with Obama's health care reform - and would strongly prefer what we have now."

woo hoo! i loves me some barney!!!

pity there are so few of the Spined Ones amongst the Demo caucus...

and who was the dude with the cnn zombie? dr. cat killer?

Imagine the depth of historical ignorance it takes to make baseless Nazi accusations to someone with a a Jewish heritage.

Or to scream "Heil Hitler" at him while he's praising the Israeli healthcare system.

Rep. Gene Greene (D), from the Houston area, held another town hall last night on health care reform, but his staff checked IDs and only allowed in residents of the district -- an unfortunate, but fair tactic under the circumstances. The local news did not cover it in detail, but it appeared to have gone off with civility.

His Houston-area colleague, Ted Poe (R), on the other hand, announced he would have his town hall on health care reform at -- wait for it -- a local funeral home.

Stay classy, assholes.

we got any democratic creek chubs who can take care of congresscritter tadpole?

The comparison to Hitler is ridiculous. Obama is much more like Saddam Hussein, providing health care to the masses while palling around with terrorists. We should therefore launch an invasion of some random country whose leader we don't like too much.

This was friggin hilarious. The woman was made to look like an absolute fool.

Bet you won't see this on Fox.

The woman was sorta hot though.

I hate when beauty clashes with stupidity.

Actually, that is one of the most notable and important traits/skills of dogs, who dont have the luxury of understanding our entire vocabulary.

Zeit - Dogs don't understand sarcasm and will assume you're pleased with him as you "thank" him for slobbering on your newspaper. And seeing as conservatives are also irony-impaired, I think your original observation may have been correct.

And yes, I say that as the owner of cats, who assures you that cats DO understand sarcasm. Unfortunately, they just don't give a damn about it. That's why I'm really not much of a cat person. Dogs at least pretend to like you. Cats make it clear that they're just using you. I suppose in that way, perhaps conservatives are more like cats.

fred -- Fox already has shown it, in their "Fair and Balanced" manner.

I hate when beauty clashes with stupidity.

Oh, Rich, you know just how to flatter a girl!

This is amusing, too. "Git UR anti-OBAMA-hack-tulz hear, they R grate!"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/19/obama_ddos_tool_ruse/

Or maybe, just a bag of malware to infect the computers of right-wing schnooks.

Bet you won't see this on Fox.

Fred - I assure you that conservatives will not see the clip the same way we do. I've seen many videos at conservative blogs which show angry jerks shouting at Democrats and the Democrat giving a sensible reply, yet the bloggers and their commenters INSIST that the clip shows sensible people being rudely insulted by the Dem for making sensible comments in a firm manner. It really makes me question my belief in an objective reality.

I have no doubt that many conservatives will be hyping this clip to show what a lying a-hole Frank is for not answering the woman's question. And in their minds, that's exactly what happened.

This video -- along with Rachael Maddow's pizza ordering analogy on last night's show -- need to be shown over and over and over again.

And I agree w/ Karen Marie upthread -- Frank should move over to the Senate. The Dem caucus over there could use his spine.

and the nightgown is no more

glad you went on to explain about the coffee, shortstop. i was afraid this may be one of those situations where, to paraphrase The Truth About Cats and Dogs, its ok to love your politics, but not to love your politics.

Add Howard Dean to the list of people hitting back. He has been fantastic lately. He has really reinvented himself as someone who knows how to throw a punch.

I watched this before dawn, bleary-eyed and nightgown-clad, and the nightgown is no more. -shortstop

So you're reading this nude? Hot. ;)

I wonder if Frank fully appreciates his ability to cause spontaneous nudity.

Sure, laugh at my Frank-created second-degree burns. Obviously you've all got decent health insurance!

I saw that the Club for Greed had video up of the Frank town hall meeting, but I didn't bother to watch it. Then I saw that Matt also had a video of the same meeting up and I did watch it. I couldn't figure out why the Club for Greed would post such a video. So I went back and watched it on the Club's blog. The clip they posted was from Faux News and it only showed Frank's response and not the woman asking the question. And that my friends is how the wingers spread lies of omission.

So did this woman spend a fair amount of time, energy, and a bit of skill MAKING a picture of Obama as Hitler-

Or did she outsource it?

And, if so, WHERE? ? ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdQKetTLXm8

An oldie but goodie from the Hit Parade.

My dog was much smarter than your average wingnut.
Posted by: zeitgeist on August 19, 2009 at 11:08 AM | PERMALINK

If the past tense in your sentence means what I think it means, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say your dog, nonetheless, is still smarter than your average wingnut.

Before you go all googley for Barney, all the local news stations this morning made him look like a ass.

The look on the woman's face was priceless. If she was merely stupid it would have sailed right over her head. BUt she was very well aware that she was standing up in front of all those people holding that idiotic picture with cameras recording being made to look like an absolute fool. You can almost feel her cheeks tingle. To bad we didn't get footage of her slinking away.

THAT"s how those people should be treated at every turn.

Right on, Barney! My advice to other Dems: Grow a pair like Barney's".

The morning AM radio wingnut in my town actually ran Frank's response, and then came back and paired it with another more reasonable audience member's question.

These right-wing lies and distortions are an outrage. They deserve zero respect.

That was one of the biggest laughs I've had in a long time-- I love me some Barney Frank. I do wish more people would stand up against the Hitler/nazi comparisons-- it's totally over the top and ridiculously offensive to those of us who are Jewish, who lost family members in the holocaust. Only incredibly stupid a-holes would even begin to compare Obama or the dems to Hitler or the Nazis, let alone to a Jewish person.

These people are just like dining room tables, they just stand there, let people put all sort of stuff on them, act like they have no choice in the matter but to put up with it...ok, it doesn't quite work as an extended methaphor, but we do need something symbolic along those lines.

I think it is even more important for vulnerable
democratic lawmakers to act this
way if they are NOT in safe seats.

Acting like you own it works best.

These people are just like dining room tables

Well, they don't have a leg to stand on. On the other hand, I've had many happy times around many dining room tables. I can't say I've ever enjoyed being around these folks.

Every time I hear the comparison between Obama and Hitler, it tells me the person knows nothing about Hitler. Hitler was a white supremacist, he not only wanted to wipe out the Jewish race he wanted to wipe out Gypsies and anyone with a brown skin, which would include Moslems & Indians. Hitler also ruled by spreading fear, that is the way he riled the people up against the Jewish race. Having said that, which of our political parties sounds more like Hitler?

So you're reading this nude? Hot. ;)

She wouldn't be reading it in the nude if it were cold, now would she? Say, like Maine -- Where Even the Prom Dresses are Flannel -- where it was only 92 yesterday.

But the next clip on You-tube features the Fox/Hannity version--Frank rudely commenting on UNHEARD questions, yelling at the poor innocent citizens.

And the Fox guy there looked and sounded like a reject for the Daily Show spot Hodgeman has.

Say, like Maine -- Where Even the Prom Dresses are Flannel

If I were in Maine, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you blue horndogs :). I'd be camping out (using one of these, natch - shop local!) at the offices of Snowe and Collins to ensure they have my thoughts on the indispensability of the public option.

I hear that the Dining Room Table-American community is calling on Obama to denounce and reject Franks' baseless smears against them.

More, please

There's a vast difference between supporting someone's First Amendment right to spout idiotic lunacy and treating them as though their notions are worthy of serious discussion. Barney Frank is the only elected Democrat I'm aware who is able to articulate this distinction in a clear, forthright, and entirely memorable fashion.

I'm not concerned in the least about FoxNews' and other wingnut media outlets' distortion of the incident, either. They're going to distort things regardless of what Barney says to whom. He told the truth, and that's an rare but inspiring thing these days.

The only way this could have been better is if Rep. Frank had said something like, "As a Jew, and as a gay man, I am personally offended by your remarks. Jews and gays were rounded up and exterminated as a matter of official policy by the Nazis. For you to compare a proposal which will assist in providing life-saving health care to more Americans to the Nazi ideology of the mass murder of disenfranchised minorities is vile, dishonest, and a symptom of a sick mind."

And yes, more of this, please. There is no arguing with or changing the minds of these people. We can only make them irrelevant by laughing at them and then ignoring them.

I think the Republican Senator who was surprised at a Town Hall meeting by citizens asking for Obama's birth certificate could have been a lot more assertive in his response. I think he needs to watch this exchange to gain some pointers.

Just as Aericans know the right to privacy is an implied right within our nation's Constitution, so too some Americans have taken to the streets as of late with another implied right of our beloved Constitution - the Right to practice stupidity! -Kevo

Jewish Barney Frank and Dr. Zeke Emmanuel are Nazis? Who knew? Finally, the National Socialist Party of Germany has opened its doors to members of minorities. The desires of Hitler's "I have a Dream" speech realized.

I think Barney Frank is terrific. At the same time, the woman was actually being relatively polite and not yelling over his words. If it had been the "Seig heil" lady from wherever or someone else equally as obnoxious, I wonder if Frank could have gotten his point across so well.

Our CBS local affiliate early evening news carried only Frank's response w/out the spurring context.

I fired off an e-mail noting my dissatisfaction w/ their "slanted" coverage -- for whatever good it will do.

.
.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but these people are Lyndon LaRouche fantatics, you numbskulls.

They belong to you.

ROFL... Sorry, RH, but they're playing your song. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, waddles, like a duck, it's a duck. You own these crazies; deal with it.

Actually, no, Paul. It's been proven that LaRouche's campaign is behind this. I know it's an inconvenient truth, but you're going to have to deal with it

Sorry to rain on your parade, but these people are Lyndon LaRouche fantatics, you numbskulls.

They belong to you.

Ah, not they don't. In fact, Katy Abrams, the "hero" of the right who stood up in a town went on Hannity and talked about how she is a republican. The idiots packing guns, the ones with the misspelled signs, the ones who don't have the first clue about the heath bill -- self-identified republicans -- you stupid fucking moron.

And I suppose when Glenn Beck gets on his show to an audience of 99% Republicans every day and tells them that Obama is creating a fascist state "just like Hitler did" -- it's the Democrats showing up with to town halls with Hitler signs.

When you're deprived of oxygen at birth there are legal remedies now. I suggest you seek redress.

TREX, you poor pathetic ass-crumb. We're talking about the idiots with the Obama as Hitler signs. Try and stay on topic. I know your tactics are only effective if you're allowed to casually group them all together, but these folks are clearly different.

"We're going to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose head says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, signed by a president that also hasn't read it and who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, overseen by an obese surgeon general, and financed by a country that's nearly broke."

We're talking about the idiots with the Obama as Hitler signs.

Yes, and when Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly with a combined audience of tens of millions of Republicans make the connection that Obama is like Hitler and Democrats are Nazis, it's sure as shit isn't Democrats showing up with those signs, you mouth-breathing dipshit.

Duval GOP In Controversy Over Obama/Hitler Comparisons At Tea Party

GOP site apologizes for Obama-Hitler comparison

GOP OPERATIVE PR FIRM runs the Obama = Hitler web site, from Rachel Maddow (Video)

GOP Women's Group In MD: 'Obama And Hitler Have A Great Deal In Common'

There are millions of hits showing the GOP fostering the Obama/Hitler comparison, so this is going to take a while.

GOP congressman compares Obama to Hitler

GOP Senator: Obama the New Hitler

GOP Clerk Passes Around Obama 'Black Hitler' Claim

Yep, every major Republican broadcaster comparing Obama to Hitler, Republican Senators and Congressmen comparing Obama to Hitler, and local Republican parties around the country comparing Obama to Hitler -- but oddly it's only Democrats who believe it and show up at town halls with signs saying Obama is Hitler in conservetard world.

Here's a video of a woman with an "Obama is Hitler" sign blaming Democrats for wanting to take away all her rights. Hmmm, wonder what party she belongs to? (Hint: in the video she says she not a Democrat.)

http://www.indyweekblogs.com/citizen/2009/08/in-raleigh-hitler-used-ovens-obama-will-use-hospice-to-kill-people-like-me/

RH : Even if she was "one of our own" she's still crazy as hell and isn't being embraced by the party like the republicans do with their crazies. Also on that note at least "our" crazies are polite and don't shout down anyone that doesn't agree.

This post got the quote wrong. Frank actually said: "When you ask me that question, I'm going to revert to my ethnic heritage and answer your question with a question: On what planet do you spend most of your time?"

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