Obama goes beyond Chicago style politics

Civil libertarians who thought that the Bush polices on the war on terror were troubling ought to be alarmed at how the national Democratic Party leadership is responding to the protests found at town hall style meetings about health care reform.

First, the Democratic National Committee launched ads that accused the Republican party of organizing the protests. The White House joined in the accusation and condemnation. Then, the Democrats, sensing that was not enough to stem the protests, went up a level. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated that the protestors were sabotaging the democratic process. In that spirit, the White House started an email address in which people could email any communications they received about health care reform they were concerned about.

Let that sink in for a moment. The Leader of the United States Senate says that those who exercise their constitutional right to speech and protest are “sabotaging” the democratic process. Further, the President of the United States is asking you to turn in your friends and neighbors who forward an email to you questioning his policies. No matter where one stands on health care reform, the tactics of Senator Reid and President Obama are chilling to the American way of life.

Further, Senator Reid and the President are hypocritical when it comes to criticizing groups for organizing protests or activity. Neither condemned the anti war protestors during the Bush Administration who were often organized by highly paid professional protestors. Neither condemned the heavy handed tactics of labor unions against the individual’s right to choose for himself what job and what wage fits him.

The heart of the hypocrisy is found in how many of the health care town halls are being organized by a group called Organizing for America. Organizing for America is the political lovechild of the Obama for President Campaign and ACORN. In other words, the President and the Democrats are calling conservatives sinister for organizing attendance at the meetings in which the President’s supporters are trying to organize and pack with Obama sycophants.

What the President is missing is the depth of the real anger and fear out there. People hear about trillion dollar bailouts to banks, but can not get a loan. People hear about trillion dollar stimulus packages, but are told their local park has to be closed and their local police department has to lay off officers, even with a tax increase. People hear about how the union businesses, such as the Big 3 automakers , get government bailouts and incentive programs, but their business does not have a union, so it is own its own. Now, they are told the people who brought all of that are going to change their health care. People with no money and no coverage are even concerned when they hear things like mandatory coverage and their once private medical records being all put public. The list of fears and concerns goes on.

To add insult to injury, the President of the United States and the Leader of the United States Senates address those concerns by trying to turn those who voice such concerns into villains. Instead of the open and cooperative government promised by the President we are getting a Chicago style administration, where those who dare to speak out are reached out and “touched” so speak.

Frankly, if President Obama and Harry Reid want to punish another politician for not backing them, fine, hardball politics has been played among politicians since this nation started. However, when two of the most powerful politicians in the United States use hardball tactics to chill the 1st Amendment Rights of the American people, it goes beyond Chicago style politics and becomes something all of us, regardless of party or position, should be concerned about.