After health care reform becomes law, 10 in Congress seek additional security
Earlier in the week I wrote about the windows smashed in upstate New York and Tucson, Arizona at Democratic Party-linked sites after the passage of the health care reform bill Sunday night. Talking Points Memo rounded up some more incidents in Cincinnati, Ohio and Wichita, Kansas. Now it turns out that a group of Congress members have sought additional security protection this week, according to a tweet from Chuck Todd at NBC News:
Hoyer says any member of Congress who is concerned about threats is receiving access to security; So far, over 10 members.
In another tweet, Todd says that he’s encouraging House GOP leaders to speak out. And Chris Good at The Atlantic offered some more details:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asked the Capitol Police to meet with House Republicans as well. Though critics have suggested that Republicans bear some responsibility for egging on disgruntled tea partiers (e.g., RNC Chairman Michael Steele has taken heat today for suggesting Pelosi be put on a “firing line”) the meeting was not requested for the purpose of asking House Republicans to tone down their rhetoric, a Pelosi spokesman said, rather for the purpose of addressing security concerns.
I think it’s kind of messed up that the Speaker can’t come right out and remind the GOP of the meaning of being a ‘loyal opposition.’ And we should make sure that it’s clear that the threats might not all be coming from the enraged Tea Partiers and conservatives – Bart Stupak has apparently received death threats, and while he could have been threatened by conservative, pro-life stalwarts as an abortion sell-out, someone from the pro-choice side could have threatened him, too.
But the point that endures is that the GOP refuses to ask its base to tone it down, and instead eggs it on and makes excuses for the worst behavior, whether it’s the frankly uncivil form of arguments deployed against Democrats or showing up to town halls with heavy weapons. And it’s that refusal on the part of Republicans leaders to say there are bridges too far in this nation’s political conflict that lead to incidents like Rep. Tom Perriello’s brother having his gas grill’s propane line cut after some nutty conservatives thought they were publishing the Congressman’s address online, encouraging people to ‘drop by’ and say how they felt about his health care vote. This sad incident has prompted an FBI investigation according to the Charlottesville, Virginia Daily Progress.
I’m a little wary of any conclusive statement on this incident because I know these stories at second glance tend to turn out differently than first depicted (see the case of Census worker Bill Sparkman). But where there’s smoke…hopefully no other Members of Congress in swing districts will come home to find gas lines cut at their home, or windows broken in their district offices. But you know what would really help to discourage that kind of behavior? If the minority party in Congress reminded its most energetic advocates that change happens at the ballot box, not at the barrel of a shouldered automatic rifle. Unless, you know, they want Democrats to feel like they should be running scared.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Charles Seymour Jr. Charles Seymour Jr said: After health care reform becomes law, 10 in Congress seek additional security http://bit.ly/9IVZhR [...]
The commentators keep reminding us that Theodore Roosevelt was the first president who tried to bring universal health care to the American people. That’s not quite true. He never really expressed the idea while he was in office. In 1912 Roosevelt had been out of office for four years when he attempted to reclaim the presidency from William Howard Taft, the man he had picked to succeed him. Once in office, Taft began to dismantle most of the progressive reforms that Teddy had put into place. When he sought the nomination once again, his campaign slogan was “a square deal for every man and every woman in the United States.” Part of the “Square Deal” was health care for all. He arrived at the convention that summer with all the delegates he needed (and then some) to seize the mantle of standard bearer. It was not to be. His party would betray the people by giving the nomination to Taft in spite of his victory. They had had enough of Theodore Roosevelt and his progressive reforms. 1912 was the year that the progressive wing of the Republican party died. He was the last great Republican president – the very last.
A generation later TR’s distant cousin Franklin attempted to pick up the torch of universal health care. In his 1944 State of the Union address, he told the American people that his major goal for the post war world was national health insurance. Unfortunately for you and I, FDR did not live to see the war’s end. A film of that speech can be viewed in Michael Moore’s film, Capitalism: A Love Story. It’s is now out on DVD and is essential viewing.
The new health care bill is not perfect – far from it – but as the old Chinese saying goes, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” There will be improvements made on it down the years – there absolutely needs to be – but this is a fairly good first step. We’re on our way! The Conservatives will whine, but that’s what they do best. They’ll whine just as they whined when Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965, or the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Just as they whined when Harry Truman desegregated the army in 1947, or when Franklin D. Roosevelt brought Social Security into being in 1935. They’ll whine just like they did when Woodrow Wilson tried to form the League of Nations in 1919 – or when Abraham Lincoln ended the institution of slavery in 1863! They whine a lot. Did you ever notice that?
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Obama and his gang of thugs are “jew baiting”, Hitler did it in the 1930″s…this is nothing new.
All these democrat congressmen should be rounded up and put in prison….for their own protection……..
[...] After health care reform becomes law, 10 in Congress seek additional security (trueslant.com) [...]
[...] you can see some problems in the reporting of this story, and as I noted yesterday when referring to the case of Census worker Bill Sparkman, these stories at a second look tend not [...]