This ruckus over the health care debate has caught me by surprise. I'm not quite sure why, considering the Tea Party protests have shown there active discontent on the populist right. But, I would have to agree with David Frum:
"I don’t think the former speaker could tweet such a thing today in good conscience. The person who drafted that homeland security memo has gained very good reason to be worried. The guns are coming out. The risks are real"
While a big hyperbolic, this is not exactly far off...Of course, here in Boston, these town hall outbursts are nonexistent. My own representative, Michael Capuano, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is one of the Democrats who wrote a letter to Speaker Pelosi regarding the Blue Dogs.
For a long time (most of my adult life) conservatism has been drifting in a strange Populist direction. Even if Obama's approval ratings are declining at the moment; this type of rhetoric and foolishness is only going to set conservatives even further back. If the public continues to view Republicans and conservatives as belligerent and unwilling to seriously discuss policy, we'll be nothing but a lynch mob.
I'm aware this is a bit of a meandering post. I'm hoping to contribute to the discussion in my own way- but I still have my day job!
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