I joined Facebook a while ago, largely to reconnect with friends from high school (for which it’s been great).
But for whatever reason, I’ve been “Friended” by a lot of people with some outspoken political beliefs. Most of them are regular, workadaddy hugamommy conservatives like me. A few – very few – are left of center.
And there are a couple from, let’s be polite, a paranoid fringe that spans and ignores party boundaries.
And in the immediate aftermath of the Stealthcare vote on Friday, they were out in force.
Some were just…out there? “It’s time to talk secession! Democracy’s dead!”
Well, no. This bill has to get through the Senate yet – and when you consider that the Dems had a 75 vote majority in the House, and it only passed by five votes, you can see where the Senate, with a two vote lead, is going to be a problem.
The majority were just…depressed? I can’t say as I blame them; it is depressing to think that Congress is controlled by such profligate wastrels, and even worse to know that so many of our fellow subjects citizens voted for these hamsters.
But I had to respond; “don’t you guys read the blogs? Or listen to the NARN? Or member ninth-grade civics? This is not the end of the debate. This is the end of the beginning of the debate. ”
And Saturday, while not exactly “good news” in the classic sense, wasn’t bad; 39 Dems flipped – most of them because they feared MoveOn and Nancy Pelosi less than they fear…
…you. The workadaddy, hugamommy conservative who turned out at the Tea Party rallies, and who showed up at their Town Hall meetings, and weathered the ignorance and mockery and occasional seat-stacking and even more-occasional violence to get your points of view across to these idiots. And so Nancy Pelosi had to rush the vote into a weekend in November, so her minions can’t get home to hear more from you, and in order to try to ram this thing through before the 2010 campaign gets into swing – because the Tea Parties, the Town Halls, and last Tuesday’s elections show that she’s not gonna get an infinite series of chances.
The Senate? Well, they worry about re-election too. And while Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins may well join the Dems, there are a lot more blue-dog Senators, especially a few that would not have otherwise won in 2006 and 2008, who are going to be watching their phone logs and mailboxes closely.
So relax…er, no. Don’t relax. Call your Senators; let ’em know where you’re at.
And call your Representatives. If they voted against the bill, thank them (and by the way, thank you John Kline, Erik Paulsen, Collin Peterson and Michele Bachmann). If they voted for it, politely let them know you’re not amused (presuming the likes of McCollum and Ellison have bothered to clean out their voice mail).
To quote the sage – this isn’t over until we say it’s over.
CORRECTION: Added Collin Peterson, who is the unusual combination of utterly safe (he won his last race by 45 points), Democrat, Blue Dog and sane on healthcare. He voted against as well. I’ve updated the post.
Here, let Angryclown fix that for you:
“The workadaddy, hugamommy conservative who turned out, ARMED, at the Tea Party rallies, and who showed up at their Town Hall meetings, SHOUTING DOWN OFFICIALS, CLAIMING THE PRESIDENT WASN’T BORN IN THE UNITED STATES AND COMPARING HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM TO THE POLICIES OF NAZI GERMANY.”
Not even a little love for Collin Peterson?
I know that it’s hard to pull all the ads off the airwaves, but last night I saw another one of those “Call Congressman Peterson and tell him we just can’t afford this health care bill” ads on TV. I wonder how much longer they will run.
“39 Dems flipped ”
I’m not real convinced of the sincerity of their flipping.
Are they really opposed to the bill, or did Mommy Pelosi give them permission to vote against the bill knowing she had the votes to pass it.
Still , after the Stupak amendment passed, I was expecting far fewer Dems to vote no.
Angryclown is SHOUTING!
I have Senators? I live in Minnesota. Both of my Senators are rubber stamp Democrats who will do exactly what Harry Reid tells them to do.
“who will do exactly what Harry Reid tells them to do.”
But Amy K will contemplate the issues in a thorough and thoughtful manner before do what she’s told.
UTING DOWN OFFICIALS, CLAIMING THE PRESIDENT WASN’T BORN IN THE UNITED STATES AND COMPARING HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM TO THE POLICIES OF NAZI GERMANY
Before SEIU thugs beat them down. Every time.
Hey, you can draw rampant generalizations not supported by fact, so can I.
But Amy K will contemplate the issues in a thorough and thoughtful manner before do what she’s told.
Minnesota readers – I have no doubt that Franken and A-Klo’s votes were settled last January.
But you gotta think that a Senator that won by 200 votes and change is going to realize that there’s a lot more than 200 letters in his “Vote No” pile.
It might not sway his vote – he and A-Klo are, indeed, lapdogs of the administration, along with BettyMac and Ellison.
But you think Johnson, Dorgan, Conrad, Tester and the rest of the red-state Dems won’t get the word – people are not amused?
I hold out more hope for the Dakota Dems. Clownie would fit in really well in the DFL. No independent thought required or tolerated.
ah tolerance thy name is AC. Dude just admit your a liberal already. You are like the annoying obviously gay (but still in the closet) friend that refuses to really admit who he is. Funny you should mention Nazi’s though because they were the NATIONAL SOCIALIST party. Tell me which party relates best to National Socialism now?
You DO have to hand it to Peterson. He’s Democrat, yes, but he definitely also has moments of sanity.
not many of those left HH. Nice sn by the way…