Rep. David Scott, Politics Of Racism, Health Care Reform, Town Hall Meetings
Have you Zinged someone lately? Please forward a link to a friend, family member or neighbor.
ZingerKing is published on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week from September through June. In July and August ZingerKing will publish on Wednesday each week.
_______________________________________________________________________________
August 14, 2009
Special Weekend Edition
Today’s Zinger:
Listening Is The First Step To Learning. You Can’t Learn If You Are Talking.
New Feature In ZingerKing
With this article Zinger is adding a new feature. Each article will contain a relevant quote from a notable person. Can you identify the person? The answer will appear at the bottom of the article.
Who Said It?
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
The Morning Briefing:
The Politics of Racism: Representative David Scott of Georgia’s 13thdistrict recently made national news when his office was defaced with a swastika. Representative Scott quickly responded by saying this is racial hatred.
"We have got to make sure that the symbol of the swastika does not win, that the racial hatred that's bubbling up does not win this debate," Scott said in a telephone interview."There's so much hatred out there for President (Barack) Obama."
Our elected officials are attacking American's vocal dissent and calling these people Nazi's, Un-American and Astro-turf protesters. Some elected officials like David Scott, try to call the democratic process of civil disobedience a racist reaction to President Obama and himself. Rep. Scott is ignoring his constituents and pursuing a path designed by Bureaucrats and the Washington Czars.
ZingerKing looks at the failure of Rep. Scott, the politics of racism and an approach to communicating with citizens.
The Discussion:
Ina recent interview with NPR, Rep. Scott said that race has a definite role in some of the negative reaction to the health care proposals and President Barack Obama’s advocacy of them. As Congress tried to rush through approval of the health care bill, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi recently called citizens aggressively shouting out against the1000 page health care proposal “Nazi’s” and Un-American. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), at a recent town hall meeting, said that she was very disappointed in the tone of the crowd and felt she needed to use her “mothers voice” on the crowd.
Our elected Democratic representatives seem to think that there is something wrong with their constituents. Some believe that public outrage over a Congress that is rapidly changing our country is evil. This Congress has passed the largest tax increase in U.S. history, the largest regressive tax in U.S. history, billion dollar bailouts of companies that later go bankrupt. Bailouts for companies that holdtheir retirement accounts, sponsor health care legislation that exempts themselves, trillion dollar stimulus bills that do not stimulate and an economy that is teetering. Next year, this Congress plans to seek amnesty for illegal immigrants, a position not supported by the vast majority of Americans. And they wonder why Americans are angry.
Some,like Rep. David Scott, a black man, use the color of his or President Obama’s skin, as an excuse for the outrage. A swastika has nothing to do with racism. Hitler’s Germany was a Marxist country that thought the government knew best and controlled the lives of its citizens. Many Americans, rightly or wrongly, feel that our government is adopting a similar philosophy.
When will elected officials realize that it is not the color of their skin but the lack of listening that is causing average Americans to shout out their outrage over public policy? Bringing race into the discussion is an attempt to diminish the protesters and categorize them as evil. Rep. Scott is afraid to listen because his own polls show that his constituents do not support his views. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “A riot is the language of the unheard.”
Rep.Scott has said, on his website, that America has chosen Barack Obama as our first black President and he will do all to support President Obama’s new direction for our country. In a later post to his website, Rep. Scott talks about listening to his constituents and supporting their voice. Rep. Scott recently posted a survey on his website to gain input from citizens about their health insurance. The survey asked if “you are satisfied with your health insurance”. The survey showed 98% were satisfied with their health insurance an 76% wanted him to vote against the legislation. After several days the survey was removed from the website. Zinger made calls to Rep. Scott’s office to determine how he will vote on the health care bill. “He has not decided and is still taking input from his constituents”.
At a recent town hall meeting designed to discuss a new road in Rep. Scott’s district, a participant (a doctor concerned about health care that Rep.Scott had mistakenly assumed was an "astroturf" political operative) asked a health care related question after Rep. Scott had finished his discussions on the highway and opened the meeting to discussion. Rep.Scott yelled at the man for “hijacking the meeting”. Rep. Scott scolded the audience and said "if you want a meeting with me on health care I'll give it to you". The Georgia Democratic Committee sent out an announcement that the meeting will be held on Saturday.
Zinger contacted Rep. Scott’s office to find out that the town hall meeting will not occur on Saturday and the meeting had been turned in to a health fair. Zinger was told that Rep. Scott may “answer a couple of questions and he plans to hold a health care town hall meeting at a later date, but it has not been determined when or where”. The same message was delivered by both of Rep. Scott's offices.
Our elected officials are running from the angry crowds. Some try to use excuses for their actions, like racism, Un-American or Nazi. These crowds are not racist. These crowds are not professionally organized. This is democracy in action. When code pink organizes and disrupts meetings it is okay. When Latinos organize and demonstrate it is okay, When African Americans riot it is justified, but when angry white people yell and scream to be heard they are racist.
The Obama administration was to bring better racial understanding to our nation. So far there has been more racial division than before his election. Racism is the language used to silence the masses. For the most part these are angry citizens that feel their elected officials are moving too quickly on legislation that will transform America into something that they do not understand or disagree with. It has nothing to do with the color of any American’s skin, but a concern over bailouts, payoffs, welfare, national debt, immigration, jobs and government intervention in American’s lives.
Congress and the Obama administration must do a much better job communicating what they are doing and why. They must learn to become color-blind to their actions. They need to listen to the public and shape legislation on the voice of the people, not the President’s Czars. The Democratic Congress thinks America has voted 60 Democrats to the Senate to transform America. The American voter will transform the Senate if they continue to operate this way.
A recent ZingerKing reader emailed me with the idea of establishing a website to gather public input, categorize the responses and use it to shape legislation. Candidate Obama gained national recognition for the idea of creating a website to allow citizens to jointly craft aspects of legislation. The media was supportive of candidate Obama’s direction of posting legislation on a website four days prior to a vote to allow the public to read and comment on it. These were just words. None of this is happening. Instead, the administration and Congress are moving as quickly as possible to implement an America of their choosing.
The only thing these officials seem to understand is a pink slip. Rep. Scott’s term ends in 2011. Until then some people may feel the need to follow the words of Martin Luther King Jr. and “riot to be heard.”
Zinger
Who Said It?
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Recent ZingerKing Articles:
Articles can be found under “Recent Articles” in the purple sidebar. Older articles can be found in the archives that are stored by month. These are found at the bottom of the purple sidebar. Here is a list of the most recent articles.
The Tug Of War Of Special Interest Groups and Health Care Reform
Credibility Of The Administration Is Challenged
Taming The Angry Mobs
Creating A Free Market Alternative to Government Health Care
Cash For Clunkers
Culturalism versus Racism in America
The Revolving Door of Politics: Franken, Palin, Biden
Consequences of Taxing the Wealthy
Obama's Clintonesque Moment
Overcoming Bias: Challenging Our Own Beliefs
Health Care Just Made Me Sicker
Shameless Request For Support:
ZingerKing operates without advertising or government funding (obviously). The purpose is to inform and educate its readers about economic and political issues that affect our lives.
Help ZingerKing grow. Have you Zinged someone lately. Please forward a link to ZingerKing to a friend, family member or neighbor. If you enjoy reading the Zinger please subscribe (see the subscribe box at the top of the article in the purple side band). Subscribers receive the"Morning Briefing" when published with a link to the full article. Periodic alerts are sent to subscribers only with important updates and insights into critical issues. Your email address will not sold to others and will not be shared.
ZingerKing is published on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week from September through June. In July and August ZingerKing will publish on Wednesday each week.
_______________________________________________________________________________
August 14, 2009
Special Weekend Edition
Today’s Zinger:
Listening Is The First Step To Learning. You Can’t Learn If You Are Talking.
New Feature In ZingerKing
With this article Zinger is adding a new feature. Each article will contain a relevant quote from a notable person. Can you identify the person? The answer will appear at the bottom of the article.
Who Said It?
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
The Morning Briefing:
The Politics of Racism: Representative David Scott of Georgia’s 13thdistrict recently made national news when his office was defaced with a swastika. Representative Scott quickly responded by saying this is racial hatred.
"We have got to make sure that the symbol of the swastika does not win, that the racial hatred that's bubbling up does not win this debate," Scott said in a telephone interview."There's so much hatred out there for President (Barack) Obama."
Our elected officials are attacking American's vocal dissent and calling these people Nazi's, Un-American and Astro-turf protesters. Some elected officials like David Scott, try to call the democratic process of civil disobedience a racist reaction to President Obama and himself. Rep. Scott is ignoring his constituents and pursuing a path designed by Bureaucrats and the Washington Czars.
ZingerKing looks at the failure of Rep. Scott, the politics of racism and an approach to communicating with citizens.
The Discussion:
Ina recent interview with NPR, Rep. Scott said that race has a definite role in some of the negative reaction to the health care proposals and President Barack Obama’s advocacy of them. As Congress tried to rush through approval of the health care bill, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi recently called citizens aggressively shouting out against the1000 page health care proposal “Nazi’s” and Un-American. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), at a recent town hall meeting, said that she was very disappointed in the tone of the crowd and felt she needed to use her “mothers voice” on the crowd.
Our elected Democratic representatives seem to think that there is something wrong with their constituents. Some believe that public outrage over a Congress that is rapidly changing our country is evil. This Congress has passed the largest tax increase in U.S. history, the largest regressive tax in U.S. history, billion dollar bailouts of companies that later go bankrupt. Bailouts for companies that holdtheir retirement accounts, sponsor health care legislation that exempts themselves, trillion dollar stimulus bills that do not stimulate and an economy that is teetering. Next year, this Congress plans to seek amnesty for illegal immigrants, a position not supported by the vast majority of Americans. And they wonder why Americans are angry.
Some,like Rep. David Scott, a black man, use the color of his or President Obama’s skin, as an excuse for the outrage. A swastika has nothing to do with racism. Hitler’s Germany was a Marxist country that thought the government knew best and controlled the lives of its citizens. Many Americans, rightly or wrongly, feel that our government is adopting a similar philosophy.
When will elected officials realize that it is not the color of their skin but the lack of listening that is causing average Americans to shout out their outrage over public policy? Bringing race into the discussion is an attempt to diminish the protesters and categorize them as evil. Rep. Scott is afraid to listen because his own polls show that his constituents do not support his views. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “A riot is the language of the unheard.”
Rep.Scott has said, on his website, that America has chosen Barack Obama as our first black President and he will do all to support President Obama’s new direction for our country. In a later post to his website, Rep. Scott talks about listening to his constituents and supporting their voice. Rep. Scott recently posted a survey on his website to gain input from citizens about their health insurance. The survey asked if “you are satisfied with your health insurance”. The survey showed 98% were satisfied with their health insurance an 76% wanted him to vote against the legislation. After several days the survey was removed from the website. Zinger made calls to Rep. Scott’s office to determine how he will vote on the health care bill. “He has not decided and is still taking input from his constituents”.
At a recent town hall meeting designed to discuss a new road in Rep. Scott’s district, a participant (a doctor concerned about health care that Rep.Scott had mistakenly assumed was an "astroturf" political operative) asked a health care related question after Rep. Scott had finished his discussions on the highway and opened the meeting to discussion. Rep.Scott yelled at the man for “hijacking the meeting”. Rep. Scott scolded the audience and said "if you want a meeting with me on health care I'll give it to you". The Georgia Democratic Committee sent out an announcement that the meeting will be held on Saturday.
Zinger contacted Rep. Scott’s office to find out that the town hall meeting will not occur on Saturday and the meeting had been turned in to a health fair. Zinger was told that Rep. Scott may “answer a couple of questions and he plans to hold a health care town hall meeting at a later date, but it has not been determined when or where”. The same message was delivered by both of Rep. Scott's offices.
Our elected officials are running from the angry crowds. Some try to use excuses for their actions, like racism, Un-American or Nazi. These crowds are not racist. These crowds are not professionally organized. This is democracy in action. When code pink organizes and disrupts meetings it is okay. When Latinos organize and demonstrate it is okay, When African Americans riot it is justified, but when angry white people yell and scream to be heard they are racist.
The Obama administration was to bring better racial understanding to our nation. So far there has been more racial division than before his election. Racism is the language used to silence the masses. For the most part these are angry citizens that feel their elected officials are moving too quickly on legislation that will transform America into something that they do not understand or disagree with. It has nothing to do with the color of any American’s skin, but a concern over bailouts, payoffs, welfare, national debt, immigration, jobs and government intervention in American’s lives.
Congress and the Obama administration must do a much better job communicating what they are doing and why. They must learn to become color-blind to their actions. They need to listen to the public and shape legislation on the voice of the people, not the President’s Czars. The Democratic Congress thinks America has voted 60 Democrats to the Senate to transform America. The American voter will transform the Senate if they continue to operate this way.
A recent ZingerKing reader emailed me with the idea of establishing a website to gather public input, categorize the responses and use it to shape legislation. Candidate Obama gained national recognition for the idea of creating a website to allow citizens to jointly craft aspects of legislation. The media was supportive of candidate Obama’s direction of posting legislation on a website four days prior to a vote to allow the public to read and comment on it. These were just words. None of this is happening. Instead, the administration and Congress are moving as quickly as possible to implement an America of their choosing.
The only thing these officials seem to understand is a pink slip. Rep. Scott’s term ends in 2011. Until then some people may feel the need to follow the words of Martin Luther King Jr. and “riot to be heard.”
Zinger
Who Said It?
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Recent ZingerKing Articles:
Articles can be found under “Recent Articles” in the purple sidebar. Older articles can be found in the archives that are stored by month. These are found at the bottom of the purple sidebar. Here is a list of the most recent articles.
The Tug Of War Of Special Interest Groups and Health Care Reform
Credibility Of The Administration Is Challenged
Taming The Angry Mobs
Creating A Free Market Alternative to Government Health Care
Cash For Clunkers
Culturalism versus Racism in America
The Revolving Door of Politics: Franken, Palin, Biden
Consequences of Taxing the Wealthy
Obama's Clintonesque Moment
Overcoming Bias: Challenging Our Own Beliefs
Health Care Just Made Me Sicker
Shameless Request For Support:
ZingerKing operates without advertising or government funding (obviously). The purpose is to inform and educate its readers about economic and political issues that affect our lives.
Help ZingerKing grow. Have you Zinged someone lately. Please forward a link to ZingerKing to a friend, family member or neighbor. If you enjoy reading the Zinger please subscribe (see the subscribe box at the top of the article in the purple side band). Subscribers receive the"Morning Briefing" when published with a link to the full article. Periodic alerts are sent to subscribers only with important updates and insights into critical issues. Your email address will not sold to others and will not be shared.
The day will come when people are judged by the their actions and not the color of their skin, but that day will not happen until the generation of black Americans that cling to their racist crutch and the generation of white Americans that fear the black mans touch have risen to face a God that only cares about the persons character and actions.
Reply to this