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Not only is the ’silent majority’ no longer silent, they’re no longer the majority either.

Thank goodness!

Sheep Maybe?

The fact is that, in a world turned upside-down, the new silent majority are the people who voted for change in 2008. Their voices are being drowned out by the pitchfork-wielders on the right who have been egged on by the rabble-rousers they listen to on right-wing talk radio. Where are the Chicago police when we need them?


mikey

I got mine in the park did you get yours? nice referance I do like it.

LUD

There is no difference between everyone yelling at once and noise. This isn't a philosophical or political observation. It is Claude Shannon 101.

Naw, the lefties aren't drowned out yet. If they had been, then Obama wouldn't have gotten elected...

Sheeple

I DO LOVE A GOOD ONE1 LOL

Paid and/or coached shills at town hall meetings?
The modern version of the paid thugs whooping on union folk, or potential union folk in Woody's times I suppose.

Basically, yes. It would be better if neither side resorted to that tactic but it's been a part of modern politics as long as I can remember and has become transparent. I think it will only make the Republicans look bad this time even as it galvanizes a diminishing base.

It's like being the front band for Bruce Springsteen.

"BRUUUUUCE!"

I was once one or both of the union folk you speak of. It's too is full of politics for good and bad. Mainly is about power, This play (town hall meetings) that we are watching is about power and villains’ one group forcing another to do something that they do not want to do. IT truly is sad to watch, DO not get me wrong I DO LOVE OUR CONTRY. This whole thing just make me sad and angry. That I am forced to, just yell and take it.. Like a man that yells at the moon at night because the light wakes him. The rep and dems that have the power and want to keep it, both party’s think that the sheep or sheeple of our country will forget what they do. I THINK NOT.
They need to beware, before we were to young to vote NOT NOW.


Truth: THEY (those elected officials) were appointed and they can be disappointed. a cry from the dark

.....or disapointING!

only if we remain the ’silent majority’ . lol btw are you aware of thr msn bot downloading.

Yeah.....we got bots all over the place peeking in here.

YA sonds like we need a goverment vac or somthing?

Was it ever?

Wouldn't be a bad idea for those convinced that the new health bill will a) kill senior citizens, b) spend federal money for abortions, and c) be equal to socialized medicine - to wager their representatives in Congress on the outcome of the legislation. I'd be curious to know if anyone on either side would be willing to bet on their statements and what they believe to be the truth.

Not to mention that since health care is now something like 17% of the GDP, we need to fix it so we don't GO broke. Many feel fixing it will MAKE us broke. Obama has the correct vision on this one.
Having said that, from a cost point of view, it's a Hydra.Where is Hercules when you need him!?
Tort reform is a must.
Cleaning up the records system is a must.
Doctors overprescribing drugs that people don't need, often to kids, because of fear of lawsuits if they don't needs to change.
Getting control of lawyers that can retire after one huge judgement will be tough since their cronies make and intepret law.
Getting control of big pharma whose motivation is profit will be tough in a free enterprise system.
The only segment of the population that real reform will affect in a negative way will be those that are reaping the huge profits.
Doctors are for reform.
The thinking public(perhaps a minority) is for reform.

It was reported that one demonstrator, who is against heath care reform, cited Britain's state run health care system as an example of how a federal health care system can screw things up. Mathematics professor and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, the demonstrator said, would be dead if he had to rely on Britain's health care system. Something the demonstrator failed to take into account ..... Stephen Hawking is British and lives in England.

I also heard one of the hotheads proclaim at a town hall meeting" I'm not letting the government get it's hands on my medicaid and try to run it"!

The problem with that bet is there is no bill yet. There are lots of them and until the discussion becomes more reasonable, there isn't one to bet on.

Asking the Congress to accept that they themselves will be covered by the bill and to drop their own mandated health care is one way to make that bet.

I called CT Sen. Lieberman's office (who's staff said the the Senator doesn't want to rush into a decision on health care reform! Rush? How many decades has health care been an issue now?) and suggested that maybe the Congress should offer the American people the same health care benefits that they (members of Congress) now get and, if not, then maybe the legislators should have theirs taken away. "I'll pass your comments on to the Senator," was the response.

If they won't bet their own health care on a bill they themselves are writing, it's hard to ask the rest of us who do have health care to do the same. Or trust their writing.

They can buy private insurance on their salaries too.

The pig has to commit to the ham and eggs, as they say.

Lakshman rekkha aside, there are forty million uninsured and I've had a long couple of years where no insurance would have put my family on the street because of my treatments. I can work so this isn't woe is me, but without it I would be dead and that puts them on the street too. IOW, selfishly and without a lot of save the whales savoir faire, I want a health care safety net in America, same as the rest of the industrialized world. We're spending too much on guns and not enough on butter, IMO.

I received a request to speak to my congressman, avec script. That said, I asked myself, "What do I want to say?"

I belive the heathcare business may be headed for a similar financial outcome as financial institutes and automakers. Who is paying for all the excess tests ordered to cover the medical practiciner's butts from malpractice? And isn't that a great twist of fate for them that excessive coverage also lines their pockets? The docs are the new mortage lenders.

Yet there are complicated moral questions, for example, the aged.
My own father, whom I loved dearly and still grieve his death, according to some of my siblings, could have been saved. Organ transplants, thousands of dollars, and my mother still harbors guilt for saying no to extenuading life procedures. Does the government have a right to decide this?

Heathcare costs are out of control, and Obama is doing somethng about this. But surely he must be deeply concerned about what is unfolding in the townhall meetings held across America this week. I am tempted to say he would almost say I would rather not go this route if it is going to divide the country so.

May be better said on a previous thread , Obama is gonning to make some mistakes - we all knew this going in , so let's cut him some slack. He wants to bring the country together.

I think the heathcare sysem is on the same crash course as GM.

A trillion in Iraq (so far), half a trillion in Afganistan (so far), unknown hundreds of billions in tax breaks and subsidies for big business, tens of billions to round up dope smokers and incarcerate them in tens of billions of dollars worth of new prisons......pretty soon we're talking about real money here......not to mention the geniuses who just spent 20 mill on a study which concluded that it's very dangerous to text while driving...... .........."For a mere 22 cents a day you can pay for a Central American orphan to be fed, health cared and educated".......maybe we need to take a look at their health care program......?

and those, too!

I confess I'm scared it may kill senior citizens. I know Obama means well but it could end up euthanizing people like old & sick folks & denying healthcare to those who need it most, in favor of saving the young healthy ones. Obama needs to do it right. Thanks for your input Arlo. I bet you could run for Prez next time & beat out Obama...

Well this Man from Brave New Films is convinced that the profits are way to high.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBi2hMK1 ... r_embedded


But this Senator from I-Owe-Wa? is instilling fear in people that the govt. will pull the plug on Gramma.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2xVamHo ... r_embedded

There is from what I read not a kernel of truth to that fear.

7:AM August 13th-09

Cheryl... The only thing to be afraid of (as always) is the lies and rumors people spread about each other - bearing false witness.

......

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jared_diamond_on_why_societies_collapse.html

Worth considering.

The fella in this article, a former Cigna VP, is bearing witness about health insurers' tactics to surpress legislation.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/for ... 08-12.html

Rachel Maddow breaks down the organizations funding the faux grassroots movement. I'd like to say she is above this, but she is part of her own side when it comes to innuendo and indirection. However, in this case, Maddow is exposing the PR industry that thrives on rage, the enemy of reason.

"Fear is the mindkiller." - Frank Herbert

The worms ARE the spice!

That explains the fish.

Oh adg, I don't like the smoke screen laid down blocking People's Eyes from seeing solutions.

Somewhere I've read fear is the opposite of faith. I run into people online all the time who say they have faith yet tell me a nightmare is coming.

8-13-09
6:pm

One half hour in length, Bill Moyers Journal (6/04/09) on health care reform and single payer health care:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi1acHg3mhw

An estimated half of bankruptcies are medically related and 75% of those people had health insurance.

leo, hard not to feel conflicted there!

zap, i am going to watch that, it will just take thousands of years to load (connection sucks at the moment!)

Richard Nixon misused the expression "silent majority", which is actually a pretty timeless idea. The "silent majority" can refer to anyone who doesn't fit the mold of any extreme and gets along with most people most of the time.

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