Barney Frank is a boorish Liberal liar who has no reasonable arguments so he berates and demonizes his opponents when he is engaged. The Barney Frank Method is simple; berate your opponent by out talking, out demonizing and out ranking them with the authority that you possess as either a Chairman or a Congressman.
Frank is a bully when he is given a chairmanship in Congress. and apparently he is the same when he conducts Town Hall meetings where he is supposed to be answering to the constituents that he works for.
First allow me to show you Frank in action as the Chairman in a Congressional hearing. This would be hysterical if this wasn’t wasting tax payer’s time and money making the institution of Congress a laughingstock in the process. (see 4:08min video)
The problem with Frank is he is a bombastic blowhard that refuses to allow anyone else to get a word in edgewise. In the following example Frank should be remorseful for his part in the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac scandal but in this interview with Bill O’Reilly Frank comes out with both guns blazing refusing to acquiesce on the smallest of points or to even acknowledge that he was complicit in the scandal or even minimally responsible. (see 3:47mins video)
Other Congressmen caught heat for President Obama’s and Democrat’s Health Care Reform when they went back home to face the people who voted them to Congress.
Oh but not Barney Frank! No, his constituents at the Dartmouth Massachusetts Town Hall meeting were given the same treatment that he gives his fellow Congressmen and Cable Television hosts. The message is don’t mess with Barney Frank or he’ll cut you up in little insignificant pieces and throw you out with the trash. (see 2:08mins video)
The people of Massachusetts deserves better than a self absorbed blowhard that thinks that he’s always right and believes that he doesn’t have to answer to anyone. Frank doesn’t believe he should listen to anyone in Congress, or the media and especially not the people back home!
Please restore sanity and dignity to Congress by purging out both Houses of Congress of Senators and Congressmen who will pass a Health Care Reform bill that they didn’t read, that they have to know is not good for the country and that the American people have made clear that we don’t want anything else added to the deficits which this Congress and this President have already made as far as the eye can see.
We can’t hurt Barney Frank because he’ll have his goldplated Congressional Health Care Plan and his Congressional pension for life. But we can stop Frank and his Comrades from hurting America and hurting us with their socialist agenda.
They are refusing to listen to us on Health Care and they are going back in September to vote for Health Care Reform above our protests and wishes. So in 2010 and 2012 lets send a little message of our own.
Shut up Barney, Democrats and Barack Obama you are not the boss of us!
Let’s vote them out in 2010 and 2012! Now that'll be a teachable moment!
"The people of Massachusetts deserves better than a self absorbed blowhard that thinks that he’s always right and believes that he doesn’t have to answer to anyone/"
ReplyDeleteActually, no they don't. The heartland of liberalism deserves what they created.
Anon,
ReplyDeleteTouché! I can't argue with your well heeled point.
My thought is Massachusetts' Congressmen and Senators affect us all therefore because of that connection we need for them to select better representatives.
If they would suffer without including the rest of the United State it wouldn't matter.
Cheers on a good point all the same.
Personally, I was pleasantly surprised by Barney Frank's retorts at the town hall meeting. The woman who questioned him was clearly tiresomely stupid, as are most of those who think Obama's policies will create death panels. What is so socialist, I wonder, about wanting health cover for everybody, not just those who can afford it? As Dr Johnson said, the measure of a civilized society is how it treats its poor.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeletePoliticians who treat their constituents as if they are stupid seem to always pander to those same stupid people around election time.
Who knows perhaps you and Frank are correct in your assessments however if the treatment which that lady received from Frank put her off then Frank will have one less stupid vote to worry about at election time, now won't he?
There is nothing socialist about wanting health cover for everyone, but writing 1017 pages of confusing bureaucratic legislation is not about health care for everyone. That act my friend is about expanding Government power.
In America we have come to find that one size doesn't fit all. And also some of us believe that forcing one’s utopian ideas on others by political and government power is wrong. That kind of act is fascism. I think you would agree.
Not only that but in a Democratic Constitutional Republic the Constitution is our model.
David the U.S.Constitution is set up to limit Government power and scope not increase it. And then there is this small consideration. The Constitution makes no provision for the government to be a universal health care provider. The fact that what Democrats are proposing to do so by implementing government run health care is unconstitutional. In this country that makes it wrong!
Also I might add the Congressional health care plan is exempted from HR 3200. What that does is it creates peasant and Oligarchy classes, Congress and federal government workers with their separate but unequal gold-plated Health Care insurance, and then the rest of us.
You may be in favor of an Oligarchy or an Aristocracy but it was because of fighting against those philosophies that America was born.
In any event Barney Franks’ actions are the some no matter who it is that disagrees with him so the way he treated that women is no indication of the women’s mental acuity but it does say a lot about Frank’s!
"The U.S Constitution is set up to limit Government power".
ReplyDeleteNow I know what "The Chosen One" meant when he stated
that "The Constitution is inherently flawed".
Just because the constitution makes no provision for the government to be a universal health care provider, doesn't mean that it's unconstitutional. I agree completely that the role of government should be limited most of the time. They should let markets be as free as is reasonably possible, etc. But there are certain areas where the government has to at least step in. Imagine what chaos there would be if the courts were privately run! Similarly, since lives are at stake when it comes to the issue of the health service, it is the government's responsibility to help as much as it can. And just because the bill is very long, doesn't mean that it is full of bureaucratic legislation designerd to give the government more power.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I take back what I said about the woman being stupid. That's not a judgement that I can possibly make on the basis of what I've seen. It just annoys me that so many Americans are being whipped up into a frenzy, essentially by the irrational arguments of Fox News & Co.
I'm not sure I follow what you said about exemption from HR 3200. Why does that create peasant and oligarchy classes? I can assure you that I am not an ologarch or an aristocrat.
David you seem to be a reasonable sort therefore I will respond in kind. (And it is good that you’ve reconsidered your comments on that lady.) The Constitution is the blueprint of our government. It outlines what our government’s duties and limitations are.
ReplyDeleteThe constitution specifically states that any powers that are not out lined as Federal government powers are reserved to the States and the People.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.—Amendment 10 of the Constitution of the United States
Therefore it is unconstitutional for the Federal government to arbitrary take on powers that are not specifically outlined as Federal government powers as outlined in the constitution.
The role of government must always be confined to the Constitution and nothing more!
Also your example of the courts is most unfortunate and inappropriate. The Courts are constitutionally mandated therefore in our system the courts could never be privately run or that would be unconstitutional!
Therefore your statement: similarly, since lives are at stake when it comes to the issue of the health service, it is the government's responsibility to help as much as it can. is not only illogical it is wrong on its premise. There is nothing in the constitution which states “since lives are at stake” it is the government responsibility to help as much as it can. That is a nice sentiment but nevertheless it is wrong.
The simple fact that “lives are at stake” is not Federal matter in most cases usually that type of emergency is handled at the state or local or personal level.
As in the example of hurricane Katrina the Bush administration had to ask Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana for permission to help. By the way she initially told them no don’t interfere. (but that’s another story)
Finally I’ve read the bill so I know that the bill is designed to expand the size and scope of government, did you read it? Obviously you haven’t or you wouldn’t have made such an embarrassing statement.
I’ll have you know also that many other people have read the bill and that is why there is a backlash against it not the created media frenzy that you suppose.
Listen, David you would do well in replacing your own biases with facts. Fox News did not create the grassroots movement this movement is a well informed movement that came about by individual citizens who are concerned with a bill that the president tried to get through both houses Congress by late July without any of our representatives reading it and without the American people knowing what was in it.
If Obama had his way the bill would have been passed right now. It was only the Blue dog Democrats that prevented that from happening.
Last thing the bill HR 3200, the health care bill which we are discussing, the Congress has exempted themselves and Federal employees from being covered under the same health care that you and I would be covered under if it were passed. Thereby creating an elite healthcare situation which they already enjoy and the lower class health reform that you and I and the rest of America would be mandated to comply with.
And what is this thing about Fox News? You should really look at them with an open mind or are you afraid that you might learn something?
Almost every clip I've seen of Fox News is embarrassingly one-sided and in many cases offensive (e.g. Glenn Beck calling Obama a racist).
ReplyDeleteI'm not American myself and I'm not going to suggest I know more about the constitution that you. But while the constitution is undoubtedly a great thing, it is certainly not a perfect, holy text. If it was, there would be no need for the amendments that were later made to it - many of which are praised just as highly as the original thing.
While I'll have to trust what you say about the movement being well-informed, it certainly doesn't look that way when I see the frenzied masses gathering at town hall meetings, some of whom carry guns just because it's their constitutional right to do so, and wave about pictures of Obama as Hitler. Even if a good point is buried underneath the shouting, it is certainly not in the movement's interests to have those people as its representatives. Why can't there just be a calm, rational debate about it? Surely it would be better for everyone?
Anyway, I can't say that I have read the bill, since obviously it doesn't concern me directly. But just having read the bill is not proof that you understand it. After all, there are many others who have read it who don't come to the same conclusions.
I don't know if you've seen Jon Stewart's interview of Betsy McCaughey, or if you're inclined to, but it's the perfect example of how someone can read the bill and come to entirely the wrong conclusions. If you are inclined, check it out at: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-20-2009/exclusive---betsy-mccaughey-extended-interview-pt--1
In general I see Fox News slightly left of center but they are better than MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC or the BBC all who have completely sold out to the Left.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost sure that you consider yourself Liberal or Left or Progressive (or whatever you guys are calling yourselves these days) so I'm thinking your view of Fox is tainted by your own bias.
The Constitution like any document written by men has its limitations however the originators of the document realized that. So they provided the amendment system that you speak of which was quite brilliant in my opinion.
The amendment process is a vital part of the constitution as it was written therefore if the constitution not perfect that makes in near perfect, wouldn’t you say?
But that is beside the point! In our system government is bound but the Constitution whether the Constitution is perfect or not, holy or not.
And thank you for your concern about American discourse and protest but we’ve gone through 8 straight years of President Bush being protested in ways that were and are beneath contempt. Bush was pictured as Hitler also. Movies made about his assassination and all the like so I’m not so concerned that the Liberals chickens are coming home to roost with their president.
Liberals were anything but calm and rational in their protest against Bush so if you understood their hidden point I’m sure that you may be able to understand Conservatives’ point as well.
Jon Stewart…now that’s an American News man. Look David Jon Stewart is a Comedian and if you’d like me to take you serious you’ll have to reference a credible source. Jon Stewart…OMG!
Jon Stewart was not meant to be a source as such, just a perspective on the debate. And you're telling me to be open minded about Fox News! I suggest you give the interview a try even if you disagree with everything Stewart has to say. Anyway, just because he's a comedian, doesn't mean he can't have an intelligent and correct opinion. After all, I assume you're not a professor of politics and you expect me to take you seriously - it is the arguments, and not the people, you're supposed to listen to.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm not for a minute suggesting that the only crazy people are on the right. Of course, there are crazies on both sides. And of course, it is right that those who compared Bush to Hitler were called loons. But what has that got to do with what's going on now? Presumably, you think that those people comparing Obama to Hitler are going way overboard? If so, then you and other conservatives should distance yourselves from the town hall crazies and start a reasonable movement against Obamacare. Because as it is now, it's just really hard to take your views seriously.
Frankly David your inability to take a Conservative view seriously has more to do with your own bias rather than me or any conservative.
ReplyDeleteYou took back your insult of the woman who Barney Frank disrespected and I give you credit for that. However that woman is a Democrat!
Most of the scenes that you are seeing broadcasted regarding Health Care Town Halls are Democrat Congressmen going back to their home constituencies therefore most of the “crazies” in those town halls setting are Democrats like the woman who Frank put down those people are not Republicans particularly.
Now you may see Republicans protesting in tea parties with anti-Obama placards and the like, but don’t be confused there is a lot of Independents and Democrats in opposition to Obama’s Health Care Reform. Just look at the polls Obama’s numbers are dropping precipitously do not misunderstand you are seeing a majority of America people not just nut-jobs on the Right.
What I’m suggesting to you is if Democrats had not set the precedence to disrespect a president as they did Bush we would not be seeing the same disrespect returning to haunt Obama. Not to mention that Obama participated in disrespecting Bush too!
As for your Jon Stewart reference I find as I’ve talked to Liberals over the last 5 years that Liberals get most of their prospective from shows like David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Jay Leno and Saturday Night Live or any of the pro-Obama News channels. That’s the reason Liberal politicians frequent those type of shows.
Another thing that I’ve discovered after years of dialoguing with Liberals is that Liberals don’t listen to opposing arguments they dissect opposing arguments to deconstruct them to turn those arguments on their heads and throw them back at Conservatives.
So I’m not really expecting the true give and take of a dialogue with you. I know that most Liberals subscribe to the President Barry Soltero philosophy of if they bring a knife to the argument then you bring a gun.
One other thing I don’t subscribe to that everyone is equally as bad or the “they all do it” mentality. We are seeing a viral attack on the American system of government that is unprecedented we are not just debating issues but like little Julia Hall the little girl who questioned Obama we need to know what is true.
Cont'd...
I don’t know any thinking person who would purposely tune into Jon Stewart to find out what is true. Stewart is an entertainer his Schick is parody and political satire he plays to his audience with popular opinion topics to reinforce his audience’s misconception of the news of the day.
ReplyDeleteBut look Barry Soltero has all of his records sealed by presidential executive order that includes but is not limited to: kindergarten records, Punahou school records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, passport, medical records, files from his years as an Illinois state senator, Illinois State Bar Association records, any baptism records, the original vault copy (OVC) of his birth records, and his adoption records. At this point we don’t know who Barry Soltero is.
Don’t you think it odd that a personal who ran on the theme that he would have the most transparent administration in the history of the United States is the most secretive president ever elected?
You have focused on protestors but let me say that if there is any extremism it the behavior of those protestors it is a natural and normative reaction to the extremism that Americans see in the Barry Soltero administration.
If you wish for a civil discourse from the right then ask the left to cease and desist from their plans of fundamental changing America from a free enterprise Constitutional Democratic Republic into one that only Barry Soltero knows what its outcome shall be.
Look David this argument between the American people is much bigger than just sitting down and talking over our differences. The last time America was in this type of crisis American overthrew a tyrannical monarch who felt that he could tax us without our consent and take our guns to suppress us and believe me there is enough of us that will not allow that to happen again.
If Hitler is offensive to you then just think of Obama in a crown and trappings of royalty.
I didn't want to imply that I am unable to take conservatives seriously. I thought I made it pretty clear that there are crazies on both sides, and that I'm sure the town hall rioters are not representative of everyone on the right.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, again I'm not hearing any actual arguments from you, only unrestrained anger. You tell me to be open minded about Fox News. I have been! I watched the Fox clip on this post, for one. And I've watched countless others, for your information - each more embarrassing than the last. It's a sorry state of affairs that a comedian on the left is more insightful than all the serious journalists and anchors on Fox. And as I said, your tendency to pre-judge what Stewart has to say in the interview shows closed-mindedness in the extreme. There is no proper comedy in it, only laughter at the EXTREME absurdity of Betsy McCaughey's position.
In other words, you're saying that liberals don't listen to the opposing arguments. My friend, they do that too much if anything. And if you're representative of the right, then clearly conservatives are the ones who don't listen - you won't even give Jon Stewart a mere 15 minutes! Why? Because you're scared he'll prove you wrong?
I'll take your word for it that the woman at the town hall meeting was a democrat. So what? I have nothing whatsoever against conservatives per se, and think it crude to stick rigidly to such party lines. I only have something against the people who absurdly suggest that Obamacare is totalitarian or national socialist, or whatever other silly term you might apply to it next.
And as for your rant about "Barry Soltero" - come on. Why is it incumbent on a president to have his univeresity thesis publicly available, and what's that got to do with transparency? Do you honestly think you'll find in it a theory about how much he hates America or how totalitarianism is best? If you seriously think that Obama is hiding his real identity then I know that his has stepped beyond a debate and into the realms of sheer weirdness.
David your political and social relativism is typical in Liberals. Sure you acknowledged crazies on both sides as a mitigating factor the only thing wrong with what you did is after that statement you focused in on the Conservative crazies.
ReplyDeleteIn the future if you’d like to be taken seriously don’t only half-heartedly acknowledge that [everyone is crazy]. Emphasize and illustrate the craziness on your side. That way it doesn’t sound so contrived, like you’re stipulating the fact that crazies are on both sides making it easier for you to get to your point of proving that the Conservative crazies are worst than Liberal crazies. Your acquiescence on the point appeared completely disingenuous.
What I’ve been attempting to convey to you David is that your perspective is purely subjective that is why you can tell me that you hear no actual arguments from me, that Fox News is embarrassing and the like. But I’ve told you from the very beginning that Liberals don’t listen to Conservatives and without you even realizing it you’ve just agreed with me.
I’ve communicated with Liberals and Conservatives alike and almost to a person I can now predict the response that I will get from a Liberal or Conservative to the very same argument.
So I’m not at all surprised that you think that in our dialogue you’ve heard no actual argument. I receive comments from Conservatives on the same points that I’ve made to you and they see the points. Some of my open minded moderate readers are able to at least acknowledge that arguments have been made that are somewhat substantial.
So like the more radical Liberals that I engage with on almost a daily basis you see no actual argument. That my friend is pure subjectivity on your part, what I said is Liberal attempt to deconstruct a Conservatives argument to throw it back in the Conservative’s face. Isn’t that what you just did with your last response???
As for President Barry Soltero, name one president in the entire history of the United States of America other than him that his very first act as president was to sign an executive order to seal all pertinent documents concerning his birth, his travel, and his education from kindergarten through college.
If you can name just one I will concede the point of weirdness. However I find it astonishing that you don’t even think it odd that someone who advocated openness in his campaign has demonstrated such a propensity for secrecy.
If it doesn’t strike you as weird that President Soltero is hiding what every other candidate has shown readily then your weirdness meter is on the blink!
An honest and open administration is not the same as an administration that makes public all of the above mentioned documents. The reason I said it was weird to emphasise those things is that they're very, very far from what's important. I very much doubt that seeing them with your own eyes will yield shocking information.
ReplyDeleteI find it odd that I should be accused of being a "radical liberal". My political views are comparatively mild, and most people who know me would call me a moderate. I am certainly not a relativist either, by the way. The reason I engaged with you in the first place is that I take the opposition to Obamacare seriously, and I am genuinely interested in hearing the arguments against it, as opposed to the sentiments (as much as you would find that impossible to believe).
I don't know how full-heartedly you want me to acknowledge that there are crazies on both sides. It's not something that one can be particularly enthused about. (If you're interested in why I genuinely believe this, read this: http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14258768) In any case, the issue at stake is obviously the conservative crazies, since it's impossible to deny that most of the opposition to Obamacare (or Solterocare as you might call it) is conservative. Furthermore, as a conservative you should be interested in the very clear and tragicomic present decline of the American right. Where once the right had such great figures as Ronald Reagan, now it is dominated by such pathetic figures as Sarah Palin. If you don't think that is sad - well, there's no convincing you.
If you would take my advice, I'd suggest really thinking about this question: however much you disagree with the policies of Barack Obama, would you really prefer to be led by an almost-certified nutjob who cannot even work her way around very simple economic questions? You don't have to tell me your answer, just think about it.
David you said: The reason I engaged with you in the first place is that I take the opposition to Obamacare seriously, and I am genuinely interested in hearing the arguments against it
ReplyDeleteOkay I'll take you at your word. May I ask for what purpose? Why are you interested in hearing the arguments against HealthCare Reform in America?
Your answer to that question will determine if there is the ability to honestly discuss the issue minus all of the verbal jousting.
I always like to hear all sides of an argument before coming to a conclusion about it. Healthcare is a particularly interesting issue to me because getting it right is one of the fundamental duties of government, but the majority of health systems (if not all) are very far from perfect. So I'd like to know what specifically is wrong with the current American health system and with Obama's proposals, because, as everyone would surely agree, coming to an agreement about the ideal health system is of vital importance.
ReplyDelete