Protests Are un-American? Part 2

A few thoughts to clarify the previous post:

Firstly, I've had a couple concerns raised about my choice of sources. Although I usually cite Bloomberg News or Fox News, that is simply because I would rather have readers going there than to other sources. I usually bounce around several news sources with different 'slants' before actually writing. Trust me, if you knew how much time I spend reading about this crap every day, you’d tell me to get a life.

Secondly, there was some confusion regarding the article I cited (from that no-good Fox News!), which had a truncated version of the following quote from our favorite Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi:

"These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades."

Interestingly enough, while I was trying to find the original article she wrote (with Rep. Steny Hoyer), I found this report that she apparently rescinded her original wording. I'd say maybe I wasn't so far off base in my interpretation of her words, but I doubt she actually changed her mind - it's more likely that her new statements are just as politically motivated as any.

I realize that it was not the act of protesting she was talking about, but the 'bad behavior,' coupled with her belief that the protesters were not from the area (which seems to be contrary to what I've been able to find). Before writing the prior post, I spent an hour or so watching footage to see what was so terrible about the town hall protests. I didn't see anything at all to separate them from others. If you've forgotten the 2003 war protests that so warmed Pelosi's heart, here is a YouTube video in which you can see many parallels.

I've heard several allegations of violence and intimidation tactics at the town hall protests; however, the only examples I could find were initiated by SEIU members against the protesters. In fact, I've watched videos for several more hours before writing this and still couldn’t find anything to mark these protests as different from others.

Therefore, I concluded that Pelosi said what she did because the protests are against what she is trying to accomplish politically. The Fox News article I cited points out how energized she was by the 2003 war protests - which don't seem to be much different. My point in the blog was that she's a politician, and that we should expect her to speak well of protests that are politically convenient to her as much as we can expect her to demean the ones that aren't. If we don't like duplicity, we shouldn't encourage it in our elected officials.

Finally, on the subject of the so-called 'un-American' behavior of shouting over one's political / ideological nemeses: Personally, I don’t think shouting and making rude banners are effective ways of persuading people, but my disagreement with their mode of communication does not make them ‘un-American.’ It just makes them not me.

I’ve been to political rallies and protests where people are shouting over each other. When an issue is hot, and you get lots of people together with opposing views, it would be foolish to hope that hundreds or thousands of people will be quiet and not interrupt each other. They’re angry! I know what it’s like to have someone in my face shouting, pointing his finger at me, and trying to be intimidating. Uncomfortable? For me, yes - but un-American? Absolutely not.

I still believe that the person picking a fight with me is being more 'American' than the one who refuses to think for himself, get involved, or risk voicing his opinions. It’s much easier to sit at home and criticize the government, or criticize the protestors, than it is to go out and try to get something done. And I would argue that it is the latter, not the former, that characterizes the American spirit.