Yesterday, Arlen Specter took a beating at his town halls. I think the actions of his enraged constituents continue to support the hypothesis that they are not so much against health care, as they are against Barack Obama, no matter what he does. From the article, quoting the leader of the local Tea Party Blaggers:
“We believe there are several issues out there that leave the existence of the Republic at risk,” he added, “not the least of which is this Obamacare.”
For one thing, the use of the term “Obamacare”, just like the “Hillarycare” of 16 years ago, focuses opposition on a particular person, rather than on any ideas behind the plan.
But the main question is, what’s all this talk about the end of the Republic? It’s an increasingly popular refrain at these town halls for people to become very animated and yell about the Constitution being trampled, the country being at risk, the Democrats being un-American, and even weird, somewhat-dated references:
“This is about the dismantling of this country,” Katy Abram, 35, shouted at Mr. Specter, drawing one of the most prolonged rounds of applause. “We don’t want this country to turn into Russia.”
(Psst. Russia is old news. The new Evil Communist Regime is China. You might want to write that down.)
So, what’s all this talk about the dismantling of the country? What exactly are these imminent threats that spell the impending doom of western democracy?
And, fellow good citizens and patriots, because apparently you are so concerned about the Constitution and the country: where the FUCK were you guys when the Bush administration was illegally wiretapping American citizens and politicizing the judiciary!?