Since it seems that no conservative is taking aim at this issue, I figured I would express my extreme disappointment with those I happen to agree with on the national health care issue, and officially condemn their outrageous behavior.
I spent most of this morning on CSPAN carefully watching and taking notes of one town hall meeting in Reston, Virginia that took place yesterday, and I was severely disappointed in my peers. What I have had to watch over the past ninety minutes or so was a crude showing of the most unschooled, ignorant fear mongers of our viewpoint. It alarms me a great deal that these folks represent us in these meetings, simply because they shout the loudest and have the freest schedules. This morning I lost a great deal of pride in my fellow countrymen and somewhat like-minded future leaders of our party.
This morning, I have been forced to listen to cursing, obscenity, shouting, disruption, and nearly riotous behavior. This is entirely unacceptable.
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution provides for and protects, inter alia, an individual’s Right to Free Speech as well as one’s Right to Association. While these provide the foundation of our free democracy, they are not without limits. The core of the Right to Free Speech, according to the U.S. Supreme Court is political speech. Presumably, at these town hall meetings, relevant political speech should be given the highest level of protection available under the Constitution—what the Court refers to as the level of Strict Scrutiny. While I agree wholeheartedly in what these town hall participants are saying within the realm of this right, “obscenity” is afforded much less, and almost no protection. That being said, not only is such obscenity largely outside Constitutional protection, it is indecent, devoid of substance, tasteless, and unproductive.
I am among the strongest advocates against adopting a public healthcare scheme. The proposed Plan does not reduce the overall cost of care, it gives the government yet more control over our everyday lives, it grossly lacks efficiency (as any other government program), and expands a system that is already severely in peril. These are just a few of the intellectual reasons we should fear and oppose this initiative. But—where are the rational conservatives on this issue? They are entirely absent from public view.
Why, you ask? This proportion of our base is seemingly missing from public comment because 1) their rational voices are being drowned out by a small minority of uninformed but angry co-patriots, 2) media coverage is biased in favor of the more “juicy” or “sexy” scenes of shouting and near violence, and 3) media coverage is biased in favor of making conservatives look zealous, ignorant, ill-prepared, and ill-informed. Unfortunately for us, the media is overwhelmingly succeeding at this goal.
Can someone explain to me where the intellectual conservative has gone? Is he of a dying breed, overcome by zealots with oversimplified and emotionally charged messages? When did the Republican Party cease being the party of civility, gentlemanly conduct, and rational discourse?
I fervently pray that what I observed this morning was merely anecdotal, and that this is not as widespread as it appears. I encourage many of you that have participated in these meetings to give comment here and to convince me otherwise.
