The Etiquette Czar’s Rules for Patriotic Protest
The Etiquette Czar’s Rules for Patriotic Protest
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009
The White House press office is now Miss Manners’ office. President Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs took to the television airwaves this week to criticize congressional town hall protesters for “yelling.” Gibbs’ underling, Bill Barton, chastised voters not to “disrupt” and “scream.” Instead, he advised America to engage in a “spirited debate about health care, a real vigorous conversation about it.”
What constitutes “spirited?” How do they define “vigorous?” When does forceful dissent become intolerable disruption? Herewith, the Obama Etiquette Czar’s Official Rules for Patriotic Protest. Keep this guide with you at all times to avoid being flagged by the Democrat politeness monitors.
*No shouting. Congressional representatives cannot sell Obamacare with mobs of unruly senior citizens and small business owners interrupting to press them on specific sections of the bill. Limit your objections to a library whisper (30dB or less) and only challenge your lawmakers with hushed, dulcet tones. Otherwise, you will scare them and they will be forced to hide behind teleconference calls, sick children at hospitals, or union bosses.
If, on the other hand, you are attending a presidential town hall to show your affection and approbation, “spirited” chanting is acceptable.
Don’t: “HANDS OFF HEALTH CARE!” and “READ THE BILL!”
Do: “I LOVE YOU, BARACK!” “AMEN!” and “YES WE CAN!”
Also permitted: Shouting at historic inaugurations to protest war (as legions of Code Pink activists did in 2005 during the president’s address) and shouting, “We didn’t cross the borders, the borders crossed us!” to protest immigration enforcement (as thousands of illegal alien supporters did during raucous rallies in 2006).
Do refrain from boisterous shrieking against those who accuse you of lacking patriotism – unless you are Hillary Clinton, who bellowed at the top of her lungs in 2003:
“I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you’re not patriotic. We should stand up and say we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration.”
*No laughing. Snickering at proponents of nationalized health care is rude, bordering on political terrorism. Stifle all derisive chuckling at bogus statistics and denials that Obamacare will lead to long lines and rationed care. That would be “evil-mongering,” as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put it on Thursday.
If, however, you are a member of Congress confronted with silly questions about whether you have read the bill, feel free to giggle. For tips on executing acceptable levels of cackling, take a cue from Democrat Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. “If every member pledged to not vote for it if they hadn’t read it in its entirety, I think we would have very few votes,” Hoyer told CNSNews.com while choking back laughter after a recent news conference. “I’m laughing because a) I don’t know how long this bill is going to be, but it’s going to be a very long bill.” Tee-hee-hee.
*No Nazi comparisons. References to fascism are ugly and un-American. Swastikas have no place in debates about nationalizing 20 percent of the economy. Swastikas may, however, still be used as substitutes for the “S” in “BusHitler” and tattoos on the forehead of Darth Cheney.
*No boorish questions. “Real vigorous conversation” requires town hall attendees to formulate queries that will encourage true debate. This is not the time to ask why Congress won’t subject itself to the health mandates it wants to foist on every other American. This is not the time to ask how the White House will pay for the massive Obamacare bureaucracy without raising taxes on the middle-class. The White House endorsed model citizen questioning at its stacked East Room health care town halls in March and July, including this:
“Hi, Mr. President. I’m a member of SEIU and I’m down here in Fairfax County working on Change That Works. What can I do, as a member of the union, to help you with your reform bill?”
*No mean signs. That 11-year-old daughter of a Massachusetts Obama donor/campaigner who was randomly chosen to criticize the scary posters held up by town hall protesters in New Hampshire was right. “Mean” signs are, well, mean. Never mind the placards that blared “Bush is the only dope worth shooting” in Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco and the assassination art depicting former President Bush with a gun to his head in Chicago. “Obama is a socialist” is a sign too far and cannot be tolerated in a civil society. Period.
Instead, print out the “STANDING UP FOR HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM/THANK YOU” signs helpfully produced by Obama’s Organizing for America and burn your “Don’t Tread on Me” flags. Such rebellious sentiments are dangerous incitements to violence.
To those of you who can’t abide by The Rules: Stop talking and get out of the way.
Shhhhhhhhh!
It just proves that when we protested for the past 8 years, you thought we were on the right track and thought it was a good idea. You admired our courage and tactics so much you decided to use them for yourselves. You didn’t call us un-American for protesting the war, you didn’t call us treasonous for protesting the President, you called us good Americans and dutiful citizens. Thanks for your support. Plus Bush let everyone come to his events. He never hand selected people.
I am hoping that when you use the word “you” you are referring to a group in general? Please do not assume to know me or what I stand for as this only allows your true ignorance to shine through.
Personally, I had zero issues with the peaceful protests as those are the rights granted to us. What I had issues with were the protest, and there were many that included turning cars over, lighting objects on fire, breaking windows to businesses, stalking individuls at their homes and pictures depicting the assassination of the President. Those are not considered peaceful demonstrations, please tell me you understand the difference?
On the contrary to your unAmerican comment, Hilary Clinton’s own comments show that apprently some were calling the protesters unAmerican, therefore shouldn’t the left have learned a lesson, or is turn-about is fair play?
I personally never called anyone treasonous who did not back the President and this is your right, but by the very nature of the acts against our soldiers who were merely performing their jobs or the protesting at soldiers funerals is in itself incomprehensible-it is a shame you cannot understand or refuse to understand the difference.
As for his hand selection of those who attended his events-I honestly cannot tell you if he did or not as I did not watch most of them. The very few I did, he had plenty of those in opposition to him therefore this is all I have to base his town halls on.
What you are missing here, and I think you are doing this intentionally is that most American’s are pissed at Congress and therefore like a coach or a quarterback of them team, they take the hits too even if it is the rest of the players screwing things up. I am pretty confident when I say that Obama has not read this farce of a bill, and if he has then his comments are in fact false and/or lies.
The fact that John Conyers stood before the public and stated that he thought it was a joke that we expected them to read these 1,000+ page bills that they do not even understand with two attorney’s is enough in itself to piss off a lot of people. Could you imagine if I told my boss I wasn’t going to read something because it was too long and/or too hard to comprehend, that I would just accept the contract because someone told me too and then a few months or years later we find out tha the contract ended up costing us 1,000% more or did not cover everything we were told it would cover? What do you suppose would happen?
Again, you cannot loop an entire group into one because SOME act in a ridiculous manner-that is ignorant. That is like me saying you are a terrorist because you support Obama who believe terrorist should have the same rights as American Citizens.
Since you “didn’t personally” committ all the accusations in my reply, I suppose you chastised those in your party who did with the same vigor you now come down on the democrats who raise objection. Most of America is not pissed, A small vocal minority is pissed, the rest are scared by words like “death panel, rationing” etc. The Republicans have been very sucessful and using scare tactics to gin up disapproval, and lots of noisy groups to demonstrate dissent. Just because you are noisiest, doesn’t mean you are right. Why are these protesters so afraid to take on this issue on an intellectual level? Early in the Bush administration, during “no child left behind” our main complaint was that it was an unfunded mandate. We saw most of Bush’s early stuff pass. It wasn’t until after Iraq that we ratcheted up the rhetoric and the protests.
You’re right. We didn’t call you treasonous for protesting the President, we called you treasonous for undermining the war effort by publicizing secret war strategy and crying “Foul!” every time our military did more than sneeze.
There is no reasoning as he appears to be one of those who has blatantly bastardized history to fit a political agenda!
bull honkey! They told us if you don’t support the mission, you don’t support the troops. I heard Rush Limbaugh every day for the previous 8 years tell us how wrong our protest was because it demoralized the troop and aided and comforted the enemy which was grounds for treason. It is revisionist history to pretend that the conversatives and the republicans didn’t tell us how wrong and inappropriate our protesting was. Since it is impossible for either party to do anything without hatred and venom from the other, I guess we should just plan on never ever getting anything done ever again.
You cannot associate Rush with all republicans. That is like me associating the likes of bill ayers, jeremiah wright and chris matthews with all democrats- is that fair?
Telling someone how wrong they are for protesting a war is the same as calling people racist for not back the president or his farce policies? Come on, are you really trying to equat the two?
Sent from Blackberry Device
So you will publicly and loudly denounce Rush Limbaugh? You can’t compare Rush to Ayers, Wright, and Matthews, Not a single one of them has 30 million + audience. The leader of our party denounced ayers and wright. Not one single solitary leader of the republican party will denounce Rush. To do so would be political suicide for them. Who do you consider the leader of your party? I’m sure I can find equally derisive quotes from them saying roughly the same things Rush says.
Rodney…what you fail to think about is this: While Ayers does not have an immediate audience of 30 million, his word carries on with each person he “educates”, no?
With Reverand Wright, how many children are attending this racist mans church, children that will eventually grow up with this angry thoughts and views of American and who will one day bring their children to this church?
Chris Matthews……….I am not usually vulgar, but this idiot is worthy of the title Douche Bag!
Again, his ratings are inthe toilet and going down faster with each flush-but my point with this is as follows: He says some really off the wall crap that pisses off people. Those words get thrown out there on youtube, more people see it, get pissed and pass it out….and it keeps going on and on and on….you get my point.
Because MSNBC is so blatantly in the tank for Obama, people will associate this idiotic behavior with Obama.
Rush Limbaugh is a great American hero who is only working to restore our great country to what it once was: A vast paradise inhabited by only Indians. And if he has to take oodles of painkillers to make his truth be know, then so be it. God willing, he will soon overdose and become the Republican martyr he deserves to be.
Your post must be truly indicative of your intelligence.
I for one do not see what is so awful with returning the land to the American Indians-it was their land that was stolen from them and our people killed in the hundreds-of-thousands in the name of stealing this land.
I do not listen to Rush and I am pretty sure I have not posted anything he has to say.
He is entitled to his opinions and people are entitled to listen to him.
Maybe when you grow up, you can come to the debate table with more than name calling and ill wishes.
Rodney obviously misses the point by a mile.
Liberals want you do believe them and trust them and FEEL for them.
If you disagree you are an ANTI AMERICAN, A NAZI and A RACIST.
Its a simple as that. Fools like Rodney use the Saul Alinsky playbook and assume we are to stupid to see the strawman argument.
But here’s a 25.00 bet that Rodney is a paid DNC blogger. Who knows maybe he’s Eric in Salinas CA from MSLSD’s First Read site?