The American People Deserve An Apology Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer!

"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."

The quote above is taken from the joint Op Ed piece published in USA Today on Monday August 10, 2009 by Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Democrat from California and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer Democrat from Maryland.

"un-American" is a term that is shocking coming from two of the highest ranking members of the Democratic Party and especially from the person third in succession to the Presidency when referring to vigorous protest of citizen who disagree not only with particular aspects of proposed legislation, but with the process by which that legislation is being crafted and pushed through the Congress.

What did Members of Congress expect to find in their districts when they returned home? Did they expect to find welcoming arms and smiling faces from lemmings willing to walk off cliffs for any measure that Congress came up with and the President signed? How could they honestly do that when they were not given an opportunity to review any of the proposed legislation before it was voted on, and sent to the President for his signature? How could they even find out the particulars of a bill when their elected representatives had not bothered to take the time to read the bills themselves before voting on them? Now Congress is trying to change something that will without question change the lives of every living American citizen and future generations as far as the mind can comprehend. Bills from 3 separate committees in the House are floating around to be reconciled into HR 3200 America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. Several versions of a similar bill in the Senate are under consideration one of which is not even out of committee. The President claims that he has a health care plan and holds town hall meetings and prime time press conferences in order to discuss it, but has sent no detailed legislation of his on to the Congress and cannot be sure of what the final legislation will look like when it gets to his desk. All of this and it was push push push to have a piece of legislation for consideration before Congress went home for the August Break. People are reading from text provided by the Congress as HR 3200 that states one thing and are being told by members that the language they read will not be in the final bill, or that anything they have heard about it has been trumped up by lies. The American people are confused and upset, and some of them are damn mad.

While it may be true that reasonable discourse cannot take place when people are yelling and screaming at each other or at Members of Congress trying to give answers to questions from their constituents, it is also true that their frustration is real and should not be dismissed out of hand. Claiming that everyone that disagrees with the proposed legislation with a more than timid voice has been put up to being their by a right wing group or special interest is a pretty sad commentary on the understanding of what grass roots politics is all about. Perhaps Members of Congress have been away from their districts in a real way for too long to remember what it was like to go door to door to try to win votes. Neighbors still talk to neighbors and conversations continue unabashed at water fountains. Bingo is played and folks go to Church and at all these places the kinds of things that affect the lives of Americans are discussed. Like it or not, not everyone is affiliated with a hate group or a organization that can be a convenient whipping boy for political purposes. Were that true the labor unions and groups like ACORN would not be struggling for membership? They would not need to have lobbyist on K Street or need to be given preferential treatment in legislation in order that there very existence is preserved.

Protest happen in America all the time. When they happen during Republican administrations they are deemed necessary or vital to getting out the truth. Freedom of Speech is never questioned and community organizing is encouraged to that end. However, now that for the first time since Jimmy Carter was President the Democrats have complete control of the government, decent of any sort is suddenly "un-American" or questionable behavior from an ungrateful or uninformed minority. The polls are consistently running against the Congress and the President on Health Care Reform and it is not simply Republicans included in that majority because they do not make up the majority of Americans. The President promised the American people transparency and to have all of the bills posted on the internet so they could be read before Congress voted on them. Gee… The Auto Bail Out Bill, The Stimulus Bill, and still no posting that I can see… There’s a Cap and Trade Bill working its way through the Senate… and of course this mess with Health Care which is posted but is meaningless because it represents nothing.

If Congress and the President decide to ram some version of Health Care Reform through on a Party Line vote or with a few token Republican votes to call it Bi-Partisan, then the one poll that does count will be in November of 2010 and that one will find them packing their bags and going back to their districts. Maybe that's a good thing. Legislation can always be undone, that's the beauty of our system of Government, nothing in law has to stay permanent given the right steps are followed.

The Speaker of the House and Majority Leader both have grossly overstepped and owe the American people a sincere apology. How likely are they to receive one... Well ask the CIA... they've been waiting a while now for an apology from the Speaker... the jury is still out on the Majority Leader, let's all hope he comes to his senses.