"White House senior adviser David Axelrod said Sunday that the protesters, part of the "tea party" movement, do not represent the views of the broader public when it comes to health care reform.
"I don't think it's indicative of the nation's mood," Axelrod said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "You know, I don't think we ought to be distracted by that. My message to them is, they're wrong." "
"The rally, and others like it, have been billed as "tea parties," part of a movement that takes its cue from the Boston Tea Party and other imagery from the days of the founding fathers. On Saturday, men wore colonial costumes as they listened to speakers who warned of "judgment day" -- Election Day 2010. "
"Some demonstrators specifically protested government spending and health care reform plans.
"I'm Not Your ATM," one sign said. Another slogan was, "Obamacare makes me sick."
Some signs, reflecting the growing intensity of the health care debate, depicted Obama with the mustache of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Many made reference to Obama as a socialist or communist, and another imposed his face on that of the villainous Joker from "Batman."
Axelrod suggested Sunday that the more over-the-top demonstrations were representative of a minority view -- the kind exhibited at some town hall meetings over the summer.
"I don't believe that some of the angriest, most strident voices we saw during the summer were representative of the thousands of town hall meetings that went on around the country that came off peacefully, that were constructive, people voicing their points of view," Axelrod said. "You know, one of the great things about our country is people can express themselves even if they're not representative of the majority.""
-- Edited by Calico on Sunday 13th of September 2009 06:04:16 PM
Axelrod is such a dork. Every poll I've ever seen showed that Obamacare was very UNpopular. Go ahead and try to cram it down the American peoples' throat then tell me who's "wrong". Unbridled arrogance.
Axelrod said. "You know, one of the great things about our country is people can express themselves even if they're not representative of the majority.""
I believe this shows how out of touch Axelrod is from a large segment of American society. Even if the protesters only represented 25% of the American public that's a substantial voting block. In any case, this doesn't seem like a good strategy on his part. If we follow Axelrod's line of thought then he certainly couldn't make the argument that a minority (here I'm speaking not only about people of certain races/ethnicities or religions, but also of groups that don't form a numeric majority, such as soccer moms, NASCAR dads, Prius drivers or environmental groups, etc...) group's voice mattered in a national discussion. The main point I'm getting from these protesters is that the U.S. should be fiscally responsible. That seems like an idea that most in the U.S. would agree with. Finally, Axelrod's strategy is usually to dismiss or demean anyone who opposes him. In this case he chose to be dismissive.
They don't call him "Axelrod of Evil" for nothing. His strategy is to say what he wants to be true and what he wants others to BELIEVE is true.
Unfortunately, many fall for it.
I may be alone but I have always believed axelrod is the power behind the throne. I honestly believe obama is not very smart, has such a huge ego that he cannot see he is being used, was chosen just for that reason. I believe he is the puppet for axelrod. I would feel a lot safer if axelrod would get gone.
"White House senior adviser David Axelrod said Sunday that the protesters, part of the "tea party" movement, do not represent the views of the broader public when it comes to health care reform.
I don't believe that even he believes this. Anyway, it's not that the protesters are against health care reform, they're against another rushed-up, botched, half-assed piece of legislation like the stimulus package. People want REAL reform - not Obama's version, which does not even include tort reform.
__________________
It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less. ~Susan B. Anthony
Every poll I have seen shows that the majority of Americans are opposed to Obama's health care plan. I'm sure a lot of these people are in favor of SOME type of health care reform, but they either don't want what he is proposing or they just flat-out don't trust him.
They don't call him "Axelrod of Evil" for nothing. His strategy is to say what he wants to be true and what he wants others to BELIEVE is true.
Unfortunately, many fall for it.
I may be alone but I have always believed axelrod is the power behind the throne. I honestly believe obama is not very smart, has such a huge ego that he cannot see he is being used, was chosen just for that reason. I believe he is the puppet for axelrod. I would feel a lot safer if axelrod would get gone.
I definitely agree with you that Obama is not very smart - smart people don't make the kind of mistakes he does.
I believe Axelrodof Evil is kind of a middleman between Obama and the Big Money interests that are pulling our strings. Along those lines, I was thinking today that we should call obots "Bilderbots," because it is their interests that these clueless kool-aid kids are promoting.
__________________
Barack/Barry: If you're NOT LEGIT, then you MUST QUIT!!
I think this comes from arrogance. They've used it all through the election process and through this administration. Look how much they've gotten away with. We really can't do much until election time, but the whole bunch need to be taken down.
Ignore all they want, but the people give and can take away votes.
Dear friend KB, I think we showed on Saturday (like I was there - wish I could have been!) that there's a lot we can do. We're also working our way through the courts. We will fight greed and inequity tooth-and-nail any way we can! And I hate to say this, but I'm not sure how reliable voting is any more, after the last two elections.
__________________
Barack/Barry: If you're NOT LEGIT, then you MUST QUIT!!
I thought this was interesting. I visit different sites (from financial to environmental and everything in-between). I went to: http://www.care2.com/ where they have a poll asking this question on the main page, "Do you support the anti-tax "Tea Party" protesters?" The last time I checked the results were: 48% said "no," 31% said "yes," and 21% were "not sure." That means that even people that I would consider to be on the Left aren't totally opposed to the protests (only 48% said no in the poll, which isn't surprising, but 52% said yes or were unsure). They might also be concerned about all the government spending. Axelrod is trying to draw a very rigid line between the Left and the Right and maybe there are more areas of commonality.
Dear friend KB, I think we showed on Saturday (like I was there - wish I could have been!) that there's a lot we can do. We're also working our way through the courts. We will fight greed and inequity tooth-and-nail any way we can! And I hate to say this, but I'm not sure how reliable voting is any more, after the last two elections.
I distrust voting too. It is worse here because for the last two presidential elections, Florida votes were thrown out.