Threats

Much is being made about various threats that Democrats have received. I do not approve of threatening elected officials with violence but I would like to make a couple of observations.

First, and others have already said this, the left has been both making threats and acting on them for decades. Most of these have been aimed at pundits rather than politicians but the Democrat have been slow to condemn this behavior. Just this week, Ann Colter had to cancel some speaking engagements in Canada because of threats of violence. This has been happening for years and the left has encouraged it, or at least excused it. Go back to late September, 2001 and look at the Left's reaction to September 11. Many of them were sure that the attack came from their people to protest the election or the US pull-out of a conference on racism. A common reaction was, "It was wrong but what do you expect?"

Which brings me to my second point - the threats may be wrong but what do you expect? Regardless of the merits of the health care legislation itself, the way it was passed seems designed to make people seem outraged and powerless. The majority of the country was against passage. A huge majority (85%) wanted the bill defeated or scrapped and started over from scratch. There was bipartisan opposition to it. It was finally passed in the middle of the night on a Sunday using tactics that the Democrats had previously condemned. The antics used to pass the bill were an example of pork-barrel politics at their worst. Politicians would make a principled stand then retreat from it in exchange for favors.

At the same time, there is the legislation itself. People have been protesting the rising deficit for over a year. In response, the Democrats passed a two trillion dollar program which will be funded by a one trillion dollars of tax increases and called it a cut in the deficit.

Given all of that, is it any wonder that many people feel angry and powerless. The Democrats' goal is to get the bill to firmly entrenched that it cannot be repealed, regardless of future elections. With current public opinion being ignored and no possibility of reversal, our system seems broken. It is enough to make you scream. If you happen to scream at elected officials I can understand it.