By Jamilah Hoffman
On Friday, June 12, Nancy Pelosi spoke in Houston at an event sponsored a group called the “Progressive Forum”. The Progressive Forum Houston is a mainstream organization that presents speakers who are supposed to bring political and cultural voices that enrich, “our democracy and culture by presenting the great minds we believe are advancing the success of the individual, our species, and life on the planet.”
Since Pelosi has gone along with Bush’s program on war and torture, and now Obama’s continuation of Bush’s program, some people in the anti war and movement called for protests. Some people associated with both World Can’t Wait and Revolution newspaper also went. But as I walked to where the event was being held, I saw a lot of American flags. I know that there are so-called progressives who wave the flag, but even this was too many for them. I realized that we were walking into an angry batch of reactionaries and extremists.
Imagine my shock that on a steamy Friday night in Houston, over 200 people would come out to protest Pelosi, not because she knew about torture and did nothing about it. Not because she continues to support imperialist wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or took impeachment of Bush off the table. Rather, their messages ranged from the “teabaggers”, the majority of the people there, who wanted “no taxation without representation,” to the Minute Men/Border Watch people with their hatred of immigrants. There were anti-abortion, christian fascists and pro-capitalist people as well. It was a range of people with different messages that all boiled down to a reactionary view of the world.
I think that it’s important to look at the bigger picture. I think that this particular event in Houston, that brought out all of these reactionaries, showed just how determined and angry these people are. And it’s not just relegated to the South but, in fact, has manifested all over the country. I think the assassination of abortion provider George Tiller, the murder of the security guard at the National Holocaust Museum by a known white supremacist, and the California Supreme Court ruling upholding Proposition 8, which makes gay marriage illegal in that state, I think all of these things are connected and show how divided things really are in this country.
And the fact that in Houston, the anti war groups were able to bring out significantly fewer people to protest Pelosi for the right reasons – her complicity with torturers – than were the reactionaries highlights the need for people to wake up and confront reality. These reactionaries are not going away, and ignoring them is not going to work. We cannot seek common ground with people who are so extreme in their views that they cannot reason with reality.
The political atmosphere has changed since Obama took office; this is something that we need to seriously get into, understand, and transform.
Jamilah, do you hate white people? Yes, or no.
I was on the road most of last year and in the great northwest and in TX and I saw a lot of mixed bags like Lori. Like how we get tagged – we can’t tag them. And I do believe that some media outlets with a tendency to manipulate people with anti-immigrant and anti-choice rhetoric have distorted these people’s beliefs to some extent. All we can do is try for more honesty in the public sphere and try to change people’s minds. But we sure as hell can’t force them – remember that.
Are you aware we will spend more money from George Washington to George W. Bush in what President Obama has planned for America over the next 120 months? That should frighten you for your children and your grandchildren will be snared by that debt – they will lose their financial freedom as a Nation. We will have spent it. For some, that concern is so great that they want to rise up their voice and march down the street they pay for. That is so terrible an act? The act of spending our next generation’s wealth truly is alarming and only a few will raise the alarm and march. Less than 20% of the people really wanted freedom from England. They stayed at home and were comfortable. Others did the marching and the rising of the alarms and fought against the tyranny they perceived.
We are the real deal. In the American Revolution less than 20% of the people were for standing up against England. The others were fearful, or were just fine with the status quo. Always it is the few that carries the water for the many. Look in our own churches, for good examples. The old 80-20 rule just seems to stand out. It isn’t any different in government, nor in people willing to stand up and say: “Enough!”
If you look at history, some of the largest changes came when a true grassroots effort sprung up among the people. This is not “Astroturf” as we were recently insulted with by the Speaker of the House. This is a true grassroots movement that should not be taken lightly. We are forming in cities and counties in every state in the country. We are way behind MoveOn but their leaders are saying we are catching up very, very fast. They know. They are aware and they know we don’t have big money behind us, which makes us very much different from them.
“When people fear the government that is tyranny; when the government fears the people that is liberty!” Thomas Jefferson.
We are an inclusive movement. We welcome Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Libertarians. We are about passing on a government that safeguards our freedom and liberties to our children and not burdening them with debt so high we can’t understand it. It takes 68,000 miles to stack up one-trillion dollars. Our government just turned off the printing presses after printing two-trillion dollars of play money and buying back debt. All it cost was the paper and ink. We call that monetizing the debt. You should be angry about this and terribly concerned that your wealth is disappearing as our dollar becomes more and more worthless. If you remember, Germany printed money to do the same thing and ended up with shacks pasted over with money to keep the cold out. It helped lead to a world war. Secretary Gather had to go to China last week and beg the Chinese Government to keep purchasing our debt. Why? Because when we turn on the printing presses it makes all the money they have invested in our government bonds become more and more worthless. They invest a dollar and maybe get back thirty cents some day. Are you aware they have stopped purchasing our debt starting in January? Are you also aware that they are America’s bank we go to with hat in hand? And are you also aware we are putting the chains of debt on our children’s future that leads back to China – that they may damage their standard of living such that they will not nearly enjoy what we have? What a greedy and selfish generation to do this to their children.
http://912membersonly.com/blogs/entry/Pelosi-Media-Coverage-Video-
Dear Writer and Observer,
You got your facts wrong and I have pictures and Video coverage to prove it.
There were more than 200 people! They were protesting everything from Bailouts to Pelosi’s lies about our CIA.
If you think you can get away with “spinning”, we’re here to tell you that, WE, The People, are fed up and going to take action. Whether it is 1 person standing up or THOUSANDS across the Nation like on April 15th. This movement of ours is just getting started.
The “progressives” have called us Hate filled White Christian Racists for so long now that name calling doesn’t matter. It won’t keep us down anymore.
I guess the old adage of
“sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” has come of age.
We’re tired of the Leftist liberal socialist agenda being manipulated by Schoolyard tactics.
Next time you blog, make sure you get your facts correct. If not, we’ll be back to make sure folks get the truth.
For the Truth ..visit the Link posted 🙂
Ragin River
Dear Obvious Hater-Of-White-Christian-People,
Who are you to judge what the “right” kind of protesting there is? How do you know why I was protesting? You didn’t ask me. The Houston Chronicle asked me, but they didn’t use my interview because they are just like you and only write about what they think the public is supposed to know.
Are we angry? Yes. But you have no clue what that anger is even about. Are some of us anti-baby murderers? Yes. Sorry, I don’t believe people get to decide what a human life is – that’s decided for us before we even know it. Anti-Socialistic government? Yes. The Constitution is also Anti-Socialistic. Tell me, which of our three branches of government has the most power? Christian fascists? Ok. And so then I will pray for you (Matt.5:44).
Your evident hatred shows when you refer to the TEA PARTY PROTESTORS as “teabaggers”. That’s derogatory and you know it. The Tea Partiers are representative of all groups of Americans, except probably “Progressives”. If you knew anything about the Tea Parties and those who attend, you couldn’t call them “reactionaries.” Tell me, where in the Constitution does it say that we had the right to be where we were last Friday night? And also, where in the Constitution does it say “Go ahead mr.Progressive President, soak up all the executive powers you like”? And we don’t hate immigrants, (that argument is SO OLD – HELLO?!); we would merely like immigrants to come here legally – to follow the rule of law; how hard is that to either follow or comprehend???
You know, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King was an called extremist. He said, “The question is not whether we will be extremists, but rather, what kind of extremists we will be…The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.” Something else King,a REPUBLICAN by the way, said that I agree with: “The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.” When so many people like you conveniently now acoompanied with state-run television want to desecrate marriage, murder infants, and perjure yourself about something you know nothing about, then this is indeed a time of great moral conflict. And, speaking of neutrality, you’re right in the middle of it all.
If you are seeking to understand these “reactionaries”, then you are way off on the wrong path. Try reading the Constitution of the United States (not the UN, not the EU) for some guidance in this matter.
We are not reacting to anything but an overt effort to tear down the fabric of our society. Progressivism is hardly mainstream, it is the keystone on which this effort to “remake America” (read also: tear apart America) stems from.