When is a Town Hall Meeting Not a Town Hall Meeting?
in the early morning on Thursday, the 2nd of July 2009 by Katie
When Obama is in charge.
Obama had a town hall meeting to yet again sell his health care plan.
The hitch?
The town hall meeting was by invitation only. To add more shame on the event, all of the tweeter, facebook, etc. questions were prescreened. So, this is basically the same formula as the ABC Infomercial. No “hard” questions. All answers were written ahead of time.
Basically, if you were in school about to take a test, the teacher would have already provided you all the questions days ahead of the exam, so that you had time to prep your answers.
Emotion, few details, in Obama’s health care pitch
President Barack Obama wanted to put a human face on his plans to overhaul health care, and a Virginia supporter did just that Wednesday. Fighting back tears, Debby Smith, 53, told Obama of her kidney cancer and her inability to obtain health insurance or hold a job.
The president hugged her – she’s a volunteer for his political operation – and called her “exhibit A” in an unsustainable system that is too expensive and complex for millions of Americans.
….Smith, of Appalachia, Va., is a volunteer for Organizing for America, Obama’s political operation within the Democratic National Committee. She obtained her ticket through the White House.
…Some of Obama’s questioners Wednesday were from friendly sources, including a member of the Service Employees International Union and a member of Health Care for America Now, which organized a Capitol Hill rally last week calling for an overhaul. White House aides selected other questions submitted by people on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Republicans said the event was a political sham designed to help Obama, not to inform the public.
“Americans are already skeptical about the cost and adverse impact of the president’s health care plans,” Republican National Committee spokesman Trevor Francis said. “Stacking the audience and preselecting questions may make for a good TV, but it’s the wrong way to engage in a meaningful discussion about reforming health care.”
Watch this jaw-dropping video. A CBS reporter and Helen Thomas grilled Gibbs for the administration’s pre-selection of participants.
“The point is the control from here. We have never had that in the White House. And we have had some control but not this control. I mean I’m amazed, I’m amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and you have controlled…” veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas said Wednesday.
Gibbs: “Let’s have this discussion, after the town hall meeting.”
Thomas: “No, no no, we’re having it now.”
Holy!!! The CBS / Thomas duet towards the end of the above video is something to behold!! They were not going to let Gibbs off the hook without discussing the preselection of questions…. Amazing.
UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has more.
![[del.icio.us]](http://pirate-king.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://pirate-king.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://pirate-king.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[MySpace]](http://pirate-king.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Sphere]](http://pirate-king.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/sphere.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://pirate-king.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Technorati]](http://pirate-king.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Windows Live]](http://pirate-king.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/windowslive.png)
![[Email]](http://pirate-king.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:14 am
Obama thinks you’re stupid-
he thinks everyone is as stupid as the people that voted for him.
He makes the loosest, most general statements possible, to attempt to imply that Bush is responsible for all the rampant spending because it started under him.
He lies and changes his story at-will on everything from his cabinet’s ethics to whether or not he ever met with Blago to discuss his senate seat, meanwhile the press is occupied with stories on his puppy vetting process and how Barack likes to play basketball.
And Obama could care less if you catch him lying or flip-flopping too, he just changes the subject and moves right-on-along.
Obama wants the state to be your mother and father- and it’s his right to lie to you if he wishes… just like your parents when you were five.
Government will be one you come to for money, ask permission when you want to think or speak, and who handles all your finances for you since of course you can’t be trusted.
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:36 am
I am afraid that in the near future, the government will collect your paycheck, and decide how much of your money you actually “deserve”. They will then give the majority of your money to their supporters, be it ACORN, SEIU, welfare recipients, etc.
Then there will be the food police, which will tell you what you are allowed to eat. And that will be just the beginning.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:44 am
The condescending, giggly attitude of Robert Goebbels (I mean Gibbs) is the true face of absolute power. We can do anything we want, with impunity, and we can play sophomoric word games with you, at least now in the early stages. Yes, we can. You know that we can, hee hee hee. We know that you know that we can, heh heh heh. (And, just for the record, we all also know that you guys got us here…)
Stage 2 will comprise no more giggling but stern lecturing, with ominous accusations of disloyalty and strict orders to shut up, possibly combined with demands for public self-criticism.
Stage 3, if any dissent in the press corps still persists, will be active quasi-legal measures against the reporters and their organizations – sudden revelations of improprieties, loss of license and blackballing, sudden legal difficulties for parent organizations, etc. etc.
Stage 4 will involve destruction or takeovers of parent organizations that still condone such unthinkable things as questioning the Fuehrer.
Stage 5 – Buchenwald.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:35 am
on a “humor” point.. of course obama’s prescreened questions would have those “spontaneous” answers on a teleprompter..
so in relation to katie’s reference, that would be not only the teacher giving the question to a test in advance but the answer sheet too.
and katie your fear of the government giving us an allowance from our paychecks is scary but not unlikely with the goose-stepping pattern obama is taking.
Mike as you can see I agree completely obama is taking a page by page path to become Hitler part 2!
reaganite.. all part of obama’s slight of hand.. he does expect everyone can be smokescreened, and will quiet those who disagree..
it is all..scary and disgusting