Town Hall Protests Are Un-American Top Democrats Say

By Jonathan Allen - CQ Politics House Democratic leaders are joining a handful of rank-and-file members in casting aspersions on the patriotism of citizens who have shouted down members of Congress at health care forums across the country. It is now evident that an ugly campaign is underway not merely to misrepresent the health insurance reform legislation but to disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue House Speaker Nancy Pelosi D-Calif. and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer D-Md. wrote in a Monday op-ed in USA Today. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. The word un-American is notable in the nations history because of its place in the name of the witch-hunting House Un-American Activities Committee which was the model for Sen. Joseph McCarthy R-Wis. during his leadership of the Red-baiting Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in the early 1950s. And its use is a surprising turn for leaders of a party that has uniformly decried back-bench Republican lawmakers for challenging its members patriotism over Iraq war dissent and other issues. During last years presidential campaign for example Pelosi took umbrage at assertions by Rep. Michele Bachmann R-Minn. that Barack Obama then the Democratic nominee might harbor anti-American views and that there should be an investigation into whether individual lawmakers are pro-America or anti-America. Bachmanns comment dishonors the position that she holds and discredits the person who is speaking it Pelosi said at the time. Now Pelosi and Hoyer are calling into question the patriotism of unelected American citizens. Accusations of anti-American behavior were hurled across the House floor in the last Congress by Republicans Reps. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina and Ted Poe of Texas. Is anti-American a harsher charge than un-American? Perhaps. But un-American has been a synonym for traitor since the late 1940s when a freshman congressman Richard M. Nixon used his assignment to the House Un-American Activities Committee to become a national figure. The whole discussion raises the question of whether Democratic leaders are playing directly into the hands of protesters who want to knock them off message on the health care overhaul. Last week Sen. Blanche Lincoln D-Ark. quickly apologized after calling protesters un-American. In her apology she said Although I do believe that some of these protesters are disrespectful of other citizens in the audience who truly want to ask questions about health care I shouldnt have used the term un-American. I support the right of every Arkansan to speak out and have their voices heard. But some Democrats including now Pelosi and Hoyer say protesters have crossed a line of legitimate expression by attempting to derail discussion of the health care bill. A spokesman for Pelosi Brendan Daly said in an e-mail that the Speaker and Majority leader did not call protesters un-American. The op-ed very clearly stated that everyone has the right to be heard and disruptions that dont allow everyone to speak are un-American. Ironically the protesters are using tactics adapted from Saul Alinsky the legendary radical Chicago community organizer whose work inspired organizers like Obama. Here are Alinsky rules of power provided by the National Education Associations Web site:

1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
2. Never go outside the experience of your people.
3. Wherever possible go outside of the experience of the enemy.
4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.
5. Ridicule is mans most potent weapon.
6. A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.
7. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
8. Keep the pressure on.
9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
10. Major premise for tactics is development of operations that will maintain constant pressure upon the opposition.
11. If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside.
12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
13. Pick the target freeze it personalize it and polarize it.
14. The modern-day conservative protesters -- Republicans Democrats and independents -- are heavy on numbers 2 4 11 12 and 13.

Republicans were quick to jump on the Pelosi-Hoyer charges and one made by Rep. Baron Hill D-Ind. that protesters are political terrorists sending out releases to swing districts highlighting the accusations. Indiana Rep. Mike Pence the chairman of the House Republican Conference said the op-ed was offensive. There is nothing more American than letting your elected representatives know how you feel about important issues facing the nation he said on Fox News according to a transcript provided by his office. As the two parties and their allies debate the policy of the future they are mired in the tactics of the past. Its hard to see how any of this helps the president or the Democratic leadership in advancing health care legislation.