newsobserver.com projects - Police split up Hagan protest - Comments

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

bnartist — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:01:38 -0400

Nice job with the racial profiling "patsygar" and using ethnicity as a weapon.

An articulate brown man couldn't possibly be a citizen? Let's just pull him over and check his ID. No "intimidation" involved, right? Just musing about his race and implying he might be a terrorist, right? If Barack Obama can't convince wingers about his origins, then every brown person in America better grab an inner tube and start paddling before the "show of hands" begins? A mob doesn't "plan" violence. Violence is implied by a group working itself into an irrational frenzy.

For the record, the maligned person is a registered voter. God Bless America.

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

patsygar — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:23:53 -0400

No intimidation on the part of the conservatives - and certainly no violence planned, just verbal challenges to the position Moveon folks were taking. One wonders if the Moveon folks were volunteers or paid workers.

The Moveon leader was a 21 year old Pakistani student from UNC Chapel Hill ... A US citizen?? One wonders.

When the Moveon group in Greensboro was asked how many of them were US citizens, only one hand went up. Interesting!

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

JustWondering — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:39:35 -0400

Parents should not take their kids to protest rallies, especially when there is a chance of confrontation between groups. It is just bad parenting in my opinion.

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

GiggleBox — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:10:21 -0400

Did you even bother to look at the pictures and educate yourself on who the "protestors" are?

Yes.

Lovely bunch on both sides. What's with all the facial hair? Does a beard make one more predisposed to making a fool of yourself in public?

What I've learned from this meeting of the wing nuts is that any one Senator that can be protested by both sides at once has my vote.

Kay Hagan is a true moderate and represents the regular people (not pictured) well.

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

TheNextCalifornia — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:36:06 -0400

JustWondering:

Did you even bother to look at the pictures and educate yourself on who the "protestors" are? http://americanelephant.com/blog/north-carolina/we-surrounded-them-moveon-counter-protest/
They're moms, dads, kids and just normal folks. No violence, no malice.

Of course this won't get coverage in the press; the press only represents one side, no matter how many people are involved.

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

TheNextCalifornia — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:24:13 -0400

The problem with the healthcare system is that is not affordable to some (though let's be honest that some of the uninsured CHOOSE not to pay for it but can afford it).

No rational person can justify that the US Taxpayer needs to be on the hook for upwards of 2 trillion dollars so that we can have affordable healthcare.

The government cannot be a regulator and a competitor in a market ... otherwise it becomes what we call a monopoly. A monopoly is supposed to be a bad thing here in the US, remember?

Find a way to make it affordable, don't punish the majority and take away their choice to choose their own healthcare options. A public option would do both of those things.

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

greenswamp — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:48:54 -0400

If you will look at the plan, it is not all about the public option. A lot of it concentrates on fostering a fair competition between insurance companies which is not there now. So many people just zone in on the public option when there is a whole lot more to the bill than that. If you want to throw all of your money at a non-competing insurance company, then go right ahead. Kind of like awarding a no-bid contract to me.

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

mountainman — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:15:44 -0400

greenswamp, How can it be good for the goverment to compete with the private sector in health care or anything for that matter????? The government thinks they have a endless supply of money, yours and mine. The government already has plans in place to help people who are unable to help themselves. So who would it benefit, people who pay for insurance that would like to save that money to buy other stuff. Government run programs have no business in a free market.

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

PercyKution — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:56:33 -0400

Well, when the po-po start breaking up protests, no matter who's protesting what, that just about does it. The end of a gun barrel is ALL that keeps the polipigs in office. That's why they don't want THE PEOPLE to have guns. Weird when the government is afraid of it's own citizens. Wonder why?

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

JustWondering — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:59:52 -0400

Surrounding them, huh? That makes it sound like an attempt by the conservative group to intimidate the liberal group, perhaps with an implied threat of violence.

Not many people were present in either group, so this is not getting much news attention, but it would be nice if officials were able to say whether the groups were behaving properly or whether there was intimidation.

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

greenswamp — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:50:37 -0400

Call it what you want, but still it is a better business model than the failed Republican one. You must admit that the Republicans were a complete failure.

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

ThoughtCrimes — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:39:43 -0400

"public option" what a joke. Doom-a-crats just love that spin. just call it what it is. NAtion SocIalist health rationing.

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

greenswamp — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:30:10 -0400

What I can't understand is why you would be so against the public option or some of the other proposals the Democrats are making such as creating more competition in the medical and insurance businesses. That is really what free markets and pure competition is all about. Read Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose". You are trying to protect a few insurance companies from competing. Do you hate Democrats so much that you would abandon your own prnciples? Truth is, Democrats are more pro-business.

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

greenswamp — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:30:06 -0400

Re: Police split up Hagan protest

henrye — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:08:14 -0400

These Liberal groups think protests are their sole given right. ITs about time other people paying the tax bills to stand up and be heard, When you are paying the bills and the other side is not, They dont care about the cost. they think the country owes them a living.

Police split up Hagan protest

kkiley — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:18:40 -0400

Police separated two groups organizing outside of U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan's office in Raleigh today while they were protesting health care reform.

The protest originally was organized by the national liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org, which held protests at senators' offices across the country today. The protest of about 20 people was pushing for a public option in health care reform. The national group has been watching Hagan specifically.

Another group organized by NC Freedom, a conservative group, showed up to protest against MoveOn and the public option for health care.

The group's plan, according to its Web site, was to block out the health care protest. "We need to have number sufficient to encircle their entire group," the Web site says. After protesting at different ends of the sidewalk, the conservative group, which was larger and had more signs, surrounded the group from MoveOn.

Police said the two groups were blocking the courthouse's door, and moved them to different parts of the sidewalk outside of the courthouse. Officers said it was a judgment call to separate the two groups.

Correction: An earlier version of the post incorrectly said Hagan had not decided whether to support a public option. Hagan supports the public option proposed last week by the Senate health committee. That plan is known as the Community Health Insurance option.

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