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The truth is, if you yell and scream and call things by inappropriate names (in other words if you act in an unprofessional manner) then I believe you deserve an unprofessional response.
Instead of calling it a "Nazi" policy, she could have stood up and addressed the issue calmly and rationally, using the proper name of the bill, which is what an adult would have done. Act like a three-year-old and you should be treated as one.
In my opinion, these representatives who are out in these townhall meetings are going above and beyond the call of duty with regards to remaining professional and, at the same time, keeping the peace within the meetings. Some think those who are standing up and yelling and screaming are heroes. In my opinion, they are the most immature, unintelligent, misinformed sector of the American populace.
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When you attack someone who is old enough to remember the horrors of what happened to his people and use the Nazi symbol to refer to a guy that wants to expand health care you subject yourself to whatever is said to you, someone younger may have reacted violently if they had a personal connection to horrors visited on their people and you got of kick of belittling what happened.
When you run around and call someone a left wing loon or refer to them as a member of Loony left and wonder why they are so partisan you already answered you own question. It would be as if someone that Bill O’Reilly referred to as member of the loony left called him a right wing whack job during the interview
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colonial b...
He was being heckled by somebody that doesn't even understand history. The wording of the woman's question was particularly insensitive considering that Frank is both Jewish and gay. (The Nazis interned and killed both.)
The word Nazi is not even appropriate in this debate on health care. In fact the "debate" has become a side show. It's time that these lawmakers clear up all the conspiracy and explain how the reform works in clear terms.
Frank defended himself and did some explaining as well.
That woman, meanwhile is an embarrassment to Americans.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Frank
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Homosexuals_and_the_T...
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Source(s):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-barney-frank/is-there-an-antidote-to-t_b_...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124623134986666161.html
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/03/20/gop-irked-with-b...
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Smear and harassment tactics have been propagated by the right wing against Democrats in many instances. I was just watching a movie-quasi documentary of the process in Florida over the electoral votes for the presidential election in Gore vs. Bush. In this case, demonstrators against the recount (in support of the Republicans) staged harrasment demonstrations that prevented recounts from occurring in a fair manner, I believe altering the history of the U.S. very much for the worse.
The whole tenor of debate in this country is appalling. Heckling is taken as a legitimate form of involvement in the democratic process.
I have said this before, but I believe that many in the nation are so self-oriented, selfish, that they do not have adequate compassion to extend benefits to those in the country without healthcare coverage. Perhaps the day has come for healthcare legislation, but it will be a hard fought battle, because there is a lot of money to fund the opposing interests. And hecklers as well....
Tags: politics, republican, harrassment, campaign, smear
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Absolutely not. But that's ok.
As a person that has actually met Barney and spoken with him many times (Many years ago) in MA, he was not prepared for this style meeting with constituents at all. In fact non of the reps. where.
Barny has always been known in the news for his "Barneyisms" however I don't think he handled the situation correctly or was prepared for it.
I've worked on the Hill i've also worked in the CA Parliament (Lobbying for climate change and better tort reform). Up there Barney has been called everything from "Don Kioti" to "Sabertooth". He's constantly tried and tested because of his open homosexuality and "?dimm wit?".
Singular wit has it's place, but not here, compassion, eloquence, and reserve was needed a little more and Barney didn't bring it.
I have absolutely no problem with how he handles his felow reps and legislatures but speaking to the public like this which is nationally televised was simply uncalled for.
Barney could have simply said .
"While I respect your question, I don't believe research on that particular topic is a priority, I will look at it again at a different time"
Humble Regards,
XDS
Source(s):
10 Years ago , mass.
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There is no Nazi policy, or president. Frankly I wonder what planet some people are from....
I don't understand how some people process information- and in this case, as Barney did with the woman...I can't blame him.
People here have been Mushrooms for most of the decade- kept in the dark and fed bullsh**.
So, finally we let them speak- Its frightening! Very very frightening.
Sometimes, things need to be said. Propriety shouldn't have to stand in the way of common sense...especially when there is such a lack in common sense here in america.
Source(s):
I have been paying attention
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Answered Question
M$2.25
August 19, 2009 05:55 PM
Did Rep. Barney Frank handle this Town Hall heckler appropriately?
Do you think Rep. Barney Frank handled this Town Hall heckler appropriately?
Although the crowd seemed to like his response, was it out of line as a public figure or were his comments justified? Please explain why you feel the way you do.
Although the crowd seemed to like his response, was it out of line as a public figure or were his comments justified? Please explain why you feel the way you do.
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| August 19, 2009 06:08 PM |
Instead of calling it a "Nazi" policy, she could have stood up and addressed the issue calmly and rationally, using the proper name of the bill, which is what an adult would have done. Act like a three-year-old and you should be treated as one.
In my opinion, these representatives who are out in these townhall meetings are going above and beyond the call of duty with regards to remaining professional and, at the same time, keeping the peace within the meetings. Some think those who are standing up and yelling and screaming are heroes. In my opinion, they are the most immature, unintelligent, misinformed sector of the American populace.
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Other Answers (7)
August 19, 2009 06:22 PM
Considering that he is Jewish and this woman was totally criticizing him and calling the president a Nazi, do these people even know what Nazis are? You can say that “look what they did to Bush” but the fact is the people that are attacking Barack Obama are closer to the GOP power structure than the people on the left fringes were when Bush was being attacked. And also they would say thing like if you disagree with Bush then you hate America or if anyone dared to protest the GOP supporters would shout them down with the chants of USA. Think any of your GOP reps really read the Patriot act when it was passed? And now they say “read the bill” When you attack someone who is old enough to remember the horrors of what happened to his people and use the Nazi symbol to refer to a guy that wants to expand health care you subject yourself to whatever is said to you, someone younger may have reacted violently if they had a personal connection to horrors visited on their people and you got of kick of belittling what happened.
When you run around and call someone a left wing loon or refer to them as a member of Loony left and wonder why they are so partisan you already answered you own question. It would be as if someone that Bill O’Reilly referred to as member of the loony left called him a right wing whack job during the interview
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colonial b...
August 19, 2009 07:49 PM
Its interesting you brought up the Patriot Act. What are you saying, they didn't read it, so the dems shouldn't have to read the healthcare bill. The problem on a larger scale is congress being reactionary and panicky. 9/11 happened and they felt like that had to do something quick. Healthcare cost are high and are going up, and they feel like they have to do something. They react and have very little foresight.
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August 19, 2009 08:35 PM
Not at all Gali.
What I am saying is we went all these years and bills are very large documents that members of congress rely on staff members to get the gist of what is in the bill but now the Republicans made it an issue and want to back the Dems into a corner by saying they don’t read the bills they vote on. They always do this, if you go back to the 1930s the issues that the democrats believe in really have not shifted a whole lot, whereas with republicans they keep on moving then they have something new to be outraged about.
If the leader of the Dems is from somewhere then that becomes a politically bad place to be from, whether it is Massachusetts or San Francisco, which are both desirable places to live. And now they talk Chicago style corruption. The truth is anywhere you have a gov body doing business you get a certain amount of corruption and graft. Or sometimes it just does not look right,
Its like they speak this strange language, socialist, Acorn, tort reform, family values, my faith, and too often they attack based on the group supporting the other party.
If you talk tort reform, lawsuits and awards have gone down in the last 20 years but they still beat this dead horse because trial lawyers tend to support democrats about 70 % of the time.
They talk about what is in the constitution, do they even know how this country was after the constitution was ratified? Do we go back to those days? I think the Black population, the female population, and others that are not of the landed gentry might have something to say about it.
I be willing to bet that the executives cost more than lawsuits do, we could do tort reform if we could also reform executive pay at the same time. We could go to the Japanese model of executive compensation. .
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What I am saying is we went all these years and bills are very large documents that members of congress rely on staff members to get the gist of what is in the bill but now the Republicans made it an issue and want to back the Dems into a corner by saying they don’t read the bills they vote on. They always do this, if you go back to the 1930s the issues that the democrats believe in really have not shifted a whole lot, whereas with republicans they keep on moving then they have something new to be outraged about.
If the leader of the Dems is from somewhere then that becomes a politically bad place to be from, whether it is Massachusetts or San Francisco, which are both desirable places to live. And now they talk Chicago style corruption. The truth is anywhere you have a gov body doing business you get a certain amount of corruption and graft. Or sometimes it just does not look right,
Its like they speak this strange language, socialist, Acorn, tort reform, family values, my faith, and too often they attack based on the group supporting the other party.
If you talk tort reform, lawsuits and awards have gone down in the last 20 years but they still beat this dead horse because trial lawyers tend to support democrats about 70 % of the time.
They talk about what is in the constitution, do they even know how this country was after the constitution was ratified? Do we go back to those days? I think the Black population, the female population, and others that are not of the landed gentry might have something to say about it.
I be willing to bet that the executives cost more than lawsuits do, we could do tort reform if we could also reform executive pay at the same time. We could go to the Japanese model of executive compensation. .
August 20, 2009 12:01 AM
As you said "The truth is anywhere you have a gov body doing business you get a certain amount of corruption and graft." Thats exactly why government should not be in the healthcare business.
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August 20, 2009 01:58 AM
Do you have a better system? is and does the private sector function honestly? is there a motivation to maybe cut corners so you can make more money? would you be in favor of private police? a private military? Private roads? would you be willing to pay tolls everytime you leave home or pay for a road subscription service, and only be able to drive on certain roads?
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August 20, 2009 08:41 AM
Yeah I am for private roads. They did that here in Indiana where I live. Our governor sold the toll roads and they've never been better. Politicians don't have an incentive to fix it. Private companies do,and thats money. If you don't like the roads you won't drive on them. As oppose to taxes paying for them, where your paying no matter what. You keep assuming private businesses are evil and they will screw with everyone if they have the option. Insurance is the problem, because its a guaranteed form of payment. If they're getting a payment no matter what, whats the incentive to do any better. Which ironically is what the gov gets through taxes, a guaranteed payment no matter how bad a job they do.
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August 20, 2009 05:46 PM
People by themselves are fine, it’s when they are in a group there is problems, and yes private business does not always have the best interests of people at heart. You can say they are in business to make money but when you have a system where 30 years ago the average CEO made 20 or 30 times what the average employee made to now where the CEO makes 300 to 500 times the average employee, yes there is something wrong with that system.
When I said toll roads I mean from the time you pull out of your driveway not just some interstate here and there. And also private Police, all of it. No I don’t think you would like that society. Because then when the GOP really got their grand dream of not being able to sue unless you are rich you would have no recourse ever. No one to vote out of office and no one to be held accountable, it would be dismissed as a business decision
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When I said toll roads I mean from the time you pull out of your driveway not just some interstate here and there. And also private Police, all of it. No I don’t think you would like that society. Because then when the GOP really got their grand dream of not being able to sue unless you are rich you would have no recourse ever. No one to vote out of office and no one to be held accountable, it would be dismissed as a business decision
August 20, 2009 07:18 PM
"30 years ago the average CEO made 20 or 30 times what the average employee made to now where the CEO makes 300 to 500 times the average employee, yes there is something wrong with that system. " Theres nothing wrong with this system. Its fair. And fair does not imply 50/50. I'm not sure what all the fear about things being private is. Their is no need to assume that groups will do the worst thing possible if their not being watched. And yeah private businesses DO have the people best interest in mind precisely because they want your money. If they don't do what you want, you won't pay them. You constantly bring up the GOP. What do they have to do with anything? Why the 'us vs them' attitude?
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August 20, 2009 09:06 PM
Gali I bring up the GOP because you keep on parroting GOP talking points. And no private businesses don’t have the best interest at heart. When you tell the workers they have to accept less just so you can have more who does that benefit? And as far as an us VS attitude when your guys refer to everyone that is not a rightwinger as a left wing loon, tilts far left or whatever else they can think of then yes it is an us VS them attitude, being of Jewish descent I am insulted by these rightwingers calling the President a Nazi, most people that bandie about the words Socialist, Marxist have no real idea what those mean.
We all these years with a Middle Class and now your guys are telling us we cant have it any more. You guys want us to go back to the days of Boom and Bust with depressions every 20 or so years. You turn on talk radio or listen to Fox and you think you know how the business system works and think they are under assault, well they are not, the truth is they have very generous deductions, they often cheat governments with their tax breaks so everyone else has to pick up the slack yes the system is rigged against the average person, sure you can become rich but it is not very likely. And the standards of living have declined.
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We all these years with a Middle Class and now your guys are telling us we cant have it any more. You guys want us to go back to the days of Boom and Bust with depressions every 20 or so years. You turn on talk radio or listen to Fox and you think you know how the business system works and think they are under assault, well they are not, the truth is they have very generous deductions, they often cheat governments with their tax breaks so everyone else has to pick up the slack yes the system is rigged against the average person, sure you can become rich but it is not very likely. And the standards of living have declined.
August 20, 2009 09:56 PM
For the 100th time, I'm not republican. Their not 'my guys.' I've never listened to one second of fox news, radio or tv. I only advocate free markets over gov interference. Bush grew the gov very very big, so I would never side with him or his people. 'When you tell the workers they have to accept less just so you can have more who does that benefit?' The important thing our overlooking is YOU DONT HAVE TO WORK THERE. If someone is unhappy with their wages, find a different job, there not all the same.
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August 19, 2009 07:23 PM
Yes. He was being heckled by somebody that doesn't even understand history. The wording of the woman's question was particularly insensitive considering that Frank is both Jewish and gay. (The Nazis interned and killed both.)
The word Nazi is not even appropriate in this debate on health care. In fact the "debate" has become a side show. It's time that these lawmakers clear up all the conspiracy and explain how the reform works in clear terms.
Frank defended himself and did some explaining as well.
That woman, meanwhile is an embarrassment to Americans.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Frank
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Homosexuals_and_the_T...
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August 19, 2009 07:45 PM
No I think he did not act appropriately. I will say it was a poor choice of wording on the question asker's part, but she does have her Rights. ( The First Amendment ) She used the term Nazi policy at first then she asked again only saying why do you support it. Regardless of his ethnic background, he should have either A, Passed on the question or B, stated why he supported it. He openly admits he is answering from an ethnic stand point, which has no choice but to be bias and he does his best to belittle and ridicule her for her beliefs and her choice in the way she feels to express herself about this issue. He compares talking to her like a piece of furniture. Does he allow his ethnic feelings to help him make his decisions for the American people? In my opinion it is just like I have already seen before, the politician does not hold the person they are speaking to the same level as themselves. He thinks he is better, smarter and or wiser. So to cover up there lack of knoweledge they attack the question asker. So yes I think he was out of hand and rude. I also think the Nazi part of the question was out of hand but a professional would have set that aside and stated the facts, not belittle someone. A true professional would not resort to this kind of behavior, they would rise above it. I did some more digging on this and I personally do not think he has a clue as to what is in this bill. There is some interesting reading on the shenanigins of Barney Frank, I have provided some links.
Source(s):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-barney-frank/is-there-an-antidote-to-t_b_...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124623134986666161.html
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/03/20/gop-irked-with-b...
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Voted as best: vicgoodwin, kareul
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August 20, 2009 12:03 AM
I really really liked his analogy "trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table." Yes, I believe that he applied justifieable rhetorical force in the face of blunt stupidity. Smear and harassment tactics have been propagated by the right wing against Democrats in many instances. I was just watching a movie-quasi documentary of the process in Florida over the electoral votes for the presidential election in Gore vs. Bush. In this case, demonstrators against the recount (in support of the Republicans) staged harrasment demonstrations that prevented recounts from occurring in a fair manner, I believe altering the history of the U.S. very much for the worse.
The whole tenor of debate in this country is appalling. Heckling is taken as a legitimate form of involvement in the democratic process.
I have said this before, but I believe that many in the nation are so self-oriented, selfish, that they do not have adequate compassion to extend benefits to those in the country without healthcare coverage. Perhaps the day has come for healthcare legislation, but it will be a hard fought battle, because there is a lot of money to fund the opposing interests. And hecklers as well....
Tags: politics, republican, harrassment, campaign, smear
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Tip coltech88 for this answer
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August 20, 2009 07:47 PM
No. Absolutely not. But that's ok.
As a person that has actually met Barney and spoken with him many times (Many years ago) in MA, he was not prepared for this style meeting with constituents at all. In fact non of the reps. where.
Barny has always been known in the news for his "Barneyisms" however I don't think he handled the situation correctly or was prepared for it.
I've worked on the Hill i've also worked in the CA Parliament (Lobbying for climate change and better tort reform). Up there Barney has been called everything from "Don Kioti" to "Sabertooth". He's constantly tried and tested because of his open homosexuality and "?dimm wit?".
Singular wit has it's place, but not here, compassion, eloquence, and reserve was needed a little more and Barney didn't bring it.
I have absolutely no problem with how he handles his felow reps and legislatures but speaking to the public like this which is nationally televised was simply uncalled for.
Barney could have simply said .
"While I respect your question, I don't believe research on that particular topic is a priority, I will look at it again at a different time"
Humble Regards,
XDS
Source(s):
10 Years ago , mass.
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August 21, 2009 08:52 PM
Given the nature of the woman's comments- absolutely. There is no Nazi policy, or president. Frankly I wonder what planet some people are from....
I don't understand how some people process information- and in this case, as Barney did with the woman...I can't blame him.
People here have been Mushrooms for most of the decade- kept in the dark and fed bullsh**.
So, finally we let them speak- Its frightening! Very very frightening.
Sometimes, things need to be said. Propriety shouldn't have to stand in the way of common sense...especially when there is such a lack in common sense here in america.
Source(s):
I have been paying attention
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Voted as best: defolts
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