Wheelchair-Bound Woman Shouted Down At Town Hall Meeting
Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone held a free-for-all town meeting in Red Bank, New Jersey, where nasty, ignorant, ill-informed people took over what was supposed to be a civil discussion of the health issue. One woman in a wheelchair was mocked when she talked of how difficult it is for her to make ends meet, given the amount of money she’s spending on medication. Brian Donohue of the Star Ledger covered the “event.”
I never thought I’d see a crowd of people heckle and boo a handicapped woman in a wheelchair. I never thought I’d be called a communist and a shill for big business – both in the same ten minutes.
But that was before the debate over federal health care reform came to my hometown, last night, at a town hall meeting on federal health care reform with Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th District).
Freedom of speech has always been rough & tumble. Only the ignorant, ill-imformed or stupid have to assert the other side is wrong on the basis of it hurts our feeling’s for people to call us names.
EricG Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Remember your words next time you hear Hannity, Beck or Limbaugh say the word ’socialist’.
Remember your own words, and then cry because you are a big fat hypocrite…
average james Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Like when Rush, Hannity, and Beck are called out as liars ?
And then they come trying to hit back twice as hard ?
Full of names for everyone they oppose, they behave like 5th graders.
I’m not talking about comedians, I’m talking about commentators and elected officials.
The loud conservative right seems to love humor at another’s expense.
Very adult, loving, ‘christian’ behavior from the supposed ‘moral’ majority.
Do you mean ignorant, ill-informed, stupid people like that
The loud conservative right is wrong because they are wrong.
The fact that they are ignorant, ill-informed, bought and paid for, lock step, hypocritical, facist liars is beside the point.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:00 am
AJ – Come and take it ya moron.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:15 am
You and who’s army?, jerkwad.
You’re ugly and your mommy dresses you funny.
Nah nah nah………poohead !
Drk H Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:18 am
AJ – thats so mean, I’m going to cry. Nope, I’m a conservative, so go right ahead and call names. You elitist commie loving fool.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:27 am
He he he he
I know you are, but what am I ?
This is fun………..you stupid gigantic loser !!
Drk H Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:48 am
AJ – you meany, lying, lying, liar, pants on fire.
Celticwitch Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
AJ and Drk should the Adults in this sight place you two in time out? :)
Sarah Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
There are adults in Liberaland? Where?! Where?!
Then I’m outta here. :)
Celticwitch Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Thats cute, need not be scared off, AJ and Drk are acting like three year olds, they need to bring back the Gay Ice Cream thread.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I will try to behave, so I can enjoy fun things.
I will try to behave, so I can enjoy fun things.
I will try to behave, so……
I recently found some schoolwork of mine from when I was 9.
Behind the A+ spelling test was a full page of;
I will try to behave, so I can enjoy fun things.
I got really good grades(until I got into drugs), honor roll and everything, but could not sit still, and the smartass seemed to be uncontrolable for me.
I got paddled alot.
I think I prefer a time out.
Good idea Celtic.
Drk H Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Celti – I’m not acting like a 3yr old, and I’m not tired, so I don’t need to take a nap…. Ok, now got to run, my wife says if I don’t make my bed then I won’t get desert after supper.
Drk H Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Celti & Aj – AJ started it…
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Did not……
Celticwitch Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:41 pm
You guys make me laugh! See Drk, you have to do as the wife says, you listen to the nice Liberal.
AJ, naughty, it is smartiss.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I stand corrected Celtic.
Celticwitch Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Hey AJ we need the Gay Icecream thread back, that was fun.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:30 pm
How about from here on out we stand vigilant to insert ice cream references wherever possible.
This could be fun and help to keep it civil around here. Maybe it could spread to other sites.
World peace a year from now as an indirect result of Ben&Jerry’s gay ice cream.
Celticwitch Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Yeah, that would keep some civil posting, Cherry Garcia is an excellent start. What is going on is very chocolate fudge with Hershey syrup running through it dangerously wicked.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I’ve got some stuf that needs to get done today.
I’ll try to check back in later, which has been difficult lately because my girlfriend is online for school at night. She’s really starting to bug me with this work all day, school all night business.
Seriously, she is awesome.
“Somewhere in my youth or childhood,
I must have done something gooood.”—-
Christopher Plummer
Julie Andrews
—–Sound of Music—–
Celticwitch Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:50 pm
have a terrific day…
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:12 am
“Can there be any room for a centrist at a health care reform town hall meeting”
The problem is centrist tend to be a less vocal bunch then people of extreme viewpoints. They also make for a less sensational news story.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:30 am
And they eat ice cream primarily from waffle cones.
placefield Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:32 am
Hey, my favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor is Americone Dream which has the waffle cones mixed right in. Wonder what that says about me?
Celticwitch Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:36 am
Alright, ICE CREAM, oh boy! Place have to check that out is it any good? Can I make a bananasplit out of it? :)~
placefield Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:45 am
I don’t see why not.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:24 am
People in wheelchairs want to be treated like everyone else…
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:28 am
They should randomly place handicapped parking places all throughout parking lots.
He he
GuidoVanHorn Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 am
that’s right…you’re already in a wheelchair (meaning you don’t have to walk) why should you get all the prime parking spaces too.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I’m thinking about applying for one of those placards as I am lactose intolerant.
placefield Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:18 pm
I’m color blind, does that count?
Sarah Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I’m an emotional cripple– can I apply, too?
Seriously, though– while I agree with the premise of special parking for the disabled, I often wonder how many Kennedy-hating, Social-Security-&-Medicare-collecting neocons park in them, forgetting the ADA that caused them to be there in the first place.
placefield Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
My brother in law is disabled due to a head trauma, and those handicap parking spaces come in extremely handy when needed. I am more then happy to give up the good spaces for those in need.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Me too Place,
I’m just a dumbass smartass.
I mean a dumbiss smartiss.
placefield Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I know AJ, I a have alway’s said I would rather be a smartass then a dumbass. Unfortionatly I think I am often the reverse.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I like to say stupid things.
I only do charity work for money.
Like that?
At least it’s kinda funny around here, in my head.
GuidoVanHorn Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:57 pm
I only do charity work for money….that’s awesome…mind if I borrow it from time to time?
RDM Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
She was.
Sarah Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
No, she wasn’t. No one else had their disabilities or illnesses guffawed, repudiated or otherwise rubbed in their faces.
Is this your crowd, RDM? Verbally abusing sick people?
Celticwitch Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Sarah, my mom was in a wheelchair and went to Hershey to tour the chocolate factory and guess what and this is really unual, they gave my mom repect and not the ones who was walking and said the Handicaps go first.
Sarah Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Wow, the Hershey people must know what most of us civil Americans know:
It feels good to make some concessions to others’ unfortunate disabilities, in order to make them feel like (and function like) respected, equal members of our society.
In this instance, I don’t know of any other sick people who were talking about their illness and being ridiculed for it.
Celticwitch Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Sarah, people suffering from some sort of affliction, such as my mother, she had a problem walking. She was a Nurse for close to fifty years when she died and when she told that to me, I thought Hershey is a Great American place to be and I do wander if other places do this. If anyone want to answer this be my guest.
I do know one thing that we were taught is to respect the disable! Remember my mother did.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 am
Fine. Then while the WH dismantles the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Initiatives, it should quietly dismantle the entire Health and Human Services department.
We’ll see how quickly the terrorists take over a dumb(er), weak, sickly nation.
Sarah Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Then again, these neocons are already acting like terrorists.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:16 pm
“Freedom of speech has always been rough & tumble. Only the ignorant, ill-imformed or stupid have to assert the other side is wrong on the basis of it hurts our feeling’s for people to call us names.”
No, actually it’s the ignorant, the stupid and the ill-informed who always and inevitably have to open their big fat mouths and scream like the baboons they are, because they can’t tolerate opinions that differ from their own, and they lack the intellect and the information to offer a rational argument.
And all too often it’s the CONservatives and the republikkkans and the radical “christians” and the other rightwing extremists shouting people down, and beating people up, and taking up arms and killing people.
And it’s because they are barbarians. It’s because for them “america” is a sports team and there ain’t nothing they won’t do to “win.” Even if it means crapping all over everything America stands for.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:20 pm
This yelling and screaming is a form of censorship, which is not very American. Voicing your opinion is one thing but shouting over someone else when they are giving their opinion is more than just rude, it is denying them their right to voice their opinion. What are they so afraid of? Perhaps it is that someone could prove them wrong or that another opinion could be better?
libpatriot Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 5:08 am
Budda, I think you nailed it!
karthiks030977 Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 7:36 am
It isnt censorship, but yes, its an attempt to silence the voices of those who want the above, and I agree, Budda, you hit the nail on the head, the loudness, angriness IMHO reflects more the fear of being or proven wrong.
Celticwitch Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Censorship is what other countries do, we have the right to speak out for or against. The woman in the wheelchair had the right to ask pertinent question. Under the Constitution, she had every right to ask a question on Healthcare. You cannot win the popularity contest IF you don’t listen.
All of the above is correct, fear is what is instilled into these teabaggers.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
This incident reveals to me that many people in the anti-reformist movement are in fact just spiteful and hateful people who want to keep everyone not doing as well as they are down. They seem to hate the poor and struggling and that’s extremely offensive to me because I believe that how we threat the least of us is how we are viewed in the eyes of God.
So these people are like germs in the eyes of God, and in my view as well.
Disgraceful and shameful … hard to say much else without violating the compact of No Swearing on Liberaland.
Rocky the Liberal Rottweiler Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:48 pm
“…hard to say much else without violating the compact of No Swearing on Liberaland.”
I can help. It’s F-ing disgraceful and GD shameful.
EricG Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Yea, you got the line between breaking the Code of Conduct and just being honest with our words…
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:41 pm
I have never seen anything like this in my life. Shouting at a terminally ill woman in a wheelchair? Disgusting. Glad I left Jersey
TDro319 Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
What’s even more perplexing is the people whining about keeping the government out of their private lives are most likely receiving medicare – a government-run program.
September 4th, 2009 at 4:51 am