Over the last several weeks, President Obama and Congressional Democrats have been going home and finding a little bit of a surprise in their local constituencies.
Over the last several weeks, President Obama and Congressional Democrats have been going home and finding a little bit of a surprise in their local constituencies. Whereas usually congressional town halls are small affairs with blue-haired old ladies asking staid questions on a Tuesday morning, the town halls have become a huge media spectacle due to dozens and sometimes hundreds of protestors showing up and railing against the plan, Obama and everything else they see that’s going wrong in America. Of course, we seldom hear what these protesters are really about, and they’re usually characterized as mobs but we really don’t know why they get as passionate as they do or how sincere their actions are.
This isn’t surprising. Most journalists and commentators have never really been part of a mob. In the minds of most commentators and journalists (myself included) watching hundreds and sometimes thousands of Americans chant in unison for Obama, Sarah Palin or against Healthcare or Taxes is inherently suspicious. That’s why the descriptions of the angry crowds at the Healthcare Town halls across America have been either fawning praise from the right or damnation and condescension from the left. In order to be an effective journalist or commentator, one of the things you have to master is either being separate from the crowd so that you can objectively report on the phenomenon or, as a commentator, create your own take on the event with a passionate opinion. So with that mindset bringing us most of the news and commentary, what is the average American supposed to make of all of these widescreen shots of angry Americans screaming about Obama’s health care plan?
The first thing to remember is that regardless of what you’re being told, the people who are protesting are sincere in what they’re protesting about. One of the most consistent rhetorical methods used by journalists and commentators is to suggest that crowds of protestors are "orchestrated" and somehow less sincere or authentic than an angry mob that forms from spontaneous frustration. This is an old canard, and you often see left-wing commentators on CNN or MSNBC suggesting that those who are showing up at town halls to protest President Obama’s health care plans are simply pawns to nefarious forces on the right.
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