Ex-CNN Reporter Denounces 'Organized Intimidation' By 'Crazed' ObamaCare Opponents

Ex-CNN Reporter Denounces 'Organized Intimidation' By 'Crazed' ObamaCare Opponents

By Brent Baker (Bio | Archive)
August 9, 2009 - 23:44 ET

“What do you call a crazed group of people that disrupts a meeting on health care and hangs the congressman holding it in effigy?” Former CNN Washington correspondent Bob Franken, in a Friday blog posting on AOL's “Politics Daily” site, “Health Care Mobs and Their Instigators: Denials Ring Hollow,” answered by smearing all instead of holding accountable the few who commit the misdeeds: “A mob.”

Franken, who departed CNN in 2006 and now shows up occasionally as an analyst on MSNBC, continued: “What do you call the partisan groups that whip up their fear-of-change ultra-conservative base to engage in that symbolic lynching and then disavow any responsibility? You have a choice here between 'deniers' and a word that rhymes with it.” I guess that would be “liars.”

To prove how the opposition must be orchestrated, Franken demanded: “Can someone point to any Republicans who have been harassed as they hold meetings on health care?” He again answered his own question by asserting those “who have been under siege in their home bases have one thing in common. They're all Democrats -- senators and members of the House who have been heckled and threatened as they tried to explain their views on the health care reforms moving through Washington.”

Franken soon pleaded in his August 7 post: “One can only hope that this effort at organized intimidation doesn't escalate. What if the other side decides to meet the conservative mobs head on?”

Whether a “reasoned debate” can occur, Franken concluded, “will depend on just how cynical those encouraging the mob frenzy are -- while denying responsibility. What shall we call them? Mobsters?”

—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center

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The people rise up in

August 9, 2009 - 23:58 ET by Dan The Man 2

The people rise up in dissent and we are called mobsters. We can only have reasoned debate according to the rules, their rules. The GOP is bound by their rules now and any debate is stifled and now they want to stifle debate outside of Congress as they have done inside it.

We should start calling Obama, King George to make sure who the tyranical mobsters are.

You mistake the

August 10, 2009 - 00:00 ET by NL207

You mistake the situtation. King George III was gentleman.

What's the difference between God and Barack Obama? God does not think he is Barack Obama.

Price to be Paid?

August 10, 2009 - 05:37 ET by allanf

It was easy to bash Bush, call Cheney Darth Vader, Sarah Palin a bimbo.

Now the left has graduated to attacking the heartfelt beliefs of ordinary citizens. In USA Today, Pelosi and Hoyer use the word "un-American".

Will they left ever pay a political price?

Will they left ever pay a

August 10, 2009 - 05:49 ET by motherbelt

Will they left ever pay a political price?

One can only hope.

"Un-American" is one of those words like sexual harrassment: It's whatever they say it is.

We knew all along that this is how they would portray their opponents... paint them as a far-out fringe group (as if the mainstream Republicans are siding with them).

They are soooo predictable.

Pelosi et al should remember the words of Admiral Yamamoto after Pearl Harbor: I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant, and fill him with a terrible wrath.

And who's the leader of all

August 10, 2009 - 06:23 ET by ThisnThat

And who's the leader of all this, MB? Right -- Obama himself, when he started telling his thugs "watch out for people who still cling to their guns and religion". Then, when he said "I am going to spread the wealth around", he put everybody on notice that he's going to take our money. And when he said "electricity rates will skyrocket" he told us that he doesn't care if the economy tanks. And when he began his "Apologize for America" tour, he told us he fundamentally doesn't like us.

Now, when we protest his stupid policies, he sends out the word -- we're all mobsters. That word didn't appear by random. This man hates all of us, and he's trying to extract some kind of revenge. And I despise him. This is one dangerous man. He needs to be removed from office.

___________________________________

"Tax the rich" is a basically unstable way of governing - The NYT

I do not believe Obama is an

August 10, 2009 - 08:53 ET by NL207

I do not believe Obama is an American, whether he can legally lay claim to citizenship or not. The reasons for this are many, but one that really jumps out is this: He is ashamed of American Exceptionalism. more than that, he does not believe America is exceptional but quite the opposite. In his Leninist mind, he sees the America set forth by the Founders as evil, something to be destroyed and replaced by his Statist nightmare.

BIRTHER!!!

August 10, 2009 - 08:57 ET by Sergeant ROCK

Actually, that's a fair assessment. One I can certainly agree with.

"I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason

I am getting very angry at these clowns.

August 10, 2009 - 00:11 ET by Iowa Boy

I might accidentally use words with lots of hard consonants like c's and k's.

"Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain." Official Motto of the State of Iowa

What a bunch of arrogant people!

August 10, 2009 - 00:25 ET by donsaliman

Between the Democrats in congrees and MSM they like I said are a bunch of arrogant people.

You don't agree with them and you are labeled a bigot,dumb,gangster etc.

The people in congress,MSM and you can include the liberal professors in many universities,have no idea of what the common people in this world think or feel.

The common people I am talking about include Democrats as well as Republicans and the Independents

Fed up

August 10, 2009 - 00:26 ET by Thoreau

If a war starts I will have no pity for these clowns. They really don't know where they came from do they.

Bob Franken.......

August 10, 2009 - 00:32 ET by pantryman

Is he anything like the frankenfish I keep hearing about on NetGeo???

Where do they get these obvious dipshits from anyway...and why is anyone paying any attention to them in the first place??

And so, here is another one who thinks his opinion is somehow better than yours or mine !

He's a useless old turd floating around meaninglessly in the crystal punch-bowl of life....

This is analysis?

August 10, 2009 - 00:50 ET by KC Mulville

Can you believe how stupid this analysis is?

The proof that it must be organized against Democrats is that they never show up at GOP town halls?
- Democrats are writing the bills!
It wasn't the GOP that tried to push the bills through without reading them.
- It was the Democrats.
It isn't the GOP whose leaders are openly admitting that the public option is simply a trojan horse for a single payer system!
- It was the Democrats!

People who are against a public option and all the other provisions of these proposed bills ... are just following the Willie Sutton logic. You protest where the atrocity is. Sheesh. Franken is just embarrassing himself, and CNN.

Another excellent anlysis,

August 10, 2009 - 22:26 ET by stratman

Another excellent anlysis, KC.

Franken is also dead wrong when he states the protests are only against Democrat politicians. Obviously Franken is out of the news loop or is lying because the equivocating South Carolina Republican Congressman Bob Inglis was met with unhappy constituents as well.

I'd wager that ANY politician supporting or equivocating about Obamacare will meet resistence. But we may never know for sure since these spineless weasels are now either rescheduling phone-call townhall meetings or cancelling them outright.

These bums need to be voted out of office.

These so called "mobs" are

August 10, 2009 - 03:27 ET by mostlymoderate

These so called "mobs" are doing nothing but protesting. They are not even committing civil disobedience, which liberals always take part in when it is THEIR side doing the protesting.

I guess Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, the illegal-alien marches last year and all their crowds were mobsters too.

Stupefying...

August 10, 2009 - 03:23 ET by wnaegele

Sigh!

It would see that Franken

August 10, 2009 - 03:58 ET by Andrew H.

It would see that Franken is lining (lying up) up for a gig in the Whitehouse.

Liberalism is a convenient lie.

FRANKEN IS FRANKEN...

August 10, 2009 - 05:31 ET by danybhoy

Bob Franken, Al Franken, what's the difference? Same point of view.

"...How blind can you be, don't you see...

...that the gambler lost all he does not have..."

Nightwish

Fear of what?

August 10, 2009 - 04:03 ET by pagg30

“What do you call the partisan groups that whip up their fear-of-change ultra-conservative base to engage in that symbolic lynching..."

Does this jerk wad remember the AARP commercials when GWB wanted to give us some control of our Social Security accounts?? Lady with a leaky faucet, plumber calls in the wrecking ball? Bueller? Bueler? Anyone, anyone?

Where do they grow these people?

Mobsters, huh?

August 10, 2009 - 05:55 ET by Massage_Master07

AAAHHHAHAHAHAHA That is HYSTERICAL!! Conservative mobsters. LMFAO Funny how when a conservative "mob" protests, there are NO injuries, deaths, hospitalizations, public or private property damages. That was the case UNTIL "the One" called upon his ACORN and SEIU buddies to "counter protest" and "shout down" the ordinary, everyday people.

When the Libtards hold "protests", property, health and life insurance rates skyrocket cuz of the damage to either property, people and or deaths from THEIR MOBS. Sure, while those stories are covered by the State Run Media, they aren't called mobs, but rather... UNFORTUNATE happenings during an otherwise "peaceful" demonstration. LOL That's like trying to polish a turd, it just doesn't WORK.

Funny, how during the campaign, Dumbama called upon his supporters to "get in their faces", and Shrillary saying "dissension against government is patriotic" UNTIL the shoe is on the OTHER FOOT. What's good for the goose is NOT good for the gander when it comes to protesting AGAINST liberals and THEIR policies, I guess. HEHEHEHEHE

'Nuff Said.

AND WE SHOULD CARE HE SAYS THIS BECAUSE.......?

August 10, 2009 - 06:58 ET by Sgthulka

Wow. Thank God Bob Franken has resurfaced. I've been waiting to hear his thoughts and opinions since he left CNN.

Isn't it amazing. Once these reporters leave (Douglas) or retire (Franken), their true liberal/leftists leanings suddenly come out.

Is there a point?

August 10, 2009 - 07:57 ET by pbthinker

Is there one point when the American media will stick up for the protesters? It seems the only network, willing to talk to the protesters and find out why they're opposed to this legislation is Fox News. CNN has their reporters going out and questioning Fox News's reporting abilities and then they send this moron out, who I'll bet hasn't talked with one protester.

I guess that's what happens when you're in the tank for one political party, you start to take any criticism of them, or their politices, personally.

Election 2008-God's way of showing us that elections count.

What is little heard even

August 10, 2009 - 08:39 ET by BD

What is little heard even today is that the Anti-Vietnam War Protestors in the 1960-70's were initially seed funded by the KGB.

The left beatifies those protestors, but bemoans conservatives who take time off from work and go to these town hall meetings on their own resources and claims they are all sorts of evil.

There has been only one meeting with violence (thank GOD!)

August 10, 2009 - 09:37 ET by c5then

And that violence was perpetrated by SEIU members who were called out by the democrat opperatives to "oppose" the protestors.

It is the left who always resort to lies, distortions and then finally violence to try and get their way.

The left are traveling down the same road that George III went down when he thought that he could force the colonies to pay for his expensive war against France by treating them differently then he treated his other subjects in England. It wasn't the high taxs that pissed-off the founders so much as the differential treatment that Englanders and Colonists received.

Throw 'da bums out!

no incumbent re-elected, with very few exceptions!

www.loyaltoliberty.com

Mob

August 10, 2009 - 09:50 ET by nandrelli

When I hear the word "mob", the first things that come to mind are:

Chicago

Al Capone

Mayor Richard Daley (father and son)

And now, we can add:

Barack 0bama

Rahm Emmanuel

David Axelrod

Thanks for the imagery, libs. Keep this up and the Republicans will have a cakewalk in 2010.

franken

August 10, 2009 - 10:09 ET by east tennessee john

Are you as stupid as the Senator with the same last name? Can you count past21/ The reason we're at the Dem meetigs you moron is that they control the entire legislative process, if we can't get some of them fearful of reelection nextyear, you self styled political genius, Obamacare wins. The GOP is irrelevant given the numbers and their known inclination. How f***ing stupid can someone be and still be on tv running his mouth? I forgot, he does "commentary" at msdac. My bad.

I remember Bob Franken.

August 10, 2009 - 10:13 ET by buddyc

I remember Bob Franken. Wasn't he fired from CNN for being even to left wing partisan for them? That is really being a partisan. MSNBC is a natural place of him.

Good luck Bob!

Is there any truth to the rumor that Jack Cafferty is Franken's son?

May he be "Roesgenized", Allah Be Willing

August 10, 2009 - 10:18 ET by SickofLibs

May he be "Roesgenized*", Allah Be Willing.

But since this is MSNBC, he'll probably get put into heavy rotation on the circle-jerk shows.

* AKA, contract not renewed.

In a way, he's

August 10, 2009 - 11:00 ET by jessieH

In a way, he's right. It's all democrats. But it's also the ones that can't READ. Yes it's going to get violent. No doubt about that. The govt. is calling in the rest of the mafia to start it. I want to know what the troops that are fighting for our country think about it. Will they stand with the liberals, or will they stand with the Constitution? I already know the answer! Congress doesn't deserve any respect.