The arrogance of Democratic lawgivers is plain to see any time they step in front of a camera or microphone, but never is it on such full display as when they actually have to deal with their constituents.
Take, for example, this video of Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson-Lee, who is willing to allow her constituents the honor of being in her presence, just so long as they don’t gripe too much about the fact that she’s talking on her freaking cell phone while one of them is raising a Constitutional and ethical concern about legislation she is supporting in her constituents’ name in Congress.
Go to the four minute mark on the video below and watch until you can’t take any more. [UPDATE]: We’ve shaved it down to the relevant parts: below is the new video. - Moe Lane
And they wonder — they honestly wonder — why people are outraged?
Amazing.
UPDATE: Ed Morrissey at HotAir writes:
Keep watching for a couple of minutes afterward, because Jackson-Lee does worse when she’s paying attention. She claims that the public plan won’t impact the existence of private insurance, and then in the same breath claims it will compete against existing private plans to make them “better”.
And while her constituent tells a difficult tale of cancer survival, the best Jackson-Lee can offer is that a public plan will allow people to lose weight without having to pay $19.99 to those programs we see on TV. Er, $19.99 is less than most co-pays; it’s certainly less than what one has to pay through Medicare without Medicare Advantage for a doctor visit.
And what exactly is wrong with Slim-Fast and other private sector nutrition programs? They’re accessible, they’re effective for at least some people, and by the way, insurance plans don’t cover them anyway. If that’s the best sales pitch ObamaCare and Jackson-Lee have, it’s going down in low-cal flames.
h/t Club for Growth
That was no cellphone.
blooch Wednesday, August 12th at 11:01AM EDT (link)It’s a Beta version of the new MiniTelePrompter that has been rushed into production for besieged Reps. If you can’t get through to your Rep, it’s because their staff is tied up with Tech Support.
That, or she tried to detonate an SEIUIED.
“I have to admit that Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a smart man. He was, in many ways, a psychologist.”–drealoth
She does speak better to those who aren't Constituents
Richard Mullins Wednesday, August 12th at 11:15AM EDT (link)I guess I should have been there since I live in an adjoining district(TX-02). I’d get a better response.
As for the cellphone, she is on it a lot and she doesn’t need a teleprompter to stay on message. I’m sure she was talking to Gene Green(TX-29) for his opinion on dealing with people.
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Simply Amazing
K James Wednesday, August 12th at 11:07AM EDT (link)We all knew that congress critters like SJ-L have no clue, but the infuriating part is that we are finding out that they don’t even have the desire to feign concern for our viewpoints for 45 minutes at a town hall meeting.
They can’t even be bothered to PRETEND that we are more than sidewalk scum to them, while standing in front of us.
Speechless here.
That's what amazes me
Frozen_Man Wednesday, August 12th at 11:59AM EDT (link)Its not that she has that attitude towards people (anyone who has every watched or heard her knows she could care less about those who don’t buy in to the snake oil she is selling) it is the fact there is not even the attempt to pretend like you care about what they are saying before you dismiss them. Unbelievable.
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She's a nut
ntvtxngop Wednesday, August 12th at 11:13AM EDT (link)But some of the subtitles are a little crazy as well. We have to be careful we don’t give too much airtime to some of the crazier anti-government types that heretofore stuck to Ron Paul events.
She has long demonstrated how she feels about the little people
bk Wednesday, August 12th at 12:12PM EDT (link)If she can’t get a free upgrade to first class on a commercial flight, you’d better not plan on sitting on the same row as she does.
And what’s the problem about using a taxpayer-funded limousine to shuttle the 200 steps between her apartment and her office? What would have her do - catch a cab? Walk?
and BTW she has some good quotes
bk Wednesday, August 12th at 12:27PM EDT (link)While Congress was griping about certifying Bush’s victory over Kerry thanks to stealing Ohio, she supposedly said: “I came here as a slave, and I deserve to vote.” And you thought Robert Byrd was the oldest elected official in Washington!
And while serving on the House Science Committee, she asked at the JPL whether the Mars Pathfinder had taken any pictures of the flag Neil Armstrong planted in 1969. If it did, the image would be kind of small taken from at least 35M miles away.
At some gathering a few years ago she supposedly said, “It does make a difference if an Equal Rights Amendment is in place or not. Twenty-seven other countries, including Rwanda, Afghanistan, Algeria and China have equality provisions.” I’d vote to give her the same rights as women in Afghanistan any day.
You should do a "best of SJL" post
Jeff Emanuel Wednesday, August 12th at 1:02PM EDT (link)Esp. if you can find video of those foibles
JE
Just remember we here are blocking O birthright
Richard Mullins Wednesday, August 12th at 1:52PM EDT (link)I’ll have to look for that quote in an article in the Houston Chronicle(weird if I might say).
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When I fly Continental to DC
JustLeaveMeAlone Wednesday, August 12th at 7:28PM EDT (link)from now on, I’m going to ask if she’s on the plane. Cuz if she is, I’ll be taking another flight.
I can see it now — she’ll get the seat next to me in First Class. She’ll be abusive to the flight attendants and knock over my drink. She’ll be one of those people who reads a newspaper spread W-I-D-E so that it’s half in my seat.
And if I do my usual when confronted with obnoxious seatmates (which is to pull out the sleep mask, wash down a xanax with a vodka tonic, and put hushers in my ears until the flight is over), no doubt I’ll be accused of being racist.
Meanwhile, I have Michelle Malkin’s new book to read on the flight to Tampa tomorrow
It will either make a friend or an enemy of whoever is next to me! I think I’ll also bring along a copy of the Constitution, just in case.
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” Thomas Jefferson
Talk about phoning it in
Erik_S Wednesday, August 12th at 12:15PM EDT (link)It’s an unfortunate truth that in our REPRESENTATIVE democratic system, the higher the level of government (local, state, federal), the lower the level of representation and accountability.
What's Good
Hera Wednesday, August 12th at 1:01PM EDT (link)about youtube videos like this is that it shows how elitist the dems are, and that they really don’t care what their constituents think.How rude and arrogant do you have to be to talk on a cell phone during a townhall meeting. This reminds me of the House bank scandal which was one the things that lead to the GOP takeover (after 40 years) in 1994. So dems keep disrespecting your constituents and calling them UN-American and watch for payback in Nov 2010.
It just amazes me that people like this keep getting elected.
larueladue Wednesday, August 12th at 2:17PM EDT (link)Perhaps there needs to be some sort of “Yes I have paid attention to this election cycle” test before voting… Otherwise I fear that this is the best we can expect from any and all voting.
Or, better yet, some sort of “Yes, I can function as a representative of the people” test for the ones running for election….
“Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.” - Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus (Vegetius) in “De Re Militari,” Book III.
Classless
conservative_faction Wednesday, August 12th at 2:29PM EDT (link)behavior and just as one might expect of her. She’s probably downloading ringtones.
NRA Life Member
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” — Ronald Reagan
To Start,
TxTess Wednesday, August 12th at 2:44PM EDT (link)As a fellow Texan I apologize for her behavior. This is disgraceful.
Her behavior and the behavior of so many of our representatives is mind boggling. The arrogance and disdain shown should even anger and shame their supporters. As I drive to work I keep expecting to see buildings with “some are more equal than others” painted on them.
I think in some ways we confuse them. Their protesters damage, disrupt business and use abusive language. Ours carry the Flag with honor, ask intelligent questions and want intelligent answers in return.
Because I walk softly and carry a big Lipstick - Lori_Z at Red State
Well, Tess, things could be worse for you (as hard as that is to believe)
eburke Wednesday, August 12th at 3:49PM EDT (link)You could be sentenced to trying to explain to all your friends and relatives how the state in which you live sent Stuart “I’m a Vile Buffoon” Smalley to the Senate.
But SJL has got to be close. I mean, shouldn’t thinking that Neil Armstrong landed on Mars trigger some sort of Constitutional “I’m too stupid to hold Office” card?
“All that need be done for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
“Dead fish go with the flow” ~ izoneguy
“We have a Statue of Liberty not a Statue of Necessity” ~ ColdWarrior
You can cure ignorance, but you can't cure stupid.
TxTess Wednesday, August 12th at 4:08PM EDT (link)Unfortunately. I think they tie for first place.
Because I walk softly and carry a big Lipstick - Lori_Z at Red State
I don't have to apologize for her behavior
Richard Mullins Wednesday, August 12th at 5:07PM EDT (link)because she’s not my congresscritter(although my congressional district adjoins her’s). I don’t apologize for Letica Van de Puette or any other crap pol here in Texas either.
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Why bother?
misterh Wednesday, August 12th at 3:10PM EDT (link)Why does she even bother to hold a town hall?
How disrespectful can a person be?
Mr. H
http://www.allhands-ondeck.blogspot.com/
Jackson-Lee is a paragon of intelect
davo119 Wednesday, August 12th at 3:42PM EDT (link)Remember this:
The Congressional bonehead award goes to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) who, on a visit to JPL, asked if Mars Pathfinder had taken an image of the flag planted there in 1969 by Neil Armstrong!
I can’t think of anyone more qualified to rewrite the best health care system in the world.
http://www.seds.org/archive/spaceviews/970915/cap.html
I can’t think of anyone more qualified to rewrite the best health care system in the world!
Never give in! Never! Never! Never!
Is there anyone running against this woman?
paint_it_red Wednesday, August 12th at 6:22PM EDT (link)Isn’t she the same one who tries to gate crash and speak at funerals of people who she doesn’t even know? This lady has got to go.
“It is not good to cultivate a respect so much for the law as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right.” Henry David Thoreau
“The means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.” Martin Luther King Jr.
“If you want peace, work for Justice.” Pope John Paul II
That would be a pretty big hurdle
mustango Wednesday, August 12th at 6:42PM EDT (link)Jackson-Lee won her district 77-20 last year. Which is probably a big factor in her lack of concern.
She's an embarassment to Houston and to Texas
JustLeaveMeAlone Wednesday, August 12th at 7:13PM EDT (link)Thank God I’m in Culberson’s district — albeit about 4 blocks from hers.
Her district is gerrymandered like crazy. To be honest, most of the Houston districts look crazy on a map. But with what she’s got, she’s in like flynn unless she’s taken on by someone just like her — and why would they bother?
I hate lumping a group together — but when I see her district and realize what those neighborhoods are like, it’s hard to see anyone but someone like her taking that seat.
Although at least maybe someone else wouldn’t be so STOOPID. She’s second only to Maxine Waters for her stupidity and ignorance.
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” Thomas Jefferson
I feel much better
Richard Mullins Wednesday, August 12th at 7:20PM EDT (link)Her district is only 2.5 miles away from me(FM 1960 is the boundry line). I would be embarrassed to be in her district, but I’m embarrassed to have a birther congress critter. I’m not sure about running as part of the punishment for being a birhter.
For more on my views, go my wordpress site:
http://rpmullins.wordpress.com
For more on Happy jet airlines, go here:
http://happyjetairlines.wordpress.com
For a good dose of satire go here:
http://thesquash.wordpress.com
For more of I like to do a lot:
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One of the highlights of my early writing career was my small role in ousting Cynthia McKinney in Decatur, GA
Mike gamecock DeVine Wednesday, August 12th at 7:28PM EDT (link)I did 3 dueling editorials with her after her post-911 slanders and she lost in the next election. She did win her seat back and then lost again.
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
I Used To Live In A District Represented By James Moran
Repair_Man_Jack Wednesday, August 12th at 7:51PM EDT (link)You know, the guy who beat up the 10 year old kid and then got overwhelmingly reelected. You have to just laugh.
Hope is not a plan. Change is not always good.