Average American Derangement Syndrome

By Kristia Cavere Markarian

As vicious as Bush (and then Palin) Derangement Syndrome is, there is a new target of the left that makes the former disorders seems mundane. Democrats and liberals have always been contemptuous of the average person, but their treatment of those citizens who disagree with the Obama administration's policies is unprecedented. Peaceful protesters are likened to rowdy hordes, individuals who question their representative at a roundtable discussion are deemed traitors, any person who holds traditional beliefs of any kind is branded a fanatic, and most disgracefully our brave war veterans are labeled as extremists.

Such a disorder can only be called "Average American Derangement Syndrome." Below are a few recent examples of Democrat treatment to those who oppose or question Obama's proposed healthcare reform.

• The Democratic National Committee wrote, "Republicans and their allied groups...are inciting angry mobs of a small number of rabid right wing extremists funded by K Street lobbyists to disrupt thoughtful discussions about the future of health care in America taking place in Congressional districts across the country."
  
  
• The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, stated, "They [protesters] are carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on healthcare."
  
  
• Senate Majority leader, Harry Reid, belittled the "loud, shrill voices trying to interrupt town-hall meetings."
  
  
• The Majority leader in the House, Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, called those who oppose healthcare reform "very rabid people...Normal citizens just do not act that way."
  
  
• White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "I hope people will take a jaundiced eye to what is clearly the Astroturf nature of grass-roots lobbying. This is manufactured anger."
  
  
• Jennifer Crider, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, stated, "Conservative activists don't want to have a conversation. They want to disrupt."
  
  
• Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat from Texas, avowed, "This mob...did not come just to be heard, but to deny others the right to be heard."
  
  
• Representative Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia and president of the freshman Democrats in Congress, stated that right-wing groups are moving the healthcare debate to "a dangerous level" by using false facts to create anger. He said, "When you look at the fervor of some of these people who are all being whipped up by the right-wing talking heads on Fox, to me, you're crossing a line. They're inciting people to riot with just total distortions of facts."
  
  
• Democratic strategist Donna Brazile stated that, "This little small band of protesters are trying to stop members [of Congress] from doing their jobs. They know they can't win the debate so they want to shut down the conversation...It looks like that mob scene coming out of Florida in 2000."
  
  

As another example of the Average American Derangement Syndrome experienced by the Democratic National Committee, this past Wednesday they released an internet video entitled "Enough of the Mob." The propaganda piece warns against the "right wing extremist base" and states that "desperate Republicans and their well-funded allies are organizing angry mobs — just like they did during the election. Their goal? Destroy President Obama and stop the change..." They classify any dissent as "mob activity" and claim that Republicans "have no plan for moving our country forward, so they've called out the mob." The piece also asserts that the "anti-reform mobs" are attempting "to intimidate and silence regular people who just want more information."

The White House itself has even succumbed to Average American Derangement Syndrome, as an official White House website (http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/) is asking citizens to spy on each other and report on those who disagree with socialized healthcare: "Since we can't keep track of all of them [disinformation, rumors] here at the White House, we're asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

After 9/11, President Bush enacted Operation T.I.P.S. (Terrorism Information and Prevention System) to allow citizens to report suspicious activity which endangered our national security. The purpose of this program was to allow people to report on terrorists trying to commit terrorist acts in our country. Democrats expressed such outrage over this supposed creation of citizen spies that Operations T.I.P.S. was permanently cancelled in 2002, however their silence on the use of citizen spies to further their own agenda reveals the lengths they will go to further their power.

Asking Americans to keep track of citizens who express a policy disagreement is not just a violation of our civil rights but it is the first order of sedition and should be an impeachable offense. There is no issue of safety that requires reporting people to the government. The Democrats are treating average Americans worse than potential terrorists.

What type of administration would even think of doing something like this? One that does not want the public informed or involved, and who will use any form of illegal and immoral intimidation to achieve this.

© Kristia Cavere Markarian