Sanford Speaks Out is the latest blog sensation written, edited and produced by Sanford D. Horn, a writer and educator. Sanford will write about issues of the day covering myriad subjects: politics, education, culture, sports, religion and even food.
In children’s literature, the wolf is portrayed as the ruffian, the evil-doer. He went after grandmother in Little Red Riding Hood, he huffed and puffed in The Three Little Pigs, and of course there’s Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.
Back in the adult world, I say three cheers for the wolf – Frank Wolf, that is. The Virginia Congressman (R-10th) sponsored legislation this week, that in reality, had the president and the Justice Department had any common sense, would never have been necessary in the first place.
The Wolf bill seeks to prohibit the use of Justice Department funds for the purpose of civilian trials for Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators for perpetrating the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. KSM is also responsible for the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl.
Both Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have been the driving forces behind holding these trials in Manhattan, practically a stone’s throw from Ground Zero in an attempt to demonstrate to the world that the murderous fiends who cavalierly took the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent people would be treated fairly in the open light of day.
KSM, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab – the Christmas Day Fruit-of-Ka-Boom passenger along with the bevy of other enemy combatants and terrorists waiting to be paraded before Judge Judy for their dog and pony show should be tried at GuantanamoBay. Not in Manhattan, where its residents have already endured more than their fair share of misery, nor here in Alexandria, as has been suggested in recent days as a substitute for the Big Apple. At a potential cost of roughly $250 million per year, for trials that could last several years, not to mention the physical inconveniences afforded the local residents, not only is GITMO the right place, but military tribunals are the right methods.
Quite frankly, I don’t care if the trials cost $250 million or two cents. Attorney General Holder is playing politics, has made numerous wrong calls since taking the position and should resign. So misguided a decision to hold trials in Manhattan that stalwart liberal senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have expressed their objections as has New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I).
The countless millions saved can best be used elsewhere. These enemies of the United States are neither civilians nor are they Americans, thus eliminating any reason for civilian trials, or Miranda rights for that matter. National security is being undermined and intelligence compromised, while scourge like KSM and the BVD-bomber are being treated more humanely than the average American passenger catching a flight out of Reagan National. “We’re not in the business of [giving] constitutional rights to terrorists,” said Representative Dan Manzullo (R-IL).
This administration endorses transparency, about which, truth be told, they have been rather opaque. However, in the interest of transparency, send Court TV down to GITMO to shine a camera light for all the world to see first hand.
GITMO has served its purpose admirably since its inception as a detention center coming on the heels of the advent of the War on Terror, words not spoken by Obama. Enemy combatants should not be brought to the United States as they are a security risk. GITMO is where everything should occur – hold ‘em, try ‘em and fry ‘em there.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.
“You f’d up – you trusted us.” – Otter to Flounder in Animal House (1978)
A Year on the Job, Not a Year Wiser
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
January 14, 2010
While that quote from the cult classic film, Animal House came from the anti-establishment crowd wanting to do things their way and buck the system, the same could be said for the voters supporting a candidate claiming to be all about change, transparency and a new day in Washington.
That couldn’t be further from the truth. With a personal “hit list” that would make Richard Nixon’s “enemies list” pale in comparison (no pun intended), more czars than the Romanovs who bypassed any form of confirmation to lead this country down a path toward economic and societal ruin this administration has been anything but business as usual.
Sadly, this administration, like a six-year-old’s bicycle, is still riding on the sidewalk with training wheels making people reminiscent of the days of business as usual. As real unemployment surges toward 16 percent – inclusive of those out of work seeking employment and those who have been off the clock so long they have stopped looking, this administration is strutting its plumage claiming to have saved millions of jobs.
Whose? Their own, for sure, but not those of the manufacturing sector. Additionally, teachers are being laid off in communities that desperately need more help in the classrooms. Plus there’s the issue of so-called green jobs. The non-partisan Institute for Energy Research noted that this administration is giving corporations $2.3 billion to create 17,000 green jobs. Do the math – that’s $135,295 a pop. If this administration spent that amount on the roughly 15.3 million known unemployed people, that totals up at $2,070,013,500,000.
With unemployment reaching heights making people yearn for the days of the Carter administration, the lack of confidence is also a factor. When employers lack confidence they hire fewer workers to both manufacture and sell goods. When more people are out of work, they spend less, or worse, they spend beyond their means and go deeper into debt.
On that front, this administration has failed miserably, digging this nation deeper and deeper into debt with bailouts of industries crying that they were too big to fail. No business is too big to fail. No one is driving a Nash or an Edsel these days or even an Oldsmobile for that matter – which is truly sad, as that was my first car. If people are not buying a certain product, go back to the drawing board. “Failure is the opportunity to being again more intelligently,” said Henry Ford, of Edsel infamy.
What exactly did the $787 billion stimulus package stimulate? Government, and in turn, we the people, own 10 percent of Chrysler and 60 percent of GM. Has anyone received a dividend check lately? Don’t hold your breath. Adding insult to injury was the pathetic cash for clunkers that clearly went crash. When doing the homework on that program, once the taxes were paid and the new cars purchased, the so-called rebate for the older vehicle actually turned into an expense for the participants.
Yet, we the people knew what we were getting into, but chose to ignore the signs flashing like shocking pink neon in the dead of night. We were told, for instance, that the wealth would be redistributed.
We the people were also told that Gitmo would be closed and terrorists would be housed in a prison in Thomson, IL, due west of Chicago. Reports were that prison was sitting empty. Why not fill it with overflow from other prisons and keep terrorists in Gitmo. And the notion of trying enemy combatants in civilian courts is an absurdity that will not only disrupt American citizens’ lives, cost several hundred million dollars, but worse yet, lend credence to the legitimacy of people referred to by Obama as a “nimble adversary.” He won’t even use the phrase war on terror, as if by not saying it makes it not so.
The overwhelming majority of American citizens – the only people in this country whose voices count, do not want the terror trials in a New York City courthouse or any civilian courthouse for that matter. The overwhelming majority of American citizens have taken to the streets, to the town hall meetings, to the phones and computers demanding that their voices be heard.
We the people have said that the economy is the number one concern, not healthcare, which this administration is attempting to ram down the throats of the American people and have gone so far as to declare that anyone without health insurance would either be forced to buy it or face financial penalty or even incarceration. We have over 12 million illegal aliens freely roaming from coast to coast, but the government is going to pursue John/Jane/Juan/Juanita Q. Public for making a personal choice.
This administration loves choice when it comes to abortion, but not when it comes to choosing schools or making personal decisions. It is unconstitutional for the federal government to force its citizenry to purchase anything.
This administration has also failed to live up to its repeated promise of transparency. Obama said bills would be live on the internet for 72 hours for the public to read and upon which to comment. Obama said hearings would be held on C-SPAN regarding healthcare. Instead, under the cloak of mystery and more often than not, in the dark of night, the most important legislation of this administration has been passed. Thousands of pages of legislation that elected officials did not, could not, would not read – which, by the way, is their JOB, become unknown law.
Continuing proof of the failings of this administration and the diminishing popularity of a man who spent 147 working days in the United States Senate before kicking off his campaign to become the most powerful office holder in the free world is the repudiation against him this past November. Reliably dark blue New Jersey elected Republican Chris Christie as governor even after numerous visits by Obama himself for the incumbent.
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, the entire GOP ticket led by our newly sworn in Governor Bob McDonnell, swept to victory in a landslide, decrying those who said the once dependably red state was turning blue. Virginia elected two Democrat senators and voted for its first Democrat candidate for president since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
A further sign of the tarnishing of the Obama brand is his last minute visit to Massachusetts could not salvage the pitiful campaign run by Democrat Martha Coakley in her race against Republican Scott Brown in the special election to fill the Senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy. Brown, who ran a textbook campaign, will be the first Republican since Edward Brooke retired in 1979 to represent Massachusetts in the US Senate. The BayState, actually another commonwealth, runs three to one Democrat to Republican in voter registration. This should have been a rout, but the folks want REAL change, not just what’s left in their pockets by this disastrous first year of the Obama administration.
Tally in Obama’s personal appeal before the International Olympic Committee in his failed attempt to secure the 2016 Games for Chicago, and Obama is 0-4 with mid-terms in 10 months.
Remember, there’s no learning curve on this job. It’s , the phone is ringing and Obama is in Hawaii playing golf while a terrorist is making our Homeland Security people look foolish, except in the eyes of Janet Napolitano, who should also be standing on the unemployment line.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.
I am pleased to learn that Delegate Ken Plum (D-36) is at least willing to keep an open mind on the issue of charter schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He correctly pointed out that there are but three such institutions at work in Virginia, each located south of Richmond with a fourth slated to open during this calendar year in the Richmond area.
There is a reason there are so few charter schools operating in Virginia. As someone seeking to open a charter school in Northern Virginia, I naturally, have been doing my homework. (I have also taught in both public and charter schools in MD and DC.) In reading the Code of Virginia's 10 pages concerning charter schools, a three-word headline can be used to sum up why there are a mere three in the Commonwealth: Fox Guards Henhouse.
One of the reasons there are so few charter schools is that approval from local schools boards in the jurisdiction where a charter is to be located is mandated. So, the first step must be to rid local school boards of such destructive power. It is destructive as competition is the bellwether of America as a whole and such a level of competition amongst schools will only help create better schools, better students and ultimately a better society.
Public charter schools ought to have autonomy to operate as they wish as long as they are able to produce results in keeping within the standards under which all Virginia public school students are expected to perform.
Public schools are too often handcuffed by bureaucracy limiting their movements and actions, while charter schools, at least to the extent I experienced in DC, had a greater degree of flexibility and independence even in spite of their faults as institutions.
Governor-elect Bob McDonnell campaigned in support of charter school expansion this past fall. A commission needs to be established next Tuesday - day one of the new administration and amending the Code of Virginia should be amended to pave the way for smoother road for charter schools to take their rightful place in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria. He has a Masters in Education.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." – President Ronald Reagan
Thank You, Veterans
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
November 9, 2009
While the tragedy of the Fort Hood terror-murders are still fresh wounds emblazoned in our collective minds and consciousness, the men and women in uniform there as well as those wearing the Stars and Stripes the world over past and present are to be honored this November 11 – Veterans’ Day.
From the Revolutionary War, solidifying our freedoms as outlined by the Founding Fathers in separation from Great Britain, through to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, men and women have fought for freedom at home and overseas. Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Reserves have served under the most extreme conditions and must be thanked for their service.
Although this is not a political tome, we the people of the United States owe a debt to the brave men and women who have answered their nation’s call. It is imperative that our servicemen and women be paid more than a simple living wage, be covered with medical and health care that does not leave them in rat and roach-infested sub-standard hospitals, or on the streets with no care at all, and provides for them an education to afford them the opportunity at second careers.
Veterans with a well-deserved G.I. Bill will pay it forward multi-fold by getting good jobs and not becoming a drain on the American economy. Such jobs can lead to veterans having the opportunity to strike out on their own, hire other job seekers, and keep them off the government dole.
My fellow Americans, say “thank you” to veterans you encounter, not just on Veterans’ Day, but every day. They will not only appreciate it, they have earned it.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.
For my grandparents it was December 7, 1941. For my parents it was November 22, 1963 and July 20, 1969. For us it will always be September 11, 2001.
Dates that define a generation.
Whether it was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as the impetus to the United States’ full scale involvement in World War II, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and landing a man on the moon punctuating the turbulence that was the ‘60s, or the most horrific and worst attacks perpetrated against this nation by a foreign enemy on our soil, ask Americans where they were on those pivotal dates and there will be no hesitation in an answer.
Working on a deadline, I wrote from home that day finalizing my news articles when the attacks on the WorldTradeCenter came across the Fox News Channel playing in the background. Then the Pentagon was struck; and finally the plane crash in Pennsylvania. From that moment, everything changed. We were at war and the signs were visible. Immediately reporters from the newspaper for which I worked were dispatched throughout the various communities we covered. All other stories were back-burnered.
For me, that community was Herndon, and upon first notice, the streets around downtown were abandoned, save for a sight I had not seen there before. Members of the Herndon Police Department patrolled the streets with large firearms. The friendly-faced uniformed officers, never looked more serious in their diligence to ensure the public safety on that day and the days to follow.
We came together as a nation to mourn the loss of nearly 3,000 human beings – mostly Americans, but all living in America, some from the countries that spawned the evil that had been perpetrated upon this nation. I don’t know anyone who does not have a personal connection to September 11, 2001 – whether they lost a loved one, survived the attacks themselves or currently serves in the armed forces as a result of the attacks.
There was a call to arms that day and the nation responded without asking political parties. Just as the day after Franklin Roosevelt declared that December 7 was a “date which will live in infamy,” Congress declared war on Japan by a unanimous vote, save for one member of the House.
(That member was Jeannette Rankin (R-MT), the first woman elected to Congress, who said after her “nay” vote, that “as a woman I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.”)
The vote to enter WWII involved no party jockeying; it was a unified decision to protect and defend the nation.
When JFK was assassinated, the nation mourned as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans. The citizens, the regular folks, are not behaving in a political manner as we embark upon the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
September 11 has since been appropriately labeled Patriot’s Day. It is a day that should be reserved for remembering the fallen – those who lost their lives that day, and those who continue to lose their lives fighting in the global war on terror. September 11, 2009 should not be a day for rallying people to support a political agenda or demonizing a news network as the Obama administration is doing.
“Organizing for America,” an organization linked to the Obama administration via its website BarackObama.com, has called for using September 11 as a day to call senators in support of the Obama-care and also get out a message to “fight back against our own Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists who are subverting the American Democratic Process, whipped into a frenzy by their Fox Propaganda Network ceaselessly re-seizing power for their treacherous leaders.”
While this administration sullies the memories of the victims of the enemy attacks on American soil with its politicization of Patriot Day-irrelevant issues and denigration a media outlet whose job it is to keep the American people informed, it is also on a quest to reduce this nation’s military capabilities in a manner detrimental to our safety.
I offer this non-political notion from Ronald Reagan, who called for “peace through strength.” On this September 11, remember the fallen, forget the politics.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.
Much akin to throwing the Christians to the Lions, and by Lions I mean the winless 2008 Detroit Lions, so anemic they haven’t the will to devour their potential prey, US Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia’s eighth Congressional District faced a mostly convivial if not staged audience Tuesday night at SouthLakesHigh School in Reston.
People began arriving before on Tuesday for an event that was slated for a kickoff with doors opening at According to Moran’s official website, the event would be limited to residents of the eighth district and they would be asked for identification in an effort to ensure seating for the Congressman’s constituents. That turned out to part of the smoke and mirrors that was this town hall meeting as several Moran staffers handed out slips of paper for folks to write their addresses and IDs were not checked, except for one gentleman, whose ID was examined specifically by Moran himself, later in the evening.
Then there were the Obama minions handing out a couple thousand pre-printed signs supporting his health care program sponsored by Organizing for America, an Obama political action group. They also had several tables set up near the school’s entrance to sign people up for something or another. Plus, there was a large group of Obama supporters attempting to circumvent the line by going to the locked doors, asking security to allow them entrance because they were “with the group.” When denied entrance, they simply stood at the doors in front of the folks who had stood in line for nearly three hours.
Somehow, although I was close enough to the front of the line to touch the door, upon entering the building and then the gymnasium, the first five rows were already filled with Obama/Moran/health care supporters and their signs to put on a good show for the cameras, of which there were plenty.
For those who have been accusing the people who are opposed to Obama-care of behaving like a mob and acting un-American for daring to demonstrate dissent, let the record show that the pro-Obama-care forces, who outnumbered the opposition about eight to one of the crowd of nearly 3,000, were behaving in a mob-like fashion. They shouted “yes we can,” drowning out the room in what some may have described as a pep rally atmosphere. Quite frankly, with the cacophony of angry shouts and chants the atmosphere mirrored that of a union meeting full of recently laid off auto workers – and no offense to auto workers.
This is not to say that the people opposed to Obama-care behaved like perfect angels, but theirs was more reactionary than antagonistic as some of the pro-Obama-care forces demonstrated. Quite frankly, it is because of such ill-conceived legislation that people have attended these meetings en masse to demonstrate their outrage and ask questions of their legislators and actually expect answers.
At one point a crowd gathered near the front of the room during one of the chanting battles and without any instigation or provocation, a woman in her late 50s to early 60s with a hideous red dye job poked a man with her cane. Later in the evening the same woman used profanity toward several anti-Obama-care forces. Later still, she used her professionally made sign to block the gentleman sitting behind her from using his video camera. When he moved, she moved, and so on.
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, also a doctor, was on hand to assist Moran with details about Obama-care. When he was introduced at about , nearly an hour into the scheduled two-hour event, that began 10 minutes late in the first place, the polarizing figure drew more boos than applause, and this was a favorable Obama-care crowd. A group sitting two rows behind me stood up and began chanting “we won’t pay for murder,” in reference to Dean’s apparent support of federally funded abortions as part of Obama-care. This went on for more than five minutes until FairfaxCounty police “escorted” the chanters out of the room.
During the chanting, a swarm of media converged around them with cameras and microphones, but not all the photographers were members of the media. One woman in particular, working for no media outlet, stood about a foot from me – I was seated during this near-mêlée, observing and taking notes – readying to take my picture. While I am not camera averse, I saw no reason to be photographed by some random woman. I put my hand up between my face and her camera – touching neither her or her camera. She in turn put her hand up to my face, swore at me and then gave me the one-fingered salute as she retreated.
So unpopular was Dean, that when Moran passed one constituent’s question to Dean, the constituent objected saying he did not want to hear from Dean, but from Moran, his elected representative. Dean did admit that the drug industry does better as a for profit entity. But then reverted back to form when he said he does not think insurance companies should be for profit, much to the delight of the Obama-care supporters.
Another battle that ensued also came from people sitting one row in front of me and one row behind me. Yes, in the sixth row, I had a delightful ring side seat. My new friend Tito, a Colombian native who also lived in Venezuela prior to becoming a US citizen and now owns a construction business, shouted “liar,” with each explanation offered by Moran for what he called “myths” about HR 3200, the health care bill. The folks sitting a row in front of me, supporters of Obama-care, detecting Tito’s obvious Hispanic accent, shouted at him to shut up and go home. In fact, any time opposition was expressed, Obama-care supporters simply yelled shut up and more often than not, had no facts on which to base their support of Obama-care.
The problem is that an overwhelming number of Obama-care supporters are young people living in the generation of government support from womb to tomb and cradle to grave – nothing at all like the intentions of the Founding Fathers. That a public option could even be considered when it has the potential to eradicate private insurance and become a government monopoly is unconstitutional, yet there is nary a challenge to this notion.
In addition to the professionally made signs supporting Obama-care, the most creative came from the anti-Obama-care people who brought their handmade signs with them. Some of the signs read: “Obamacare will destroy my business,” “Dissent IS American,” “Doctor’s oath: do no harm – Congress’ oath: spend, spend, spend,” “Obamanomics – trickle-up poverty,” “My health, not your power,” “Euthanize socialist health care,” and one held by a young man on crutches: “Cripples Against Obamacare.” He said being handicapped, it was his prerogative to use the word crippled.
Overall, this was a pro-Obama-care crowd and that was evident from the outset and the words offered by Rabbi Robert Nosanchuk of the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation. Crossing the line of church-state with his prayer calling for health care reform, saying “health care needs help,” the rabbi’s words drew jeers from some of the crowd, demonstrative of the evening that followed. And quite frankly, the rabbi wasn’t all that pleasant after the event when I approached him to verify the correct spelling of his name – something any responsible writer would do. He wanted my name, who I was with and then guided me to the congregation’s website to garner such information. Only when I asked him about someone connected to his congregation, did he acquiesce.
Early on, Moran said “dissent is as American as apple pie,” to which came the shouted response, “tell Pelosi.” Moran followed with “the voices of the American people should not be silenced,” and again the response of “tell Pelosi” could be heard loud and clear.
Yet is was Moran himself who attempted to squelch the voice of one of his own constituents during the all too brief question and answer period during the last half hour of the two-hour event. My new friend Roland Tulino sitting next to me, had his name drawn from the box to ask his question. He had also been rather vocal during the event leading up to the Q and A session. Upon arriving to the dais to take the microphone, Moran accused Tulino of being an imposter and asked him for identification. Having showing it to Moran, Tulino then asked Moran for his ID, but was rebuffed. Several minutes after asking his question Tulino received a public apology from Moran for the previous exchange, which Tulino accepted.
This is just demonstrative of elected officials who so rarely descend from their ivory towers to mix and mingle with the folks. The less than friendly banter between the pro-Obama-care and the anti-Obama-care contingents battled throughout the meeting, save for when the subject of tort reform was finally raised near the end of the evening. On this singular issue it was obvious that both forces could agree on one thing – all have a common enemy – lawyers. All in all, however, what the event lacked in civility and potential progress, it certainly made up for with grandstanding and political theater of the absurd.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer living in Alexandria, VA and an 8th District resident.
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) demonstrates how her permanent residence in her ivory tower sneering down upon the minions beneath her has affected her perspective, when she liberally accuses American citizens of having mob mentality for simply exercising their rights to free speech and expression as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Remember the Constitution? It’s that pesky little document that has stood the test of time since 1787, but has slowly been torn asunder and ignored since January 20, 2009.
Perhaps the Shrieker of the House needs a refresher course in the Constitution of the United States. Perhaps she needs to actually mingle amongst the people who send her to Washington every two years and find out what’s really on their minds. Perhaps she needs to have Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) join her on a listening tour to see that the “well dressed” protesters are not Nazis wielding swastikas, torches and pitchforks traipsing through the villages scaring the women and children.
Where were Pelosi, Boxer, et al during the George W. Bush administration when their supporters liberally paraded around following Bush from appearance to appearance carrying swastika-laden signs, pictures depicting Bush with Hitleresque mustaches and Bush side by side with Hitler? There was no condemnation, just the defense of the protesters’ freedom of speech and expression.
Well, many of the people currently protesting, in an appropriate and legal fashion, are women – businesswomen, women who are doctors, mothers, students and children who are old enough to know better than the average member of Congress that Obama-care is a farce and will bankrupt this nation. These are real people with genuine concerns.
The Organizer in Chief seems only to support the notion of citizens taking to the streets and town hall meetings to protest issues that he deems appropriate for objection. It seems to many of us who are literate that Obama-care is a form of eugenics, a life and death controlling system run by government and a litany of bureaucrats who have little to no connection to the medical field.
Obama, Pelosi and Boxer need to read some American history – they’ve got time since they are clearly not reading the legislation they advocate, write and support. They need to read the part about protesters being the epitome of Americana. They need to read the part about how the United States would not be the United States were it not for the John Adamses, Sam Adamses, Thomas Jeffersons, James Madisons, Thomas Paines and George Washingtons taking up the call for freedom and liberty – all starting with protests, pamphlets and passion. They need to remember that were it not for protests, the battle for independence would never have taken place and they would still be driving on the left side of the road speaking British-English.
There is nothing un-American about the peaceful gathering of American citizens at their Congressman’s town hall meeting and demanding answers. They work for us! We hired them in November 2008 and we can fire them in November 2010. They are answerable to the people, not the other way around. If your member of Congress is not holding a town hall meeting, call his or her office and DEMAND one – it’s your right to get answers. When people like Pelosi, Boxer, Harry Reid (D-NV) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) say they don’t understand the so-called anger and vitriol of their constituents, and dismiss it as manufactured, it’s because they are out of touch with what is on the minds of the voters. Hoyer actually called a group of protesters “rabid” adding that “normal citizens do not behave this way.”
If their behavior was untoward it was provoked and manifested by an administration ignoring the people. Yet, in reality this was simply a group of American citizens attending a town hall meeting demanding answers from the elected representatives who have been dodging their responsibilities, and must be held accountable.
For the majority of you reading this, you live in the 8th Congressional District of Virginia. Representative Jim Moran is holding a town hall meeting on Tuesday, August 25 from , at SouthLakesHigh School located at 11400 South Lakes Drive, Reston. Moran will be joined by the screamer, Howard Dean, who is by trade, a doctor. As the great radio host Bob Grant says, “your influence counts – use it!”
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.
