# The numbnut who had the freakout at the Arlen Specter townhall meeting **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 12, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206 "2009-08-12T19:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/101 "2009-08-13T01:20:21Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Your post is our cite. Your post is your cite that you are a complete fool. Don’t you think that to be a Republican one must have at least voted for a single Republican at some point in their lives? I’ve never done that. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/102 "2009-08-13T01:22:01Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > No, you are confusing the way actual Obama supporters look at him with the fantasy version that the right wing has been pushing. It’s the right not the left that talks about how the left looks at Obama as some sort of Messiah or whatever. Which is extra amusing since that exactly the way the Right looked towards Reagan and Bush II; as God-chosen messiahs, and people that God demands you vote for. > > They ( and apparently you ) are projecting their own behavior onto others, that’s all. I have just decided that Liberal is the face of the Democrats in the 21st Century. Therefore, you are so very wrong. Also, it’s nice that you chastize people for projecting the behavior of one person onto others while supporting the idea that these muppets somehow say something about all Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/103 "2009-08-13T01:27:29Z")
> [@](#): > > …Much like at life, you have failed. Dude, way harsh! Man, that’s gonna leave a mark, savage wit like that! Hey, **Lobo** , need someone to talk to, help you get over this, I’m here… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/104 "2009-08-13T01:27:46Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > I still can’t figure out how Obama has broken his “oweth”. > > Gotta love that PA accent. Craig probably needed a glass of wudder after that. As someone with a PA accent (well, a Pittsburgh one), I would like to clarify that not ALL of us are complete fucking nutjobs. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and give birth to the Messiah and ascend into the Heavens. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/105 "2009-08-13T01:30:12Z")
I’ve sat through that video. I think Craig Miller’s point is simply that he’s afraid that the Obama administration is going to make him go back on his meds. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/106 "2009-08-13T01:37:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Dude, way harsh! Man, that’s gonna leave a mark, savage wit like that! Hey, **Lobo** , need someone to talk to, help you get over this, I’m here… Sniff… I don’t know man, I just don’t know… Okay, I’m better. [Blows nose] I’m okay. I would also like to say, I know that there are smart Republicans out there. They are the ones manipulating the hooples into rioting against their self interest. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/107 "2009-08-13T01:38:55Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > As someone with a PA accent (well, a Pittsburgh one), I would like to clarify that not ALL of us are complete fucking nutjobs. Do your clpothes need worshed? Oh, and why the hell are people still feeding the t **RR** oll? Tjere’s anignore list for a reason, after all. Eventually he’ll take his (diamond-encrusted) ball and go home. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/108 "2009-08-13T01:42:37Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I would also like to say, I know that there are smart Republicans out there. They are the ones manipulating the hooples into rioting against their self interest. Why do you think the muppets are rioting against their self-interest? They want limited government. UHC would drasticly expand government. Sounds like it’s in their self-interest to me. Also, liberal douches have had a codependent relationship with the poor for years that is exactly what you describe the Republicans are doing. The Democrats are like heroin dealers that get the poor on the smack so they keep pulling the lever for another hit, when it would be better for them if the government wasn’t there to prevent the consequences of their bad decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/109 "2009-08-13T02:08:33Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I haven’t completely abandoned hope that one day, with determination and a bit of luck, you will succeed in concocting a “defense” to bad behavior by your ideological brethren that amounts to something other than “well, some Democrat/liberal somewhere did something bad once too!” Once! Once!! Hell, this kind of shit has been de rigueur for your side for forty years! As **luci** himself so surprisingly admitted not long ago, “a determined minority trumps an apathetic majority”, and shit like this is exactly how you people have managed to so thoroughly fuck things up in this country for so long. And now that the tables have been turned and you no longer have a lock on the media, judgeships, and demonstrations but find these very weapons turned against you for a change, you cry like babies and wail _“How can intelligent people act like this? They must be morons!”_ Well, welcome to how we’ve been viewing you for decades. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/110 "2009-08-13T02:19:28Z")
It could very well be that Mr. Miller is not in fact a Republican (I didn’t notice if his party affiliation had been mentioned). Nevertheless, in the absence some clear statement on this point most people are going to assume he is Republican, and that therefore he is indeed one of the faces of the Republican party. It seems to me that the remaining Republicans who are not in fact blithering morons should maybe think about that a bit, and perhaps consider disavowing the tactics of Mr. Miller and his like. As far as I’m concerned, point stands pretty much regardless of party affiliation. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/111 "2009-08-13T02:20:14Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Why do you think the muppets are rioting against their self-interest? They want limited government. Oh, baloney. A huge number of the people whining about UHC - Starving Artist, for example - are Medicare fogeys. They just don’t want any new programs that might take away from the huge government program that only benefits them. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/112 "2009-08-13T02:48:19Z")
BWAHAHAHAHA! So, apart from the fact that this is ridiculous on the face of it, you are admitting that the health plan that Obama and the Democratic Congress are attempting to foist off on us at breakneck speed is even worse than Medicare? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/113 "2009-08-13T02:50:32Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I have just decided that Liberal is the face of the Democrats in the 21st Century. Therefore, you are so very wrong. You don’t get to just declare one not particularly representative person the face of anything. > [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Also, it’s nice that you chastize people for projecting the behavior of one person onto others while supporting the idea that these muppets somehow say something about all Republicans. The “muppets” who comprise most of the party certainly say a lot about what the Republicans stand for. And neither of your complaints actually had much to do with what I said, anyway. > [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Why do you think the muppets are rioting against their self-interest? Because opposing UHC _is_ against most of their own self interest. They are doing so because they are fools, or fanatics. And the rest are hypocrits who just don’t want affordable government supplied health care for _ **other** _ people, as **RickJay** said. > [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Also, liberal douches have had a codependent relationship with the poor for years that is exactly what you describe the Republicans are doing. The Democrats are like heroin dealers that get the poor on the smack so they keep pulling the lever for another hit, when it would be better for them if the government wasn’t there to prevent the consequences of their bad decisions. No, the poor would just suffer and die, just like they did before the government started stepping is. Which is of course what you want; I’ve yet to come across a Randian who wasn’t outright malignant, and you are no exception. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/114 "2009-08-13T02:52:34Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > So, apart from the fact that this is ridiculous on the face of it, you are admitting that the health plan that Obama and the Democratic Congress are attempting to foist off on us at breakneck speed is even worse than Medicare? It’s ridiculous? Really? Well, are you gonna turn down Medicare benefits? And no, I’m not admitting or denying such a thing. In fact, it is entirely possible that this specific plan could be a very bad one (in part because it’s not really a coherent UHC system.) I’m simply making the factual observation that UHC is opposed by a lot of mortician bait who already get federally funded health care. Are you denying this is true? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/115 "2009-08-13T02:55:22Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > You don’t get to just declare one not particularly representative person the face of anything. Glad you agree with me then that these muppets are not the face of the Republican party just because the OP says they are. > [@](#): > > No, the poor would just suffer and die, just like they did before the government started stepping is. Which is of course what you want; I’ve yet to come across a Randian who wasn’t outright malignant, and you are no exception. No, they wouldn’t be poor. You and the other liberal douches only see results and what is, you don’t see processes and what came before. People make choices based on their perceptions of the results of those choices. If you pay people to do nothing, you end up with a lot of people that do nothing. You think that stopping the payments means they will still do nothing, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think they’ll get jobs and become productive members of society like the rest of us. And then you say that I am the one that hates poor people. I want to treat poor people like people. You want to treat them like pets. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/116 "2009-08-13T02:57:00Z")
Medicare was a lot better before 1968, then the hippies fucked it up. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/117 "2009-08-13T03:03:41Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s ridiculous? Really? Well, are you gonna turn down Medicare benefits? > > And no, I’m not admitting or denying such a thing. In fact, it is entirely possible that this specific plan could be a very bad one (in part because it’s not really a coherent UHC system.) I’m simply making the factual observation that UHC is opposed by a lot of mortician bait who already get federally funded health care. Are you denying this is true? Yeah, I’m denying it’s true. I’ve been opposed to Social Security/Medicare since I was in my teens. And seeing the treatment and benefits my older relatives and acquaintances have received as a result of having to pay so much into those systems all their lives, I was right. And you can bet that after having to pay into those programs what I have, I will extract whatever benefits I can, though seeing as how my doctor is one of the many who won’t see Medicare patients because of its red tape, treatment restrictions and paltry fees, I will have to pay out-of-pocket in order to continue to see him. Yea, Medicare! ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/118 "2009-08-13T03:04:19Z")
And another thing, Der Trihs . . . Another thing that is telling about your philosophy is that you think I want poor people to die just because I don’t want the government to redistribute wealth by making cash handouts to poor people. This shows that your whole perspective on poor people is that they only get what the government gives them. And yet you insist that I hate poor people. Please. The man that gives his child everything his child wants or needs and doesn’t teach his child anything hates his child. I’m more like the man that teaches his child how the world really works and inspires his child to be independent and take responsibility for the child’s actions. That is true love–equipping a person to be everything they can be. But no, you’d rather that your group stay in power, so you want the poor to stay on a leash so you can drag them to the voting booth every few years. \*\*\*YOU \*\*\*hate poor people. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/119 "2009-08-13T03:07:25Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > And seeing the treatment and benefits my older relatives and acquaintances have received as a result of having to pay so much into those systems all their lives, I was right. Please expound. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/120 "2009-08-13T03:14:28Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Yesterday I was watching this dude shrilly scream at the Arlen Specter townhall meeting. Today they had him on Morning Meeting and interviewed him. It was one of the most painful interviews I’ve ever seen in my life. > > The guy doesn’t even know why he’s pissed off. He has some notion about Obama breaking his oath of office based on appointing czars. He’s a frightened child driven to hysterics by the right’s bogey stories. This is the face of the 21st century Republican base. > > So, I’d like to pit the vacant and worthless Craig Miller, willing victim of the Republican lie-mongering. > > [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/32386333#32386333](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/32386333#32386333) \<– The video. Well RAND ROVER finally has a face. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206.md?page=7)