# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/141 "2009-08-13T11:19:38Z")
> [@SmashTheState](#): > > What really fascinates me is the ability of the rabid right to hold two entirely opposite ideas at the same time, both at fanatical levels of belief: “Our enemies are nearly omnipotent, are hidden everywhere in vast uncountable numbers, and threaten us at every turn with total destruction” and “We are all-powerful and all-knowing, invulnerable to harm, and our enemies are weak and small in number.” > > I am baffled at how these people manage to simultaneously hold both beliefs, and often state them in the same breath without seeming to realize they are mutually exclusive. It reminds me of a conversation I once had with a racist Amerikan neo-con who referred to Mexikans as “human garbage.” When I asked him why, he said, without the slightest irony, “They come here, take all our jobs, and they’re all lazy and on welfare.” You forgot the “our political opponents are bleeding heart limp wristed francophile panty waists and our enemies will steamroll right over them, destroy our country, and impregnate our women/ our political opponents want to take away our guns, kill our babies, force us all to get gay married, and install a tyrannical socialist one world government under the unholy triumvirate of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Ellen Degeneres.” With all that going on, it’s no wonder we can’t get a health care bill passed. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/142 "2009-08-13T12:28:37Z")
> [@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. Heh. Yeah, I know, I grew up outside Philly. 😃 When I hear the accent, it reminds me of home. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/143 "2009-08-13T12:48:36Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > **Starvin’** , how would elderly people live without Social Security? Medicare? Seriously, how can they buy food and pay for a place to live? The way they did before- they would move in with their adult children. That right there makes Social Security worth it to me, even if I never see a dime of what I put in. My parents are able to live an independent life without my (direct) support. ---
**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, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/144 "2009-08-13T13:03:10Z")
> [@SmashTheState](#): > > It reminds me of a conversation I once had with a racist Amerikan neo-con who referred to Mexikans as “human garbage.” When I asked him why, he said, without the slightest irony, “They come here, take all our jobs, and they’re all lazy and on welfare.” Did he just actually say “Mexikans”? _snicker_ ---
**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, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/145 "2009-08-13T13:12:44Z")
> [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](#): > > The way they did before- they would move in with their adult children. > > That right there makes Social Security worth it to me, even if I never see a dime of what I put in. My parents are able to live an independent life without my (direct) support. Tell me about it. For some reason I’ve flashed on this vision of **Starving Artist** sitting at my breakfast table in a worn-out plaid bathrobe, slowly eating a poached egg and bitching about how there’s nothing worth listening to on the radio since Paul Harvey kicked it. _shudder_ Seriously, though, I’d rather see social security structured more like an interest-bearing retirement account. I was very late starting a 401(K), and right now I don’t see any way I could live without great hardship on SS alone. ---
**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, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/146 "2009-08-13T14:58:09Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > No apology necessary. I’m sure he meant no offense… Thick as a brick, are you? Didn’t get the point? Let me break it down for you. You have a habit of dropping “just so” bombs, you tell us things that run contrary to any reasonable understanding. Which would be ok if you could prove any of it, or bothered to try. Apparently, you think that your status as a reactionary curmudgeon exempts you from such tiresome, but customary, rituals like citation. While I don’t doubt that your encyclopedic grasp is much admired by literally several Dopers, not all of us share that view. With all due awe, a statement like “SS is not popular” requires a bit more than your bland assertion. How about this for a compromise? On the occasions when you cannot be bothered with citation or evidence, might you note your assertions with the acronym “WFA” for “World’s Foremost Authority”? For the common, run-of-the-mall Doper “My post is my cite!” is functional and appropriate, we award you this special distinction in deference to your service against Kaiser Bill, and the awesome respect and admiration you have accorded yourself. ---
**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, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/147 "2009-08-13T14:58:21Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > **Starvin’** , how would elderly people live without Social Security? Medicare? Seriously, how can they buy food and pay for a place to live? OMG how can people have money for food if the government doesn’t give it to them OMG ---
**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, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/148 "2009-08-13T15:02:21Z")
Or we could dismember all the lawyers, and sell them for parts? Hey, free market solution! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/149 "2009-08-13T15:09:07Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > 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! That’s funny, my dentist friend takes Medicare patients specifically because the supposed “red tape” of dealing with Medicare is far less than the flaming hoops all the different insurance companies force him to jump through to get reimbursed. He has one person on his office staff to handle the Medicare contact in addition to answering phones and other office work, compared to the three people it took to deal with the insurance companies. The thing about Medicare is this: nobody gets a bonus to deny you coverage. So he did the math, and found he made more money handling Medicare when you figure in the cost of collecting that money. That, and he’s more likely to make the life of a fellow human being better on an average day instead of spending all day making somebody’s already white teeth even whiter. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/150 "2009-08-13T15:13:19Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I’ve decided that you’re the face of my toilet bowl. This has made the passing of wastes in the Lobohan house quite the happy time. Now please go tie some dental floss tightly around your scrotum so that you don’t inflict your degenerate genes on the world for another generation. Kay? Way to not get it! The OP decided that a crazy man is the face of the Republican Party for the 21st century and Rover did the same in return…So it’s ok when the OP does it but not when Rover does it? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/151 "2009-08-13T15:19:56Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > You know, I’d like to suggest that **Rand Rover** and **Der Trihs** attend a town hall meeting sometime You mean that guy ranting about czars and whatnot **wasn’t** RR? ---
**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, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/152 "2009-08-13T15:22:34Z")
No body on the left thinks Obama is a messiah. That is flaming right wing rhetoric. Many lefties are not happy with how he is caving to the HC lobbyists and potentially weakening the healthcare bill. Many are unhappy with his Afghan policy. Liberals question the bank bailout and lack of accountability. Lefties can question their leader without being called a traitor. ---
**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, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/153 "2009-08-13T15:27:06Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Lefties can question their leader without being called a traitor. Dude, lefties can’t question _anything_ without being labelled traitors. ---
**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, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/154 "2009-08-13T15:50:19Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Way to not get it! > > The OP decided that a crazy man is the face of the Republican Party for the 21st century and Rover did the same in return…So it’s ok when the OP does it but not when Rover does it? Actually, whether the OP thinks this mook is the face of the Republican party or not, he has become so in the eyes of many, due to his nationally-televised outburst and subsequent rambling, incoherent performance on that interview show. So, yeah, it’s OK if the OP does it, in this specific case. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/155 "2009-08-13T16:01:22Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Actually, whether the OP thinks this mook is the face of the Republican party or not, he has become so in the eyes of many, due to his nationally-televised outburst and subsequent rambling, incoherent performance on that interview show. Not only that, but if we think back just a few months, we recall another guy who made an idiot of himself on TV, and _actually_ became the face of the Republican Party- Joe the Plumber. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/156 "2009-08-13T16:01:23Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Actually, whether the OP thinks this mook is the face of the Republican party or not, he has become so in the eyes of many, due to his nationally-televised outburst and subsequent rambling, incoherent performance on that interview show. > > So, yeah, it’s OK if the OP does it, in this specific case. Yep and that’s the thing, whenever these mooks end up on the tube, they have the same MO. They don’t know the issue. They don’t know that Medicare is a government run program or don’t care as long as they get their cut. They don’t know what ‘socialism’ is. They want America to go back to the way it used to be and when asked actually what that means, they mumble something about the Constitution or spending and when reminded that they didn’t seem to mind so much about those things 8 years ago…their answer is, “it’s different, now.” That same lack of understanding that is reflected in the town meetings themselves. ---
**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, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/157 "2009-08-13T16:10:43Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Actually, whether the OP thinks this mook is the face of the Republican party or not, he has become so in the eyes of many, due to his nationally-televised outburst and subsequent rambling, incoherent performance on that interview show. > > So, yeah, it’s OK if the OP does it, in this specific case. :rolleyes: He may have "become so in the eyes of many,l but each of those many is using the same stupid analysis as is the OP (and the “many”) in this thread. A bunch of faulty thinking doesn’t add up to a clear and truthful conclusion. ---
**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, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/158 "2009-08-13T16:16:42Z")
Here’s another way to look at this–imagine the Supreme Court had a case before it and was seriously considering overturning Roe v. Wade. Do you think all of the liberals that would be interviewed would give calm and rational responses to each questiomn and would display a deep and nuanced knowledge of the case law before and after Roe and the implications thereof? I don’t. I’m sure some would, but there would certainly be a few that would make the guy in the OP’s video look like Socrates. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/159 "2009-08-13T16:20:11Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I’m sure some would, but there would certainly be a few that would make the guy in the OP’s video look like Socrates. I am finding it difficult to conceive of any such person. He could have spoken through a ventriloquist’s dummy and not seemed any less lucid. ---
**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, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206/160 "2009-08-13T16:39:47Z")
OK RNATB, you found one Republican muppet. Congratulations. Doesn’t mean he’s the “face of the Republican party” or anything like that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-numbnut-who-had-the-freakout-at-the-arlen-specter-townhall-meeting/506206.md?page=9)