Democrat House Member: Sen. Grassley Is A Traitor For Opposing Obama Care

You may remember Rep. Eric Massa from his comment that he would be wiling to vote against his district's wishes when it comes to health care*.

Well it turns out at the same Nutroots conference he also said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa committed an "act of treason" for suggesting that Obama Care will be bad for old people.

It turns out Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) made more waves at the Netroots Nation conference on Saturday, accusing Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) of "treason" for saying that health reform would result in doctors "pulling the plug on grandma."

"I mean what Grassley said the other day was an act of treason. I'm sorry. It's not being called on," the outspoken Democrat said to a group of liberal activists.

The Senate Finance Committee chair made his claims about the end-of-life provisions in the House healthcare bill last Wednesday, but retracted his claims later in the week.

Massa is not an important guy but this is a great example of how the Democrats constantly project their true nature on Republicans. For 8 years we heard nothing but baseless accusations from the left about how Bush and Cheney were questioning the patriotism of anyone who opposed the war in Iraq. Alas, they never could provide an actual example of that.

Yet here is the new darling of the nutters actually declaring it treason to engage in debate against Obama.

Treason is actually defined in the Constitution

Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

I'd love for Rep. Massa to explain how what Grassley said fits this definition.

I'm guessing if anyone noticed this it would be brushed off as over heated rhetoric, nothing to see here. You know, like the MSM said about Palin and her "death panels", even though accusing someone of treason is far more serious than characterizing a policy initiative.

It's almost as if there's a double standard or something.

*I don't have a problem per se with a Congressman voting against what he thinks his district wants.

First of all, it's nearly impossible to tell with any certainty on any issue how a congressional district, state or the country comes down on a given bill or issue.

Second, we don't have a direct democracy, we have a representative one. Part of that is our representatives are elected to exercise our power to the best of their judgement. Elections are the time when the voters get to exercise their authority and pass judgement.

Third, leadership often requires going against the momentary "will of the people". Ask George W. Bush about that. We cheered him for his commitment to victory in Iraq when the polls said pull out.

I don't like Massa's stand on health care (or likely anything else) but the principle is the same.

posted by DrewM. at 12:05 PM

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