Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
George Savage ·
July 1, 2010 at 6:54pm
Watch Representative Pete Stark (D, CA) eloquently address constituent concerns about illegal immigration. And, for most of you at least, be very, very happy that you live elsewhere.
- Comment (13)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (1)
Comments:
May '10
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
That hum in the background is the sound of the Founders whirling in their graves.
Unbelievable.
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
This guy is absolutely outrageous! The way he treats his constituents with such contempt should not be tolerated. I hope the good people of Fremont have the sense to throw the man out of office.
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
He's been there for 37 years. Thirty-seven years. He got to town in 1973, when people wore shoes like this:
He's an ossified, creepy, nasty, ugly piece of work. He's everything you hate about politics.
May '10
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
The contempt the constituents have is just as disgusting. They are acting like whiny brats, not letting him speak, and then saying "well, I just want to live my life and not be bothered" when asked for ideas on how they would do it. The conversation between the constituents is halfway interesting.
The "Bracero Program" ended in '64, but we still have guest workers.
Immigrants who get fake Social Security cards by definition pay taxes, but then cannot collect. http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2008-04-10-immigrantstaxes_N.htm
You want those great jobs? Here you go http://www.takeourjobs.org/
Oakland, San Francisco not deporting ...[citation needed]
Phoenix kidnapping? [citation needed] no, wait DEBUNKED. http://mediamatters.org/research/201006300072
And he calls everyone out on being armed. And gets a childish response from the crowd.
Then the slogans at the end. That was a disgusting display by the constituents.
The only one with any sensible question was the guy at the end, and he was pretty mean, too.
This is democracy folks. It's not always cheering and balloons. Get past the slogans and TALK.
Jun '10
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
I saw no contempt from the constituents. Any ideas presented were dismissed by Sarky Stark before the constituent could finish his sentence. He was obnoxious and I suspect dementia is setting in, as his reactions were so intense and his sarcasm so inappropriate.
Rob, those shoes are back in style. I showed them to my 19 year old daughter and she pronounced them to be "awesome." Stark, however, needs to be permanently retired.
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
So it's the constituents' fault? Yes, yes: Pete Stark is a prince:
Look, sure these things get heated. And I'm sure there's rudeness on both sides. But he is the guy in the arena. And has been since 1973. Lordly, haughty attitudes from guys like Stark don't inspire confidence that he's actually listening, or caring, about his constituents' issues. Getting past the slogans and talking with Pete Stark is a sheer impossibility:
May '10
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
Rob Long: So it's the constituents' fault? Yes, yes: Pete Stark is a prince:
Oh, hey! A misquote. C'mon, isn't this site supposed to be about dialog? See above: "...just as disgusting." Try and parse that again, ok?
As for that video - he came up with that retort out of nowhere? Interesting that some of his rational answers were edited out.
Didn't the 9/11 attackers have valid drivers license?
So it's "anyone but the incumbents". Sure, that's valid. You could, you know, cite his voting record or something.
He's not my rep, I don't know him from Adam. I'm just pointing out some weak sauce.
This Jan? He's rude and not listening. I'd toss him too.
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
Okay, I get it. They're "equally" awful. But I still don't see it. Maybe I'm bringing what I know about Pete Stark to the table, but there's something imperial and dismissive about the way he treats his constituents -- I mean, there's a reason this clip is getting so much play (not just here but back in the Bay Area, where he's from -- or was, before 1973). I mean, do you really think it's an even match? That his constituents were that rude -- that they refused to "pee on his leg?" I get the contrarian position -- but sometimes, the YouTube video really does tell the truth.
May '10
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
Did we hear the same recording? I thought the constituents were sufficiently respectful before the Congressman started treating them as if they were a bunch of nuts. My gosh, have we sunk so far that this insulting treatment by an elected representative is considered normal?
May '10
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
In the first clip it's fair that we didn't see the whole clip so we don't know what led up to that moment, or if the audience is holding up signs that say "Pete Stark is a baby killer," but the question was legitimate if combative and represented a missed opportunity for him to articulate his views on immigration in a positive way because of his defensive posture.
In the second example it was clearly a room of mostly confused old people. I think he could have won them over by acknowledging and addressing the spirit of their concerns, even if their exact point was a little muddled (what the man never had grandparents?) I don't think there is anything that would condone the peeing on the leg comment. He's the big man, he serves at their pleasure, if he can't hold it together to ease their concerns concerning a ginormous piece of legislation, then he shouldn't have even bothered to hold the town meeting in the first place.
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
Invincible ignorance I can live with -- in Silicon Valley entrepreneurial circles this is called "vision." But Stark's open contempt for certain of his constituents is anathema to republican government. A US representative -- any US representative -- must be expected to engage in civil discourse with disgruntled voters, no matter how off-putting. Any legislator temperamentally disinclined to deal with his opponents without recourse to crude slanders --
"Who you gonna kill today?" -- needs to retire to another line of work.
May '10
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
Ottoman Umpire
Did we hear the same recording? I thought the constituents were sufficiently respectful before the Congressman started treating them as if they were a bunch of nuts. My gosh, have we sunk so far that this insulting treatment by an elected representative is considered normal? · Jul 1 at 1:02pm
Well, we did and didn't see the same video. There's a lot of evidence about that people see what they are accustomed to seeing, or even what they want to see. I'm not saying I want to see that this guy is all sunshine and rainbows - clearly he has a temper. It was also clear to me that there were folks who were trying to get good questions out and there were others who really were trying to play "gotcha".
I thought their questioning was pretty harsh, and I do wonder how late in the session this was. 10 minutes out of how many total? I'm rather used to animated discussions, and having watched enough C-SPAN, I've seen quite a bit of rough and tumble in Congress.
May '10
Re: Lord Stark Meets the Peasants
"Who you gonna kill today?" -- needs to retire to another line of work. · Jul 1 at 7:58pm
Invincible Ignorance Oh, man, there's a term I hadn't heard in a while - perfect though!
Can't say I disagree with any of that. You started this conversation calling him aristocratic and overbearing (Lord meets the Peasants) - which kind of puts you at the name-calling level, too. I don't care for that kind of tactic. If you want someone out because he doesn't vote the way you like, then go with that. If you want him out because he's a b/trd, well, that's not enough to sway me, really. Sometimes you need a headcracker to be on your side.