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Disability advocates arrested during health care protest at McConnell’s office

Unitedwestand13 said:
People disabilities are having their lives put at risk because of the cuts contained in the healthcare bill, and yet McConnell did not bother to hear the concerns of people affected by those cuts.
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Debatable and somewhat hyperbolic.


Unitedwestand13 said:
Civil disobedience was the option available to them.
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And there are consequences to that.
 
Just further evidence that the First Amendment is a thing of the past.
 
Josie said:
And it's against the law.
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And does that nullify the reason for their protest? Does that make their objections to the GOP healthcare bill invalid?

Yes they were breaking the law through civil disobedience, but does that erase the reasons for their civil disobedience? No.
 
Unitedwestand13 said:
And does that nullify the reason for their protest? Does that make their objections to the GOP healthcare bill invalid?

Yes they were breaking the law through civil disobedience, but does that erase the reasons for their civil disobedience? No.
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I didn't say it did. You can protest anything you want - but you have to also follow the law while you do it.
 
Northern Light said:
Just further evidence that the First Amendment is a thing of the past.
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No it's not.
You can say what you want, just as long as you aren't blocking people and stopping the normal course of business.

You have to mind your words in court to.
It's otherwise called behaving reasonably.
 
Unitedwestand13 said:
They wanted to speak with McConnell at his office.

Is it illegal to assemble outside the office of a congress person.
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Then why didn't they schedule an appointment? Most liberals are unemployed and therefore don't have any concept of schedules or keeping time.
 
Unitedwestand13 said:
They did, but figured the best way to get an answer was to protest outside the offices of senator McConnell.
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Okay? And they were still breaking the law by blocking entrances and not letting people through.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
And that's great and all.
We all know how to behave and be polite in society, even when it comes to protesting.
The government has been well past being the "lawbreaker" and if this was the issue to protest them "lawbreaking" it was incredibly ****ty and counter productive.
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They weren't protesting the government breaking the law, they were protesting something that would directly affect them in a very bad way. The very reason we have a constitution in the first place. Why does how they protested offend you so much? Is it maybe because it's effective at establishing that this will affect real peoples lives, and that the people you support are doing actual harm. And then topped it off with arresting a bunch of disabled people.

All I've been hearing from the far right is, the left is getting violent, the left is out of control. They can't handle people with different ideas. As if the last 8 years didn't happen, and here we have the right showing their true colors once again. Reminding us that the far right will do or say anything, and they can't be trusted or believed.
 
reinoe said:
Then why didn't they schedule an appointment? Most liberals are unemployed and therefore don't have any concept of schedules or keeping time.
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This is stupid and isn't helpful at all.
 
ThoughtEx. said:
They weren't protesting the government breaking the law, they were protesting something that would directly affect them in a very bad way. The very reason we have a constitution in the first place. Why does how they protested offend you so much? Is it maybe because it's effective at establishing that this will affect real peoples lives, and that the people you support are doing actual harm. And then topped it off with arresting a bunch of disabled people.

All I've been hearing from the far right is, the left is getting violent, the left is out of control. They can't handle people with different ideas. As if the last 8 years didn't happen, and here we have the right showing their true colors once again. Reminding us that the far right will do or say anything, and they can't be trusted or believed.
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I never said I supported the bill.
I think using your disability for sympathy points is messed up and counter productive.
I support medical care for disabled people than is currently offered, but that is immaterial to my problem with these people.

You don't get out of being criticized for your behavior because you're disabled.
 
Josie said:
Okay? And they were still breaking the law by blocking entrances and not letting people through.
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McConnell did not make any attempt to meet with these disabled Americans. They felt that the only way to get McConnell to meet with them was to confront him directly at his offices

In their efforts to meet with McConnell they violated a law about obstructing passageways, but they were more concerned with getting McConnell to meet with them.
 
Josie said:
I didn't say it did. You can protest anything you want - but you have to also follow the law while you do it.
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You mean follow a law doing something guaranteed to have no laws diminishing or restricting it? No you don't have to follow the law diminishing or restricting it. And that's all this is.
 
ThoughtEx. said:
You mean follow a law doing something guaranteed to have no laws diminishing or restricting it? No you don't have to follow the law diminishing or restricting it. And that's all this is.
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What?
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
I never said I supported the bill.
I think using your disability for sympathy points is messed up and counter productive.
I support medical care for disabled people than is currently offered, but that is immaterial to my problem with these people.

You don't get out of being criticized for your behavior because you're disabled.
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Say's the libertarian defending the Government arresting people for a peaceful protest. Forgive me if I don't take you at your word toward your intentions.
 
ThoughtEx. said:
Say's the libertarian defending the Government arresting people for a peaceful protest. Forgive me if I don't take you at your word toward your intentions.
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When they're blocking entrances and not allowing people to move about freely, then it's an obstructive protest.
 
Josie said:
What?
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They were doing something guaranteed by the first amendment to have no laws diminishing or restricting it. Laws that say you can't obstruct commerce, traffic, passages while occupying a public space are in effect restricting those rights. It's how places like Russia justify setting up protest zones miles away, and media zones nowhere near the protest zones. And how the right has been trying to counter the recent tide of protests.

You don't have to follow a law that is unconstitutional, you can. But if you don't, and you're arrested you can fight it all the way to the supreme court, who will then make a judgement on it. It's how alot of major changes happen and is a part of how we adapt as a society. The same reasoning you're using, was used against Rosa Parks. She could have protested by not violating the law that says black people have to sit on the back of the bus. If she hadn't, then not fought her conviction with appeals til segregation on city buses was found unconstitutional. Our society would look completely different now.

So you can disobey a law restricting your rights. It's one of the few ways someone with zero money or power can effect real change.
 
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