At a townhall in Cincinnati, Republican Congressman Steve Chabot decided that people should not be allowed to videotape the event and had a police officer seize the camera of citizens recording the public event of a public figure inside of a public building:

What is even worse is the excuse given by Chabot’s spokesman:

Schwartz said that sometimes at the town hall meetings, citizens ask questions about their own personal situations and the Chabot staff did not want them videotaped. The media cameras were allowed to continue to roll, Schwartz said, “because they can be expected to respect people’s privacy.”

They are asking questions at a public townhall and they are pulling the privacy card. How stupid does Chabot’s people think we are?

This has to be one of the saddest periods in American history. We have a major political party hellbent on turning us into the Soviet States of America. We can’t video public events of public figures. We even have Republicans charging to talk to them now, and this is a Republican who the right was pushing to run for President!

I want to know how anyone can say they are for freedom when they support these people? The very basis of our Constitution is a representative government and we have Republicans now trying to destroy that. That is not the America I one knew and it sure as hell isn’t the one our founding fathers fought for. 

But there’s something more troubling here. It’s not the fact that the atrocities against our Constitution are occurring at the hands of our elected leaders. Instead the real crime comes from the media. If we were talking about Democratic members of Congress here then the right would be up in arms. The “liberal” media would be covering this 24/7 and there would be calls for Nancy Pelosi’s head. Instead we have Republicans engaging in this and the lamestream media is silent on the stories. It’s just like the people getting pissed off at Republican townhalls. We sure as hell don’t see that on FOX or even MSNBC, yet when people were pissed at Democratic townhalls two years ago, that’s all we saw on the news. 

I know there will be Republican apologists making up all kinds of excuses for this lack of respect for the basis of our nation. To them I must say I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you have such little respect for America and her beliefs that you will are willing to ignore it in the name of your hatred for a difference of opinions. And if you think I’m being mean here, then explain to me how a democracy is supposed to function with the silence of the opposition? That’s exactly what is occurring in America today and it is an extremely scary thing.