Maxine Waters on ObamaCare Protests: 'I Sent Them a Message ... Don't Try That With Maxine Waters'

If there's a single member of the House Democratic caucus who personifies the official leftist thug political identity, Representative Maxine Waters should be at the top of the list.

Well it turns out that Waters held an ObamaCare town hall today at L.A.'s Southwest College. The Los Angeles Times reports approvingly on Waters' public option absolutism, "Rep. Maxine Waters a Hard-Liner for Public Healthcare Option." But the story at the local Daily Breeze really captures the parochial nature of congressional politics, and also Waters' authoritarian style:

In a departure from what has become a familiar scene in the national debate over health care, nobody clashed at a town hall meeting hosted by South Bay Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters on Saturday.

Instead, the more than 400 people who attended the event at Los Angeles Southwest College near Inglewood applauded, chanted and gave standing ovations during Waters' presentation, which lasted far longer than the two hours it was scheduled for.

"The health care system is broken and it's got to be fixed," she said. "It's not simply about the 47 million people who are uninsured, it's about people who can afford health care, who are paying premiums every month but finding that their premium costs keep increasing. God forbid you have a catastrophe."

In good spirits, Waters said she had a theory why the tense atmosphere of other meetings was absent from Saturday's event.

"I sent them a message," she said to cheers. "Don't try that with Maxine Waters."

Other politicians have faced angry questioners when they hosted similar events in recent weeks. And protesters have used the events as opportunities to criticize not only health care reform, but other policies of President Barack Obama.

But Waters' audience was on her side. They carried signs saying "Who would Jesus not insure?" and "Stand together." Many of the cars in the parking lot had Obama bumper stickers.

The only time they booed was when Waters mentioned Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, who helped popularize the idea that "death panels" would decide end-of-life issues for seniors.

Be sure to check the photo slide-show at the article. Waters' constituency is likely a prototypical "public option" demographic - low SES and radicalized by hard-left ideologies (for some evidence of the latter point, see this report from the event, "Maxine Water's Town Hall").

Fortunately, this report by Alberto Vargas cuts through some of the inbred ideological isolation: "Rep. Maxine Waters calls opposing senators, 'Neanderthals' ":

In an effort to make president Obama look like a saintly victim of injuctice, Rep. Maxine Waters threw some political jabs on Saturday.

"Yes, we know that you are a nice man, that you want to work with the opposite side of the aisle. But there comes a time when you need to drop that and move forward," Waters said. "We're saying to you, Mr. President, 'Be tough. Use everything that you've got. Do what you have to do. And we have your back.' "

Yes, Rep. Waters, Obama's a very moderate politician. He reflects the wishes of the majority of Americans, right? Is this the bologna you'd like people to consume? It ain't working. Americans aren't dumb. The townhall meetings have been a clear indicator that people have had enough.

Resorting to the only tactic that those on the left resort to when losing a battle, Rep. Waters goes on to say about the senators not going along with Obama's plans, "Not only are we going to do everything we can to organize and put pressure on the senators -- some of whom are Neanderthals..."

What a civil way to engage in discourse Mrs. Waters. Congratulations! You're really going to win support for your cause like this. Can you imagine if a conservative, or independent spoke like this? The media would be all over it. Where's the media now? Neandethals?

Well, of course Maxine Waters isn't about "engaging in discourse" and "winning support." She's an elected thug, and she's perfectly happy to mouth tough-talk, since she's not likely to face an electoral challenge anytime soon. Earlier Waters slipped in admitting during a congressional hearing that she'd "socialize" the oil industry. To that, Urban Grounds responded with a post asking, "What Else Would Maxine Waters Nationalize?" Ahh, health care might be a safe bet ...