In Washington D.C. on Saturday, about 75,000 protesters gathered, loudly criticizing the policies of President Obama. Organizers say the crowd was mostly "fiscal conservatives" who object to Mr. Obama's rapid expansion of the federal government.
As always in a crowd of that size, there were different degrees of protest. More militant folks compared the president to Hitler, to the Mafia, to Muslim Marxists. A few of the signs were vicious, like a reference to Ted Kennedy's death, and one counter-protester even ran into some trouble:
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(BOOING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get him out of there.
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The very liberal NBC News locked in on the far right:
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm tired of the communism that's in Washington, D.C.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are losing our country. We think the Muslims are moving in and taking over.
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Now, with the media branding protesters as kooks and racists, what are we supposed to think? If you're not there it is impossible to know exactly who the demonstrators are. So we have to rely on polling to accurately assess how the American people view President Obama.
The latest Rasmussen poll says 51 percent of Americans now have a favorable view of Obamacare, while 46 percent oppose it. That's a small improvement since the president's speech last Wednesday. But 38 percent strongly oppose Obamacare, while just 28 percent strongly favor it, and this is where the militancy sets in. The committed opposition is much larger than the committed support.
However, about half of the country is not crazy, as NBC News would you have believe:
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's put up on that screen again the Joe Wilson sort of picture of him reaching out. You look at the image of the Republican Party: all white males with short haircuts. They look sort of angry. No women, no minorities, and it looks like they've sort of become unhinged.
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That's just insulting and stupid.
But what about the "unhinged"? Well, I think they should rethink their presentation. Carrying signs equating Obama to Hitler puts you in the loon category and does your cause no good at all. Hearts and minds are won by reasonable discourse based on facts.
The fact of the matter here is that President Obama believes that a huge federal government can bring relief and prosperity to the American people, but many Americans do not believe that. They think big government will harm them and screw things up so badly everyone will suffer, not just those without health insurance.
And so the battle continues, and "The Factor" is right in the middle of it bringing you the facts.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
We usually begin with the patriot, but tonight the pinhead kicks it off:
Click here to watch "Pinheads & Patriots"!
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TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER: Thank you so much! I always dreamed about what it would be like to maybe win one of these some day, but I never actually thought that it would happen. I sing country music, so thank you so much for giving me a chance to win a VMA Award.
KANYE WEST, SINGER: Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you. I'm going to let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time.
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Well, we've made Kanye West the pinhead before, but he is really a troubled guy.
Now on the patriot front, almost immediately after that happened a parody was made of it:
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PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.
KANYE WEST: I'm going to let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.
OBAMA: It's not true.
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Whoever did that is a patriot for giving us a few laughs.
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