That said, you’d be frustrated if you worked for a politician who just voted for a plan that so many people oppose so strongly.  Thursday’s House Call, where patriots once again gathered in Washington to oppose Washington’s attempt to commandeer the health care industry, was the latest promising stand against a voracious government.  The Michele Bachmann-led initiative featured, as usual, most everyone in attendance expressing their opinions while behaving as if they were attending an American Legion banquet.  We just keep bringing together people who happen to be overwhelmingly well-mannered in public.

But the same can’t be said for the protest’s adversaries.  When faced with concerned, determined protesters, one lesser Congressman’s minion got ugly and played dirty.  And we know the target: an original Smart Girl was confronted by the belligerently gutless clod.  Amanda Carpenter of The Washington Times has the details:

Things also got rough for Smart Girl Politics Executive Director Teri Cristoph who says she was physically rebuffed by a senior staffer for Rep. Gerry Connolly, Virginia Democrat.

Mrs. Cristoph, a Burke resident, attended the “House call” event and attempted to meet with her congressman and interview him about health care legislation. When she arrived at the office she was questioned by Connolly’s staff about her camcorder. They told her she was not permitted to video tape because she was not press. At this point, she says Mr. Connolly’s Communications Director, George Burke, used some degree of force against her.

“He put his whole body into me so I would put the camera down,” she said. “He bumped into my right arm and his staffers saw it. I was shocked that he physically ran into me. It was not accidental.”

Connolly’s bouncer has a different, erroneous, amusing interpretation:

Mr. Burke told the Washington Times that “she’s making it up” and is pulling a “publicity stunt.”

“She was very aggressive and I put my hand very gently on her shoulder and she went ballistic,” he said.

“I have a daughter,” Mr. Burke said. “I’m a gentleman. I don’t push people around.”

Well, except that he does.  In addition to her write-up, Teri videotaped the encounter.  The visual documentation cuts out for good reason, namely because the alleged gentleman in question disrupted it by making contact with her.  Make sure your daughter doesn’t see this clip, pal.

Of course, anyone who has dealt with SGP’s co-founder knew it was only a matter of time before she was involved in a hostile incident like this.  I can testify from my personal interaction with Teri that her e-mails are filled with undoubtedly threatening excerpts such as “hi,” “thanks!” and smiley faces comprised of equal signs and parentheses.  Such inflammatory posturing was clearly on display when she sought out her congressional representative to ask a fair question in a civil manner.

Well, maybe she was actually being as decent as usual.  The site’s co-founder embodies how limited-government backers are capable of both amassing and behaving.  There have been exactly zero riot policemen dispatched between last Thursday’s gathering, the 9/12 march, and both the Independence and Tax Day Tea Parties.  No health care foes have yet been pepper-sprayed for raising their voices.  Our protesters are boring!

To be fair, there were some arrests this time.  Carpenter also reports,

Capitol Police Public Information Officer Kimberly Schneider said in an e-mail to the Washington Times that demonstrators were arrested in or near (Nancy) Pelosi’s personal office located in Cannon Building Room 235.

Four of them were charged with unlawful entry inside of the room, six were charged with unlawful conduct in the hallway outside and an additional two females were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct outside of the room, she said.

Did they start bonfires in city streets or topple barricades?  Did they throw bricks through a Starbucks window, or at police officers?  In short, did they act like G-20 protesters?  Nope: they tried to get an audience with the Representative leading the charge to foist national health upon Americans.  A handful of attention-seekers should behave.  But the Speaker should listen, too.

And those visiting Connolly’s office engaged in nothing approaching a provocation.  Regardless, I feel bad for Burke.  Sure, he’s a pathetic coward who literally got pushy with a concerned resident.  But he also works for a first-term Congressman who sided with Pelosi this weekend, which is unsurprising when one considers that Connolly has stuck with the Democrats 97.3 percent of the time.  That’s an inopportune reality for a Representative from a state whose voters just famously proved they’re already weary of his party.

It has to be stressful time in the headquarters: everyone from Connolly down may be sending out résumés this time next year.  The woeful prospect of electorate-induced unemployment will in turn be exacerbated by having to find work in a country plagued by Obamanomics.

But yeah, he’s pitiful.  Teri was simply following Bachmann’s sage advice, namely, “Don’t bring your pitchforks, bring your video cameras. And get them on record saying how they’re going to vote and why.”  It turns out they are also helpful for getting their flunkies on record when they display brutish tendencies.

Burke is obviously an admirer of his oh so tough-guy boss, who allegedly also freaked out during an eerily similar altercation.  They each see themselves as a Clint Eastwood character.  I agree, although I think they’re bringing to mind the wrong role.

Such roughnecks should look for a challenge if they’re going to push around regular Americans.  It goes without saying that Smart Girls can fend for themselves.  Still, if bully boys want to establish their toughness, they should have the nerve to jostle a Smart Guy instead.

But this male House staffer may be so cravenly unchivalrous that he keeps picking fights with women.  If that’s the case, he should at least have enough sense not to do so with a media-savvy female who can instantly relay the documented boorishness to thousands upon thousands of people.  How dim can he get?  The only more foolish move would be if his boss voted for a genuinely socialistic, endlessly costly, career-killing bill.  Whoops for them.

Anthony Bialy is a freelance writer and “Red Eye” Conservative in Western New York.  He blogs at http://thebuffalobean.com and tweets at http://twitter.com/AnthonyBialy.

Flip recorder in hand, I headed down to the steps of the Capitol this morning. I met lots of great patriots who had traveled from afar to be there. We heard from wonderful folks like Bachmann, Mark Levin, Tom Price, and actor Jon Voigt. I was excited to get started on my “house call” to my representative, Gerry Connolly, a Democrat. Mr. Connelly has avoided his constituents like H1N1. I had protested outside his ONE town hall meeting in August, where he snuck in the back entrance to avoid us tea partiers. Since Mr. Connolly has been so elusive, I welcomed the chance to find out his position on Pelosi-care and to voice my ardent opposition to it.

Getting into the Cannon House Office Building was a breeze. Everyone was upbeat and ready to take part in a democratic exercise. My Flip camera and I made it through security without any questions. I took some video of the hallways, which were starting to fill up with everyday citizens like myself eager to talk to their elected officials. I finally found Cannon 327, office of Gerry Connolly. There were a few other constituents there, and we were asked by the very polite young staffers to fill out a form. 

I did as asked and filled out the form, complete with my contact information and my views on the pending health care legislation. As I returned the form to the young staffer, I took out my Flip, started recording and asked him if someone from the office would appear on video and explain Congressman Connelly’s position. The staffer said I needed press credentials to videotape. I told him I was just an average citizen, not the media and had at no point been told (or seen a sign) that video cameras were not allowed. At this point, a man came out of an office and stood behind the staffer in a not so friendly way. When I questioned about the need for press credentials, this man came forward and demanded to know if I was a constituent of the 11th District, which I am and have been for more than 20 years. He insisted that I needed to have press credentials and very deliberately pushed his body — in an aggressive way — against my right arm, which was holding the camera. I was astonished that he had been so brazen and told him so. He then proceeded to threaten me with calling the police. I asked for his name several times, and the bully would only tell me “George.” Since I was standing at the front desk of the office, I found a stack of business cards and lo and behold, our bully is the Director of Communications for Rep. Gerry Connolly, one George Burke.

I was not able to get the whole thing on tape, as Mr. Burke intended when he decided to be physical with me. I did get this:

A house call to Gerry Connolly

As you can see, the young staffer was a bit nervous, but polite. George Burke, who can be seen behind the young man, is anything but. He immediately treated me — his constituent! — as his enemy. The camera stopped recording when Mr. Burke decided to physically stop it. Let me be clear (if I can borrow the President’s words), I am a female, making a call on a Representative by myself! George Burke, a man who surely knows better, treated me with the kind of arrogant disdain so typical of liberals. These Democrats on Capitol Hill have without question lost sight of the fact that are beholden to us, the American people. There are many more George Burke’s out there, smugly sitting in their offices with nothing but contempt for us regular folk. This was a big wake up call for me about how truly ugly the Democrats are — and I still don’t know a thing about Congressman Gerry Connolly’s position on health care.

Final thought:  If George Burke had had his way, I would have been arrested for wanting concrete proof of my elected official’s position on an important piece of legislation that could have a huge impact on me and my family. And there I’d be, sitting in jail while my four young children wait for me at school wondering what happened to Mom. Wake up, America.