Rehberg Shares Bachmann's Obstructionist Views

I first wrote about a town hall in Hamilton conducted by Rep. Rehberg in Hamilton in August. I wrote about the experience for the Huffington Post as part of its Eyes & Ears segment. I noted the manner in which the whole town hall was not really a town hall but something more sinister. It had the creepy feeling of the Third Reich political rally. It turns out I was not imagining this. While Native Americans were not the butt of racial hostility at this event; I was very uncomfortable remaining in what was supposed to be an open and and participatory form of government.

In a recent article in the Missoula Independent, reporter Alex Sakariassen explores the growing right wing extremism in the Bitterroot Valley in the cover story Questioning Conservativism. The article seems to surmise that extremism is linked in part to a tightening economy. I find the us-versus-them ideology troubling. I find it more troubling that our lone Congressman is finding sanctuary with an increasingly conservative and evermore self-marginalized base. Maybe its just politics as usual; as a Native American woman who has encountered multiple forms of discrimination. Rehberg's tactics are not all right with me.

His support of HR 3400 the Empowering Patients First Act is apparent; his ties to Bachmann are evident by the Republican Study Committee, a conservative House group. The RSC is very proud of Michele Bachmann; with Rehberg's support of HR 3400, many of its provisions are included in the initial House compromise today; the hard won legal rights of a woman's privacy and reproductive health choices are under assault. This assault is from Rehberg, the RSC and Michele Bachmann. A recent rally led by Bachmann, which she called The Superbowl of Freedom, resulted in several arrests within the halls of the Congress.

Scary rhetoric is not representation. It is obstructionist at a time when we need leadership in our representative government. Rolling back federal obligation's to advance women's health care and freedom of choice that was affirmed in Roe v. Wade, is not progress. The provisions of HR 3400 are dangerous and undermine democratic principles. In this bill, House conservatives are attempting to extend free speech protections to the very extremist ideology to attack these hard won rights. I urge all Montanans to vote for the legal protections that ensure women can continue to access health equity.

I believe that this kind of distorted logic is not helpful to the tasks we have to rebuild this nation's shattered economy and the profound neglect we have encountered by the previous administration. We are capable of sound choices and I call upon all of you to resoundingly defeat Rep. Rehberg in November 2010.