Transcript of exchange between Obey and activists (as seen on YouTube)

[zulchzulu]

An exchange between David Obey and a couple activists showed Obey's frustration with people that were very uninformed about the hard work :
http://obey.house.gov/HoR/WI07/Newsroom/Press+Releases/StatementonResolutionOpposingIraqWarEscalation

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS4wHMCc57k

Scene: Woman approaches Obey as he tries to enter his office.

Woman: I left a poem that my son had wrote (indeciperable) and um, I was wondering if you had ever gotten to (indeciperable) read it. He's a United States Marine who has done two tours in Iraq and was going to be deployed for a third tour.

David Obey: I honestly don't know about the I'm so buried in appropriations bills and get to my office about ten minutes a day. I've seen very limited (indeciperable)...

Woman: OK, well it was because, uh, my son has suffered from PTDS (post-traumatic distress syndrome) and um...

David Obey: Let's take a look... (pointing to office)

Woman: He's attempted suicide attempts and tried to get help through the VA and it took us 6 months to get to his first appointment with the VA and it sounds like with the ten minutes (indeciperable) to conditions but he was able to go to four years with the Marines, two deployments with Iraq...honorable discharge and (indeciperable) citation and he feels forgot and now he needs help with the VA (indeciperable)

David Obey: Did you hear what happened with the hearing today (indeciperable) and it's a disgrace (?)
with the military screwing guys (indeciperable)...the Washington Post report has...

Woman: I've been talking about this for a year now and nobody appears to be paying much attention...

David Obey: Well, the good news is we've been able to (indeciperable) and now people are beginning to pay attention.

Woman: But...then what about the..um, why are you going to be voting against the Supplemental...

David Obey: Absolutely not... I'm the sponsor of the Supplemental of this bill...

Woman: With the...um..uh...to continue the war?

David Obey: (shakes head) It doesn't... the President wants to continue the war...we're trying to use the Supplemental to end the war... you can't end the war if you are going against the Supplemental... it's time you idiot liberals understand that...there's a hell of a difference between helping the troops and continuing the war.... I'm not going to cut funds for body armor, stop funding for veterans hospitals...you're not going to deny funding for benefits in veterans hospitals...so you can help people who've got medical problems....that's what you do if you if you vote against that bill.

Woman: There should be enough money over there for the regular defense bills...

David Obey: There isn't.

Woman: ...without continuing the funding for the war...

David Obey: There isn't... there isn't... that's not the way it works... a regular defense bill pays for a standing army... but it doesn't pay for fees repairing costs... we're going to add over a billion dollars more to what the president is asking for...to exactly try to fix some of the problems you are talking about. How the hell do you get money for the hospitals if you don't provide the money for it?

Woman: Well then, are you going to be in support of the... um...

David Obey: I hate the war! (loudly) I voted against it to start with...I was the first guy in Congress to call for Rumsfeld's resignation...but we don't have the votes to defund the war and we shouldn't because that also means we defund everything you've got to help the guys that are victims of the war.

Woman: Well, there is...this amendment to the supplemental that to fully fund the withdraw of the troops...

David Obey: That doesn't make sense.

Woman: Well, the funds...

David Obey: It doesn't work that way. The language we have in the resolution ends the authority for the war (emphatic). It makes it illegal to proceed with the war. They don't have to fund something if the war doesn't exist.

(3:29)

Woman: Oh! I didn't know that was in the....

David Obey: That's the problem... that's the problem. Liberal groups are jumping around without knowing what the hell is in the bill. We don't have to cut off funds for an activity that is no longer legal.

(Pause)

Woman: And they are approaching that with...

David Obey: We're shutting it off.

Man: What about the Church Amendment in the Vietnam War...was it '72...'73...

David Obey: It took us 31 different efforts to get there. I was here for that.

Man: Yeah, I know.... OK...

David Obey: I know what the hell I'm talking about.

Man: Did it help win the ground war in Vietnam?

David Obey: No, it didn't. The political pressure on the administration finally put an end to the war. The amendment that finally ended the funding was the Adolb(?) Amendment. I was a sponsor of the amendment. (Note: this may be in reference to the 1973 War Powers Resolution)

Man: So if you pass the resolution, isn't he still the Commander In Chief?

David Obey: We don't have the votes to pass it! We couldn't even get votes to pass a non-binding resolution one week ago. How the hell do you think we're going to get the votes to cut off the war?

Man: You stop the funding...

David Obey: How about if you don't have the votes? It takes 211 votes...

Man: You filibuster the supplemental request...

David Obey: There is no filibuster in the House. (Duh!)

Man: Well, in the Senate they could do it...

David Obey: (leaving) I'm sorry... no, I'm not going to vote for it. I'm the sponsor of the bill that's going to be on the floor...(emphatically) That bill ends the war! If that's good enough for you, then you're smoking something illegal..

Man: I... no, I'm not, sir.

David Obey: (offscreen): You've got your facts screwed up.

Woman: Can we...

Man: Can't we stop funding the war?

David Obey: (back onscreen): We don't have the votes! (opening coat) Do you see a magic wand in my pocket?

Man: No.

David Obey: (closes jacket): How the hell are we going to get the votes for it? We ain't got the votes for it. We do have the votes if you guys quit screwing it up...we do have the votes to end the legal authority for the war...that's the same as defunding it...

Man: We can debate...

David Obey: (leaving and entering office) Goodbye... (shuts door)

[JI7]

1. these people are morons

THEY should be the ones apologizing to Obey. what is it with those who tend to have no idea of what is going on and how things work that are often the loudest in their demands.

[Donnachaidh]

2. Been saying that all day!

Thanks for the transcript. It really shows just how much thought and research went into this attempt to make David Obey look bad.

David Obey DESERVES a PUBLIC APOLOGY.

[zulchzulu]

3. Absolutely!

I definitely could see his frustration. I thought the woman was a Cindy Wannabee...I feel bad for her son, but she really didn't have a clue on a number of issues. The guy was just pathetic. The guerrilla video now on YouTube backfired if you see what transpired. I think their intention was to make Obey out to be some kind of warmonger. They truly are clueless...

[MH1]

4. They should also apologize to his other constituents

A rep's time is fairly precious...they have a lot to do and a lot of constituents to serve. A constituent should be able to get a hearing, but I think an activist has a responsibility to do some homework first - and this woman clearly hadn't.

So, they could figure out how to get in Obey's face with a video camera, but they couldn't be bothered to find out beforehand that he was sponsoring that bill, and what was in it? That's just irresponsible.

[Cameron27]

11. They didn't show the courtesy of

getting in his face with the camera, they did it surreptitiously behind his back.

I agree with the sentiments of apologies to both Obey and his constituents.

[Vidar]

24. Politically uneducated would be a politer & more accurate term.

The poor woman is looking out for her son and hardly deserves insults from you. Obey, at least, apologized.

[KingofNewOrleans]

5. I'm sure those people mean well

but they were really dumb.

[PresidentObama]

6. Besides the liberal comment, I agree with Obey.

And uninformed activists are the worst kind. He explained the situation to them time after time, and they wouldn't listen.

AND THERE IS NO FILIBUSTER IN THE HOUSE!! JEEZ-US!!

[IndianaGreen]

7. The American people want the war to end NOW. They are not interested in excuses!

Coming from a Congress whose Democratic Speaker has put impeachment off the table, I am not surprised at the collective impotence displayed by too many of our Congressional leaders. We need more Kucinichs, Waters, Kerrys, Feingolds to name a few of those that want to end the war now.

The OP's transcript illustrates why there is such a chasm between those that live inside the Beltway bubble and the rest of America, as David Sirota points out here:

Published on Thursday, March 8, 2007 by WorkingForChange.com

Dems' Big Middle Finger to the American Voter
by David Sirota


The message from Washington, D.C. to all of us out here in the heartland is very clear: Our government is the exclusive gated community of Big Money interests, their appointed pawns in Congress, and a select group of self-declared "experts" in the media and at think tanks (which are, of course, funded by many of those same Big Money interests). Inside this gated community, actually listening to or shaping policy on behalf of the vast majority of Americans is considered either laughably outdated or disgustingly unsavory.

This is why we have a House lawmaker running to reporters attacking efforts to end the war as "overreacting to public opinion." This is why we have a Vice President who goes on national television declaring that what the public wants "doesn't matter." This is why the largest newspaper in America continues to publish a columnist who says voters shouldn't decide elections. This is why, months after being elected to the majority on an antiwar mandate, we have a congressional Democratic Party that still refuses to do anything to end - or even slow down - the war. Because underneath all the platitudes and rhetoric, Washington, D.C. is a place that hates democracy.

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0308-20.htm

[zulchzulu]

8. Without enough votes, it's not going to end any time soon

I think you should include David Obey in there with the people you admire that want to end the war. He's doing the best he can to make it so.

[bread_and_roses]

20. Exactly (n/t)

[LoZoccolo]

9. Hooray for Obey!

:thumbsup:

[EstimatedProphet]

10. I'm with Obey on this one

I think some people believe that the war can be ended by sending a letter saying "Dear Sir: Stop it!" The fact is, it is going to be much harder to rein in the Bastard-in-Chief. Congress has no choice but to try and restrain Bush LEGALLY, even though he's acting ILLEGALLY. That's the real problem. Those who want impeachment right this minute ignore the fact that it has to happen with set procedures, and that takes time and effort to put together. To get impeachment right this minute would require Congress to become another Bush and act like the law was for the little people.

[EndElectoral]

12. I'm sorry, you don't call a woman whose son has had three tours of duty and has PTSD a liberal idiot

Obey knows better. He lost his cool. "liberal idiot". How about simply saying.

I'm sorry your son has been in Iraq three times, and is suffering from PTSD. I'm working on acheiving what you want - to end the war - but my approach is different than what you're suggesting. Bringing the troops home quickly is what we all want. I beleive however that we have to do it differently than you suggest. You're entitled to disagree. Unfortunately, it is difficult to answer all your concerns in a few seconds since I have to get to a vote. If you list your questions with one of our staffers I'd be glad to detail my reasons for my position.

Instead, he chooses "liberal idiot" because he was in a hurry and flustered. Calling anyone an idiot who is seeking immediate withdrawal from Iraq goes agaisnt what most people in the country want, and invoking idiot with liberal is what we've been dealing with Repubs using liberal in a derogatory manner for the last six years. Bad, bad taste.

Obey was just flat out wrong, even if his approach to Iraq and funding may be right. He's a man elected based on his ability to get things done and deal civilly with his constiuents. I understand his frustration, but he flat out handled this badly and shouldl apologize to this lady.

[zulchzulu]

13. He apologized for calling her that...but she should have done some homework first

It was uncalled for her to go after him without even knowing the basics of the bill including the fact that he was the sponsor of the supplemental bill that would continue funding for the exact things she was complaining about.

Calling her a "liberal idiot" was not appropriate. But if you look at the video, he offers to take her to his office briefly before she continued to hammer at him with questions that exposed her ignorance of the bill.

The worse part is that she must have known that the exchange was going to be videotaped and wanted to play up a "Cindy/Michael Moore" schtick on him.

It's easy now to play Monday Morning Quarterback on this issue, but if she had done some homework first before doing the guerrilla video attack, none of this would have ever happened. She could have perhaps gone after someone who is not working in her best interests, as opposed to someone who has been in the trenches for her interests for over 30 years.

[AtomicKitten]

14. I learned quite a bit from Obey.

He explained his intentions and his strategy.

Activism without facts can sometimes be off-putting.

Although name-calling is never a good idea, I hope those that can't get beyond the tone with which what Obey had to say was delivered were listening.

[zulchzulu]

15. Obey's apology and further analysis of the event

The Hill has an article on the events and have further comments by David Obey.

When The Hill contacted him Friday about the videotaped encounter, Obey immediately apologized for getting angry with the woman, saying that his immense frustration about “this stupid war” boiled over.

“Once in a while that frustration boils over, I wish it hadn’t but you cannot continue conversations forever,” he said.

He also continued to skewer “liberal groups” for failing to inform the members and the public that the war supplemental spending bill contains language aimed at ending the war.

“Let me be frank: That kind of encounter is the kind of frustration this stupid war is causing across the board,” he said in an interview with The Hill. “I’m trying to figure out how to get the votes that is going to try to end our participation in that Iraq war.”

When the woman asked him whether he was going to vote for the supplemental, that further aggravated him because, as the lead sponsor, of course he was. Tensions had already been riding high, he said, because this week protesters had been “sitting in” his district office and have refused to leave at the end of the business day and were arrested.

“What so frustrated me about the encounter is that it became apparent that she had no idea that the bill she was being asked to tell me to vote against would set a deadline for our getting out of Iraq,” he said.

“So many of these liberal groups don’t adequately inform their members. They don’t have the full story about what we’re trying to do and they wind up not being able to distinguish their friend from their enemy. These people won’t take yes for an answer.”

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obey-berates-woman-over-war-funding-later-apologizes-2007-03-09.html

Good points made...

[mockmonkey]

16. Transcript error

Obey didn't say, "it's time YOU idiot liberals understand that" he said "it's time THESE idiot liberals understand that" I think there is a big difference in that.

Check it yourself 4:10

http://grassrootsamerica4us.org/index.html

It needs to be corrected. Because others are using this transcript on DU.

[brentspeak]

18. Thanks for pointing that out

[zulchzulu]

22. The audio was really crappy...

I did the transcript myself... no one else wanted to do it.

I think you are mincing words here... and I don't see that much of a difference. If you don't know, Obey IS a liberal and has been so since the 1970's while in Congress. Granted, it was an unfortunate use of words, but he had people protesting his office that had no goddamn idea who he was and that he was even the sponsor of the supplemental that would only give money for armor, VA benefits and such.

If you think he is not a liberal, then you are an...

[Sparkly]

26. I think it's terrific that you made this transcript, zulch

One more thing to check:

Man: Did it help win the ground war in Vietnam?

Did he say "win" or "end"? Not a big deal, but thought I'd mention it.

Thanks for doing this! :hi:

[bigtree]

25. I thought that was an important difference because he wasn't insulting the mother directly

wasn't being insensitive to her after she told him of her son

[mockmonkey]

30. I was thinking the same way

In the Wisconsin forum someone was asking how long Obey had been a DINO based on this incorrect quote in the transcript and that pissed me off. I think Obey is GREAT. He is a compassionate and caring man and to read something that was incorrect as if it were fact on DU over and over again should be against DU values.

If I were Obey and I had people protesting in my office all the while I was doing everything I could to stop the war would be so frustrating. And then to have two people stop me in the hallway to debate it is just wrong. Is that the proper place? The tactics are wrong sometimes. Just who is the enemy here? Someone like Michael Moore can get away with this type of interview because he knows who he is talking to.

Some Liberals can be wrong, some can be idiots. I can be both and admit it. I don't think that I am wrong or an idiot for pointing out that Obey didn't call her an "idiot liberal".

Thanks for understanding my post about the correction.

[Ninja Jordan]

17. I agree with Obey sans the 'stupid liberals' comment

'Stupid liberals' keep sending him back to Congess every two years.

[bread_and_roses]

19. The arrogance and elitism of those demanding that anyone speaking be fully cognizant

of the arcane maneuverings of vote-getting in the halls of Congress astonishes me. Talk about "limosine liberalism" - it's only OK to approach, speak to a Rep if you are fully informed, sophisticated about the workings of power in Washington? Half the people in this Country don't fully understand even the difference between local/state/federal.

Going by the transcript therer was nothing rude about the woman's approach and there was no reason for Obey to go off on her. And what's with the rant against "Liberal" groups from a "Liberal" Congressperson? Who has been out there since day one supporting Reps who opposed the war? Not to mention that it is inaccurate - all the "Liberal" groups I can think of off the top of my head spend most of their time/energy/money getting information out.

[zulchzulu]

23. Obey had been frustrated by people protesting in his office all week...

...who apparently think that you can just set up a vote that says "Stop The War now" and that there would be enough votes to pass.

If you toggle to about 3:20, you see that the woman had no idea about the basic components of the bill and Obey's efforts with the supplemental. She was an ass. I feel sorry for her son and that dilemna, but she was embarrassing to watch. I mean, ferchrissakes, did Obey have enough time to read her son's poem? The guy is fighting the Bush administration and the Republican party that wants to continue the war!

Passing legislation in a divided Congress is incremental. It's not some treehouse club where people scribble in the dirt and throw rocks on top with their vote. It's not "spin the bottle" or tick-tack-toe...

If these people had done ANY homework, they would have known what the hell they were bitching about. Obey is ON their side. Why aren't these people at Kucinich's office since he apparently doesn't have the time to be a sponsor of the bill like Obey is? Perhaps David Swanson forgot to mention that...talk about a self-important, ineffectual opportunist willing to bash hard-working Democrats.

If you want to bitch about something, first get your facts correct. And then bitch at the right person, not someone who is on your side. It's that goddamn simple.

Now, if Obey had called her a "Progressive Idiot", I would have called his office...

[IndianaGreen]

27. Unlike her, Obey doesn't have a son that has done 2 combat tours in Iraq & is going back for a third

We are long past the point of being reverend and polite to our elected representatives when it comes to the war and the crimes of the Bush dictatorship.

This protest on Congressional offices, and other protests planned across the country, are taking place on the 4th anniversary of this war. Each day Congress delays ending the war, is another day in which someone's son or daughter is killed, wounded, or forever traumatized in Iraq.

Obey is the one that was out of line!

[zulchzulu]

29. C'mon...

You mention that protest on Congressional offices taking place...does that include protesting people like David Obey who are trying to stop the war as well as didn't vote for it in the first place?

Should the protestors protest people they have no fu#@ing idea are the sponsors of the supplementary bill to the major bill? Is being stupid cool?

That notion is indeed idiotic. With that kind of support for your allies, who needs friends...

If you look at the video in the beginning, Obey offered to go into his office to read her son's poem and talk about the issue...but she had to go off like a clueless _______.

[bluedog]

21. she was on Hardball last night......

seen it going by....and didn't catch her name......anyone see it or hear it?.......checked for transcript ..but its not up yet......I wish the media would say her name.....not just "she"

[LittleClarkie]

28. I think actually that Obey is one of our more liberal Congressmen in WI

Not quite sure what he meant by the liberal comment therefore. He IS a liberal, I thought.

But when you have people who just say "OUT NOW" without knowing how the system works, I can see how frustrating that is. Do they have any suggestions as to how that is to be done, or is saying "OUT NOW" about it?

[zulchzulu]

31. A friend of mine who has been in Wisconsin TV media says...

...while David Obey is great in terms of his progressive record, he is (as my friend says who tried interviewing him) a prick who is hard to talk to... there is some evidence there in the video.

Oh well...maybe he could do a Decaf commercial.