Rachel Maddow on GOP Thugishness at Town Halls: This is Called Hooliganism
By Heather Tuesday Aug 04, 2009 5:00am
Rachel Maddow reports on the "town halls gone wild" that industry backed astroturf groups like Americans for Prosperity are involved in disrupting.
Maddow: This is orchestrated outrage. There is a script for this stuff that was written before these events happened and that appears to be instructions to people to shut down these efforts at civic discourse. The web site Think Progress obtained a leaked memo from a group that calls itself Right Principles. The three page memo details how protesters should behave at town hall events.
Under the heading "Inside the Hall" it says:
You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep's presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep's statements early. If he blames Bush for something or offers other excuses -- call him on it, yell back and have someone else tallow-up with a shout-out. The goal is to rattle him.
When the formal Q&A session begins get all your hands up and keep them up.... The balance of the group should applaud when the question is asked, further putting the Rep on the defensive.
Who's giving these rent-a-mob instructions like this? Well that memo was written by a man named Bob MacGuffie. Bob McGuffie is associated with an organization called Freedom Works. Freedom Works is a Washington DC lobbying firm, run by former Republican Majority leader Dick Armey.
Corporate lobbyists are organizing far right hooligan tactics to disrupt civic meetings about health care reform. This is the organized use of intimidation as a political tool in the United States, and I don't mean intimidation euphemistically. I mean literal intimidation.
New York Congressman Tim Bishop who we showed you earlier. He ended up having to be escorted to his car by five police officers for his own safety after his town hall event was over.
And this type of harassment is not just reserved for elected officials.
[.....]
This type of tactic, this type of intimidation is a deliberate choice. And it appears to be stoked and organized by corporate lobbyists. And it is not something that is happening in a vacuum.
[.....]
This is well paid lobbyists doing this as a strategy. It's the same thing with the deathers. These scare your grandmother myths that the whole point of health care reform is secretly to kill old people. This patently, patently false rumor about health care reform as we talked about earlier on this show was started by a woman who sits on the board of directors of one of the nations biggest medical device companies.
Everybody says well politics ain't beanbags. Right. Obviously this is not beanbags. But this isn't hardball either, no offense to Chris. This just isn't even politics. This is orchestrated, mob mentality intimidation. This is called hooliganism.
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Wow, Rachel Maddow is really cute...
but nevermind that. If these guys want a "real pro" at this stuff, they should hire Gary Weiss!!! He's GREAT at making sock puppets in open forums, at any rate. They could even afford to hire him a tech consultant to teach him how to use a proxy server when he's doing it...
-Jay Randall, http://www.econocataclysm.com
Article:
http://www.econocataclysm.com/gary-weiss-is-g...
a conspiracy to obstruct government business in the form of disorderly conduct at town halls for Democrats only.
Read our blog http://blog.democratz.org
NEVER lays a single fucking glove on these people.
White right-wingers are untouchable.
I bet the FBI, Homeland Security and the Secret Service are putting files together on these assholes as we speak.
And more importantly...their corporate masters.
The Right has got it right. Use hooliganism to crush discussion of health care, knowing liberals are too polite and respectful of "process" to challenge them. And it's paying off. Dems wouldn't know how to defend a public meeting if their lives depended on it. The FBI will do something about it? Give me a friggin BREAK!
Why bring race into it? Are black right-wingers "touchable"? How about white left-wingers? Hispanics on either side? Let's stick to the topic and not let this degrade into racial hatred.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jffOexmSccY&fe...
I don't see hooliganism. I see constituents asking questions to their representatives hoping to get answers that will allow them to express exactly what they want their representative to do. And hours of footage? Why did you just show crazy parts of it. The entire townhall was not like that. This is sensational reporting bent on a propagandizing message. Why not report on the countless acts members of Acorn have done to bully their way to an outcome they want? I've never seen anything on this site about the New Black Panthers in Philadelphia during the last election that stood outside Election Polls and using "hooligan"-type intimidation tactics. If you're gonna report on this don't just report one side.
[Thanks for flagging; we've seen it. I wanted to let everyone know, these guys are posting this type of flamebait, then never coming back. This guy has not been back since he posted. He isn't interested in discussion; it's finger-wagging-Sitemonitor]
You've never seen anything here about the New Black Panthers or Acorn in the entire three hours you've been signed on?
"Why did you just show crazy parts of it(?)"
Oh so it's more that liberals trying to make crazy people look crazy meme?
:)
It seems like they're trying to spread the "spontaneous" protests that interfered with the Florida recounts nationwide.
Voting recounts are government business too.
I'm willing to bet 99% don't care about the harms they're installing upon themselves, the elected politicians and the democratic process.
There's a word for it: Selfishness.
They just want to bring everything to a dog-eat-dog level by trying to make American democracy a wreck.
There are infringement issues with freedom of speech..Most are hired guns for the wingnuts...Local police alerts are underway!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo-dhDve6aY
No, this is not selfishness. It's too benign a word. This is willful manipulation of the process. It should be illegal if it isn't. Deceptive, lying, self interested, racist, antisemitic assholes. This has gotten me so pissed off. If I find myself at one of these town hall meetings and one of these fringe dickheads starts up, I'm not sure I will be able to control myself because right now I want to hurt these people.
Yeah sure thing self proclaimed "cooler king"
Racist? Antisemitic? Where did you get that from? Maybe I didn't see all of the video because I was scrolling down trying to read the transcript, but I don't recall anything remotely racist.
Self-interest is a component of Democracy. Everyone gets to vote for what they want. If we all voted for what someone else wanted, no one would be happy.
Why do you think that these people are on the fringe? I mean...Miss Maddow said herself that she could have shown an entire hour of similar things going on around the country. Each clip was maybe 15 second long. And entire hour of 15 second clip would require 240 clips. 200+ doesn't really sounds like fringe to me.
The fact(?) that people are being asked to show up at these things doesn't mean that they aren't sincere. I am curious about the memo that Miss Maddow highlighted in her video. Where did that memo come from or rather where was it sent? I'm not at all disputing the validity of it. I'm just curious who has access to the memo and if it really had something to do with the video clips that she showed.
"You've never seen anything here about the New Black Panthers or Acorn in the entire three hours you've been signed on?"
You don't have to be signed on in order to read the articles or watch videos, though. So who knows how long this person has been around. I came here from Digg. Maybe that person did too and was talking about Digg's website? I don't know. But just out of curiosity (to those that HAVE been hanging around here for a while) does this poster have a point? Has this site had anything about the situation in Philly or about ACORN?
Right. I bet you see dead old people.
and of course, the lobbyist's favorite dead old person, Ben Franklin. For money, these people are happy to literally help kill tens of thousands who won't have health insurance. We need to put the astroturfers' noses deep into some grass roots--metaphorically, of course.
There is a difference between trying to be heard, and making sure no one is heard.
it's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.
So if Group X disrupts Event A, it's okay for Group Y to disrupt Event B?
And you admit the behavior shown is, in fact, 'crazy' - thus, hooliganism. What's your point, again? That hooligans aren't being treated fairly? Oh, waaaaaah.
They weren't asking questions and you damned well know it!
These people are sent by lobbyist groups to disrupt these town hall meetings.
Period!
Yes, these people are brownshits (and, no, I didn't forget the second 'r' in that term.)
I wonder how many of them are even Democrats? I wonder how many actually live in the home districts of these congressmen?
I'd say not one is a Democrat, and the 2nd question, probably not many are in the congressfolks districts.
Why are people wondering if they are Democrats? You don't have to be a Democrat to attend a "town hall" meeting.
Also, I've heard members of Congress says that the Nation wants and needs healthcare reform. If they are listening to the Nation and not their constituents, why is it strange that people from outside the district would want to voice their opinion. I know that it shouldn't be that way, and I wish it wasn't.
Thank you for your concern.
...a count here and only two of the respondents to his thread jumped down his throat and/or insulted him.
All the other responses were just counter to his distorted view of this subject.
You've been on this site so long, but only register to comment about 20 minutes ago?
This other guy only signed on around midnight to make his poorly pointed comment when most reasonable people are asleep, in furtherance of lobbyists and PR firms trying to prevent duly elected officials and concerned citizens from being heard.
Why don't you take umbrage at that?
Because they are good little fascists.
They may be stupid, but they are evil.
That's not exactly fair. I mean, you're on here voicing your opinion at 8am when most people are at work. Are we to assume that you work for a lobbyist simply because of the time of day you are on? Does this site take into account time zones or citizens that are overseas for business or in the military. Maybe this person works nights. One can really accurately state that the time that a person logs on has anything to do with their political agenda.
I'm not a politician, I don't have to be nice to these assholes!
:)
Well, I did notice that Cooler_king says "this is sensational reporting bent on a propagandizing message." Cooler_king also says that he "sees constituents asking questions to their representatives....."
Based on what Rachel and others have said, this is not "sensational reporting" and it is not propaganda. Based on what Rachel and others have said, I have doubts whether these are actual "constituents" asking some of these questions....and, they are not just "asking"....they are yelling, screaming, interrupting the politicians' responses.
And, you can imply that we are a mob with a "mob mentality" and using "intimidation during a political discussion", but we are individual people throughout this country (and the world) who are responding with others who agree with us. We are not people who are "planted" in one place with the goal of disrupting the Democratic process. We are not intimadating a political discussion...we are supporting a political discussion.
I don't know what you are, but I can see that you have only been signed up for 20 some odd minutes, and Cooler_king is also has only been signed up for a short period of time. Usually these types who bad mouth us are at best "concern trolls."
I've seen several people state that these are videos of people "planted" at these meetings. A couple of questions: Is there any evidence of plants? I know Miss Maddow highlighted that lobbyist memo, but that's more of a "call to action" than it is "planting" people. And secondly, if people really believe there are plants, why condemn the whole crowd? I've seem accusations of racism on here and that's not really fair.
Lastly, I hate that people let their emotions get the best of them. I'm not willing to say that all of these people were planted there (although if they were, that's a load of BS). I'm sure that there were a lot of concerned citizens there also that have probably been shouting at their TVs for a month and now come face-to-face with one of the people that are causing their distress. But it really is a shame that people couldn't voice the same outrage without behaving like children.
Shut up, moron!
We have a reason to be pissed, these idiot's don't.
'I only see what I want to see. And besides, some people who I can say are on the left once did something similar, so our violence and intimidation doesn't matter! Everybody does it! Woo-hoo!'
Nasty little troll.
septic tank leaked into the cooler_king's cooler. What else could he/she be drinking?
I see constituents asking questions to their representatives hoping to get answers that will allow them to express exactly what they want their representative to do.
No, that's obviously not what they're doing. They're yelling inane things are refusing to let the guy answer. She did report the 2 sides. The one side was the people organizing the hooliganism, the other side are the people at the town meetings (who hold a variety of opinions) who have their meeting disrupted.
...is when Kathleen Sebelius says, "I've never been a member of Congress," and she's shouted down for saying so. If one were truly listening to what she said, they'd know they could check that statement as either true or false (and they'd find she was correct, since she never HAS been a member of Congress).
Rachel calls this hooliganism. Ironically, under George Bush, this would've gone by another name (and did). They called it "Jail Time."
That's a good point. I was wondering what the deal was with the people booing Ms/Mrs Sebelius. She said she wasn't in Congress and that's a reason to boo her??? That's really weird. Are they mad because she's not in Congress? Haha. I'm curious if the few minutes before that clip would explain what they were upset about.
Because that's all there is. And the propagandists are the assholes that have you and them in their thrall, based on lies, doing their bidding.
Wake up. Quit voting against your own best interests, hit and run troll doll.
I've been to two rallies in the last week and a half here in Austin, and the footage shown was not unfair at all. This is exactly what they do.
Saying "they just showed the crazy stuff" implies that this should always be linked to people who had challenging questions about healthcare, which was not the case. Anyone would be able to ask a challenging question. The report was about disrupting the meeting. They shouldn't be lumped into the same group as if anybody stopped anyone from voicing a certain opinion.
Hey teabagger, your ignorance is showing. These people support the most vile, greedy, evil corporate fascist parasites this country has ever seen.
Stop trying to defend the indefensible.
"These people support the most vile, greedy, evil corporate fascist parasites this country has ever seen."
What parasites are you talking about?
So why don't the representatives get to answer the questions without being shouted down? And this is just some of the footage I've seen.
You are wrong. You might want to read Section 901(a) of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 (Pub.L. 91-452, 84 Stat. 922, enacted October 15, 1970), also known as the RICO act. You might just find it to be relevant and informative.
These republican operatives worship this?
http://basilicum122.googlepages.com/Kali.jpg/...
Lol when do republicans ever want civil discourse.
Rachel and her team are absolutely correct in this reporting. I saw this as it was broadcast, and totally agreed with the premise that the republicans and lobbyists are doing everything possible to derail obama and company.
Sending "thugs" with a script to disrupt town-hall meetings doesn't surprise me in the least. Obama and most democrats are trying to do something good for the country. The actions of these orchestrated "thugs" is akin to someone who doesn't want to hear something putting their fingers in their ears and going "lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala', meanwhile arming themselves.
It is really getting ugly in this country. I hate to think about what will happen when "obama hatred" escalates into the physical. Sure, many democrats were against bush and all he stood for, but the chance of him being harmed physically was miniscule. In today's climate, I fear for obama's life...
to find the "Scott Roeder"--the so-called 'lone actor--to entice into take a shot at Obama.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxIuIxqo2So
Frankly, I see this as the calm before the storm. We're only 6 months into Obama's term! At some point all these groups will coalesce into a unified, angry, racist mob and, at that point, the police (or even the military!) are going to have to get involved. That's when the shit will really hit the fan. Imagine Foxnews coverage of that! This is how fascism takes hold - when the good guys are portrayed as dangerous and the bad guys are portrayed as patriots.
... wants to believe that it couldn't happen here.
The other half says it already is happening here. The problem has seen its genesis, its evolution, and we're just waiting for its inevitable, violent conclusion.
Croix de Feu?
It's the beginnings of a native American fascist movement.
These people are IMHO enemies of the US, and should be treated as a terrorist organization.
but that's the "beauty" of fascism. It's preceeded by years of propaganda whereby roles are deftly reversed (terrorists=patriots, true patriots=terrorists). We just had 8 years of unrelenting propaganda and are moving into the next phase. There was a time when much of what Foxnews does and says would have been considered treasonous.
as for faux noiz...I bet their time will come, hopefully before it's too late.
or out of character in that I've seen Republican attempts at intimidation at public events going back to at least the mid 1980's.
It's evolved now to where you're in a box if you try to stop them as it will be spun as the "fascist" government bullying them rather then government intervening to stop true fascist intimidation.
As the economic problems continue to deepen, this could get really ugly. Why couldn't it happen here? It's already started. How far will it go?
in the 1930s. It takes a long time to corrupt a Republic, or a short time marked by upheaval, e.g. 9/11. Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine" has more.
Fascinistas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKJVSMT1OsI
It's already here. Been here for a while.
...really, since 1980. That's when the whole "black is white, greed is good, reality isn't real" story line began.
Yes, it became obvious (and worse) under Bush with Rove's help, and it's becoming physical now, but Lee Atwater was the great-grandfather of this line of attack. (And actually, we could trace the roots of this back further to Nixon's "Southern Strategy.")
It not only can happen here; it's been in place for some time. Kind of like rust, or mold, or cockroaches.
Every democracy must go through a period of fascism before its citizens can appreciate the difference between the two.
Japan, Germany, Italy...and their neighbors who reaped the consequences know that lesson well.
This country has yet to even go to school.
At some point all these groups will coalesce into a unified, angry, racist mob and, at that point, the police (or even the military!) are going to have to get involved.
if they do, it will be to be certain taht nobody impedes the 'protesters.'
Cops aren't going to suppress white, right-wingers, with whom most of the cops sympathize.
Obama CAN'T call out the military (Posse comitatus), and wouldn't anyway, because he'd immediately be accused of oppressing white people.
Police forces around America are right wing organizations. They will side with these thugs. Read the comments in this forum for police officers if you don't believe me.
http://forums.leoaffairs.com/index.php?sid=f6...
Their hatred for democrats is stifling. There isn't even a semblance of balance among the "providers" of law enforcement. This country has been taken over. It's no longer a question of if, but when.
Again with the racism claims. What the heck did I miss in this video that has people claiming racism?
And why does it have to be a "good guy/bad guy" mentality? Are you saying that conservatives are "bad guys"?
they'll do whatever it takes to humiliate and embarrass an opponent. hey have no scruples, and unscrupulous people win in confrontations like these.
Dims play nice...
And lose...
And lose...
And lose...
(to the extent that they actually want to "win" on matters pertaining to actually assisting the citizens live more healthily or happily, which extent is not large, frankly, cuz they all take their marching orders from the same CorpoRat)
however I don't know its accurate to say that the Dems have been losing lately. they've been kicking ass, electorally at least, since 2006. Its just a shame they lack the spine to translate their electoral victories into legislative ones.
they don't want to piss off their corporate sponsors/masters. That's why most of the Dems are basically Repug-lite.
The problem is that the Republicans are trying to stop anything getting done, and that's a whole lot easier.
Corporate . . makeup, eye liner, LiP GlOsS , show a little skin down below the chin for the tease . .
Eye Candy
she could go without makeup, and wear a burlap sack, and she'd still be one of the best damn news people out there.
Who cares?
Would you like cool whip with a cherry on top of that House and Senate "take back" coming up?
They are not gonna make a comeback in 2010, 2012, or any other election anytime in the near future.
Mark my words...the GOP WILL schism.
That was one of the worst displays of ignorance and evil I have ever seen! I hope the Democrats see through that fraudulent show and fight back as soon as possible. And not just the politicians, but real people too. Those morons and thugs need to be stopped now!
your the man! Not easy when your an ant shouting at a giant monster but . . worth a try.
I can take a troll, but not such an ill-educated one. Please review the most common homonyms.
What do you suggest we do?
Stand by and watch our country be destroyed by fascists?
Not me...not ever.
> I hope the Democrats see through that fraudulent show and fight
> back as soon as possible.
But do they have the will to? Or are they even capable of fighting back?
I voted for Obama because I believed him when he said "Yes we can!" Given the shape the country was in, I truly thought that he would channel FDR and the Democrats from back in 1932. But I am beginning to have my doubts -- to the point that already, only 7 months into his first term -- I am open to the possibility of a different presidential candidate in 2012.
The Thinker
multi-million dollar lobbying firms trying to imitate grass root efforts?
This is a good sign. Our efforts have been successful enough to warrant copying from corporate America.
Although I don't agree with it's use in this case, it's nice to know that grass roots activism IS, in fact, having a positive effect.
It's ironic considering how much fraulein zarah was sneering about Obama community activist background.
Rachel, call it what is...brownshirting!
http://www.alephbet.com/pictures/20171.jpg
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/fasc_notus_...
once again we see repubes gaming the system and avoiding an honest debate. if you rep. has a town hall meeting, go to it and counter these fake protesters. when the press shows this and the americans who do not know what i really happening, this can seeem like a real "angry mob". remember when this was done in florida in 2000? it effectivly stopped the count because the local authorities were afraid.
... one were to start singing 'God Bless America' if the lemmings would all follow suit, or stand there in confusion because the leader isn't 'part of their group' - thus exposing their shallow agenda.
..could recite the Pledge of Allegiance, America the Beautiful..
Would be like smacking them on the back of the head.
... march out the door.
once or twice...
but I think they need to be confronted.
Corporatists have been using paid goons throughout the history of this country. They've also been aided and abetted by the police and the military.
None of this is new. I have written for YEARS about how "rights" are not given. The right to work, the right to decent working hours, wages, benefits, vacation...etc etc...all were gained by pushing back against authority.
The twisted goons at these events are too stupid to understand that they are being used to violently protest against their own interests.
It's time they were reminded.
http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/
I'm happy to see these GOPpers in a fervor. It just reminds me that they are no longer in power. Let them struggle for the next seven and a half years. It'll be good for them. In the meantime, I'll be marginalizing and ridiculing them. Oh, and I've just ordered a whole box of those little black stickers that say "O, the president".
Why do the GOPpers never serve hotdogs at their teabagging parties? Because all they have is losers, no weiners.
How many GOPpers does it take to change a lightbulb?
None. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will relent and do it for them.
LOL! :D
We have a weiner.
ROFLMAO! That was a good one.
One
He hires and underpays a team of illegal laborers
Whilst he gets a HUGE bonus.
Did it describe how these hooligans were to dress? Brown shirts, maybe?
housing foreclosures still going on like crazy, unemployment going through the roof, gross domestic product plunging negative . . etc
. . ?
Do NOT underestimate the lengths to which the insurance companies will go to keep things EXACTLY THE SAME as they are now.
I agree.
but it will be marketed as a Great Deal!! Change! . . and people will think . . WOW we did it! (and not notice they are paying more then what they we're before.)
Universal Cash CONfiscation.
and getting less services.
less service and complete mediocrity . . if not outright idocracy.
"Hi dude I'm your Doctor . . it's like your chart sez ur all screwed up . .lol . . just swipe your card here and we'll have you on your way in 5 minutes dude!
A putsch. Sorry--analogy to Nazis. Yes, it's only an attempt at a putsch, but we see these folks as cranks and fools at our peril. There were plenty of folks who thought the brown shirt thugs were not to be taken seriously in the early 30s.
of simpletons who are ready, willing and able to be deceived and used for someone else's much darker [no pun intended] agenda. The only thing these birther and deathers and town-hall disruptors and anti-taxers and anti-healthcarers need is one charismatic, electric person who will come forward and whip them into a frenzy. It almost happened with Palin. When that one person arrives, then we're really in trouble.
soon there will be an American Kristal Nacht!
where every book, newspaper column, blog post, and hand-written note ever written by Billy Kristol was piled in times Square and incinerated?
And the Nazis never were a majority party in Germany -- just a very loud and raucous minority party. They were given a toehold in the government in hopes it would appease them, and the rest is history. So, people on the left and center should not appease them. And let's not be intimidated by them. There really are more of us than there are of them.
but they have more guns at the moment.
and more power
and more access
And the confidence that (right-wing/white) cops won't open fire on 'em...
and remember, not all cops are white.
"And the confidence that (right-wing/white) cops won't open fire on 'em..."
As one who has about a dozen cops in his family, I wouldn't test that theory. They did a pretty good job of opening fire at Ruby Ridge. Also, I live in the south. Bubba does a good job of talking, but, unless the revolution can be won out in the backwoods with regular beer breaks and a ceasefire during football season, Bubba's not gonna risk losing what little he has to go play soldier.
Yeah, they probably have more guns down south, but they don’t have enough jumper cables to become militarily mobile.
How about Lobby Reform?
in it to confiscate as much cash from the public as they can for themselves for four years then they'll go . . here let the GOP give it another shot now.
they could just start throwing these people out. Let everyone ask a question or two and get an answer without interruption. If someone tries to disrupt then kick em out. These idiotic, nazi, fascist, d-bags have no place in a democracy. They need to graze in a pasture and only interact with other animals.
I imagine some of them have already interacted with animals and it's not something they would want to speak of in public.
I went to hear Jose Maria Aznar (I hope I got that right), Spain's former conservative leader, speak at a public forum event. The way they handled the Q&A to discourage hecklers would work here: hand anyone who wants to ask a question one 3x5 card and submit it to an usher. Then, at random, a moderator reads 25 cards (or whatever number). There were tough questions included (assuming it isn't a Bush town hall meeting, in which case you'd never be able to ask a real question anyway).
When hecklers popped up--and they did--they were immediately escorted out of the building because--and here's the thing--we were actually there to hear Aznar's answers. Those of us who went to listen to him really did want to know what he thought. Those who went to heckle didn't care; they were just there to cause problems.
Interestingly, right outside the building, on the street front (not in some "freedom of no speech zone" 10 miles away) protesters were able to assemble, chant, yell, whatever. But not inside. We didn't want to listen to them yelling "fire" in the crowded theater. It worked well, and Aznar still had his ass handed to him by the audience, which was far better informed on the issues than he was.
These people will never realize that they are being used as tools for the health insurance industry. I really do hope there insurance is that good because they're going to need it. Someone is going to get hurt at one of these things.
more like "political terrorism"!
if they had not already managed to tunnel their way to canada during the bush administration, i'm sure that our dead founding fathers are digging again
This past weekend, I went to that Right Principles site. I saw their document on how to disrupt these town halls (a link to that document is above).
Now, I cannot seem to find that document on the Right Principles site. Guess they realized they were inciting violence.
One of the first things that grabbed my attention on that Wrong Principles site is their number one core belief: American Exceptionalism. That tells you plenty about these people.
that comes from inbreeding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3CZYbIPCPo
Good one...I needed a laugh after this complete and utter BS coming from these pukes.
I've been looking at that freedomworks site. They have various quotes flashing at the bottom of each page, by Dick Armey. Two of them so far have caught my attention:
1. If you demagogue it, you own it.
2. If you are going to go ugly, go ugly early.
I sent a comment to that site and mentioned specifically item number 1 above.
I just now noticed that they have removed every single negative comment, including mine, from their site! Fascist brownshirts!!!!!
Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann are preaching to the choir.
Why are the big money network types and Jim Lehrer ignoring this? 60% of Americans be completely unaware that this is part of a concerted effort by the right to disrupt democracy and impose their will.
The rightwingnuts know because they're doing it or at least laughing up their collective sleeves about how they're getting away with it.
Those on the left see it on Maddow and Countdown.
The vast majority are blithely unaware of what's happening. Sinclair Lewis wrote a book about this sort of thing back in the 1930's. it's still in print and the title is It Can't Happen Here. The point is it can and, if the conservatives get their way, it will.
Local ABC news was reportling it last night as a spontaneous citizen uprising in Dallas against Lloyd Doggett and other would-be reformers.
The problem is they have the polls backing them up, but upon further examination it's not just counting those agin it, but also those uncomfortable because there's no real plan in place to debate, and those who insist (like me) on single-payer.
will never crack down on white, right-wing political action...
From now on, these townhalls should have ample law enforcement from the beginning. It should be announced at the onset that anyone that is disruptive and drowns out others will be removed from the hall just as they do in Congressional hearings. The Rep/Senator should show some leadership and insist on decorum so that everyone can be heard in a civil fashion. If you have to play hardball with these traitors that don't believe in democracy, then do it. A few should not be allowed to ruin a forum for the many. Let the news cover it and have the Rep/Senator address it. If the Rep/Senator demands decorum and respect, it will bode well for this strength as a leader among the broader audience. The Rep/Senators should address the orchestrated opposition at the onset and make clear it will not be tolerated. Arrest them, if necessary.
Is there some counterplan to stop this from happening? Maybe bring a large screen to every meeting and when they start up project an explanation of how these people yelling are there to disrupt the meeting, encouraged by insurance companies, and are keeping the real people of the community from being heard?
would be to pop them right in their fascist mouths when they start their bullshit.
Meet them at every town hall meetings ready to kick ass.
I'm sick of their anti-American bullshit!
Won't they then need healthcare?
These people are modern day Brown Shirts.
house flipping soon!
Giant TV's being loaded up into Giant Pickups at Best Buy . .
cooler_king. Honestly, if people showed up at these events with legitimate concerns and demanding they be answered, even if they were very animated, it wouldn't concern me.
However...
" You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep's presentation,... Watch for an opportunity to yell further putting the Rep on the defensive."
are not instructions for how to go about expressing your opinion. They are instructions for harassing people you disagree with, to intimidate them, and to drown out civilized discourse on a crucial issue. There's been far too much inciting of the worst elements in our society and it is long past the point where it is constructive. It is now the kind of divisive, inflammatory rhetoric that almost inevitably presages violence.
Someone made and excellent point. People werer arrested at Bush events for wearing the wrong tee shirts. And I as I recall they were closed events-as if he was not President of all Americans. This could get very ugly and even violent. We need to speak up and bring this to light very quickly- Dick Armey and his group should be exposed at what they are doing before someone gets killed. These groups are ok with stirring up this kind of outrage and when a crazy goes off and kills somebody they say they had nothing to do with it. "Sunlight" is the best disinfectant- thanks Racheal for the information.
Calling it hooliganism? That's letting them off lightly.
Five years ago, those idiots would have been herded into "free speech zones" or arrested for not standing in them.
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