It's August, and lawmakers are back in their home states talking to constituents. Liberals and conservatives alike will show up to town-hall meetings and other events to question their elected officials--sometimes loudly--about health care and the rest of Washington's business, as lawmakers make the case for their own agenda. When passions run high, debate can be spirited. We'll be watching.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the Democrat who represents Austin, Texas, has never won with less than 67 percent of the vote in his district. But that didn't stop conservatives from shouting him down as he tried to talk to constituents about health care over the weekend.
Sign-waving conservatives chant, very loudly, "Just Say No," making other conversations (including Doggett's) inaudible. One protester has a sign that show's Doggett with devil ears springing from his head. They follow Doggett from the event across a parking lot, where he tries to talk to some more people and then leaves. Politico, reporting on Doggett's experience and others, notes that Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), a Blue Dog a former Army captain who served in Iraq, also had to deal with a shouting audience and urged them to "be respectful."
I was at a health care rally in Austin a couple Saturdays ago. A bunch of tea baggers were standing across the street. They were sending the most hateful vibes. Some had signs showing they were from other parts of Texas. I wonder who paid to get them to Austin?
Over 500 people signed into the pro-healthcare reform rally across the street. The building was so full that I couldn't even get inside. Lloyd Doggett was there and spoke eloquently about his support for real reform.
I understand why the haters didn't want him to speak at the Randall's Town Hall. Except for the blindly ideological, most people would choose Lloyd Doggett's plans for health care over any teabaggers by a wide margin.
So Mark, Chris:
"When passions run high, debate can be spirited"?
Huh? This is not a debate, this is the Brooks Brothers Riot Redux, and the gullible Washington Press Corps is falling for it hook, line and sinker.
Too bad with all your education and "experience" both of you either can't see, or too cowardly to notice what is right in front of your face. Must suck to be you.
I'm not so sure it's the Brooks Brothers redux. I had a friend who was involved in that fiasco and weren't they flown in from DC on Enron jets for the most part?
This is crazy angry mobs of Rushbo's and Palinites who looooove to spend their time rallying and ruining any chance of civil discussion. And if you say such a thing, the smallest little thing- then you're an elitist.
The Brooks Brother crowd has figured how to create a squash on debate - rally the ignorant who are filled with hate. Give them marching orders and even if something is in their best interest they will follow.
It's both sad and frightening.
Austin is the homebase of the biggest teabagger of them all: Alex Jones. His following grows bigger everyday and I assume that something bad is about to happen. His crowds bet angrier and angrier with more and more bile. Jones preaches hate and damnation. He used thug like tactics to get where he is. He is a liar and he knows it. This guy is dangerous.
The funny thing is that the Tea Parties represented people saying no to taxes. They were attended by Republicans AND Democrats finally united. So saying "teabaggers" to jab at ultra-conservatives is wrong.
Rushbo's and Palinites might be a better fit. I'm just saying...
smilly124, the 'tea parties' started out as anti-tax demonstrations (by the Libertarians, btw) but once Fox News, FreedomWorks, and the RNC joined the organizing committee most of that fell by the wayside. Those of us who showed up to actually protest the stimulus and its effect on taxes were far outnumbered by the astro-turfers who had shown up to protest Obama, black people, Zionists, gays, abortion, illegal immigrants and a myriad of other pet-peeves most usually held by right-wing nutjobs. Check out a couple of these slide shows and you'll get some kind of why 'tea bagger' has become synonomous with ultra-conservatives...including the Rushbots and Palinites.
That said, shouting down speakers at these town hall meetings is not 'protest'. It is an attempt to silence those with whom the protestors disagree. Because they have already made up their mind about the issue (and the rest of "Hussein Obama's Socialist Plan to Destroy America"©) they have decided to prevent their fellow Americans from hearing what their elected representatives have to say. After all, the rest of us might actually like the idea of health care that consists of more than praying you don't get sick or hurt. And that really scares them.
The actions of those who deliberately disrupt these Townhall Meetings is un-American and un-democratic. It is an act of thuggery and intimidation, NOT dissent and protest.
http://congresscannotexemptitself.blogspot.com/ Did you know that Congress has exempted its members and staff and family from the health care bills it intends to pass? SHAME ON THEM! WHAT MAKES THEM BETTER THAN THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED THEM IN? NOTHING!!! Whatever health care changes Congress imposes or passes the bill must: 1) require both current members and past members of Congress to be subject to the provisions of the bill and 2) the current medical and health coverage for current and past members of Congress must not be available in any form!
In this instance, whatever is good for the goose is defiantly good for the gander! Without exception this should stop their shameful actions against us! If your elected officials do not implement this into the bill…..DO NOT ELECT THEM AGAIN! KICK THEM OUT! THEIR ACTIONS ARE SHAMEFUL!!!!! PLEASE POST THIS MESSAGE ON EVERY NEWS OUTLET AND ON-LINE SERVICE YOU CAN!!!!
Did you know that Congress has exempted its members and staff and family from the health care bills it intends to pass? SHAME ON THEM! WHAT MAKES THEM BETTER THAN THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED THEM IN? NOTHING!!! Whatever health care changes Congress imposes or passes the bill must: 1) require both current members and past members of Congress to be subject to the provisions of the bill and 2) the current medical and health coverage for current and past members of Congress must not be available in any form!
In this instance, whatever is good for the goose is defiantly good for the gander! Without exception this should stop their shameful actions against us! If your elected officials do not implement this into the bill…..DO NOT ELECT THEM AGAIN! KICK THEM OUT! THEIR ACTIONS ARE SHAMEFUL!!!!! PLEASE POST THIS MESSAGE ON EVERY NEWS OUTLET AND ON-LINE SERVICE YOU CAN!!!!
smilly124, the 'tea parties' started out as anti-tax demonstrations (by the Libertarians, btw) but once Fox News, FreedomWorks, and the RNC joined the organizing committee most of that fell by the wayside. Those of us who showed up to actually protest the stimulus and its effect on taxes were far outnumbered by the astro-turfers who had shown up to protest Obama, black people, Zionists, gays, abortion, illegal immigrants and a myriad of other pet-peeves most usually held by right-wing nutjobs. Check out a couple of these slide shows and you'll get some kind of why 'tea bagger' has become synonomous with ultra-conservatives...including the Rushbots and Palinites.
That said, shouting down speakers at these town hall meetings is not 'protest'. It is an attempt to silence those with whom the protestors disagree. Because they have already made up their mind about the issue (and the rest of "Hussein Obama's Socialist Plan to Destroy America"©) they have decided to prevent their fellow Americans from hearing what their elected representatives have to say. After all, the rest of us might actually like the idea of health care that consists of more than praying you don't get sick or hurt. And that really scares them.
The actions of those who deliberately disrupt these Townhall Meetings is un-American and un-democratic. They are acts of thuggery and intimidation, NOT dissent and protest.