Posted on 08/13/2012 2:52:33 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
If only his party affiliation were different, this would be a shining lesson for the media in how a rotten tone set at the top can drive the rank-and-file over the edge. Ah well.
Handled with aplomb by the candidate, but still uncomfortable to watch:
Ryan had barely begun speaking when a woman shouted, "Are you going to cut Medicare?"
Two women rushed the stage, and one was apparently arrested by three Iowa State Patrolmen after getting on stage with a banner.
"Woah...hey...alright...she must not be from Iowa," said a dumbfounded Ryan as the woman got on stage.
The officers bounded out from behind the stage to pull her down, saying "She just punched a volunteer."
As the boss emeritus notes on Twitter, USA Today describes the crowd reaction today as "spirited." More from Jim Geraghty, who's seen the Democrats run enough plays over the years that he can predict their defensive set for Ryan:
In the national media narrative – perhaps best illustrated by the shorthand of Jay Leno’s monologue, which presumes that the audience has the barest-bone familiarity with national figures – every Republican figure is reduced to one of three things: Old, stupid, or evil.
George H.W. Bush: Old. Dan Quayle: Stupid. Newt Gingrich: Evil. Pat Buchanan: Evil. Bob Dole: Old. George W. Bush: Stupid. Dick Cheney: Old and evil. John McCain: Old. Sarah Palin: Stupid...
Because Paul Ryan isn’t old, we will see an effort to paint him as either stupid or evil. You and I know that painting Paul Ryan as stupid is like trying to paint Bill Clinton as chaste. But we have also witnessed the rapid definition of an unknown Republican figure four years ago, and we know that right now, every Democratic official, commentator, talking head, and more than a few reporters awaken this morning with a new mission in life: define Paul Ryan.
He’s got to be evil, if only by process of elimination. The angry spectacle here makes me wonder whether hecklers might play a part in O’s strategy to define Ryan out of the chute over the next few weeks. The people in the clip appear to be freelancers — they’re the same progressive group that heckled Romney in Iowa last year — but that doesn’t mean the next hecklers have to be. Remember, according to no less than Nancy Pelosi, the people who showed up at the Democrats’ health-care townhalls in August 2009 to complain were astroturfers whose job was to create a false perception of popular opposition to ObamaCare. (Three years later, popular opposition to ObamaCare is a political fact of life.) This is how the Democratic leadership thinks. They’d like nothing more, I’m sure, than to see some irate protesters getting in Ryan’s face over Medicare at one of his events so that the media has a piece of useful viral vid to run with, and we already know how low Democratic campaigns are willing to stoop to harass Republican candidates. So why not send out some boisterous hecklers, to convince undecideds that this Paul Ryan character they’re hearing about is evidently so evil that average Americans might be driven into a sputtering rage by hearing him talk about premium support? It’s sound optics and efficient demagoguery. O’s inner circle might not be good at governing, but they’re good at that at least.
Exit question from the Obama campaign’s Tumblr account: “In case you missed all the excitement this weekend: Meet Paul Ryan, who is actually the worst.”
Sounds like Pay-Per-View to me...
I like how the headline said they "tried" to climb onto the stage.
These violent nutjobs are a serious threat to Ryans life. There needs to be an immediate implementation of a no tolerance policy for liberal idiocy.
My suggested reply was not for the heckler.. It was a sound bite for the evening news.
Marching orders. Paid help, bussed in to create a confrontation. Possibly from Madison. I would think the SEIU and Wisconsin teacher’s union is going to play this up as much as they can.
Why did IA state police respond? Doesn’t Ryan have SS protection now?
I want to know every last detail about the arrested woman, every overdue library book, her credit rating, every medication she’s ever taken, what her neighbors have to say about her... everything. They should enjoy no privacy, as Joe the Plumber enjoyed no privacy.
Liberals don't have to use 'social media' they can call up CBS, NBC, ABC, or CNN. You're right - they'll try to pull us into a fight. They tried that at Chick-fil-A... and it didn't work. But your warning's important. We have to ignore them.
Ten thousand people showed up for Romney/Ryan in WI - and another 10,000 in North Carolina. Biden was in North Carolina too - 600 people came to hear him. We're better. We can ignore them...
In 2010, lots of Tea Party folks started showing up at town meetings challenging Dem incumbents on Obamacare and Porkulus. Then Rats (SEIU and other unions) started showing up as well and started confrontations with the Tea Party folks. They got violent in a few instances.
The stakes are extremely high, so I expect Rats to show up and disrupt all the R/R rallies. Their goal is to scare people away from going (no chance) and to be so disruptive that R/R can’t even address the crowds and decide it’s better to have smaller, controllable crowds in smaller venues.
Just like they hate the people who showed up at Chick-Fil-A, they also hate the people who show up in support of R/R.
They’re idiots if they think people are going to be cowed with these threats. On the contrary, it will make conservatives even more determined to publicly show their support.
Dollars to donuts, the women were part of the rabble rousers who occupied the WI state house in protest of Gov. Walker’s reforms. They are probably militant school teachers.
I expect they will be identified. Maybe they’ll even lose their jobs over this, like the doofus did who berated that Chick-Fil-A employee at the drive through window.
You’re right, randita:
Romney Protester: ‘We Love Dead Republicans’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2918178/posts
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