Posted on 08/06/2009 6:35:17 PM PDT by jessduntno
By WILLIAM MARCH | The Tampa Tribune
Published: August 6, 2009
Updated: 07:49 pm
What was supposed to be a town hall forum on President Barack Obama's health care reform plan this evening turned instead into a shouting match, complete with shoving and scuffles.
The forum featured Tampa legislators U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and state Rep. Betty Reed and was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. It ended about 7:15 p.m. with Castor only able to say a few words, most of which were inaudible because of the shouting from protestors.
A crowd of about 250-300 people made it inside the Hillsborough County Children's Board office at 1002 E. Palm Avenue before the door was closed. A couple hundred people wound up outside. Tensions were high and the meeting was extremely noisy.
Chants were popular. When Castor first tried to speak, the crowd drowned her out by repeating, "You work for us.'' Other chants included "Tyranny, tyranny,'' and "Read the bill, read the bill.''
A crowd of 200 or more moved from the building's entrance to the windows outside the room where the meeting was being held. They held up signs and chanted. Some of the messages on the signs were: "Read the bill'' and "No to socialist health care.''
Several of the protestor's signs bore an image of Obama with his face painted as the Joker, an image that drew protests of racism locally when it appeared on a Web site thought to be associated with the Pinellas Republican party.
There were at least two scuffles between protestors trying to enter and organizers manning the doors. One of those involved in a scuffle, Randy Arthur, of Oldsmar said he was injured by those manning the doors and said he would file a police report.
(Excerpt) Read more at 2.tbo.com ...
Randy Arthur, who owns an air conditioning service company, later talked to police officers, his knit shirt ripped and a few scratches visible on his chest. "They slammed him into the wall,'' Kathy Arthur said.
A minority of the crowd, perhaps a third, were health care reform advocates, some associated with the local Democratic party or the staffs of Castor or Betty Reed, and some with Organizing For America, an organization that grew out of the Obama campaign.
After her short talk, Castor left at about 6:40 p.m., sparking much of the rest of the crowd to leave as well. Some jeered Castor as she left.
"They're hiding from their constituents. She works for us and needs to listen,'' said Karen Jaroch, a Tampa homemaker and organizer for the 9-12 Project, set up by rightist TV commentator Glenn Beck.
Ellen Gedalius, a Castor spokeswoman, said the Congresswoman left the meeting because she had accomplished what she came for.
"We said all along our role was to come and give an update on the bill in Congress,'' Gedalius said. "That's what Betty Reed asked us to do. It's her meeting and that's what she did.''
Gedalius noted that Castor will have an telephonic town hall on Aug. 13 and that her office has been receiving hundreds of comments on the health care issue.
Some protestors accused organizers of stacking the room with those sympathetic to the president's health care plan. Reed denied that, saying those who were there early were organizers setting up the room.
In recent days, disruptive protests like tonight's is turning out to be have erupted at town hall meetings on health care held by Democratic Congress members.
Democrats including White House spokesman Robert Gibbs have said the disruptions were organized attacks aimed at Democrats by conservative, anti-health care reform interest groups.
Some pro-health care reform groups have responded by instructing their members in how to counter the opponents.
Reed said she set up the town hall with the help of Service Employees International Union, a large, politically active union that represents nursing home workers, among others.
"I represent a number of people who ask questions about what's going on with health care, so I thought it would be good to put on a meeting and have the congresswoman come in and give an update," said Reed.
Asked earlier today about possible disruption at the event, Kim Diehl of SEIU said, "We're prepared. We have strategies to deal with it if it should come up." She said the event was important because of disinformation being spread about the health care reform plan.
The Tampa and Pinellas chapters of the 9-12 Project said on their Web sites they expect 120 or more of their members to attend.
But those web sites instruct members to act respectfully: "Be courteous while anyone is speaking, including Castor. We don't want to sound like an 'angry mob,' " advises the Tampa group's site.
The Free Republic conservative site, meanwhile, told its members that Castor "will be surrounded by union goons from the SEIU" who will "do their best to pick fights with you so they can get video for TV a proof that you guys are a mob. Don't let them win, but get your questions asked."
TOWN HALL MEETINGS FOR HALF OF THE TOWN...THANKS BO...
SEIU organized Townhall. Imagine that!! I think this all is going to get REALLY ugly before it gets better. Isn’t wonderful that taxpayers are subsidizing their own loss of freedom? If the Dems keep this up it’ll be political suicide.
Sheez!
Geez, Gramma, I’m already on a monthly...
Thanks for donating....I guess I'm going to be in Heap Big Trouble cuz I've been spamming a bunch of threads...and I don't think I've changed it to "All" in any of them.
Gulp.
Slithering away into the night I go.....
Aw, shucks, ma’am, weren’t nuthin’...
Bump for later copying.
“Thanks for donating....I guess I’m going to be in Heap Big Trouble cuz I’ve been spamming a bunch of threads...and I don’t think I’ve changed it to “All” in any of them.”
I like irony Gramma...you posted it to a thread about how annoying spam was getting...that’s the best laugh I’ve had in a year...THANK YOU...I LIKE THE PASSION ;^)
If you’re prepared to tell the truth, you don’t need “strategies.”
As P.J. O’Rourke said, “This country was founded by right-wing religious nuts with guns.”
So I FINALLY did something RIGHT?
WHOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
:)
“If you’re prepared to tell the truth, you don’t need “strategies.”
Hard to believe the willing idiots don’t see that, isn’t it?
Lexington
And those same folks will do the “RE-founding”.
Yeah. But, they first have to be 'willing' to think.
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