Posted on 08/07/2009 2:35:36 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Ah, democracy! It never works better than when informed citizens gather in town hall meetings to discuss and debate the issues of the day.
But, oh, democracy! It's never more damaged than when partisan zealots plot to disrupt town hall meetings in order to prevent any honest debate of the issues.
And that's exactly what's happening in health care forums held across the nation by members of Congress. We've seen it in Philadelphia; Austin, Texas; Georgetown, Del.; Salisbury, Md; and other communities. Taking a page right out of a Nazi playbook, organizers bus in professional protestors and arm them with instructions on how to take over meetings, shut down discussion, shout over any pro-health care reform speakers, and then post video of the resulting chaos on YouTube. It's mob rule, pure and simple.
Having encouraged viewers to show up, sympathetic anchors on Fox News then pretend these are "grassroots" protests springing up spontaneously across the country in opposition to President Obama's plans for health care reform. Nonsense. There's nothing spontaneous about them. They're not grassroots protests, they're "Astroturf" protests. Just look at who's paying the freight, who shows up and what orders they're given.
Funding and direction for the Stalinist-style campaign comes from two conservative, lobbyist-run Washington think tanks: Americans for Prosperity, headed by Tim Phillips, former partner of Ralph Reed in Century Strategies; and FreedomWorks, led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey. Previously, both organizations funded and orchestrated the so-called "tea parties" staged on April 15. And in many ways, today's town halls are simply a continuation of yesterday's tea parties, with many of the same players and tactics.
Tea baggers, in fact, have been busy lately. They came out in force on July 20, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, to deny that Neil Armstrong ever walked on the moon. They became overnight "birthers" to deny the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate. And now the same tea bagger/moonie/birther fringe element of the Republican Party is turning out to deny Americans health care reform.
How do tea baggers know when and where to show up? Easy. Organizers e-mail a list of scheduled congressional town hall meetings nationwide. Pick one near you, or sign up for the bus.
And how do they know what to do when they get there? That's easy, too. A leaked memo by Robert MacGuffie originally posted on the FreedomWorks Web site, TeaPartyPatriots.org, spells it out. Rule No. 1: Artificially inflate your numbers. Advises MacGuffie: "Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. ... The Representative should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington."
Rule No. 2: Be as disruptive as possible. "You need to rock the boat early in the Rep's presentation." Why? Rule No. 3: "The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions."
Clearly, the tea baggers' goal is not to take part in any debate over health care, but to prevent any debate. And that, I believe, will prove counterproductive.
The more their disruptive tactics are seen on YouTube, the more these town hall bullies will turn people off. Americans don't like rude, ugly, obnoxious behavior, on the left or the right. Health care is a serious issue, demanding and deserving of serious debate. Turning loose the mob to shut down that debate is not the way to win the hearts and minds of undecided Americans.
Astroturf protestors have one other problem: While they're against Obama's plan for health care reform, they're not for anything else. There is no alternative Republican plan. The only thing they have to offer is the status quo -- which is simply unacceptable. Because the status quo means insurance companies continue to rule: able to deny coverage because of a pre-existing condition, able to limit or drop coverage because of serious illness, and able to raise premiums annually -- thereby bankrupting both families and businesses.
In the end, the staged town hall protests will hurt the opposition's cause, not help it. Which is why, were I a Republican member of Congress, I'd encourage these yahoos to stay home. Were I a Democratic member, I'd pay them to show up.
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(Bill Press is host of a nationally syndicated radio show and author of a new book, "Train Wreck: The End of the Conservative Revolution (and Not a Moment Too Soon)." You can hear "The Bill Press Show" at his Web site: billpressshow.com. His email address is: bill@billpress.com.)
That was some of the best satire I’ve read in a long time. Bravo!!
And the MOONBATS aren’t crazy? Oh yeah, they are his type....and what is this about O’REALLY taking Obama’s side?
After the fluff interview with BAMBO in 2008, O’REALLY gave himself away....
Married a very rich lefty woman ... total ahole (a Hawaiian term)... by now, probably ... but not certainly ... believes his own bullshiite.
If there had been townhallers in Germany, there wouldn't have been any NAZIs. Especially armed townhallers
Married a very rich lefty woman ... total ahole (a Hawaiian term)... by now, probably ... but not certainly ... believes his own bullshiite.
If there had been townhallers in Germany, there wouldn't have been any NAZIs. Especially armed townhallers
Bill Press is hoping to get T-bagged by Obama.
Bill Press is hoping to get T-bagged by Obama.
what's on tap for next week, Phil Donahue on with Rachel Maddow talking about the lack of WMDs in Iraq?
Clearly the debate is now raging at every kitchen table in America. This, of course, is not the debate the author of the article had in mind. In his mind that debate ends with..."too bad, we won now vote." By drawing attention to the issue, protesters have delayed congressional action and placed this issue in the minds of America, now let those that wish to oppose the voice of the people step up and be counted. Your attempts to get this through in the dead of night has failed.
Are you serious? Eisenhower wasn’t a conservative and only became a Republican because he felt he had a better chance of winning that way.
I remember Press back in the 1980’s when I lived in California. He was spouting his liberal crap on a LA TV station back in those days.
Surprised to hear he’s still alive and well....I thought he died from AIDS years ago.
Dear Bill Press
If that were the case Billy, why is your President telling his Union thug supporters to beat them up?
Note for you Billy, all the arrest for violence at these town halls so far have been Obama supporters arrested for assaulting peaceful protesters.
You cannot really be stupid enough to believe this crap you are shoveling here can you Billy?
What birth certificate? As for health care, Obama’s plan hurts my family, this is personal and Mr. Press sides with the hurters, and that is of course is why I disagree.
‘By the way, why isn’t Code Pink protesting Obama’s war in afghanistan?’
All the “support the troops,bring them home” signs have mysteriously vanished since the end of January.
They just wanted to see Boosh fail. They (including Michael Moore) called for America’s bloody defeat at the hands of Islamic terrorists.
They engaged in treason in a time of war.
If the pundits and politicians want to take the position “we won, this is what we get to do”, then why didn’t they CAMPAIGN on this issue? Why wasn’t nationalized healthcare the top debate topic? Why all of the questions about the Bush Doctrine if THIS was what the public was “voting” on?
They ran Obambi as a moderate despite all evidence that his was among the most liberal records in Congress.
Colin Powell flip flopped on economics and supported Obama’s plan to expand the role of government. He’s not worthy of endorsement.
If he could get away with it, he'd nail living infants to a prison van filled with child molesters and claim it was a Republican plot.
Let’s get this straight,
A group of semi-unemployed’s, bussed to the location, wearing matching tees, with pre-printed placards,
beaching about about folks taking time off from work, making signs, showing up wearing whatever they happened to have on. Heaven forbid they bring their kids.
Grass roots political discord ?
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