You may have seen film clips on the news which showed people disrupting Congresspeople's attempts to hold town hall meetings in their home districts, being rowdy and generally not allowing other attendees to get a word in edgewise.
Greg Sargent has gotten confirmation that these so-called "spontaneous" outbursts have been highly coordinated by insurance industry-sponsored groups. Bear that in mind when you see cable and network news anchors report on these events; the protesters are not unaffiliated individuals.
Here's a strategy memo from one of the organizers; it's hardly a model of democratic give-and-take.
Remember the Brooks Brothers Riot which disrupted the vote counters in Miami in 2000? This is the same sort of thing. Posted by Linkmeister at August 4, 2009 07:51 AM | TrackBack
- Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep 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.”
- Be Disruptive Early And Often: “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.”
- Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “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.”
I spit on these people.
Posted by: hedera at August 4, 2009 10:49 AMAnd, of course, few Congresspersons are expecting this degree of rudeness and interruption, so they will probably get rattled quickly.
I find it appalling that the industry is so obsessed with their obscene profits that they have no regard for the human suffering they cause in those whose money got the industry their profits in the first place.
How dare they!!!
This whole thing makes me so angry that I can't even find the right words to express my feelings. I can't watch the news anymore because I scream at the TV as the talking heads seem to approve of this kind of action. Of course, they do - it brings them better ratings!
As Jimmy Durante would say, "What a revoltin' development!!"