SOMEONE'S gonna need health care

[Partha]

Jeez, never saw this one coming.

"We had no town hall events scheduled for the August recess anyway, but in light of everything that's happened -- we have received a threatening phone call in the D.C. office, there have been calls to the Raleigh office," said Miller communications director LuAnn Canipe, in an interview with TPM. The threatening call in question happened earlier this week.

"The call to the D.C. office was, 'Miller could lose his life over this,'" said Canipe. "Our staffer took it so seriously, he confirmed what the guy was saying. He said, 'Sir is that a threat?' and at that time our staffer was getting the phone number off caller ID and turning it over to the Capitol Police."

They haven't heard anything back from the police yet, but they did get the caller's number. So this could develop into something soon enough.

[Harlowe]

Good fucking grief this crazy hate-mongering and the douche bags inciting this sort of shit is getting ridiculous.

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Don't worry guys, they're all paid for by the Republican Party and other "Special Interest" Groups...

[Lurker]

Not all of them, but there's plenty of evidence that most of this is the result of an astro-turf industry funded campaign to shut down discussion. Guess they didn't learn that having a few people angrily shouting over people trying to have reasonable debate only works in the short term. In the end it just turns all the moderates and independents away from your cause because they don't want to be associated with the crazy. Go Teabaggers!

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Oh theres definetly some crazy people in the mix, that caller happens to be one of them. There are angry Democrats out there too though, as my Congressman could tell you. (He only had 6 "teabaggers" in the room, and a majority of people there were "hostile".)

[Lurker]

a majority of people there were "hostile".

Yeah, people are angry. Republicans and other anti-reform groups have been lying to them, they believed the disinformation, and they are very angry at what they think is happening. Some of the anger is manufactured and phony and some of it is because they have been deceived. They aren't the least bit interested in asking a question and listening to the answer; this is all about disrupting the town halls, intimidating their Rep, and creating a media event. But hostility and shouting people down is no way to win people over to your side. This tactic is going to blow up in the face of the anti-reform crowd.

[Eidolon Faer]

Dangit, Partha, when are you gonna stop making threatening phone calls to Senators?

[Fallakin Kuvari]

a majority of people there were "hostile".

Yeah, people are angry. Republicans and other anti-reform groups have been lying to them, they believed the disinformation, and they are very angry at what they think is happening. Some of the anger is manufactured and phony and some of it is because they have been deceived. They aren't the least bit interested in asking a question and listening to the answer; this is all about disrupting the town halls, intimidating their Rep, and creating a media event. But hostility and shouting people down is no way to win people over to your side. This tactic is going to blow up in the face of the anti-reform crowd.

They were respectful, they weren't "shouting him down". They were however pressing him with hard questions like "Will you and your family opt in to the public plan once its available?" "Will you vote for it if it pays for abortion?" He called the townhall early because the people didn't like the original format and he had to step out of his comfort zone and actually answer questions rather than talk party-line agenda.

[Ddrak]

Dangit, Partha, when are you gonna stop making threatening phone calls to Senators?

^^ Win.

Dd

[Partha]

You've set an awfully low bar for Eid's return, Dd.

FYI, I'm a donator to Mr. Miller.

More fun with the 'random crazies'.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/healt ... ef=politic

The Texas protest against Mr. Doggett was coordinated by Heather Liggett, who has worked with the local Republican Party, as well as the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity, to organize antitax “tea party” demonstrations.

When a member of her group saw a newspaper advertisement about Mr. Doggett’s event, Mrs. Liggett posted it on her Web site, she said, and the word spread “like a domino effect” through her network. She estimated that 450 people showed up.

Mrs. Liggett said she was also in touch with conservative voters around the country who were helping organize similar events. “Whether it’s Arlen Specter or Claire McCaskill or Lloyd Doggett, they are showing up in force,” she said, referring to the Democratic senator from Missouri.

Mr. Doggett said he had been ambushed while trying to hold “neighborhood office hours” at a Randalls grocery store, where he usually gets questions about veterans’ benefits or listens to constituents’ advice on how to fix the budget deficit.

“If you look at the YouTube video, you can barely see in the edge of that a beautiful marble tombstone with my name on it,” he said. “People that worked so hard to get their signs in full-color did not come to dialogue. They came to be destructive.” Video of protesters confronting Mr. Specter and Ms. Sebelius in Philadelphia was also quickly posted to YouTube.

http://stlouisteaparty.com/2009/08/04/nazi-snitches/

Barack Obama wants to turn everyone into a Nazi snitch.

The Nazis used snitches, including children, to turn in enemies of the state. Barack Obama has unleashed a program inspired by the National Socialists to identify and, presumably, punish citizens who speak out against socialized medicine.

[Embar Angylwrath]

Can't beleive you guys see this as something abnormal. Google "Bush death threats" and then get back to me with all the righteous indignation and moral outrage...

[Lurker]

Ok.

Hit 1 - Some completely incomprehensible site with skulls on it

Hit 2 - Eighth grader posts a 'kill bush' picture on MySpace

Hit 3 - Blog post about Obama getting 400% more death threats than Bush

And here's a Google Fight between "bush death threats" and "obama death threats". Keep in mind that Bush was President for eight years compared to Obama's six months.

Not sure what all that was supposed to reveal, or what it has to do with hostile, misinformed people trying to intimidate members of Congress and shut down discussion about health care reform, but there you go.

[Partha]

The poor lumpen. They do what the Embars want, and the Embars are too embarrassed to claim them.

[Fallakin Kuvari]

I think what Embar is trying to say is that when all this type of crap was happening under Bush 43 no one seemed to care. Now that its happening under Obama everyone is up in arms.

[Lurker]

Can you provide some links of this type of crap happening under Bush? I'd love to see the stories about people shouting down debate at town halls or making death threats against Republican members of congress. Not just a couple people yelling something and being immediately removed, but something similar to what's happening now.

Remember the Move On ad that morphed Bush into Hitler several years back? That was submitted by one guy on the Internet and immediately removed from the contest by Move On, and the Republicans threw a hissy fit about it for years. Now we have the spokesman for the Republican Party on the radio every day comparing Obama to Hitler and Democrats to Nazis. There's absolutely no comparison.

You live in a fantasy world if you think the hate and vitriol aimed at Bush is in any way similar to what's aimed at Obama and the Democrats, and nearly all of it is being fed with disinformation from major players in the Republican Party and carried out by the misinformed or crazy.

[Harlowe]

Wow, you guys are huge liars. NOTHING on this level was happening during the Bush era and Democrats were certainly NOT inciting their crazies.

[Embar Angylwrath]

Wow... the chips on your shoulders are big enough to block your sight.

[Harlowe]

You're a liar Embar. Show proof of this same level of crazy?

You can call the Democrats as corrupt and equally irresponsible with spending, but inciting a dangerous level of crazy in their fringe base? Not even close.

[Embar Angylwrath]

You're a liar Embar. Show proof of this same level of crazy?

You can call the Democrats as corrupt and equally irresponsible with spending, but inciting a dangerous level of crazy in their fringe base? Not even close.

What?

Since when is exercising your constitutional right to free speech a dangerous thing? Its a protest. I'm talking about the death threats.

I see nothing wrong with people from either side of the political spectrum using non-violent forms of protest, and that includes an organized chant, shout, whatever, in order to get their point across. Is free speech only free if you agree with it Harlowe?

[Lurker]

This isn't a free speech issue. If they are just there to shout down debate they need to be ejected from the town halls. The hostile and misinformed can excercise their free speech rights outside.

edit: And the level of dishonesty and hatred and dangerous rhetoric flowing from the top down in the Republican Party and the major talking heads can't be denied. There's no comparison between anything that was directed towards Bush.