SoonerBlue

Louisiana's politics have always been colorful...its politicians seem to have larger than life personalities and egos.

Right now the Pelican State doesn't have strong leadership...look no further than Sen. David Vitter for one of the reasons.

Vitter became a tabloid super star in 2007 when news broke that he was a client of the infamous D.C. Madam. He never came clean about being caught wearing diapers with a couple of hookers. He never apologized to the people of his state directly, only asked forgiveness for his "serious sin."

His wife stood beside him of course...probably remembering her threat of yesteryear. When a reporter asked her what she would do if her husband cheated on her, Mrs. Vitter said, plain as day -- "I'm a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me."

But, good news, Louisiana may get a chance at new leadership.

Buzz on the bayou is that retired Lt. General Russel Honore will enter the Republican primary against Vitter. You'll remember Honore as the Creole 'John Wayne dude' who marched into the flooded streets of New Orleans and took control...successfully leading the Joint Task Force Katrina. This tough, no-nonsense leader restored some semblance of order when the local government collapsed.

Then there's US Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, who announced he will enter the 2010 Senate race...a conservative Blue Dog, and the state’s only Democrat in the House of Representatives.

I'm not sure Melancon could beat Honore...and after three major hurricanes in four years, Louisiana needs a special kind of strong leadership. It certainly deserves better representation than Vitter has offered.

Last weekend marked the four-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina...some progress has been made in restoring Louisiana, but there is so much more work to do.

Honore made quite a name for himself in the aftermath of Katrina. He's also African-American in a state with a large black population...and doesn’t have Vitter’s hooker problem.

Gen. Honore would be a good senator, a take-charge kind of guy who is passionate about Louisiana. An American hero with a lifelong military service...and something tells me that his Republicanism is more centered.

Besides it would be good for democracy to have some diversity on the other side of the aisle. Michael Steele and Bobby Jindal tried so hard to fit the right-wing mold that they ended up looking unnatural and foolish. They haven't stayed true to themselves...whereas Honore seems to be his own man.

The Republicans would be smart to rally behind Honore, they need a high-profile spokesman of a minority background.

He could easily beat Vitter...Honore is a hero, Vitter is an embarrassment. Honore has described himself as pro-life and pro-family; an interesting contrast to Vitter, who is also pro-life and pro-family, but is primarily known for frolicking with hookers. So far, Honore hasn't been caught wearing diapers for fun.

At any rate, it will be an interesting race...if he beats Vitter in the primary, wonder how the Democrats are going to attack a heroic self-made black Republican.

Oh yes...another potential challenger is porn star Stormy Daniels...a Baton Rouge native who has a huge grassroots network of supporters.

Told you bayou politics are colorful...

Yoo hoo Lynn, your Freudian Slip is showing...

I'd bet good money that a lot of the recent townhall fury directed toward President Obama is not really about healthcare...it's fueled by an undercurrent of racism. A fair number of whites are still very angry that our great nation is being led an African-American president.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a Kansas Republican, made it very obvious when she told an audience in Topeka that her party was looking for a "great white hope" to stop Obama. I mean, how Freudian is that?

Of course, when Lefties made a stink about it, she apologized. The Associated Press reported:

"[J]enkins spokeswoman Mary Geiger told The Associated Press Thursday Jenkins apologizes for her word choice and did not intend to offend anyone. A White House spokesman withheld comment ahead of Thursday afternoon's on-the-record briefing....[..]"

Then a reporter cornered White House spokesman Bill Burton and asked if the WH thought there were any racial implications in that statement.

The White House decided to be charitable and said maybe it was just a poor choice of words...that Congresswoman Jenkins should be given the benefit of the doubt. Probably a good strategy since Jenkins' comment will wound the GOP...it's exactly the kind of racist expression that many centrist and moderate voters will find repulsive, which could rebound in Obama's favor.

Still, it's amazing that a US congresswoman, in a public meeting in the age of YouTube, would be so clueless, if not racist, to say the Republican Party needed a "great white hope" to defeat Obama.

Of course, Righties are hyperventilating, saying a mountain is being made out of a molehill.

Mountain out of a molehill? Well, at any other time in our history...maybe. But, right now, when conservatives are comfortable with questioning President Obama's citizenship, and with the RNC mailing "Barack the Magic Negro" CD's around, etc....need I go on? So...no mountain.

Would anyone in the GOP ever say that Obama is the "great white hope" of the Democrats?

But, we do have to be fair to Jenkins. There is no other color for her to hope for...every single Republican member of Congress is white.

Anyway, the Topeka Capital-Journal had this to say about the historical context:

"The phrase 'great white hope' is frequently tied to racist attitudes permeating the United States when heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson fought in the early 1900s. Reaction to the first black man to reign as champion was intense enough to build support for a campaign to find a white fighter capable of reclaiming the title from Johnson."

I mean, could it be any more relevant?

Well, at least she made her bones with the rabid right-wing...we'll be seeing her on Fox News...

But hey, it's Kansas. They still believe Jesus and dinosaurs lived in the same era.

"The Devil put that fossil there to confuse us!"

Last November a Kansas church wrote on its marquee -- "Obama Muslim President a Sin." You can read about it here:

"The main point of the marquee is to cause Christians to understand he's not a Christian," said Preacher Mark Holick, as reported by Wichita TV station KSN. "They call and tell me he's not a Muslim, he's a Christian. That's not the point. The point is he's not a Christian."

The Republicans do not need a "great white hope" of any shade...they need a new platform that actually works and will appeal to moderate voters. They are stuck in the rut of giving breaks to big corporations, and spending big for wars...while not seeming to give a hoot for the working class.

Just think about it; all the programs that help the middle class and the poor -- i.e., Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid -- have been fought for by Democrats.

Rest in Peace Ted Kennedy.

Everyone will have an opinion about what Ted Kennedy should be best remembered for...he had many triumphs and tragedies and failures.

I, a Kennedy family fan, was disgusted with him during the Chappaquiddick ordeal, when he drove his car off a bridge on Martha’s Vineyard and his young companion drowned. I was convinced that he was driving drunk and didn't have the capacity to save Mary Jo Kopechne, that he waited nine hours to report the accident so he could sober up. I thought he had disgraced his name and his office and should step down.

But the people of Massachusetts seemed to forgive him and re-elected him the next year.

Then he disappointed me again when twenty years later, after a late night out carousing on Easter weekend with younger relatives in Palm Beach, Fla., his nephew was accused (later acquitted) of rape at the Kennedy estate. I wondered why Ted -- who was a surrogate father to the 13 orphans of JFK and RFK -- wasn't setting a better example for the younger Kennedys, instead of crawling clubs and getting drunk with them.

But throughout all of his tragedies, he always seemed to have the strength to bounce back and renew himself...because he kept getting re-elected. Nine times.

Maybe it was because he threw himself into his work to make life better for the working class. Throughout the years he fought for better education and healthcare coverage, for minimum wage increase...and the fight for legislation authorizing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco will be a Kennedy legacy.

Even I softened over time when I saw how hard he worked for the rights of women and children, the poor, the sick, for minorities, the elderly, the handicapped, for the working class in general. Yes, he did redeem himself.

It certainly couldn't have been easy living in the shadow of his two larger-than-life brothers. When he was younger, people thought he was just a shallow playboy waiting for his turn in the White House. Yet, his only run for the presidency in 1980 -- when he challenged Jimmy Carter in the primaries -- was a dismal failure.

Some say that he never reached the White House because he didn't have that 'fire in the belly' for it...that he was happy being a senator. He did become one of the most powerful and influential senators in American history.

You just have to take a step back and just admire the man's accomplishments. Time will judge the impact he's had on American politics over the past 50 years.

He was first elected in 1962, and fought the civil rights battles of that era...from the voting rights debates through the bitter school busing battles.

How satisfying it must have been when, decades later, he had a hand in getting Barack Obama elected our first African-American president. Kennedy campaigned for this historic achievement, risking his own health (his cancer treatments made him vulnerable to infections).

How sad that Kennedy couldn’t fully participate in the great healthcare debate...it had been his passion for decades. Before he threw his campaign hat in with Obama, rumor is that he wanted Obama's promise to put healthcare reform at the top of his legislative agenda.

He was fighting the good fight until the end...as his health was worsening, he was writing letters requesting the appointment of an interim replacement to take over his seat in the Senate...so they could vote for healthcare reform.

How I wish we could pass decent healthcare reform as a fitting monument to him.

This is a favorite quote of his -- "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dreams shall never die."

The loss of Ted Kennedy will be a profound one, felt across this country and beyond. Rest in peace, Senator...and many grateful thanks for your decades of public service...for trying to build a caring and positive society.

From the New York Times: "Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a son of one of the most storied families in American politics, a man who knew triumph and tragedy in near-equal measure and who will be remembered as one of the most effective lawmakers in the history of the Senate, died Tuesday night. He was 77 ."

Protect the President...enforce 'incitement to violence' laws!

Well, so much for the US "being civilized"...especially when so many of us feel the need to arm ourselves against people with whom we disagree. Some of us also kill them - abortion doctors, etc.

I take heart that these gunslinging loonies are a very small percentage of our society...albeit a very loud one...and crazy and unpredictable.

It seems that the only way these people can communicate their opinions is by some show of force. I don't know what loaded guns have to do with healthcare reform...but there they are, showing up at a political meeting with AR15's hanging on their shoulders, 9mm semi-automatic pistolas strapped on their thighs...just like Bruce Willis.

Loaded for...what, bear? Or just to show off -- "Don't mess with me! Look at my big badass circumcised automatic rifle...it's bigger than yours!"

It scares me to death that so many nutcases are brandishing a gun, legal or not, that close to President Obama's townhall meetings.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow interviewed an ex-secret service man on her show, Joseph Petro, who said the Secret Service can set perimeters around the president in any manner they wish. So if these nutters want carry their weapons, then let them do it 2 miles away...plain and simple.

But...why aren't the Secret Service doing this? I don't care if local laws permit it, there should be federal regulations created, or enforced, that forbid carrying a gun in the vicinity of the president.

Right now this must be done, right now...the level of hatred and violence these rabid fright-wing media clowns are stoking is getting extreme.

The hate we're seeing at townhall meetings has just escalated since back during the campaign...when people first shouted, "Terrorist!" and "Treason!" and "Off with his head!" about Obama at Sarah Palin rallies. NO ONE in the Republican Party would condemn it.

Well, John McCain did correct the one woman who said Obama was a Muslim..."No, he's not, he's a good American." Which surely made American Muslims feel all warm and fuzzy.

And now the threats against President Obama have risen 400 percent from those against GWB.

NYTimes columnist, Frank Rich writes about it much better than I can.

"The Guns of August":

"IT is time to water the tree of liberty" said the sign carried by a gun-toting protester milling outside President Obama’s town-hall meeting in New Hampshire two weeks ago. The Thomas Jefferson quote that inspired this message, of course, said nothing about water: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." That’s the beauty of a gun — you don’t have to spell out the "blood."

The protester was a nut. America has never had a shortage of them. But what’s Tom Coburn’s excuse? Coburn is a Republican senator from Oklahoma, where 168 people were murdered by right-wing psychopaths who bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Their leader, Timothy McVeigh, had the Jefferson quote on his T-shirt when he committed this act of mass murder. Yet last Sunday, when asked by David Gregory on "Meet the Press" if he was troubled by current threats of "violence against the government," Coburn blamed not the nuts but the government.

"Well, I’m troubled any time when we stop having confidence in our government," the senator said, "but we’ve earned it."

[C]oburn’s implicit rationalization for far-right fanatics bearing arms at presidential events — the government makes them do it! — cannot stand. He’s not a radio or Fox News bloviator paid a fortune to be outrageous; he’s a card-carrying member of the United States Senate. On Monday — the day after he gave a pass to those threatening violence — a dozen provocateurs with guns, at least two of them bearing assault weapons, showed up for Obama’s V.F.W. speech in Phoenix

[T]hose on the right who defend the reckless radicals inevitably argue "The left does it too!" .....yes, the protesters of the antiwar group Code Pink have disrupted Congressional hearings. But this is a false equivalence. Code Pink doesn’t show up on Capitol Hill with firearms. And, as the 1960s historian Rick Perlstein pointed out on the Washington Post Web site last week, not a single Democratic politician endorsed the Weathermen in the Vietnam era. [..]"

Here's another good article from Salon about the culture significance of gunslingers outside presidential events:

"[A]nd this past week, 12 armed men -- including one with an assault rifle -- not only showed off their firearms at Obama's Arizona speech, but broadcast a YouTube video threatening to "forcefully resist people imposing their will on us through the strength of the majority."

These and other similar examples are accurately summarized with the same language federal law employs to describe domestic terrorism. Generating maximum media attention, the weapons-brandishing displays are "intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population." Yes, the gun has been transformed from a sport and self-defense device into a tool of mass bullying. Like the noose in the Jim Crow South, its symbolic message is clear: If you dare engage in the democratic process, you risk bodily harm.[..]"

Also, I saw on TV that a healthcare reform 'supporter' came to a rally with a gun. Why? I guess to show the idiots on the other side that their guns don't make them special...or right. It's still silly and potentially dangerous.

Instead, how about just showing up armed with those colorful plastic Super Soaker water guns? Make fun of the fools...

Here's another one: ICU eviction notice

Republicans try to give government a bad name, but does anyone really think they are better off with a for-profit bureaucrat whose main incentive is to limit/deny your claims?

Ever notice how some of those townhall screamers call Obama's healthcare reform socialism...and next thing you know, they're yelling fascism. They can't make up their minds whether Obama will turn America into France, Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union.

Will we see a terrific fight in our living rooms as his stormtroopers fight it out with his KGB goon squads to see who gets to drag granny off in front of the death panels?

Well, Rep. Barney Frank knows how to shut these loons up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYlZiWK2Iy8

A woman at Frank's town hall meeting the other night stood up and showed her crazy:

There was applause and cheers from the crowd. At first the woman seems stunned, like she doesn't know how to respond to this verbal zinger. Then she begins to shout...but the microphone doesn't pick up her words.

The woman doesn't stop talking.

That man's tongue can cut you like a knife. Snap girlfriend!

Nothing like making an ass out of your self by accusing a Jewish guy of supporting Nazis.

Nothing like making an ass out of yourself by not even knowing what a freaking Nazi is. Look in a mirror woman.

Lets hope scenes like this will show us how silly it is to treat these people as sane, responsible contributors to a very important national dialogue. Like Barney, we just tell them that their arguments make no sense and they sound crazy.

Some people said Barney went too far...that the planet remark was enough, that he didn't need to humiliate her by comparing her mentality to a dining room table.

I say - Say what?

How can this woman mock and disrespect Frank and the townhall process in the guise of a "question", and expect a serious answer?

We can't let this Obama-phobic hatred, racism, panic, and fear get depicted as the "legitimate concerns" of just plain folks who show up at these townhalls to practice democracy and exercise their right to speak freely...and bear arms and shout down and frighten anyone who disagrees with them.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country, most of the country, gets ignored.

Maybe Barney's response to that loony woman is just the beginning of something -- because the crowd really cheered him. Maybe those are the cheers of Americans who don't look under their beds for Nazis and commies...who don't need to strap on loaded weapons in public to get their point across...who listen and pay attention and think, and who don't want the sick and the poor discriminated against.

That's how LBJ pushed through Medicare...he twisted arms and called in favors. When someone owed him a favor he called it having their "pecker in my back pocket." Of course, he had spent decades in Congress and knew where all the bodies were buried.

LBJ also told Ted Kennedy to low-ball the cost of Medicare...that if they knew the cost, it would never pass. Medicare -- one of the two most popular programs in America.

BTW - Democrats had to fight hard for Social Security too...and many other critically important programs for the working class.

But there was no 24/7 news cycle when LBJ was president...with every cable channel spinning news their own way. Some get away with just making shit up.

I'm getting sick and tired of all things healthcare, it makes my head hurt. But we can't stop fighting now or else they win -- the uninformed and misinformed townhall screamers, and the laughing corporation puppeteers who pull their strings.

It's hard to tell if the rabid right has caused President Obama to soften on the public option.

From the LA Times:"...the president himself gave what were widely seen as signals that they were prepared to jettison the "public option," if that's what it took to pass a healthcare overhaul.

Not so, the White House insisted Tuesday, pushing back against the idea that its position had changed.[..]"

Under Obama’s original vision, public option was a plan where Americans could select insurance, either from a private company or the government.

Some government funding might be needed at the beginning, but the experts say that public option would be self-sustaining and require no subsidies in the long run. They say that a public insurance plan would be the least expensive to consumers because Washington has the leverage to negotiate with doctors, hospitals and other health care providers. Most people think that a public option will help keep the private insurers honest.

Of course, the private insurers are calling this dirty pool -- unfair competition from Uncle Sam. Poor babies...how many billions in profit did they make last year?

Most experts say the initial reform package was meager and corporate-friendly to begin with...but the health insurance industry still flexed its muscles even though the 'reforms' wouldn't have really hurt their bottom line.

Every smart negotiator knows that you add in much more than what you're willing to settle for. But if they keep crossing off the benefits of the bill -- universal coverage, assistance for low-income workers, a public option -- what exactly will be left?

The Single Payer system always made the most sense to me, expanding Medicare to cover all...but it got knocked off early because of some agreement with insurance and pharma. Despite the fact that national polls show 70 percent of Americans believe single payer to be the way to go...

A sixty seat majority in the House and a filibuster proof majority in the Senate...yet the GOP is leading the debate and riding herd on the contents of the bill. Way to go, Democrats.

Do we just need to grab whatever healthcare reform we can...then tweak and change and modify it as we go along? Maybe once voters get used to more people having some form of affordable health insurance, with the elimination of pre-existing conditions, they may settle down and not be so fearful of change.

The Obama Administration is the only one that has a chance of getting healthcare reform through. I still trust President Obama...but after all, he is a politician. But he still seems to understand and care about the plight of the people.

I have not lost hope that he will come through and we will get at least some reform. Will it be perfect? No. But hey, anything is better than what we have now...and we can continue to push for improvement in the future. Affordable insurance for everyone...good medical care for everyone.

Instead of Abraham Lincoln and FDR, maybe Obama should focus on LBJ and how he got Medicare put through.

But maybe he doesn't have enough "peckers in his back pocket" ...

I don’t care who you’re fer or agin’...there's no reason in hell to be carrying loaded firearms into a place loaded to the rafters with local cops, state cops and Secret Service agents. Period. End of sentence.

How would everyone -- the media, the crowds, the police -- react if a couple dozen black guys showed up at a townhall meeting armed to the teeth? Wearing sunglasses, thigh holsters and high-powered rifles? Some of them with their pants hangin’ below their cracks and carryin' assault rifles?

Here's a good column by Paul Krugman, where he talks about the various objections to healthcare reform from the right. "It's not actually about the end-of-life provisions. It's not about this specific thing in the bill. They're just going to grab onto anything and try to turn it into something awful.... It's not about the substance and that means that you can't actually satisfy the crazies by offering substantive concessions."

"The man who wrote many of the speeches for President George Bush is now working on his memoirs. True story. The book will be called 'Me Do Bad Job.'" --Conan O'Brien

"Bill Clinton has still got it. He's still got it. He does! You think it's easy to pick up two chicks in North Korea? But he did. And he brought them home." -Bill Maher

"I saw a thing on YouTube, a town hall meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas. And a woman from Brockside, Arkansas, stood up. She was weeping about the threat of socialism. You know what, lady, Brockside, Arkansas, doesn't have capitalism yet. Your idea of health care is leeches and moonshine and you're worried about socialism? Oh, Lord." -Bill Maher

"Have you seen what's going on with these town halls? I don't want to say they're out of control. But they're starting to show them on ESPN. I haven't seen old white people this upset since they canceled 'Murder, She Wrote.'" --Bill Maher

"No, I'm serious, they are giving angry mobs a bad name. ... And these people, I'm sorry, they are not the best-informed group of screaming people I've seen in my life. Exit polls show that half these people think they're bidding on a tractor." --Bill Maher

"And now, there's actual fist-fights that are breaking out in the town hall meetings. And I have to say this, if you get injured while fighting against health care, you have to lie there and bleed. You just do. I'm sorry." -Bill Maher

"But Obama's getting pissed at this. I don't blame him. He's getting testy. He said, 'If I wanted to hear endless hours of babbling from the aged, I'll ask Joe Biden a yes-or-no question.'" -Bill Maher

"John Bolton's mustache symbolizes the Republican Party: a small, white minority clinging to a single mouthpiece. [slide of Rush Limbaugh]" -- Bill Maher

"These are troubled times, and we need a hero, someone unencumbered by politics as usual. Someone who could kill a moose with one hand and skin a bear with the other. Someone without a job. ... Yes! Like a ship slowly appearing over the horizon to an island of castaways, Sarah Palin has arrived with fresh food, clothing and that little box she keeps next to her bed filled with crazy." --Jon Stewart, on Palin accusing Obama of trying to create "death panels" that will kill her baby

"And here's some optimistic news. Kim Jomg-Il now says he wants to hold face-to-face talks with the United States. Now all North Korea needs is a big enough stepladder." --Jimmy Fallon

"I thought also the biggest news flash of the week: Sonia Sotomayor is now on the Supreme Court. The Senate confirmed her. She will be -- I thought this was interesting -- sworn in on Saturday by Chief Justice John Roberts. And that is progress: a Hispanic woman having a white man come in on Saturday." --Bill Maher

"This week the Toyota Corolla became the most traded-in car as part of the 'Cash for Clunkers' program. After hearing about it, the CEO of General Motors said, 'Oh my God, don't tell me Toyota makes even a better clunker than we do.'" --Conan O'Brien

"Yesterday, GM announced they'll be releasing a car that gets 230 miles a gallon. And today, Nissan said their new car's going to get 367 miles a gallon. It's crazy." --Conan O'Brien

"In a related story, Toyota just announced their new car will get 500 miles per gallon, plant rain forests, and give birth to endangered pandas. So, that's the one you want." --Conan O'Brien

"This is actually a true story. It was in the news today. The latest slang dictionary reports that the word Obama means 'cool,' as in 'you are so Obama.' Also gaining popularity: the phrase 'shut your Biden-hole.'" --Conan O'Brien

"This is something. Because of the economy, the Postal Service is being forced to close several hundred post offices around the country. … The Postal Service is facing a $7 billion budget short fall this year. So in addition to closing the post offices, they're also raising the price of a first-class stamp. It will now be $4,000." --Jimmy Kimmel

"Hey, there was a rumor on the Internet this weekend that Sarah Palin was getting divorced. I knew that wasn't true, because when Sarah Palin takes an oath, she doesn't bail." --Jimmy Fallon

"Speaking of Sarah Palin, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her husband Todd are denying rumors that they're getting a divorce. When asked about it, Palin said, 'When have you ever known me to not see something through?'" --Conan O'Brien

"President Obama just announced he's considering transferring prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Michigan. The idea is to scare the prisoners into revealing information about terror plots by showing them a bus ticket to Detroit." --Conan O'Brien

[gathered from NYTimes Laughlines]

About a dozen sponsors have pulled their ads from Glenn Beck's TV show because they don't want to be associated with the crazy crap he spews. Who wants their product to be associated with race-hatred and political violence?

It's about time for him to be held accountable for what he says…there should be consequences when you make the kind of inflammatory and outrageous claims that he does.

He fantasizes about poisoning the Speaker of the House, and arouses race-hatred against the President. His latest insane rants compare the beginning of the Nazi movement to what’s been going on at healthcare reform townhall meetings...but the sponsors started pulling out before that. They seem to be reacting to the people's outrage over him calling President Obama a racist...well, you can read below...

From The New York Times: "ABOUT a dozen companies have withdrawn their commercials from "Glenn Beck," the Fox News Channel program, after Glenn Beck, the person, said late last month that President Obama was a racist with a "deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture."

The companies that have moved their ads elsewhere in recent days included ConAgra, Geico, Procter & Gamble and the insurance company Progressive. In a statement that echoed the comments of other companies, ConAgra said on Thursday that "we are firmly committed to diversity, and we would like to prevent the potential perception that advertising during this program was an endorsement of the viewpoints shared."

.....The sponsors’ shifts came after a campaign by ColorOfChange.org, a black political coalition, to contact sponsors of Mr. Beck’s program.

....and announced on Thursday that ...the pharmaceutical companies Roche and Sanofi-Aventis, and the electronics retailer RadioShack had pledged to remove ads from "Glenn Beck."[..]"

Wow, ConAgra, Geico, Procter & Gamble, Progressive, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, RadioShack. I heard on TV that Lawyers.com, Men's Wearhouse, State Farm and Sargento cheese also pulled their ads....Travelocity may be next.

But his whackjob base sure loves ol' Glenn...he draws about 2.2 million viewers every day, 3rd highest rating at Fox News.

Meself, I think Beck is trying to out-crazy Limbaugh, trying to eventually knock Rush off the top of the wingnut media heap.

Way back when Beck first started his program on CNN I gave him a chance...would click him on in my sewing room. He talked a lot about his being an alcoholic and rising above that for the sake of his family. He was very good at hiding his crazy.

Come to think of it, his rival Rush was a drug addict, may still be for all I know...but then, no, addicts can't usually eat. And Rush eats.

Anyway...it makes me wonder if the drugs and alcohol didn't short out some sanity circuits in their brains.

I don't have a problem with civil discourse...or an opinion that differs from mine. Good political debate is healthy...we learn more from a conversation with opposing views. But there should be civility...not just pure hatred and mud slinging that's only meant to inflame.

And that's all that Glenn Beck knows how to do.

UPDATE 8/18/09: The New York Daily News reports that Wal-Mart and seven other companies pulled their ads from Beck's show.

As if the anti-healthcare whackjobs carrying signs showing President Obama with a Hitler-style mustache aren't bad enough, one of them has outdone them all with a sign reading "Death To Obama. Death to Michelle and Her Two Stupid Kids."

Yes, according to AP, a man held up this sign at a town hall in Maryland last Wednesday and has been detained by the Secret Service.

"HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The Secret Service is investigating a man who authorities said held a sign reading "Death to Obama" outside a town hall meeting on health-care reform in western Maryland.

The sign also read, "Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids," referring to the first name of President Barack Obama's wife, said Washington County Sheriff's Capt. Peter Lazich.

Lazich said deputies detained the unidentified, 51-year-old man near the entrance to Hagerstown Community College about 1 p.m. Wednesday after getting calls from a number of people attending the meeting held by Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md. Obama was not at the meeting.

The sheriff's office turned the man over to the Secret Service, Lazich said.

Barbara Golden, special agent in charge of the agency's Baltimore field office, said Thursday that an investigation is ongoing but declined further comment. A spokesman at the agency's Washington headquarters also declined to discuss the investigation.[..]"

At least now they can get a search warrant and go to his trailer and find his stockpile of weapons and loony wingnut literature...and lock him up.

Ah, remember the good old days when just wearing an anti-Bush T-shirt could get you arrested by the feds? Yep, and the arrestees sued the federal government...which settled their suit for $80,000. Of our taxpayer dollars I might add.

Just imagine if someone held up a similar 'death' sign at a Bush-era event...or if someone had a sign wishing death to Laura and the twins.

The right wing pundits could try to turn the Hitler mustache sign into a free speech issue, but surely not this 'death' sign.

And why aren't GOP politicians denouncing this kind of violent rhetoric? Can we at least draw the line at threatening to kill his children?

If only more Republicans would speak up it might help tamp down the rage...thereby decreasing the likelihood that someone right now is fantasizing about appearing on the Sean Hannity show as a reward for stopping Obama's march toward a "culture of death."

But, looks like rage is all they got...and Republican politicians are not distancing themselves from that rage. They're embracing it.

I'd also like to see the Secret Service investigate Beck and Limbaugh for their incitement. They've been goading these crazies for months now.

I read that Obama gets around 30 death threats a day. According to Ron Kessler, who wrote a book about the Secret Service, that's four times as many as GWBush -- the most reviled president in modern history -- received.

I worry about the safety of our president all the time...and I'm especially worried about his planned trip to Montana. So much open space if he goes hiking with his family, so many Montana Freemen white supremacists running around with high-powered rifles, maybe hidden in underground bunkers that might escape the attention of the Secret Service...

I’d like to believe that President Obama has as many alert, loyal body-armored Secret Service agents as the pistol-packing whackjobs have bullets, but I don't think the math on that one is in his favor.

For firing Ben Stein -- who was acting as a commercial spokesman for FreeScore, a notoriously scammy financial services company.

We've all seen those cutesy TV ads showing Stein and squirrels on a park bench.

Stein wrote a financial column for goodness sake...and here he was appearing in commercials for -- and on the homepage of -- freescore.com, a sleazy company which scams large sums of money from those who can least afford it.

Those at the Gray Lady never admit a mistake...they just fire them. Go ask Judy Miller.

Now can we get him removed from the CBS Sunday Morning show too? Pretty please?

Read more here: "It seems the New York Times has decided that Ben Stein’s commercial work is a conflict of interest with his job as a Sunday business columnist for the newspaper. Specifically, he recently signed as the pitchman for a ‘free’ credit score offer that doesn’t really give free credit scores. Well, they do, but you then have to pay $30 per month for the report behind the score. The New York Times saw this as a violation of their ethics guidelines and fired him."
 

Each townhall crazy tries to out-crazy all of the previous crazies. While this is a great way to get on TV... sooner or later even the dumbest among us will realize that these people are well, just crazy.

The anti healthcare reform crowd is not happy enough with screaming people down...now they're bringing guns.

Yesterday, an armed man was in the crowd waiting for President Obama's townhall meeting in Portsmouth, N.H. TV news showed an anti-Obama protester with a pistol strapped to his lower leg. He was carrying a sign that said sometimes you must water the tree of liberty, leaving off the rest of the Jefferson quote - "with the blood of tyrants and patriots."

McVeigh was wearing a T-shirt like that, with the "watering the tree of liberty" quote on it when he was arrested after the Oklahoma City bombing. The shirt had a picture of Lincoln on the front with a picture of a tree dripping with blood on the back.

WHY does this guy think he needs a gun at a PROTEST?! "I'm so cool, look at me...I've got a gun...are you scared."

Aren't there any laws against bringing a gun within firing range of the President of the US?

The local police chief said it's legal for the man to have a registered handgun strapped to his leg -- as long as it is not concealed.

Yes, I know that the Secret Service were watching ...and I know that the President wasn't really in danger; but what if some other crazy knocks the gun-toting crazy to the ground, grabs the gun and fires it at someone ...maybe someone carrying a sign that they don't like? It can happen in just seconds.

I still think it's insane, legal or not, to allow anyone that near our President with a gun. I live among those "cold dead fingers" bumperstickers...I know what some of them would like to do.

Will the right-wing keep cheering on extremism until somebody snaps?

Remember the open rejoicing after the killing of Dr. Tiller...and I didn't see many in the GOP taking a stand that the murder was wrong.

Is it going to take someone getting killed to cause the corporation efforts of Freedom Works (they lobby for insurance de-regulation), and 60 Plus (front group for the pharmaceutical industry), not to mention right-wing media, to tamp down the agitation tactics?

Because they all will be responsible for stirring people to violence with their lies about HCR...for example, telling them that reform would kill the elderly and the disabled.

The level of anger is now being reflected in gun-toting protesters. Here's another one:

"PORTSMOUTH — Police said a man arrested at the scene of President Barack Obama's visit to the city Tuesday was found to be in possession of an unlicensed loaded gun.

Richard Terry Young, 62, of 821 Ocean Blvd. in Hampton, was arrested around 9:40 a.m., hours before Obama's arrival, and charged with the misdemeanor crimes of criminal trespass and carrying a loaded pistol without a license.[..]

The 'death panels' I'm starting to worry about don't have anything to do with socialism...

I think loons like this are going to cause a backlash. But who knows?

There are two kinds of opponents to reform -- corporate liars and their sincere dupes.

Most of these protesters are sincere, they're just confused and afraid. They don't know that their beliefs are not in any way grounded in reality.

Some people say that this is healthy for democracy. Yes, spirited debate is healthy when both sides can be heard. But what we've witnessed so far, this is no way for a mature, functioning democracy to operate.

If professional agitators and liars can defeat necessary changes we need in the government, simply by duping confused people into believing silly nonsense...well, our political system is in grave danger.

I've come through some dark times with my country and always thought that nothing could defeat us...I also thought as time passed we as a country would become more enlightened.

Instead of democracy, we're a few short steps away from idiot-ocracy.

From stltoday.com: "Gladney did not address Saturday's crowd of about 200 people. His attorney, David Brown, however, read a prepared statement Gladney wrote. "A few nights ago there was an assault on my liberty, and on yours, too." Brown read. "This should never happen in this country."

Supporters cheered. Brown finished by telling the crowd that Gladney is accepting donations toward his medical expenses. Gladney told reporters he was recently laid off and has no health insurance. [..]"

Let me get this straight -- a guy who opposes healthcare reform, who literally will duke it out to defeat a plan that would bring coverage to those who lose their jobs...lost his own coverage because he was laid off?

I wish conservatives could try to get over their fury that Barack Obama is in the White House.

For example, we're all in this healthcare mess together. There shouldn't be anything partisan about it. We're all getting screwed by the health industry. We're all paying too much for too little. Millions of us, Republicans and Democrats alike, can't afford health insurance, or are under-insured, or are un-insurable because of pre-existing conditions.

Believe me, the health industry doesn't give a damn who you voted for in the last election.

So I can't understand why those on the right are fighting healthcare reform so fiercely. Conservatives will be better off if reform becomes law, just like liberals and independents. All Americans will benefit.

Even some tea-party conservatives are one serious illness away from bankruptcy.

Surely some of these far-right activists can't get coverage because of a pre-existing condition.

I'll bet that some townhall ranters will see their insurance companies drop them just when they need their coverage the most.

A lot of conservatives probably want to start their own business, but can't because they can't afford to pay the monthly premiums.

Surely it's not just liberals...some of those tea-baggers must have seen their insurance disappear after they lost their jobs.

As to their fear of government-run health care -- millions of conservatives already enjoy the benefits of Medicare.

I'm not saying that the Democratic proposals are perfect, they're not. But what puzzles me is the fierceness of conservative opposition to reform...that they don't want to work on the actual flaws in the reform bill, and instead harp on silly things such as imaginary 'death panels.'

Why do rightie activists, who would stand to benefit from healthcare reform, literally take to the streets and threaten violence against legislation that will help them and their families?

If President Obama had his way we would have healthcare reform that emphasizes competition and choice, doesn't increase the deficit, and wouldn't raise middle class taxes -- yet rabid righties are comparing the plan to Hitler and the Nazis.

Now, I can understand why the health industry fights so fiercely with its dirty tricks -- reform puts their profits at risk, so they're fighting back to protect their livelihood.

But I still don't understand why Republicans are frothing at the mouth. Is it entirely because of our antagonistic political process? That if President Obama succeeds where other presidents have failed and provides better healthcare opportunities for all Americans, it will shine a more favorable light on his presidency?

Surely righties don't care more about Republican one-upmanship than our national well being. Surely they're not fighting to defeat a major Democratic victory just because it would be a major Democratic victory.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has posted her first policy statement since she stepped down...it's on her Facebook page and it's the nuttiest rhetoric you can imagine. She wrote that she sees 'death panels' in President Obama's healthcare bill.

Yep, it seems that Obama is like Hitler...he wants to kill your handicapped children and your grandmother.

Here's what she wrote:

"As more Americans delve into the disturbing details of the nationalized health care plan that the current administration is rushing through Congress, our collective jaw is dropping, and we're saying not just no, but hell no!

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course.

The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

So...Facebook is the only platform to get her "ideas" out ...

A lot of stupid things have been said about the healthcare reform bill...but this just takes the prize. Palin must be repeating radical rightie talking points, or she just pulled that 'death panel' idea out of her ..uh, hat.

Indeed, such an idea would be downright evil...that's why no one is proposing anything like it. Let me repeat -- No one is proposing 'death panels.'

Also, someone should point out to Palin that the only people who are deciding whether children like Trig are worthy of insurance coverage, are not 'death panels', they're INSURANCE COMPANIES....because Down Syndrome is a 'pre-existing condition' doncha know.

And shame on you Sarah Palin, you moan about your family being left out of political debate...then there ya go, dragging your special-needs baby into the discussion, just to score political points and spread an obvious lie.

I would love to simply call out these crazies by pinning them down, by asking just what version of the bill this provision is found in...what section and on which page?

Well, if this is the best they got, I'm feeling a little better about the chances of the public option and other aspects of the bill remaining in place after the recess.

Don't forget -- only 28 percent of the country consider themselves Republicans.

70 percent of that 28 percent believe that GWBush did a great job.

All they have left are the crazies....and Palin is their queen.

I learned a new term: 'Astroturf'...artificial grassroots movement.

Everyone knows that the Townhall Taliban and their thuggery intimidation tactics are being sponsored and funded by the insurance industry and GOP astroturfers. I saw one of their busses on the news, and everybody was boarding - birthers, right-to-lifers, tea-baggers, bible thumpers - anybody who is mad enough to shout people down.

A reporter from Fox, no less, attended a townhall meeting and found that ‘Some Attendees Admit They Don’t Live In The District.'

Their tactics: Rep. Frank Kratovil [D-MD] was hung in effigy.

Sen. Chris Dodd [D-CT] was told to go kill himself.

Rep. Brad Miller [D-NC] received a death threat from a caller who said Miller "could lose his life over this."

Rep. Tim Bishop [D-NY] had to be escorted through an angry mob to his car by police.

Rep. Gerry Connolly [D-VA] revealed that "at least one freshman Democrat" has already been "physically assaulted at a local event."

"When you look at the fervor of some of these people who are all being whipped up by the right-wing talking heads on Fox, to me, you’re crossing a line,’ Connolly said. ‘They’re inciting people to riot with just total distortions of facts. They think we’re going to euthanize Grandma and the government is going to take over."

And now we have this yesterday: A Town Hall turned violent:

"What was intended to be a town hall discussion on President Barack Obama’s health care reform proposal dissolved into a shouting match with shoving and scuffles in Ybor City on Thursday night.

The event brought home to Tampa the recent phenomenon of angry opponents of Obama’s proposal disrupting town hall meetings by Democratic members of Congress during August’s recess.

This meeting was organized by Democratic state Rep. Betty Reed but was to include comments on the proposal by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa, a strong supporter.

Castor tried to speak for nearly 15 minutes, but the crowd drowned her out, chanting, "You work for us." "Tyranny. Tyranny." And, "Read the bill." She ultimately left the meeting early, further angering some attendees."

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX4F_cb9AXk

Translation: "The only way we can win is with violence."

This is being spurred on by angry people who want to prevent a normal debate, rather than a spirited discussion where all sides get to speak and ask questions.

Notice that the majority of them are frothing white folks, protesters showing anger and frustration toward President Obama...period.

That's the real message here. Their anger is not really with healthcare reform...it's with their inability to admit that they just don't like that Negro as president.

Just think about it. When you watch those videos of them screaming and crying at meetings about "how they want their country back"...they aren't talking about health care costs or single payer options.

New York Times’ columinist Paul Krugman agrees with me:

'[..] But they’re [the protesters] probably reacting less to what Mr. Obama is doing, or even to what they’ve heard about what he’s doing, than to who he is.

That is, the driving force behind the town hall mobs is probably the same cultural and racial anxiety that’s behind the "birther" movement, which denies Mr. Obama’s citizenship. Senator Dick Durbin has suggested that the birthers and the health care protesters are one and the same....[..]"

Mark my word, the violence at these townhall meetings across the country will backfire against the Republican party. I hope no one gets seriously hurt. To me, it does show the blatant hypocrisy of the right-wing.

It's time for more Democrats to start attending these townhalls to counteract the brownshirt screamers...if they don't want them to spread their lies about healthcare reform and completely dominate the events.

But first, tell your representatives and the media about it...to show that the majority of people in this country want real reform and want it yesterday. Don't let the ranters and chanters change the subject...don't let them shut down democracy.

We could whip them easy in a properly managed townhall meeting - with monitors to make sure everyone gets to tell their story and ask questions, with security cops to keep order and eject screamers - because they're so confused they shout out things like - "Keep the government out of my Medicare!"

She's in! The Sotomayor/Senate Kabuki dance is over. I mean really, doesn't everyone understand that Bush appointed conservative judges and Obama will appoint progressive  ones? And I'd venture to say that Justice Sotomayor will be more centrist than righties think.

And we mustn't forget that SCOTUS isn't everything. Hopefully Obama will have the chance to replace scores of appellate court judges, etc...that hear and decide many more cases. Let's see how he does there.

Anyway, how nice to have a breath of fresh air in the middle of the health care riots. The Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor as our next Supreme Court justice by a vote of 68 to 31....despite the GOP's best efforts to portray her as a hot-tempered Latina racist.

You'd think they would have gone easier after being beaten like a red-headed stepchild in November's election...but I guess they wanted to alienate the Hispanic vote just like they did the Black vote.

For all their wailing and gnashing of teeth on several different issues, righties don't seem to be able to win many battles, let alone the wars.

I understand that Republicans opposing Sotomayor’s confirmation was just tossing red meat to their 28-percenters...but it’s crap like this that's pushing the neo-con Republican Party toward the scrap heap of political history. And it’s not happening fast enough...I want the party of Eisenhower and Goldwater back.

From the NYTimes: "...Democrats celebrated the successful nomination and relatively smooth confirmation process as a bright spot in a summer when they have been buffeted by several challenges...

Shortly after the vote, President Obama said he was "deeply gratified" and confident that Judge Sotomayor would become an outstanding justice. The ideals of "justice, equality, opportunity" that guide the high court are the very ones that made the judge’s "uniquely American story" possible in the first place, the president said. ...."

How's that for hypocrisy?

The other day Fox News' weepiest news-clown, Glenn Beck made outrageous statements about America's president during Fox & Friends...he said President Obama has "a deep-seeded hatred for white people" and "this guy is, I believe, a racist."

At least one conservative had the decency to call Beck on this. Joe Scarborough of MSNBC's Morning Joe weighed in on Twitter with -- "Conservatives attacked the Dixie Chicks for saying much less about President Bush than what Beck said about President Obama." (Joe oughta know, he was one of them.)

That's right. Remember the hell the Chicks caught because they were disrespectful to our commander-in-chief? And all they did was say during a performance that they were "ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas." Remember that? Remember the furor that followed? Even GWBush speculated that there would be "consequences."

The Dixie Chick's careers were almost ruined, C&W radio stations received flack for playing their music. Other radio stations boycotted the Chicks’ music or were seen on the news having steamrollers destroy Dixie Chicks CDs...and we saw people around the country burning piles of Dixie Chicks recordings.

The Chicks received death threats...and for a while, they stopped performing altogether. People showed up to harass them and told them in the most profane terms to move somewhere else if they weren't proud to be Americans. Which was not at all what the Chicks had suggested.

Now just imagine what would've happened if the Dixie Chicks had stood up there and compared GWBush to Hitler.

Like Rush Limbaugh did yesterday: "Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate..."

Let's also put this in the context of Limbaugh publicly praying for President Obama to fail, with all the misery such a failure would mean for our struggling country, and Glenn Beck insulting President Obama by calling him a racist and saying he "hates white people."

What if the Chicks had said those things about GWBush?

How's that for hypocrisy?

BTW - It's a lot more fun watching weepy Glenn Beck with the sound off.

BTW...the Dixie Chicks are still performing to sold-out crowds.

Bill Clinton has his faults, but you have to admit that he was always a great diplomat...and an international political rock star.

He went on a humanitarian mission to North Korea and brought home the two American journalists the North Korean government had sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korean territory.

So now we have a diplomatic mission that was expertly planned and carried off without a hitch. Intelligent minds prevailed, and now the nightmare is over for Laura Ling, Euna Lee and their families.

A brilliant move...intelligent caring US leaders doing the right thing for the right reasons. No chest pounding...egos were pushed aside...President Obama set aside his Top Dog role to let the Big Dawg get 'er done.

"Bill Clinton and Journalists in Emotional Return to U.S."

From the NYTimes: " WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton Bill Clinton arrived in the United States Wednesday morning after a dramatic 20-hour visit to North Korea, in which he won the freedom of two American journalists, opened a diplomatic channel to North Korea’s reclusive government and dined with the North’s ailing leader, Kim Jong-il.

The private plane carrying Mr. Clinton and the journalists, Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, landed at 5:50 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, just outside Los Angeles.

The two women stepped off the plane in jeans and sweaters, rushing down the stairs to be reunited with their families.....[..]"

This happened on TV as I was trying to eat breakfast and I had to stop...tears were streaming down my face...especially when Euna Lee hugged her little daughter.

The way I understand it, a month or so ago, wanting to save face and try for a little respect, North Korea's Lil Kim made it known that he would like the Big Dawg to come and take the journalists home. That's what Ling and Lee told their families when they were allowed to call home.

After all, the Clinton administration had been talking with N Korea and did get them to shut down their nuke program...and at the end of his 2nd term Clinton was planning to visit N Korea, but he ran out of time.

Hopefully, now Obama will find a way to roll back GWBush's "Axis of Evil" declaration of war on N Korea....hopefully we might be able to open up a dialog with them again...

The righties can't stand it. They're saying that it's a slap in the face to Sec. of State Hillary...that Bill Clinton was used as a "propaganda tool."

They're saying that Bill Clinton "upstaged" the White House...ignoring the fact the White House approved the trip.

You'd almost think righties would rather have two American citizens rot in a North Korean labor camp....rather than "reward" them with a visit from a former President.

See, Obama can't win...if he failed, they could complain that he failed, and if he succeeds, they'll pick that apart too.

John Bolton (UN Ambassador under GWBush) said that the Obama administration is "rewarding North Korea for its bad behavior."

Maybe Bolton would have preferred a military confrontation to free Ling and Lee. Maybe NK should kidnap Bolton...then we'll see who's in favor of "rewarding bad behavior."

That's okay...most Americans can see through all these sour grapes, and are pleased with the result. All the rightie pundits are doing is simply racking up more disgust in the minds of the majority of Americans...winning more disapproval towards the GOP.

Let 'em spin...normal people will still applaud the facilitated release.

Democrats care about people. On the other hand, Fox News put that creepy retired Lt. Col. on television to say the Taliban could do us a favor and kill Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, the captured soldier in Afghanistan...calling him a deserter without having all the facts.

Yes, the two journalists were careless...but they weren't just sight-seeing, they were working on a story to expose one of the vilest crimes on earth - the sex trafficking of women and children.

Obama is putting Bill Clinton to good use. I guess we really did get a 2 for 1 deal.

And everybody said Bill would be a potential liability for the Obama administration if Hillary were Secretary of State...that he would be a loose cannon. But he has behaved perfectly.

Just get ready for all the tasteless jokes about the Big Dawg and two pretty Asian women...

All they need are pitchforks and torches.

To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Right wing goon squads are being geared up and bussed around to disrupt Democratic townhall meetings across the country during the August recess...organized no doubt by lobbyists who will benefit if President Obama’s healthcare reforms are crushed.

Here's an example of the shouting down that Congressman Lloyd Doggett of Austin,Texas received this past weekend at a town hall meeting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8UjY3YDlwA  

A leaked GOP memo details the aggressive harassment strategy that Republicans will use to infiltrate and disturb Democratic town hall meetings about healthcare...the more of a ruckus they make, the more they hope to give the impression that there's mass public opposition to health care reform.

~~– 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."~~

It's mostly verbal assault and bullying, being loud and disruptive, shouting down others which undermines any legitimate debate, and is NOT how democracy is supposed to work. It's a form of domestic terrorism.

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), said...."...the days of civil town halls are now over."

Dang, do righties know only two protest options? The Karl-Rove-only-allow-the-people-who-agree-with-you-to-be-present option...or the just-go-and-yell-so-loud-that-no-one-can-express a REAL opinion option...

I like a spirited debate where both sides get an opportunity to speak...but I guess if certain people become too disruptive they can be escorted out.

A talented politician can always use such hooliganism to their advantage...

Here's more: "Town halls gone wild"

Politico reported that Democratic members of Congress are being harassed by "angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior" at local town halls. For example, right-wing protesters surrounded Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and police officers had to escort him to his car for safety.

Righties also hung Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) in effigy outside of his office....