What They Aren't Showing You

The DNC has put together a video of local coverage of different townhalls that were relatively calm and respectful to drive home the point that cable news shows are really only showing one side of the story to gin up interest.

New Crazy Same As The Old Crazy

Richard Pearlstein takes a look at right wing manufacture rage against imaginary liberal enemies over the years. As they say there is nothing new under the sun and if all of the townhall fake outrage seems familiar, it turns out it should. Definitely worth a full reading.

Ladies And Gentlemen, She Got Him!

I have been advocating that Rachel Maddow be recognized in some way for the excellent reporting she has been doing about who is behind the organized opposition to health care reform. Well I don't know if she will win an award but she just bagged a trophy earlier today when Dick Armey had to resign from the DLA Piper lobbying and law firm because of the scrutiny they were cominig from due to his ties to the astro turf group opposing health care reform, Freedom Works. Ties that Rachel helped to expose.

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Ahhh the fruits of righteous labor are really sweet some times.

And the best part of this story hasn't even happened yet Both Rachel and Dick Armey will be on this Sunday's Meet The Press. If you come to this blog with any regularity you know I am a HUGE critic of David Gregory and the right wing framing he puts on that show. But I am pretty sure it will be worth the price of admission this weekend. Plus if we want to get them to book more progressives on the show then we have to tune in when they have someone like Rachel on.

Lets meet up there day after tomorrow, you bring the popcorn, I'll bring the butter.

CNBC Goes Looking For Trouble

Its bad enough that CNBC is peddling bullshit financial commentary, but now they are trying to frame the news on townhalls to portray health care reform as unpopular.

CNBC approached Tea Party activists, looking for angry protest events that would make good television, according to a leaked email from a Tea Party discussion group. And one Tea Bagger responded by flagging an upcoming event that, he said, "should be a riot ... literally."

Yesterday, Tea Party Patriots national coordinator Jenny Beth Martin sent an email, obtained by TPMmuckraker, to a Tea Party google group. Martin told the group: "We have a media request for an event this week that will have lots of energy and lots of anger. This is for CNBC."

She then asked: "So, where are the big events this week and where can TPP best be represented on the news?"

snip

Late Update: Martin tells TPMmuckraker that she did not forward the Scott event -- or, in fact, any event -- on to CNBC as a candidate for coverage. She stressed that her group "does not endorse anything that incites violence of any kind," adding that the email list is un-moderated. "I can't moderate every single comment," she said.

Asked whether CNBC had specifically told her they were looking for an event with "lots of energy and lots of anger," Martin replied: "That was the impression that I received from them." She declined to elaborate.

Now lets see if the media will call out these cretins or if they will cover for them each other as usual. Major props to TPM for breaking the story!

The Next Logical Step

Is anybody REALLY surprised that teabaggers are now threatening to shoot people? What else did you really expect? Now if the GOP will not come out and strongly denounce these kinds of threats and somebody ends up getting hurt they can kiss their party goodbye altogether. There won't be a Republican in this country that can get elected.

Claire McCaskill's Weaksauce

I am generally a fan of Claire McCaskill. She did a great job advocating for then candidate Barack Obama last year and her voting record, while conservative, had been pretty decent on the major issues. But now she is really starting to tick me off.

Its not just that she seems to be losing her spine, something Democrats are historically known for, its also that she seems to think liberals and progressives, ie traditional Democrats, are fools. Not only are her votes starting become an issue, so is some of her pandering rhetoric. Pandering not to the Democratic base, but to right wing conservatives.

Two recent issues stick out like a sore thumb. The first being the issue of these townhall disruptions. It has been well established at this point that these protestors are straight up teabagging astroturf thugs egged on by the GOP and special interests. And finally we have the Democratic Party standing up and calling them out for what they are, but here is Claire McCaskill totally undercutting the message in two different tweets.

Yesterday she said:

I disagree that the people showing concern over some healthcare proposals are "manufactured" Real folks, strong opinions.

Talk about stepping on the message. She basically legitimizes the teabaggers and their outbursts shutting down debate.

But she wasn't finished.

She went further today and basically sounded like was tweeting from an RNC press release.

Real grassroots on both sides of the healthcare issue, both sides organizing. Yay to both, yay for democracy,hope both are civil and polite.

I read that and had to wonder what fucking planet is this woman on? Is she smoking something? Nothing about these teabag disruptions has been either civil nor polite. And its not like she doesn't know this, hell they shouted her down just last week. And yet here she is legitimizing these assholes like they are working in good faith.

Sounds to me like somebody needs to see how much money health insurance companies are shoving her way.

But wait, im not done.

Yesterday Senator McCaskill was one of only 4 Democrats in the Senate to vote against Cash 4 Clunkers.

Here is how she explained it on tumblr

Of course the cash for clunkers program is popular, we’re giving away money. My concerns are first, that we are just moving demand around, and that the sales in this program are robbing sales from 2, 3, or 12 months from now when we are going to still need sustained growth in our economy. Remember, around 60,000 to 70,000 people are trading their cars in for new ones every month without this program. Second, I haven’t yet gotten clear answers on how many deals are currently in the pipeline and how they will wind this program down in a way that will give certainty to buyers and dealers. Third, I’m worried that an extension right now will penalize the two companies that we just made huge taxpayer invesments in. I’m trying to verify, but I believe, based on my conversations with dealers and other research, that Chrylser and GM both have inventory issues with the cars that qualify for this program. Seems weird we would invest billions of taxpayer dollars in two American companies in an effort to save them, and then extend a program that could penalize them. I realize all car sales, both foreign and domestic, are good for the economy, but I hate the idea that there may not be a level playing field for the next few weeks because of inventory issues.

This is a tough call, but at least wanted to let eveyone know that I’m studying all of it and trying to make a decision that is not rushed, but thoughtful.

Nothing in that whole diatribe makes any fucking sense. GM and Chrysler are one of the two major beneficiaries of Cash 4 Clunkers. Notice that even the Republicans from car industry heavy places like Michigan voted to extend the program. Hell union busting asshat Bob Corker even voted for it. And when you have lost Bob Corker...

Here is what is particularly stressing. Missouri has already turned blue. They already have 50% of the voting population that self identifies as Democrats. So its not like Senator McCaskill is voting her constituency, so what, exactly, is her motivation?

I can tell you this much, if she keeps this kind of shit up we need to be looking for a progressive option in Missouri to primary her ass when she goes up for reelection. At this point in history there should be no such thing as a centrist Democrat running unopposed in a primary. Its time we made these people earn their seat and truly represent their constituency by showing them the consequences if the don't.

It is what it is.

I Need To Play The Lotto

I made this comment earlier today at The Plum Line:

Its all fun and games until somebody gets their a$$ whupped. I can pretty much promise you that sooner rather than later the tea bagging protesters will incite their crowd to violence. Especially if they start being confronted by liberals and progressives who support health care reform

New story on tampa area news website wtsp dot com, "Violence at Tampa health care forum"

Tampa, Florida - Angry protesters and strong supporters are clashing inside and all around a health care reform town hall meeting in Downtown Tampa. The meeting which was scheduled to begin at 6:00 at the Children's Board of Hillsborough County drew hundreds of people who quickly began to overwhelm staff and event organizers at the front entrance.

As the building filled to capacity, angry protesters stuck outside began to scream, yell, and chant. At one point, those trying to get inside began banging on windows as Tampa Police officers quickly spread out guarding all entrances.

10 Connects photojournalist Kevin Carlson, currently inside the meeting reports at least one fist fight breaking out inside. Some other journalists remain outside.

Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor and State Representative Betty Reed were hosting the event.

The Democrats better get in front of this story and I mean fast. I can guarantee you that the Republicans will try to say that the Democcrats are at fault for telling their supporters to start turning out to oppose the teabaggers.

Update: Just in case there was anyone still holding on to the false notion that these teabaggers are just expressing genuine "grassroots" anger...

Instead, hundreds of vocal critics turned out, many of them saying they had been spurred on through the Tampa 912 activist group promoted by conservative radio and television personality Glenn Beck. Others had received e-mails from the Hillsborough Republican party that urged people to speak out against the plan and offered talking points to challenge supporters.

If you can't even express your outrage in your own words, why in the hell are you at a townhall yelling?!

Who's Who

Rachel Maddow is doing an excellent job of exposing the people behind all these teabagging disruptions of Congressional Democrats' townhalls. She put a few more of them up on the summer jam screen tonight.

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Now what sucks is that hardly any other news organizations are reporting this kind of stuff. As a matter of fact even other personalities on MSNBC aren't even reporting just how bogus these people are. But bigger than that there are even some ConservaDems who are convinced that these people aren't astroturfed at all. Take Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill for instance. Normally I am a fan of hers but at times she just doesn't get it. Here is her tweet from earlier this evening.

I disagree that the people showing concern over some healthcare proposals are "manufactured" Real folks, strong opinions.

Many people on twitter tried to change her mind but she seems to be brainwashed herself. I wonder what she will say when she finds herself on a youtube clip.

Well what it comes down to is what Rachel said at the end of the segment. This whole movement is totally bogus and the rest fo the mainstream media needs to be reporting it as such.

Update: It looks like these outbursts are starting to back fire.

From the conservative paper Napa Valley Register

Monday night’s health care forum in Napa grew unruly and wild, with some critics of the current health care proposals seeking to derail the event, harming their cause and nearly destroying a meaningful forum on a critical topic for Napa and the nation.

The display was unwelcome — and unsuccessful if it was meant to move health care reform supporters toward considering the concerns of the critics. Several callers to the Register on Tuesday reported they were repulsed by the aggressive tactics of some members of the crowd.
To the degree the catcalls, chants and shouts were organized — and it appears from events around the country that they were — we strongly suggest that the organizers find more constructive ways to get their message out.

snip

But it seems that some of the demonstrators were primed for action no matter the viewpoints the speakers expressed.

It is to the moderator’s and the speakers’ credit that they kept the conversation focused and answered the questions posed.

snip

Monday’s event was out of character for Napa County political clashes, even hotly contested ones. In our view, most politically active people here have better sense than to debase the debate that way.

Unbridled anger is not a substitute for intelligent discussion. Catcalls are not replacements for hard questions and criticism.

(h/t TPM)

And from ABCNews' Political Punch:

In talking to a few attendees afterward, one man said he now admires and respects his representative.

“He stood up, he took his shots, and did it like a man,” a man named Bill told me.

Two elderly women said they were embarrassed by their neighbors.

"They were rude! Oh, they were behaving terribly," one said, calling it a "disgrace to our community."

Said another of the anger, which sounded very much to her like what she hears on Fox News and conservative talk radio, "If it's not manufactured, they're brainwashed."

Rachel Maddow Ties It All Together

Rachel Maddow took the opportunity last night to take an indepth look at the orchestrated and unAmerican townhall teabagger revolts. But bigger than that she pointed out how many in the mainstream media are trying to keep their head in the sand to the fact that these are not honest brokers. These aren't people who come to these townhalls just to ask questions because they are mad. They don't want answers. They only want to shut down dialogue whether its from other members of the audience or from the Democratic member of Congress themselves. In their neverending quest to try to be balanced the media is refusing to report the facts. They can not be allowed to get away with this! Pass this clip along to your friends and family members who might actually be buying the "grassroots" frame.

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Rachel also took the opportunity to tie the current tactics by the GOP to hurt health care reform efforts into the so called "Brooks Brothers" fake riots that occurred during the recount down here in Florida after the 2000 elections.

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Oh My Damn

The DNC just put up an ad after my own heart. Its got everything....birthers, Palin mobs, effigies, the townhall memo and batshit crazy wingnuts galore!




I need a damn cigarette!

We Ready We Ready We Ready

Im sitting here with a big smile on my face because it looks like somebody has woken up the Beast when it comes to health care reform. And he is on OUR side!

First there was news earlier this morning that the WhiteHouse is going to start fact checking some of the smears and lies flying around about health care reform and pushback forcefully on them.


Now here comes several bits of encouraging news over the course of the day.

The DNC's Brad Woodhouse responds to Republican backed teabaggers disrupting townhalls.

Statement from DNC Communications Director Brad Woodhouse on the Republican Party and Allied Groups’ Mob Rule:The Republicans and their allied groups – desperate after losing two consecutive elections and every major policy fight on Capitol Hill – are inciting angry mobs of a small number of rabid right wing extremists funded by K Street Lobbyists to disrupt thoughtful discussions about the future of health care in America taking place in Congressional Districts across the country.

However, much like we saw at the McCain-Palin rallies last year where crowds were baited with cries of 'socialist,' 'communist,' and where the birthers movement was born – these mobs of extremists are not interested in having a thoughtful discussion about the issues – but like some Republican leaders have said – they are interested in ‘breaking’ the President and destroying his Presidency.

These mobs are bussed in by well funded, highly organized groups run by Republican operatives and funded by the special interests who are desperately trying to stop the agenda for change the President was elected to bring to Washington. Despite the headline grabbing nature of these angry mobs and their disruptions of events, they are not reflective of where the American people are on the issues – or the hundreds of thousands of thoughtful discussions taking place around kitchen tables, water coolers and in homes.

The right wing extremists’ use of things like devil horns on pictures of our elected officials, hanging members of Congress in effigy, breathlessly questioning the President's citizenship and the use of Nazi SS symbols and the like just shows how outside of the mainstream the Republican Party and their allies are. This type of anger and discord did not serve Republicans well in 2008 – and it is bound to backfire again.

Then you have 13 experts including members of the CBO advisory committee come out in a letter to Peter Orzag to back the IMAC plan as a cost saving measure in health care reform.

A group of prominent health care experts, including members of a Congressional Budget Office advisory panel, are taking the Obama White House's side in a dispute it is having with the CBO over how much money could be saved by reforming a key aspect of the Medicare system.

In a letter to the president that was made public on Tuesday, 13 academics and experts, including eight members of the CBO's own Panel of Health Advisers said that significant reductions in health care costs could be achieved by creating an independent council to moderate Medicare costs.

"A properly structure Independent Medicare Advisory Council (IMAC), with a congressional mandate and authority to do so, can reduce the rate of growth of health expenditures substantially," the author's wrote.

The letter, which went on to favorably cite the CBO, is nevertheless a rebuke of sorts for the office whose director, Douglas Elmendorf, wrote in late July that an independent panel to monitor Medicare spending would achieve little savings over a ten-year period.

And now Robert Gibbs and several Democratic members of Congress have come out and also called out the GOP and special interests for subsidizing the people who are interrupting the town halls of Democratic members of Congress.

The White House has now gone on the offensive over the town halls, with press sec Robert Gibbs blasting Conservatives for Patients Rights, the anti-reform group, for publicly claiming credit for helping organize the sometimes-rowdy meetings.

“You’ve had groups today, the Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, that have bragged about organizing and manufacturing that anger,” Gibbs said during today’s briefing, in what I hope was a reference to our story, adding that CPR is heavily invested in the “status quo.”

Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer, in an interview with HuffPo, blasted the protestors as a “small fringe group” who want to “monopolize the conversation.”

I’m told that DCCC chief Chris Van Hollen is going on Keith Olbermann’s show tonight to keep up the attacks. DCCC spokesman Ryan Rudominer blasted the GOP for being in thrall to “angry fringe voices on the extreme right wing of their party.”

Don't get me wrong, they took their sweet ass time, but at least now it looks like the big dogs are finally coming out with guns blazing to get health care reform passed this year.

The "8 Mile" Strategy

I don't claim credit at all for this but I AM happy that someone was smart enough to understand how to exploit their advance knowledge of what was going to happen at their townhall. And it goes to show that taking the winds out of their sails before they can get started actually works.

10. And then in opening remarks, I blew the Tea Baggers' cover. Roughly, it went like this:

Meetings like this one continue a democratic tradition more than 2500 years old, that of the ancient Greek "Ecclesia." The term means "those called out"—called out to discuss and decide civic matters, and to defend their ancient Greek city-states, to defend their democracy. And you all were called out by notices in the local papers, radio stations, by e-mail and internet, to discuss Health Care Reform and Clean Energy with our Representative tonight.

So know this: efforts to disrupt and thwart public discourse on civic matters are profoundly anti-democratic. But, that's an obstacle we face tonight. It's public knowledge that groups known as Tea Baggers intend to disrupt and thwart the public discourse on Health Care Reform in meetings like this during this month's Congressional Recess. They want Democracy to fail. So, let's face this obstacle together.

The Tea Baggers' instructions are also public knowledge. If some people stand up, shout out and sit down; if some try to rattle us and the Congressman; if some pretend numeric superiority; if some try to stifle intelligent debate; then we can compare that behavior to the Tea Baggers' instructions and draw our own conclusions.

I can only hope that other Democratic Congresspersons pass the word about how to handle this situation going forward.

(h/t Micheline

The Proper Response To The Leaked Memo

Think Progress has gotten its hands on a leaked memo from FreedomWorks where they give directions for their activists go in and disrupt the townhalls of Democratic members of Congress.

– 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.”

My advice is that every Democratic member of Congress should get intimately familiar with this memo. And at if they plan on holding a townhall during the break they should employ what I like to call the "8 Mile" strategy. For those who never saw the movie, Eminem's character wins the rap battle at the end by predicting all of the lines of attack that his opponent will use and then he goes in on his opponent. By the time his turn comes Em's opponent is flustered because for one he didn't have any disses left to use and for two because Eminem had ripped him up. So he just hell the microphone and froze.

The first thing these Democrats should do is present the memo and inform the audience of all of the things that are to come. That there will be people yelling, and interrupting and they will also fan out to inflate their numbers. And then they should point out that these people do not want honest debate. They are there for one thing only and that is to deprive the rest of the attendees of the opportunity to learn about health care reform and have their voices heard. And then they can always point out that these people are paid for by the health insurance companies. (whether that is true or not isn't really important) Once they get that out of the way they will have the audience on their side and against the obstructionists. Instead of allowing these people to hijack the townhall, more than likely what will happen is the audience will turn on them and boo them out of the event.

That, to me, should be a no brainer. Why even give them an opportunity to try to derail the discussion? Or for that matter why try to act like they won't be there when its likely that they will. Just punch them in the mouth first and then you win the battle before it gets started.