An appeal to those who are organizing and fomenting the angry mobs at the various town hall meetings around the country-put a stop to this, please. There has to be someone among you with the foresight to see where it will lead if allowed to continue and escalate.
Greg Sargent has this:
"An official with SEIU (Service Employees International Union), which has been sending members to town halls to counterbalance the Tea Party brigade, sends over this audio of a phone call the union says it received on its central voicemail system:
From Brian Beutler at TPM:
"Based on the news that health care events are edging into violence, an anti-health care reform protester in New Mexico named Scott Oskay is calling on his hundreds of online followers to bring firearms to town halls, and to 'badly hurt' SEIU and ACORN counter protesters."
I repeat, someone stop this. Please.
Greg Sargent has this:
"An official with SEIU (Service Employees International Union), which has been sending members to town halls to counterbalance the Tea Party brigade, sends over this audio of a phone call the union says it received on its central voicemail system:
From Brian Beutler at TPM:
"Based on the news that health care events are edging into violence, an anti-health care reform protester in New Mexico named Scott Oskay is calling on his hundreds of online followers to bring firearms to town halls, and to 'badly hurt' SEIU and ACORN counter protesters."
I repeat, someone stop this. Please.
What friggin planet are these losers coming from??? It's coming... it's just a matter of time. These type of suggestions preached over and over to un/under-educated people that believe anything they are told by the Right, regardless of how preposterous, will cause them to do something violent and feel they are acting as a "true patriot" when they do it. Just like the fool that shot and killed Dr. Tiller (in a CHURCH no less) there are hundreds that feel he was completely justified in murdering that doctor. Someone has to find a way to get a handle on the Rush's and Hannity's and O'Reilly's of this country. Inciting violence is not legal. If/when something happens, hopefully it can be directly linked to these subversive party "leaders" and they too will be held accountable. Personally, I'm sickened by the actions of these "Americans", they are no better than any other terrorist extremists anywhere else in the world, and they should be dealt with. What a sad and disgusting time we are living in. And they all screamed Napolitano was unAmerican and crazy when she said our threats will be coming from right here at home.
Sounds like the First Amendment is apparently reserved to anti health reform people...
Stexcat, wait, just wait -- it's going to get bad --nor horrible, and God help all of us...
There are other states like Texas who have concealed carry laws. If I lived in any of these states, I would no more go to one of the Town Hall meetings than I would walk down the middle of a highway at rush hour.
The right wing has been quietly promoting this undercurrent of violent revolution for years. Of course, back during the days of the John Birch Society, most of us knew they were knucking futs. Now, Sarah Palin, John Boehner and Glenn Beck apparently represent mainstream Republicans, ready to lock and load, lest some government agent come by their house in the dark of night intending to euthanize their children and old folks.
Destroying democracy is much easier than actually participating in it and, let's face it, having knowledge and facts about complex policy issues is sometimes hard work. I've been to tons of meetings of city and county commissions and boards over the years. Usually there is no one in the audience, unless they are there to complain. More than once I've seen cops called because some idiot got out of control during the meeting.
Likewise, most of these jerks at the protests, as well as at the Tea Parties, have probably never attended a city council meeting in their entire lives. Most of them probably couldn't tell you the name of the chief justice or the names of their two senators. And saying that they want government to get out of their Medicare tells you how completely removed most of them are from reality.
As I have said before, these are very dangerous people. I fear them and I fear for our country. On the other hand, I'm not quite sure why conservatives believe the Second Amendment is applicable only to them.
Voice, as I commented in the other blog, we actually ARE like "cornered animals" when we are afraid. The same part of our brain that controls the fight or flight response, the amygdala, is present in animals and functions to keep them safe.
We have become a people with free-floating anxiety, and anxiety is fear of the unknown. As stupid as it sounds, other people are becoming more and more "unknowns" whom we fear. So we respond like a deer to a mountain lion.
I hope our children do better.
It's a sad day in this country. How did we get here? What's that saying ... "the stranger beside me" or something like that. It is amazing how far some will go. They are becoming like cornered animals.
I thought we lived in the United States of America?
I don't think I would attend a town hall meeting at this point if it were next door. Soon it will only be the protesters and counter-protesters and their weapons.
I think the town hall meetings need to go virtual. Do them over the internet, like some of the debates. I would hate to see the assassination of any of our representatives either, as that certainly WILL start another civil war.
I've said it before, I am afraid of where this will end. I fear for our future, with this mob rule.
Is there no one in the Republican Party left who has the balls to stand up and tell these idiots to shut the fuck up?
We've already seen the batshit crazy posters at the chron who advocated lining up the liberals and shooting them.
Enough is enough.
And that woman believes that she would be acting in self-defense against a perceived threat...
This is what happens when people on both sides can't see the big picture.
Yep, pretty soon they won't be the GOP anymore and will simply be known as the MOB party. That's the mentality they work with anyway.
Looks like Big Brave Scott Oskay (so many computer tough guys) deleted these tweets and took his full name of Twitter. Too bad these geniuses don't put such thought into their posts BEFORE they make them.
I hope you're wrong Carol, but I fear you're right. Unless somebody stands up and says "no more" we're headed for another Dr. Tiller tragedy.
Des, I do NOT see the violence stopping - I am afraid that it is escalating at a rapid pace.
Add Sarah Palin and her ridiculous comment that Pres. Obamas' health care reform plan is “downright evil” and you have a disaster waiting to happen. And it will happen.
People have stepped over the line of reason and are running on pure hate.